Chapter 10

The Next Morning

I was still thoroughly pissed with Prince’s behavior the night before and he furthered my aggravation by being absent at breakfast. I was bursting; I wanted to tell him exactly what I thought of his underhanded deeds. And I was sure he’d be called a few names he had never heard before. He kept putting me in precarious positions and leaving me hanging.
I was boiling as I walked through the corridors of Paisley Park to meet up with Mindy. Part of me wanted to spite Prince further by going into my closet, putting on the biggest clothes I owned, pull my hair into a ponytail and walk around bare-faced.
I pushed the doors to the salon open and I immediately felt my face twist into a scowl.
Sitting on the white leather couch was Prince.
“Good morning Brynn.” He grinned at me.
He sat looking like he was about to do shoot a spread for a gentlemen’s clothing magazine.
He wore a lime green suit over a black shirt and black tie. A black and green checkered handkerchief was folded neatly in a breast pocket.
And as a change, a small green fedora was perched on his head.
I wanted to spurn him. “What did you say?” I asked innocently, putting my hand to my ear.
“I said ‘good morning’” Prince repeated, his smile growing wider.
Shaking my head, I replied, “I still can’t understand you; I‘m not fluent in ‘bitch’.”
Prince’s mouth formed a tight thin line and I knew I had stuck him. His eyes blazed and I met his gaze and raised my eyebrow jauntily.
“Is everything alright?” A voice asked and I saw that Mindy was at her station setting up for the day.
“Everything is peachy-fuzzy-keen.” I nodded and took my place in the styling chair. I was more than ready to give Prince a snow job the size of Mount Everest.
As Mindy began setting my hair with hot rollers, Prince asked,
“Brynn, this morning, I went down to the dining room and found the lyrics I had been working on half the night ripped up and in a puddle on the floor. Got any idea how it got that way?”
“Gosh and golly, I don’t know. I’ve heard that when your energy is running low Robert Goulet comes and mess with your things.” I shrugged and looked straight ahead at my reflection.
Mindy wore a nervous expression and remained silent. She continued to roll my hair.
“I don’t think Robert Goulet came into my damn house. The alarm would have gone off.” Prince pointed out. “I think it was someone else.”
“Oh yeah? Who?” I cracked my knuckles.
“I dunno…a young girl. About 5’7’’ with curlers being put in her hair. Kind of fits your description right now, doesn’t it?” Prince’s voice was high and taunting.
“I guess it does now.” I sighed as Mindy moved in with a small sponge and began dotting my face with foundation.
“You destroyed my song.” Prince’s voice was cold and Mindy’s hand shook as she continued to work the foundation onto my skin.
“You’re supposed to be some sort of musical genius, can’t you write another?” I giggled, opened my robe a bit so that Mindy could blend the make-up into my neck.
“Oh you’re a smart-ass. But I got the last laugh. I had an idea you’d do something like that, so I rewrote the lyrics on a pad in my room.” Prince snickered.
“I’m sorry, but do I look like I care?” I rolled my eyes.
At that moment Mindy gasped loudly.
“What’s wrong with you?” I looked up into her face and she looked shocked. I thought she was surprised I was back talking Prince.
“That.” Mindy tapped the side of my neck.
I leaned into the mirror to see what she was pointing out.
My jaw dropped.
There, on my neck, was a hickey about the size of a quarter!
“Brynn, where did you get that?” Mindy inquired in a hushed tone, her eyes widening.
I glanced off to the side.
Prince had crossed his legs and was eagerly leaning over to hear my response.
Feeling embarrassed, I lied, “I…I burned myself with a curling iron.”
Prince cackled from the other side of the room.
“That don’t look like a burn to me!” He called.
“Why don’t you shut the hell up?” I snapped and glared at him.
Prince hopped to his feet. “You know what that looks like?” He walked over wiggling his finger.
He pushed Mindy aside and placed his hands on the back of the chair.
“That looks like a hickey--the kind you get when you let someone suck on your neck. You let someone suck on your neck Brynn?” He grinned at me through the mirror.
“Maybe I should leave you alone?” Mindy started to back away.
“No you stay!” Prince gripped Mindy’s arm and she winced.
To me he said, “Go ahead, tell Mindy where you got that thing. I’m sure she wants to know.” Prince prodded. “Maybe I should get everyone in the building!”
“Mr. Prince, I really don’t!” Mindy tried to pull free of him.
“Tell her about it.” Prince demanded.
I figured a way to turn my shame into a sword to pierce him with.
Looking back at him, I asked,
“Is that what gets you off? Kissing and telling? So you kissed me last night and left a hickey on me. So what? It’s not like you’re the first man to kiss me.”
