Jasmine, Childhood Flashback (Patreon)

The original opening for Bitter Confessions goes right into the morning after Roth and Jasmine’s big fight in London. I thought it would be a good change of pace to have a softer intro. I brainstormed and decided to show Jasmine as a child. She’s around ten or eleven, at Tuxedo Park on summer break. She’s in the library reading her little heart out, engrossed in books.

Jasmine lay stretched out on the couch, chin pillowed on her stacked hands as she read. The little girl was completely immune to the glorious summer day beyond the library. Her rapt attention was fixed on the story unfolding on the page. All of a sudden, her body tensed. She sat up, so she was crosslegged on the cushions with the book in her lap, and then migrated to the arm rest a few minutes later. She gasped and flapped her hand as she looked around for someone to share in her anxiety, but of course, there was no one. She stomped her feet on the couch and muttered to herself as she raced through the last pages. By the time she finished, she was standing on the couch. When she realized there were no more words, she slammed the book shut, closed her eyes, and tipped her head back.

“Thea!” she bellowed, knowing there was little chance her housekeeper would be within hearing distance.

She tossed the book down and ran headlong out of the library where she had been hibernating for… she wasn’t really sure. A week? Two? She had no concept of time when she was reading. She debated whether she should run upstairs and search the bedrooms for the housekeeper, but decided to go with her gut and ran to the kitchen instead.

“Thea!” she exclaimed as she barged into the kitchen.

Thea didn’t even look up from the ingredients she was adding to a mixing bowl.

“Finished another book, miss?”

“Yes.”

“Didn’t you finish one yesterday?”

“Two,” Jasmine said distractedly, her mind still full of the story. “That was great, but this. This…” She gripped handfuls of her hair and did a spin before she braced her hands on the island. “This was so good, I could die happy right this second.”

Jasmine explains the story to Thea and then focuses on the romantic relationship in the book:

Jasmine clasped her hands to her chest and slumped against the counter. “I want a Davin, Thea.”

“Your time will come, miss.”

“I want us to go on adventures and see the world.” She stared out at the still lake and wished it was a stormy, churning sea. “I want a man who’s willing to give up a kingdom for me.”

“I’m sure your father’s going to find the perfect man for you.”

“I want a prince!”

“A prince, huh? Well, if anyone could make that happen, it would be your father.”

She starts listing the attributes she wants in her “Davin”:

“I want him to be big and strong, so he can carry me whenever I feel like it.”

Her head bounced on Thea’s chest as the housekeeper chuckled.

“I want to have a big wedding right here by the lake.” She pointed without lifting her head. “I want him to be handsome and smart and a reader like me, so we can discuss books and I can read whatever I want.”

I will probably add a lot more detail to this scene in the future, but it’s a draft, and I’m happy with the way it turned out. It was fascinating to explore her at a young age and expand on her love of reading and her relationship with Thea. It was fun to make up the story that she explains to Thea and have her talk about the qualities she wants in her future husband. And then, of course, we switch to her present, which is her waking up in the London penthouse after a traumatic night—a stark contrast to her romantic childhood fantasies.

List in the comments things you thought you wanted in a partner as a kid that sound silly now. Or, maybe you struck gold and your partner does possess those qualities! Please let me know. I actually struggled to think back to what I thought was important as a kid, so I stuck to the basics—big, strong, handsome, prince… Anything else? LMAO. I thought it was cute that she wanted to go on adventures with him. I guess the adult version is travel. What about you guys? What childhood fantasies did you have for Prince Charming?