An American Cinderella: A Royal Love Story

by Krista Lakes

  I swallowed hard, doing my best to keep my head held high as I slowly turned to face her.

  “Hello, Audrey,” I greeted her. “What a surprise to see you here.”

  “Surprise is an excellent word for it,” she agreed. “Imagine my surprise when I find out that not only are you not doing your job, you’ve been seen trying on dresses at a bridal shop. Is there something you’d like to let me know?”

  “No, not really.” Maybe it was the fancy dress or the two champagnes I drank while trying on gowns, but I didn’t want her to ruin this for me. I wished she’d just leave.

  Her eyebrows raised slightly, but she simply shrugged and took a seat on the white leather couch.

  “Why aren’t you at work?” she asked, picking a piece of lint from her black slacks and then casually flicking it to the floor.

  “My boss gave me the afternoon off,” I replied. I was glad the layers of satin on the dress hid my shaking knees. I didn’t want to tell her about Henry or the ball. I didn’t want her to know about him because I knew she would use him against me somehow. It was just what she did.

  “See, that’s interesting to me,” she said. “Because I just spoke with her boss and found out that she re-tasked you. I’m sure you can understand why that displeased me. I did a lot of work to get you on those documents and now I find out you’re stuffing folders instead.”

  I didn’t say anything. The last thing I wanted was to get Jaqui in trouble. She didn’t deserve my stepmother’s wrath. No one did.

  “And, I haven’t received any new photos of your work progress.” Her voice was light and cheerful, but it held a dark undertone that made me want to run and hide. “It’s really quite concerning. Add on to that, I hear you’ve been invited to the Paradisian Masquerade Ball and are out trying on dresses. It’s simply almost too much to believe.”

  “How did you know about the ball?” My stomach felt like a giant ball of hard ice.

  “Oh, don’t look so surprised,” she scoffed. “You should know I always find out about these kinds of things. You can’t keep anything from me.”

  “What do you want, Audrey?” I reached into the secret pocket and called my old phone number. I knew it would go straight to voicemail. It wasn’t a great chance, but if I could record anything to catch her, I wanted to try.

  “Where are my photos, Aria?” She looked up at me with those acid green eyes and I felt a little bit sick. The ice ball in my stomach tightened.

  “I was going to give you one thumb drive with all the files when I finished. It’s less risky for me than taking pictures on my phone,” I lied. I didn’t plan on giving her a damn thing, but she didn’t need to know that.

  “Oh, my sweet naive Aria.” Audrey stood and touched my cheek with a sick smile. “I can see through that and it isn’t going to work. You’re going to get me those photos now. Or else I destroy your father. And you.”

  “I can’t get them to you right now,” I replied. My hands gripped at the satin of my dress. “You’ll have to wait until at least the end of next week.”

  “I thought you might say that.” She sat back down and crossed her legs, looking perfectly comfortable. “Because I am generous, you can get them to me Monday evening, but it will be all of them. Not just what you get through by Friday. Everything.”

  “There’s over a week’s worth of files still to go,” I told her, my eyes going wide. “It’s not possible to get them all to you by then.”

  “It is if you work through the weekend,” Audrey replied. She checked her fingernails as if the shiny French manicure had chipped. “And so that’s what you’re going to do.”

  “No.” I shook my head. “I won’t do it.”

  “Why? Because of a silly little dance?” Audrey sighed and shook her head. “You’re still new to politics and how things work, so I’ll explain this to you. I own you. You do what I say.”

  “You don’t have anything on me,” I replied reflexively.

  “I have a picture that I’m not supposed to have from your phone,” Audrey replied. “That’s more than enough to ruin you. Didn’t you see what happened to Congressman Smith? Your evidence is even more damning.”

  I thought of the man she had ruined because he betrayed her.

  “You stole that photo from me! You hacked my phone,” I hissed at her. “People will understand.”

  “Doesn’t matter how I got it,” she said sweetly. “Fact is, if you want to play the ‘I’m so moral’ card, you never should have taken the photo in the first place. You have no leg to stand on. What you don’t seem to understand is that you have no bargaining chips. You’ll do what I say, when I say. And I say now.”

  “I can’t make things happen without more time.” I was trying very hard to keep my voice calm and level, but panic tickled at the back of my throat.

  Audrey sighed. “Let me make this very simple for you,” she said. “You will not be going to the ball. You will be scanning documents so that I don’t give your father’s photos to the press, or yours for that matter. You will also be working on research for Anastasia. You need to prioritize your work over your social life.”

  “What do you mean ‘research for Anastasia?’” I asked. “I already did that. I gave it to you.”

  “You did, and apparently did such a nice job that they want more.” Audrey put on an innocent expression. “Did I forget to tell you again? It’s also due Monday.”

  “You can’t do that!”

  Audrey laughed, sending shivers up my spine. “With what I have on you and your father, I can do anything I want. I thought I made that very clear to you.”

  I stood there, still in the dress that I had had such high hopes for ten minutes ago, and felt it all slipping away again. I closed my eyes and tried not to get upset. That would only feed Audrey’s torture. What was I going to tell Henry? He had been so excited for me to go. It was important to him.