Prince turned blue. I think the idea of him not being first to kiss on me probably shocked him by what he did next. Plus I was elated that I was showing him that he wasn’t the only one to cause embarrassment. And I knew his mind was racing trying to figure out who was Kisser Number One.
Dropping Mindy’s arm, he announced,
“Have her done by eleven. And send her to the front of the studios.”
He stormed out of the room.
“Mr. Prince kissed you last night?” Mindy gasped as she tried to start back on my face.
“Yeah.” I maintained my devil-may-care attitude.
“Oh…” Mindy got quiet.
She was nearly done with my hair and make up an hour later when she wondered,
“Who was the first to kiss you--if you don’t mind?”
Hopping out of the chair and making my way to the clothing rack, I answered quietly,
“The last person you’d expect.”

* * *

At straight up eleven o’clock, I found myself making my way to the front of the studios, Mindy in tow, wielding a bottle of hairspray and I presume trying to get my hair to be hurricane-proof she was misting it so often.
Prince had managed to get the last word on me again. I found myself wearing an off-the-shoulder lime green minidress, trimmed in black, that matched his outfit perfectly. It plucked my nerves that he managed to get us to match like a Barbie and pint-sized Ken.
And that damned symbol hung from my throat.
“Do you have any idea why Prince wants me to meet him at the front of the studio? Aren’t we supposed to be working today?” I mumbled in a huff walking faster in the black stilettos that were murdering my toes.
“No, today is Sunday. Mr. Prince doesn’t work on Sundays. He usually spends the day resting and reading his Bible.” Mindy struggled to keep up with me.
“So the inside of the Bible on his bedside table had seen the light of day and wasn’t there for mere decoration.” I thought with a smirk.
“Please don’t tell me that man had me get all made up like this just to crack a Bible!” I said out loud as we passed the offices and approached the front doors.
As we neared them, I saw that Prince was standing there with Jimmy, both wearing long black trench coats. Jimmy was holding two extra ones.
“Here we are Mr. Prince. Are we late?” Mindy asked anxiously taking a coat and proceeding to put it on.
“No, you’re on time.” Prince nodded.
“What exactly are we doing today? Mindy told me you don’t work on Sundays.” I placed my hands on my hips and tapped my foot.
“I thought that since it was such a nice day out, we’d go for a drive.” Prince reasoned.
“A nice day out? Ha!” I scoffed. “Last I heard the weather was in the twenties.”
“Would you rather walk?” Prince took the coat from Jimmy and held it open for me to slip into.
“No…” I frowned and put the jacket on.
“Where are we going to drive to?” I asked as I zipped and buttoned the coat up.
“You’ll see.” Prince led the way outside to a large black limousine.
Prince and I were seated in the back and Mindy and Jimmy were seated in the front with Jimmy driving.
I was silent as we pulled away from Paisley Park, through the security gates and off onto the road leading to downtown Minneapolis.
As a matter of fact, the entire car was quiet.
I glanced around.
Jimmy was focusing on his driving and Mindy busied herself picking at her fingernails.
My eyes floated over to Prince.
He was staring at me, his face plain.
Not really wanting to, I snapped,
“What are you looking at?”
Prince remained calm, “I’m looking at you. You look nice today.”
“Yeah.” I flipped my hair over my shoulder and looked out the deeply tinted window.
Every so often a building would pass by. Paisley Park was on the very outskirts of town.

“And where are we going? You made me get all dressed like this just to ride in the back of a car?” I demanded tapping my fingers against the glass.
“I’m doing some errands. Going here and there.” Prince explained.
“I still don’t see what that has to do with me.” I sniffed stubbornly.
“Well you’ve been stuck in my house and at the studio for a week--I thought you might have liked to get out for a change.” I felt his hand on my arm.
“Please, don’t touch me.” I shoved his hand away.
“You weren’t saying that last night.” Prince snickered.
I whipped my head around to shoot daggers at him with my eyes.
He was outing me in front of Jimmy and Mindy--again!
“All you did was kiss me.” I crossed my arms and grimaced.
Prince leaned in and his straight little nose bumped mine.
“I know you wanted more than that. You told me.” He chucked quietly.
I was simmering with anger.
“You were horny out your mind.” Prince laughed and pecked my cheek.
Reeling, I slapped him across the jaw.
I went to slap him again but Prince caught my wrist in his hand and bent it back mercilessly.
“Ow!” I exclaimed and in the review mirror, I saw that both Jimmy and Mindy looked worried.
With his free hand, Prince pressed a small black button and the dark privacy glass went up, closing us off from Jimmy and Mindy.
“You already hit me once before, in front of Morris, you’re not going to hit me again. You understand?” He twisted my arm down and I lurched forward to keep him from breaking it. “I’ve never struck you once. And I don’t want to. Don’t make me.” Prince released me arm and I scooted to the other side of the seat, cradling it.
