Chapter's song: Love never felt so good by Michael Jackson.

One of my favorite's songs! (I do have a lot of favorites. Lol)

ChaPtEr THIRTY-ONE _________________________

Changes

My eyes were fixed on a large sculpture down the garden. It was surrounded with colorful flowers. Mostly yellow, though. "Are you going to invite that man you were seen with last week?"

I turned to look at Grandma Isobel with a panicked expression on my face.

How on earth could she know? But then I remembered that the press snapped pictures of Richard and me while we were leaving Ben's concert.

"No," I straightened my skirt without really looking at her. It had been a week since I'd last seen Jason and my mother pestered me to no end to mend things with my great-grandmother before going out with him tonight.

I could feel her tenacious eyes on me and I was sure she knew I was hiding something but I played dumb by smiling softly. "You know we don't need to do anything for my birthday, right?"

"Nonsense!" she shook her head, "every Royal member has always celebrated their birthday at the Buckingham Palace."

Except my mother. I pursed my lips at that.

Be nice, Marianne. Be nice.

I looked at her. Really looked at her. She seemed fine on the outside. Her stance was as straight and composed as ever. Her hair was perfectly styled like usual. Her clothes matched her stance to perfection. However, there was something in her eyes. Like weariness. That pulled a chord in my heart.

Being Queen couldn't be easy. Especially for someone like her.

Someone who likes to control every little detail.

Mom was right. She was, at the end of the day, a human being with feelings. You know...deep down there. My birthday was in three weeks. She wanted to plan some sort of party? Let her do it. Even if it will be as boring as it usually is.

Suddenly, a thought popped in my head. "Grandma? What if we keep it more intimate this year? Like we should do an actual birthday party. Just us. We can have a birthday cake and play board games. Maybe watch a movie. I don't know. Something normal." For a change.

She eyed me warily for a moment. "Is that what you really want?"

"Yes," my voice was confident.

Inside, I was jumping up and down because maybe, if it was a small party, maybe Jason would want to come. Plus, she was totally caving in. I could see it in her eyes.

"Ok," her blue eyes looked towards the window behind me, "We'll have an official photographer, though."

Damn. Any hope I'd felt vanished in thin air.

That summed the whole thing. Jason would never come...

Sighing, I cleared my throat. "Why don't we plan the photo session as early as possible, so we can enjoy ourselves after?" Without any nosy paparazzi around.

She eyed me incredulously. "Is there anything you want to tell me?"

I shrugged non-chalantly, "I just want Ashley to feel free to invite Ben...and you know," I raised an eyebrow, "enjoy some healthy family time."

Grandma Isobel watched me for a moment. "It's your birthday, Marianne. I believe your plan is elegant and simple. Like a future Queen's." I bit my lip. I really wanted to roll my eyes, though.

"Ok," I stood up and walked to her, "we can plan all this over the next few weeks, right?" I kissed her on the cheek. "It was nice seeing you, Grandma."

She nodded stiffly. "It was. Thank you for visiting me."

"I'll talk to you later, ok?" I waved at her before closing the door after me.

Breathing out, I finally rolled my eyes.

That went well. Better than expected, actually.

Slowly, a sly smile formed in my lips. I was free to go out with Jason! Getting out my phone, I dialed his number already feeling butterflies fluttering in my stomach.

"Hey stranger," his dark voice greeted me sending my heart in override.

"Hey yourself," I rolled my eyes at my awesome comeback. "I'm free for the rest of the day, do you want to meet?"

"Awesome. I was counting on it. I'll pick you up at your house in say, twenty minutes?"

I frowned at that. Buckingham Palace was much closer to him than my house. "Uhm...I'm closer to your house since I'm at the Buckingham Palace." Still, he would never come pick me up here. "Why don't we meet at St. Jame's Park tube? I think Tom can help me out get there without being noticed."

"Sounds great. I'll see you in ten?"

"Ok." We hung up but I had this uneasy feeling inside of me.

Apparently it bothered me the fact that we had to meet sneaking out and such. I knew it was hard for him and all that...however, I hoped he wouldn't mind at some point.

Don't push him, I heard myself saying.

Let's give it time. Maybe we could talk him out in coming to my birthday party. Just not today.

Ten minutes later, I was standing near the underground station's entrance wearing a baseball cap (my hair was not a priority at the moment) and aviator glasses. Tom was right beside me when Jason appeared in sight. He looked great in blue denim jeans and a plaid shirt.

"Hello," his lips tugged up on a boyish smile. My heart skipped a beat as he leaned and pecked me lightly on the lips. While I was still blushing, he greeted Tom, who had previously cleared out the date with my father and was given instructions to let me go with Jason.

I did roll my eyes when he was making the call. Jason had been, after all, my security in Mexico.

He led me to the parking lot and we hopped into his blue Ford Fiesta. As the car roared to life, my eyes travelled hungrily around the car trying to catch something more on Jason's life. Sadly, it was pretty clean and didn't have anything out of the ordinary.

"Disappointed?" he asked slyly.

"Why do you ask that?" I looked to the side while my lips twitched.

He chuckled, "I cleaned up my car today." He snorted, "I wouldn't want you to find all my dirty secrets I keep stashed in it."

Pursing my lips, I puffed out my chest, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

He laughed at that, "sure babe." Shaking his head, he added, "I need to do something and I was hoping you'd come with me." He glanced at me as I tilted my head with a frown on my face. "I'm getting a dog," his voice was soft with a hint of shyness.

"A dog?" I smiled at his evident uneasiness.