  “I can’t get them to you Monday. Maybe Thursday. There’s just too much work,” I explained.

  Audrey stood up and moved to stand in front of me. She put her hand on my chin, holding me in place.

  “The buyers that I have lined up for this information are expecting it Tuesday morning at nine am. They are not forgiving people.” A glimmer of fear crossed her face and I had to wonder just who she had gotten into bed with. They had to be terrifying and powerful if Audrey was afraid of them. “I will not go down because of your incompetence. Those files will be in my hand Monday evening by dinner or I will make you wish you had never been born. Do you understand?”

  I thought of the missing baby grand piano and the Jaguar at her house. How she said she had bills to pay and was down an informant. It hit me that she didn’t have money coming in. She’d sold the piano and the Jaguar to keep up appearances. I realized that she was desperate for this information. This was her big payday and I was screwing it up.

  Which meant that there was no way she was going to let me out of it. There would be no leniency on her end if I didn’t deliver. This was worth too much to her. Any hope of simply not delivering and dealing with the consequences left my mind. She would destroy me with everything she had left if I failed her because that would be all she had left to do.

  “I understand,” I whispered.

  She smiled, showing her teeth but there was a predatory edge to it that made me nervous. She let go of my chin and patted my cheek.

  “That’s a good girl,” she cooed. “I knew I could make you see reason.”

  “Give me what you need for Anastasia,” I said, looking at my feet in the mirror. “I need to know what I’m working on.”

  “It’ll be in your email,” she replied. She took a deep breath and smiled like we’d had a wonderful conversation. “Well, I’m so glad we had this little chat. You will get those documents to me. I will be watching you. If you try to escape your duties and sneak off to the ball, there will be consequences.”

  I swallowed hard. “I understand.”

  “Good. Because
I would hate for anything to happen to your future. Right now, it still has a very good chance of being bright as long as you do as I say.” She smiled. “I will be watching you. I will know if you are working on the files. I’ve also told the senator to call me if there’s any trouble with Anastasia’s work, so I will know about that as well. You cannot hide from me, Aria.”

  I wondered who she had passing her information. I knew she had ties to Jaqui’s boss. That was probably where she found out how far along in my work I was.

  “I understand.”

  “And that dress is...” Audrey paused as if searching for the right word. “Something.”

  I hated the way my heart sunk at her snide remark. I swallowed down the resentment and told myself that Audrey was just trying to get under my skin. The dress was fine. I wasn’t going to let her into my head.

  “Goodbye, Audrey.” I consciously forced my hands to relax and found that I’d put wrinkles into the dress from gripping it so hard.

  “See you Monday, dear.” Audrey smiled and sashayed out the door. She waved to the saleswoman who waved back. I guessed that’s how she knew about the dress and the ball. I’d told the saleswoman and they obviously knew one another.

  I should have gone to a dress store in a different state.

  I stood in front of the mirror and stared at the dress. I still wanted to go to the ball. How in the world was I going to tell Henry that I had to work all weekend? I could already imagine the hurt in his eyes and the way he would say it was okay, even though it wasn’t.

  “Are you still interested in the dress?” the saleswoman asked, coming up behind me. I startled slightly. “Your stepmother didn’t say if you wanted to purchase it.”

  “Um...” I frowned, trying to think. A spark of resistance flared in my chest. If there was a way to go to the ball, I was going to find it. There was a possibility I could get the work done in time and she would never know.

  “Miss?”

  “Yes. I’ll take the dress,” I said, deciding that I wasn’t going to let my stepmother win. I was going to make it to the ball or die trying.

  Chapter 20

  I paid for the dress and then went to my apartment and looked at the research for Anastasia. It was more work than my stepmother had let on. The research I’d done for her last week was just the beginning. I was basically doing my senator’s aide job without the benefits of going to the office or getting paid.

  Before I started that, I looked online for a lawyer. I made an online appointment from my burner phone with a fake name. The earliest I could get was Monday afternoon. It felt like too little too late, but I needed to know what I could do to protect myself, even if it felt like there was nothing.

  I worked until I couldn’t see straight, set an alarm, then got up at the crack of dawn and went to the office. I put enough coffee in my system to get a bus full of people going.

  I had to do this so that I could go to the ball with Henry. That was my motivation. It wasn’t the pretty dress or the idea of dancing all night. It was that I would get to be with Henry. This mattered to him, so I was going to do everything within my power to make it happen.

  I beat the entire staff to the office. Gus wasn’t even on duty yet, so I had to check in with the nighttime security staff. It felt strange to be in the building without the usual hum of phone calls and chatter.

  I went to my office to find it just as I had left it. I turned on the computer and scanner and got to work. I didn’t take any pictures, even though I knew my stepmother would want me to. I still didn’t know what to do about that.

  She would know if I wasn’t working on the scans, though. Someone was watching me and counting my boxes. I had to do the work in order to have any time to think of a plan. If she found out I wasn’t working at a breakneck pace, she would release what she had on me right now. Then there would really be no ball.