“Y--you’d hit me?” I whispered.
“No. I don’t abuse women.” Prince replied simply.
I decided to not point out to him that he had manhandled Mindy just an hour or so earlier.
A thought suddenly occurred to me.
“But you hit that woman in your movie Purple Rain.” I said recalling a scene where Prince had struck his love interest so hard that she fell to her knees.
“That was part of the movie. I was acting. That wasn’t ‘Prince’. I was playing ‘The Kid’.” Prince seemed annoyed. I didn’t care.
“I heard you movie was based on your career. Like a biography.” I reasoned.
“Some parts of the movie are based on my life. Other parts were embellished for the drama. Such as the scene where I hit Apollonia.” Prince explained. “I’ve never hit any of my girlfriends or any other women for that matter.”
“Oh.”
“I’m sorry I grabbed your arm. I apologize.” Prince said softly and tapped my sore arm.
“Okay.” I said quietly. It still shocked me that he had grabbed me.
“Speaking of Purple Rain, there’s the club from the movie, First Avenue.” Prince pointed out of his window.
Leaning against him, I peered out and saw a large black building taking up the corner. A group of tourists were in front of the club, taking photos.
Written on the front in the same large silver tone letters as in the movie was First Avenue and 7th St. Entry.
“I never knew that place was real. I just thought it was something on a soundstage or souped up for the picture.” I shrugged as we whizzed by, leaving the fans oblivious to the fact that a superstar had just gone by.
“Yeah, I got my start there. I was a little younger than you. That was when it was all about the music.” Prince explained calmly. “Nobody cared about the money or the fame or the girls--at least not me. It’s all about the music.”
I jumped a little as Prince placed his arm around my shoulder.
We spent the following three hours ridding all over, through and around Minneapolis--or Uptown as Prince called it--looking at all of his haunts of yesteryear.
We passed by his old high school, wooded areas where scenes of Purple Rain had been filmed, a barbecue place Prince had hung in as a teenager and past another club, Glam Slam, that had been featured in his last theatrical release, Graffiti Bridge.
Eventually we found ourselves back in the center of town, and I was nestled closely to him, listening to him recant tales from his younger days and I almost forgot about him pulling on me and our arguments.
As Prince continued to talk and point out places, rested my head on his shoulder.
I stared up at him, not really paying attention to what he was saying.
Prince was so sexy it hurt.
It hurt.
His entire face and body and aura exuded confidence and sexuality.
God knows I had felt it in the dining room the night before. His arms around me, his mouth on mine, and my neck and face. And not to mention that his “royal scepter” had tried to make a guest appearance. I glanced down at his crotch area, covered by his layers of clothing, deliciously wondering what kind of heat he was indeed packing. I knew a man with such a dirty reputation as his had to be larger than life.
Just the thought of being that close to intercourse with Prince was making me hot--hotter than I could ever remember being.
The more I thought about it and gazed up at him, I knew that I was mad from the previous night because I had wanted to get all kinds of nasty with him and he had left me hanging.
And for some reason, probably Prince’s true intention, I wanted him all the more.
I sniffed at his jacket and the floral scented cologne made its home in my nostrils.
My heart thudded as I dared another smell.
My hormones raced like cars in the Indianapolis 500.
He was staring out of the window, totally oblivious to the rush I was feeling.
Hesitating a bit, I finally leaned over and gently pressed my lips against his soft cheek, right under his beauty mark.
Prince snapped back and stared down at me.
His eyes were so wide, they scared me.
He seemed shocked that I had kissed him.
“Are you mad at me?” I asked after a moment of silence.
“No…” Prince trailed off thoughtfully.
He leaned towards me and I knew he was going to kiss me.
Suddenly the car jerked to a halt and Prince completely missed my face, instead landing face first into my shoulder.
“What the fuck!” Prince grumbled as I helped him sit back upright.
He quickly rolled down the privacy glass and demanded of Jimmy,
“What did you stop for?”
Jimmy was clearly shaken that his boss was angry at him. It was the first time I’d ever seen an elephant scared of a mouse.
He uttered meekly,
“We’ve reached your destination Mr. Prince.”
Prince mumbled angrily as he smoothed the front of his coat and straightened his hat.
I gazed through the window and saw that we were in a nearly deserted area. The only building in sight was one constructed of dingy grey bricks. It was a three story square building and looked like a huge block of dirty ice.
There wasn’t even a sign indicating what the building was. There didn’t appear to be another soul around besides the four of us.
As Jimmy rushed around and let Prince and me out into the cold air, I asked,
“What is this place?”
Prince placed his hand on my arm.
“You’ll see.”
Prince led the way, pulling me in tow, through the plain double glass doors of the building.
The doors immediately yielded to a wide, cement staircase.
The only light in the stairwell came from the doors. I knew it must have been a stumbling mess if we had arrived there at night.
