Ladies and… er… Ladies of the forum,
We know how devastated you all were when we announced there would no longer be Stealing fics. But we are most proud to announce that this marks the beginning of a new era in PD fanfic-dom, in which we hope you will all follow as you did before! This new era was made for the people who we love so much and because they support the writing that is produced with the best regards. So without further ado, we are proud to present:
Title: Borrowing Chances
By: dragoneye and ElizaDolittle
Rating: T
Written Because: We were looking for a story idea, and my brother was playing Monopoly; hence, a story was born.
Summary: It's raining in Genovia and (what else is new) Mia gets bored. What does she do? Plays Monopoly.
Disclaimer: We do not own The Princess Diaries; it belongs to Disney and Meg Cabot.
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Mia flung open the door to her grandparents' suite and was greeted by the lovely sight of Joseph half on top of her grandmother on the couch. She breezed in and said, "Oh, get a room, why don't you?" quite loudly in order to break them up. Joe immediately sprang off of Clarisse, looking surprised, but then ran a hand over his face and sighed.
"I was under the impression that we had one, actually," he said tiredly, regretting his earlier dismissal of the guards who usually stood at attention outside the suite.
"If you want privacy, you gotta lock the door, Gramps!" Mia said this as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
After waiting for her breathing to return to normal, Clarisse spoke up. "Was there something you wanted, Mia?"
"Oh yeah!" the young woman said, appalled that she had forgotten her mission. "It's raining out and Nick and I are bored, and Mom and I always used to play Monopoly when it rained, so I was gonna recruit you for a Monopoly game. Should I ask Charlotte and Shades or not?"
Joseph raised his eyebrows and looked to his wife. "What do you think, darling?"
Clarisse didn't know what Monopoly was, but she wasn't about to submit herself to her granddaughter's teasing, so she merely shrugged and said, "If you'd like to play, dear, I will too."
Mia grinned. "Great! I'll just find Char and Shades then, and we'll meet you in my suite, okay?" Without waiting for an answer, she was gone.
Clarisse looked at Joseph, bewildered. She had no idea what she was getting into, and she wasn't sure she wanted to know.
While Joseph was explaining to Clarisse what Monopoly was, exactly, Mia was making her way down to the Security room – the obvious place to find Shades. Surely he'd know where Charlotte was, too.
Mia stopped at the entrance to the room and hid behind the doorframe. Sure enough, there was Shades in his chair by the monitor, which was flashing different rooms in the palace every few seconds. Standing in front of him was none other than Charlotte – what a surprise. They appeared to be having a conversation, though Mia noticed Shades seemed to be slightly preoccupied, as he was glancing around nervously. Charlotte didn't seem to notice, as her eye was twinkling mischievously.
"Shades, that is absolutely the most hideous outfit I have ever seen," Charlotte said. He made to protest, but she continued. "Spare my eyes and take it off right now."
Before Shades could answer, Mia stepped into the room with an evil grin on her face. "Wow, Char," she said, trying not to laugh too much at the look on Charlotte's face, "I didn't know you had it in you!"
Charlotte was speechless, but Shades nearly fell out of his chair laughing. Mia giggled along with him before relaying her message to the two, and they went up to her suite to play some Monopoly.
"Ok, so first of all, we need pieces. Who wants what?" Mia announced, taking charge.
"I call the car!" said Shades immediately. At Charlotte's raised eyebrow, he sheepishly said "it's my lucky piece."
"I always have the boot," Mia said, claiming her piece.
"Can I have the hat?" Joseph said, picking up the hat and putting it on his head. Clarisse chuckled at his antics, and picked out the carriage for herself. Nick promptly grabbed the ship and inspected it closely.
Charlotte surveyed the remaining pieces, then picked out the overflowing moneybag for herself. "Think I'll have this much money by the end?" she asked Shades, who merely shrugged.
Mia took charge again. "Now we need a banker… not me, I'm hopeless with money. Who's organized here?" She surveyed the group, then whacked her forehead with her hand dramatically. "Of course it's you, Charlotte. Have fun!" and she handed the older woman all the money.