Then, I remembered that he once told me he loved dogs but he never got one since he had to travel all the time. My heart started to race. Did that mean something?

"Yes. I don't want to get a puppy, though." He rolled his eyes, "Danielle has been pestering me to no end about adopting one since she heard about it." I smiled. She was right.

"What kind of dog do you want?"

"Some kind of big, mean-looking kind of dog. Cute, too. You know, it has to reflect his owner," he said matter-of-factly.

I burst out laughing, "You should get a Chihuahua, then!"

"Har, Har..." he rolled his eyes but I could see he was amused.

We got to a white building with a paneled windows on the front. A circle with a picture of a cat and dog were above. He parked the car and we walked hand in hand towards the main entrance. I'd lost the glasses but kept the cap in a probably futile attempt to go unnoticed. Besides, Jason had mentioned I looked cute. So that was that.

A fiftyish brunette lady in a green polo shirt greeted us and explained about the importance of adopting a pet, the papers Jason needed to fill and so on. While he talked to the lady, I walked through the room seeing all the pictures of the already adopted pets. It was one of the requirements. To donate money and send a picture of the pet's new home. The walls were pretty much upholstered with different photos. It was great, to be honest. People looked happy.

I remembered something, then.

Didn't Jason mention that he couldn't have a dog because he travels a lot? And that he needed his own house to get one? My eyes widened for a moment as he briefly looked my way and winked.

Biting my lip and fighting my nerves, I followed him as the lady led the way towards the area where they had the dogs. In a way, it was sad. There were many dogs and they were all kept in separate cages. For a moment, I wanted to take them all. They started barking and moving tails and I could tell it was going to be a hard choice.

That's why he brought me here. He wanted me to help choose his dog. My heart completely melted over him.

Jason pulled me closer as we slowly padded through the room, "You seem to be in deep thought..."

Squeezing his hand, I smiled at him. "Thank you for bringing me here." I raised an eyebrow, "Can we take them all?"

He chuckled, "Wouldn't that be fun?"

Shaking my head, I turned to my left and saw one of the few dogs that weren't barking. It was a sad looking bulldog. He was resting his head over his paws and looked incredibly cute. He was white with brown spots. I fell in love with him immediately.

"Why is he so sad?" I asked to the lady.Her brown eyes softened.

"He's one of the oldest dogs we've had. People try to adopt the little ones and he's been staying here for the last two years. I guess he lost hope."

Two years? In a cage?

I glanced at Jason who was looking at me with some sort of emotion in his eyes. "We'll take him," He smiled at me. "Wait," he turned to the lady, "it's a he right?"

She grinned at us. "He is. He's name is Oreo," she shook her head, "one of the volunteers named him and it has stuck but you can call him whatever you like. Just bear in mind that he might not answer in a few days. Maybe weeks..."

"I like Oreo," I shrugged.

"Then you'll be a great owner, honey." She opened the dog's door and he gave me the saddest and cutest eyes. His tail moved slightly as I kneeled beside him.

"He looks more like a Snickers," Jason murmured behind me.

I rolled my eyes as I patted the dog's head. "It's your dog, you can call him Snickers. I think it actually suits him..."

"Snickers it is," he added confidently.

He signed the papers and bought the necessary things for the dog. I held him on his leash and talked to him as we waited for Jason. The dog finally acknowledged me and started to move his tail furiously after a while.

Jason drove us to another part of town that I didn't know. I really didn't pay attention since I was patting Snickers and trying to make him feel at ease in the car. When they car stopped, I turned around to find an almost empty street in what looked like an older industrial site.

"Where are we?"

He unbuckled his seat and smiled slyly at me. "We're home."

Confused, I looked around. It didn't look homey. At all.

It was an old sort of factory from what I could see. "Come on." He walked outside carrying the large dog bed and all the things he'd got.

True to his words, he took out his keys and opened up a strong-looking metal door. It cringed as it opened. Warily, I followed after him.

The place was pretty much empty. It was clean, though. It was a one-story place. And it was huge. Red bricks covered the walls. Large windows were set on most of the walls in sets of two. The ceiling was covered with aluminum pipes and wooden pillars. There was no furniture other than a lonely king-size bed on the farthest part of the place.

"Seriously?" I turned to Jason who was leaned on one of the largest wooden pillars at the entrance.

"Isn't this fucking amazing?" his grey eyes looked excitedly around the room. "I found it for a good price. It needs work but I liked it."

"It's different." He raised an eyebrow at my choice of words. I raised a palm. "Different is good. It's unique."

"Different," he repeated mocking me. He pushed himself up and walked towards me. "You're different."

"I'm unique," I raised an eyebrow.He laughed at that.

"You are." He leaned closer and kissed me for a moment. "Let's find a place for Snickers."

I snorted, "He can have the whole place to himself."

He suppressed a smile, "then he's a lucky bastard, then."

We spent the rest of the day calling Snickers and trying to get him used to his new house and name. We ordered pizza and made out like crazies on his bed.

All in all, it was a great day.

Except for the nagging feeling I felt every time I thought about bringing out my birthday.

Especially my birthday party.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

So...OMG Prince with Benefits is published?! how absolutely amazing is that??!

I've been lucky to be asked to be part of Pop Fiction Books and all I can say is that I wouldn't have it any other way. People from the Philippines are awesome. Really friendly, warm and nice. I love it. I'm also accepting followers/fellow writers on my FB page.

And I just got the best idea for this story :D but I need to set the pace in for a couple of chapters...

Anyway, thank you all for your amazing support. You guys rock!!

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Love you guys!

Gabs