We ascended them in silence, the only sound, was of the heels of Prince, Mindy’s and my shoes tapping with each step.
I glanced at everyone’s face. They were all extremely placid, as if they walked into strange buildings all the time.
The isolated surrounding reminded me of horror movies where a woman would most likely be raped, murdered and left to decompose.
My heart was my mouth as we reached the first landing and Prince stepped up to the only door on the floor, an unmarked single wooden door.
He tapped on it, twice hard and quickly and once more a bit lighter, as if he was beating out a code.
I looked behind me, past Mindy and Jimmy, ready to make a break for it at the slightest provocation.
As I thought about it, I realized that I had left my phone back at Prince’s home; I couldn’t even call for help if I needed it!
While I stood thinking of impending doom, the door opened wide--on its own.
“Come on.” Prince started towards the open doorway, and was jerked a little as I remained planted to the spot.
He stared down at me and in the dimness I could see he was annoyed.
“Come on Brynn. What’s wrong-- are you scared?” He demanded. “There’s nothing to be afraid of.” He assured me and tried to walk away.
I yanked on him. “Are you sure?” I wasn’t completely convinced.
“Hell yes!” Prince placed his arm around my waist and pulled me into the room.
I looked around in shock.
We were in a large loft that was painted a blazing fire engine red.
Closest to us was a small seating area that composed of a couch and two arm chairs all in a matching red vinyl.
As I looked, on the other end appeared to be an area that was set up for a photo shoot. The backdrop though, was also red and several large lights were positioned around it.
For some reason, the place smelled of chalk.
“Take a seat anywhere!” A voice cheerfully called out of nowhere.
I took my place between Prince and Mindy on the couch while Jimmy somehow managed to fit into one of the chairs.
Prince took off his coat and everyone else followed suit.

“So this is a photography studio?” I asked no one in particular, looking back at the set up.
Prince nodded and little smile lit his lips.
Across the room, an Asian woman stepped out from behind the backdrop.
“Hello everyone!” She waved her arms as she jogged over.
She was an extremely thin and petite woman. She appeared to be about Mindy’s age with bone straight hair cut into blunt bob. The last inch of hair had been dyed a brilliant blue that the glowed in contrast to the rest that was black.
Wild blue eye make-up and a blue mod dress, complete with white Go-Go boots completed her obviously sixties inspired look.
“Prince!” She exclaimed and rushed over, and enveloped him in a hug. “Glad you could make it!” She grinned, her thin lips--painted a light pink--parting and showing bright white teeth.
Getting off him, she looked at me.
“Prince, is this Brynn?” She asked in a singsong voice.
This was the first person, outside of Morris, that I had met in Minneapolis who didn’t address him with a “Mr.” before his name.
“Yes it is.” Prince’s demeanor remained calm, even though the woman’s was the opposite. She seemed to be strung out on a high dose of caffeine or something.
A hand was jammed into my face.
“Hi Brynn! I’m Suki Yakamato. Pleased to meet you!” She exclaimed.
I took her hand, tipped with highlighter yellow nails no less, and shook it gently. Suki was a walking rainbow.
“Nice to meet you too.” I made myself say.
“Prince, she’s gorgeous!” Suki continued to grin and seated herself in the last unoccupied armchair. “I look forward to working with her.”
“Working with me? You’re going to take pictures of me?” I interrupted, staring from her to Prince and back.
“Yes…you mean you didn’t tell her?” Suki shook her head at Prince.
“Tell me what?” I glared over at Prince.
Prince gave me a cool smile. “Well you remember when I went through your computer and saw those childish pictures you took with Michael Jackson?” He questioned.
“Yeah.” I said quietly, a little flame starting at the word childish.
“Right after I saw those, I called Suki and set up an appointment to get some other pictures done. Something that shows your age.” Prince explained tapping my knee.
“Really?” I felt another war of words coming on.
“Yes, I wanted to have something to hang in Paisley Park after you went back to California.” Prince’s eyes glowed.
“You…want a portrait of me…to hang in Paisley Park?” I repeated, not sure I had heard him correctly.
My flame got blown out at the thought of Prince wanting a portrait of me to hang in his studio. I didn’t even have a portrait at Neverland!
Prince chuckled in a low tone.
Keeping my composure to avoid jumping on him and kissing him, I willed myself to ask,
“What do you have in mind?”
“Oh I have a lot of ideas! I just wanted to meet you before we started!” Suki put in. “A lot of fun things!”
I grinned at her, still bursting at the idea that if anyone walked through Paisley Park, they’d see me.
I had arrived!
As Suki continued chattering about the shoot, which would take place the next day, I thought of the honor being bestowed on me with one photo. Little did I know that an innocent enough photo shoot would change my life, along with a few others, forever.