Sighing, Charlotte inwardly cursed her ability to count, but set about organizing the money and distributing it in the proper amounts.
Another sigh was heard as Clarisse looked around impatiently. "If I'm to play this game, would someone kindly explain the rules?" she said, waiting for the group's aide.
Grinning, Joseph teased his wife a bit. "You mean you don't know how to play Monopoly?" he said, eyes twinkling. "How is that even possible?"
Clarisse huffed and punched him lightly in the arm. "I'll have you know that we royals don't play silly games like Monopoly. We happen to have other responsibilities."
Mia gasped. "Gramma, you did NOT just say Monopoly is silly! It's a very serious game!"
"Is it really?" Clarisse said, holding her nose up in the air. "Any game with a boot as a playing piece must be entirely nonsensical."
"Anyone who agreed to an arranged marriage must be entirely nonsensical" Mia grumbled as she snatched up the Monopoly box. "Do you even know what Monopoly is about?" she said, showing the front of the box to her grandmother. "It's a property trading game. See, it might be useful in the real world!"
Clarisse couldn't think of a snappy enough comeback, so she settled herself with eyeing the game board warily. Why did every space seem to be named after an American state? She voiced her question aloud.
Her granddaughter laughed. "It was made by an American guy, gramma. Most great board games did come from America, actually..."
Charlotte's head shot up as Clarisse scoffed. "Nonsense Mia," Clarisse said, marveling at the girl's ignorance, "where do you think chess came from?"
Before his queen could answer, Shades decided it was time to break up the ever-looming catfight. He received a scolding look from his lover by making racecar sounds and zooming the small gold replica of an old car onto the board at the Go space, telling everyone "let's get this game rolling!", which received eye-rolling from all present.
Mia read from the rulebook for Clarisse's sake. "The object of the game is to become the wealthiest player through buying, renting and selling property. Blah blah blah, here we go: Starting with the Banker, each player in turn throws the dice. The player with the highest total starts the play: place your token on the corner marked "GO", throw the two dice and move your token in the direction of the arrow the number of spaces indicated by the dice. After you have completed your play, the turn passes to the left. Got that, grandma?"
Clarisse looked rather shell-shocked, for her granddaughter had read very fast, but figured she could learn as she went along. She watched as Charlotte, acting as Banker, picked up the dice and rolled a two and a one. "Pathetic," the woman muttered, passing the dice to Shades rather forcefully. He took them and rolled double sixes, to which Charlotte stuck her tongue out at him. He crossed his eyes back at her.
"Geez Grandma, can't you hire more mature people?" Mia giggled as Joe took the dice off the board and rolled himself. Clarisse just smiled.
After everyone had rolled, Shades obviously still had the highest total, so he rolled first and got double sixes again. "Score!" he exclaimed, punching the air with his fist (which earned him reproving looks from the three well-behaved women) and making "vroom" noises again as he moved his car twelve spaces along the board. In accordance with the rules ("if you throw doubles, you move your token as usual, the sum of the two dice, and are subject to any privileges or penalties pertaining to the space on which you land. Retaining the dice, throw again and move your token as before.") he threw again, and moved just three spaces ahead.
The play continued to the left, as instructed: Joseph, who moved 5 spaces ahead; Clarisse, who moved forward a grand total of 14, due to her rolling two fives to start; Nicolas, who moved a mere 3 spaces; Mia, who nearly caught up to Clarisse with 11 spaces; and Charlotte, who rolled a two and a one again to land on the same square as Nicholas.
As the game went on, it became obvious that Joseph really knew what he was doing. He bought any property he landed on, and became the proud owner of many houses. Eventually, his wealth grew to such epic proportions that the other players were running out of money. Clarisse especially was nearing bankruptcy. However, Mia was quite rich herself, probably due to playing the game so many times before.