  I mulled over what to do next. If I didn’t take the pictures, Audrey was going to go full scorched earth on me. My father’s legacy would be ruined, but so would mine. If she released that photo to the right people, it wasn’t a stretch to say I could end up being prosecuted. My political career would be over before it ever began, along with any other career I might want.

  Yet, if I did take the pictures of the files, she might still turn on me. She had blackmail on me and if I’d learned anything about her business, it was that blackmail never went away. You just paid to keep it quiet a little longer. If I did what she asked, she would stay quiet until the next time it suited her, only she’d have dozens of files I’d given her instead of just the one. She would have me stealing information for her for the rest of my life.

  I thought about going to Jaqui and confessing everything, but my stepmother would just release the photo I’d taken. Jaqui wouldn’t be able to protect me. No one short of the Paradisian trade delegation could.

  I was in a heck of a pickle.

  So, I tried to think as I scanned and did research on the side. I’d managed to get most of our conversation at the dress shop on my phone, but there was nothing that a good lawyer couldn’t get thrown out. I needed more. I just didn’t know how to get it, and then, who to go to once I had it.

  I had to hope my meeting with the lawyer on Monday would be able to help me. It didn’t feel like it would be enough, but it was all I had going at the moment.

  Suddenly Jaqui poked her head in. “I see you got the memo that you have to go back to your original job. I can’t believe they want it done as soon as possible. It’s not even that important a thing,” She had dark circles under her eyes and a beaten expression.

  “Are you okay?” I asked, standing up from my desk. She looked like she’d been crying.

  Jaqui shrugged. “I got a verbal dress-down for the record books. I’m officially under review for misappropriating personnel. I don’t even know if that’s a thing, but my boss is furious.”

  “I’m so sorry, Jaqui.” I sat down hard and put my head in my hands. “I never meant for this to happen.”

  “Hey, I don’t blame you.” Jaqui came and put both her hands on the desk in front of me. “You didn’t do this.”

  But I felt like I did. It was all my fault. I just kept staring at my desk.

  “Did you get the dress?” she asked, trying to change the subject to something happier for both of us. “It looked great. At least that’s something we can both look forward to. I’m going to live vicariously through you. I can’t wait to hear all about it. And all about Henry. I bet he looks good in a suit. The two of you will be the talk of the party.”

  I nodded, but kept my glum expression. “I pick it up tomorrow.”

  “So why the long face?” Jaqui asked.

  I sighed. “How am I going to get this done in time?” I motioned to the boxes all around me. “ASAP means I don’t get to stop my work and go to the ball.”

  “Or does it?” Jaqui asked. “I’ve been taken off the delegation task list. Which means, I don’t have a ton of work to do right now.”

  My head slowly came up. “Are you serious?”

  Jaqui grinned. “You just got a helper. It’ll be like old times.”

  “You’d do that for me?”

  “Aria, you’d do it for me in a heartbeat. You did do it for me,” she replied. “I’m going to go set my stuff down and then I’ll steal the scanner from the copy room. We’ll have this done in no time. I’m turning this bad thing into a positive.”

  She gave me a wink and headed out of my office with me staring after her. Hope started to form in my chest. There was a possibility that I could have this done in time to go to the ball.

  Granted, I couldn’t take pictures of the documents with her in the office with me, but then I wasn’t taking pictures anyway. Having Jaqui help me didn’t solve all my problems, but it did at least help with one. I wasn’t about to turn that down.

  Together, we worked all morning and late into the evening. I focused on scanning rather than Anastasia’s work, but it made the scanning go
quicker. With the two of us working, we cleared the floor of boxes in record time. When the end of the day rolled around, I was easily within two days of work to finish the scans.

  The ball was looking more and more possible. I stayed late, continuing to work on my projects for as long as I had the energy to do so. I only stopped when Henry called to see how I was doing.

  “I got a dress,” I told him. “It’s purple.”

  “I can’t wait to see it on you,” he replied. I could hear his smile over the phone. “It really means a lot to me. I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to this.”

  “Me too.” I bit my lip and looked around the room. Should I tell him there was a possibility I might not make it?

  “Thank you for coming to this,” he said, drawing my attention back to him. “It’s really important to me that you’re there.”

  “Of course. I won’t let you down.” I didn’t know what he had to do to get these tickets, but if they were as rare as everyone claimed they were, he probably had to call in a lot of favors. I wasn’t about to mess everything up because I couldn’t get my work done. Besides, Jaqui’s help had gotten me to where it was doable.

  We talked for a few more minutes about everything and nothing. I could hear the smile in his voice and how he slowly relaxed the longer we spoke. I suspected I did the same thing. He made me feel better just by talking to me. Anything felt possible with him.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow, Aria,” he said. I loved the way he said my name.

  “See you tomorrow, Henry.”

  I sighed and hung up the phone. The room was darker without his voice in it. He made my world brighter just by being in it. Even through the phone.

  I tried to get back to work, but I heard a strange noise. It wasn’t the normal creak and hum of the building ventilation or the steps of the night watchman. I frowned, trying to figure out the strange sound.

  Finally, it dawned on me that it was my hacked phone. Somewhere deep in the recesses of my purse, my phone was ringing.