When she landed on yet another of her husband's properties and realized she didn't have nearly enough money to pay him, Clarisse leaned circumspectly over to him and whispered "I'll sleep with you for a dollar" into his ear, hoping desperately that no one had heard. Her hopes were dashed, however, when Charlotte erupted into a fit of giggles and could hardly breathe for laughing. Clarisse flushed embarrassedly. Joseph replying "certainly, my dear" and handing her a dollar didn't help her beet-red face.
After losing most of her fortune to Joseph, Mia announced "I'm thirsty!", to which her grandmother raised an eyebrow. "What? When you play Monopoly as well as I do, you get thirsty! How about some pear juice?" She looked around. Shades' mouth was twitching, Joseph and Charlotte were chuckling openly, and Clarisse was rolling her eyes. Nicholas, however, got up and announced his intention of retrieving pear juice for his dearly beloved. He left and returned a few minutes later with a glass of juice in his hand. Mia chugged it down and made her move, where she successfully drew the Chance card that read "Your building and load matures; collect $150" and smirked at her grandmother.
On his next turn, Joseph drew the Community Chest card reading "You have won second prize in a beauty contest. Collect $10." He ran a hand over his head as if smoothing back his hair and said "Can't blame them for choosing me!" Clarisse laughed at him and said, "Only second prize, dear? Who won first?" Joseph only gaped at her.
Charlotte was getting bored with her job as Banker, but brightened when Shades landed on one of her properties. "Let's see," she said, referring to the title deed, "St. Charles Place, one house, you owe me… $50! What?" she asked, for Mia had poked her and was gaping at the game board. Charlotte looked down at St. Charles Place and saw, not Shades' racecar game piece, but – a ring? Her head shot up at him. He cleared his throat and got down on one knee. Charlotte watched him, eyes widening.
"Charlotte," he said gruffly, "you always accuse me of being too unromantic; well, I'm trying to change for you." He cleared his throat again. "I can't live without you, Charlotte. I did for 30 years, but now that I know what it's like to have you, I never want to let you go." He swallowed nervously. "Stay with me always, Charlotte." His voice became gentler. "Marry me?"
Charlotte gaped at him, eyes wide, mouth open like a codfish. He took one of her hand in his and begged with his eyes. Then she smiled, nodding her head and giggling a bit. "Yes, Shades, yes I will marry you," she managed to croak out before throwing herself into his arms. He grinned proudly and held her tight, but his smile was wiped off his face when she crushed her lips happily to his.
Mia was grinning, jumping up and down in her seat. Clarisse grabbed Joseph's hand and smiled at him, and they both said "finally!" at the same instant. Nicholas was staring openly at the kissing couple, who were broken up when Mia flung herself at them. Mia hugged her aide happily, whispering "I'm so happy for you!" before turning to Shades, shaking his hand and telling him he had impeccable taste.
Clarisse approached Charlotte, pulling the younger woman into a tight hug. Words could not express how elated she felt, so she conveyed her emotion into the hug. Pulling away and studying Charlotte's face, she realized that Charlotte had finally gotten her "happily ever after."
Joseph came to congratulate the happy couple, as did Nicholas, and finally they were able to share a quick moment to themselves. The romantic moment was ruined, however, when Charlotte reminded Shades that he still owed her $50.
THE END
Hah! I told you it was the end of the Stealing series; it's the start of a Borrowing series! "Stealing" was for the girlfriend/boyfriend stage, "Borrowing" is for the fiancé stage, and I'm not sure what the marriage stage will be… but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. I'm immensely proud of this fan fiction; I think it may be one of my best yet. Of course, it could not be possible without my dear, loveRly friend Karlee! She definitely co-wrote this one. Line by line co-writing. Seriously. So Karlee: THANK YOU!
Leave a review and you get to play Strip Monopoly with your choice of man: Joe, Shades, or Nick!
(wait, you're telling me there's no such thing as Strip Monopoly? Sure there is! Whenever you have to pay money, you take off an item of clothing! So have fun playing with Joe, ladies, because he's rather good at the game)