Frustrated, I slammed the cupboard door shut. I debated briefly whether I should cancel, but I knew Georgie would never hear of it. Feeling defeated, I sat on the edge of the bed, pulled the ballerina shoes on, and stood up. The dress fell to theground, and if I was careful, no one would see them. But I was hardly the elegant creature of my dreams.
I walked over and stared in the mirror. I tried to tell myself that despite my ludicrous shoe mishap, tonight would be fun. Then I spent the next fifteen minutes trying to maneuver my hair into something that resembled a tidy bun—and failed. I should have booked a hairdresser. I sighed and let it down again. Then I took a lot more time than usual to apply makeup, and it was heavier than I’d normally wear. When it came to lipstick, I had a total of three to choose from: brown, nude, and red.
You should wear that one. Red looks stunning on you.
I chose the red and then surveyed the results. I looked better than normal. Maybe even pretty.It’ll be fun,I told myself. Fun.
*
I regretted coming.
Jeff was a tall guy, with limbs so long and thin they resembled cracks in a windowpane. He had his arm around Georgie’s shoulders, and she leaned into him as they whispered back and forth to each other, smiling. Jodie’s boyfriend, Trent, a sandy-haired, good-looking guy, had his hand on Jodie’s ass. Both couples hardly saw each other regularly, so their affection was as sweet as it was simultaneously sickening.
I lingered behind them, wishing I’d stayed home. The absence of Tom ached in the depths of my chest.
Losing Tom was not the same as the staggering explosion of pain I felt when I lost my mother. But it still hurt. I grieved the loss of his presence. The loss of the dreams we planned. Of moments in the sunshine holding hands. Heated nights between the sheets. Friends and dinner parties and laughter. Maybe even the pitter-patter of tiny feet. The life I thought would be minehad been cruelly ripped away. He’d left me with a chasm I’d never refill.
I drew in a razor-sharp breath and mentally pulled myself together, walking quicker to catch up to Georgie. Not that she noticed.
In front of us was an expansive two-storey white timber home. Large bay windows sat at both the top and bottom of the house. We headed up the wooden steps to a porch glistening with fairy lights. They were wrapped around poles and across the ceiling, spreading along the whole front of the house. Even the entrance was huge, with white double doors and shiny gold handles. Wooden floors, polished within an inch of their lives, greeted us inside. A beaded chandelier hung in the foyer, and the light from the crystals danced around the room, which was larger than my entire cabin. A huge staircase wound up towards the top floor.
At the end of the hallway on the left was a ballroom. It was bustling with people dressed to the nines, chatting or dancing. More chandeliers hung from the high ceiling. Nestled in the corner was a black piano, shining like a mirror. A stairway on the other side of the room led outside. A stage was set at the far end of the room where a DJ played music. A well-stocked bar ran along the wall beside it.
After we spent the first half an hour or so chatting and downing three champagnes, my friends all hit the dance floor. They asked me to dance, but feeling like a second wheel on a unicycle, I refused. I stood alone, champagne in hand, with a dull ache nipping at the back of my head.
Jeff held Georgie tight as she rested her head on his chest.
Jodie had her arms wrapped around Trent’s neck. She wore a low-cut black gown, and Trent was looking at her breasts, his fingers tracing up and down her spine.
BJ was with his date, Gina, a girl with short brunette hair and eyes as cold as her smile. They were chatting to a small group off to one side.
I recognized a few faces vaguely, but no one I felt comfortable enough to sidle up to. I couldn’t see Karson or Ethan. Katrina and Robert were across the room, and she caught my eye and flashed a smile. She wore a fitted blush-colored gown. Robert wore a charcoal-gray suit with a white shirt and blush pink tie. Katrina’s selection, no doubt.
Every ten minutes that passed felt like an hour. I threw back the rest of my champagne and wandered outside.
The back veranda was a replica of the one out front, and rows and rows of fairy lights twinkled across the manicured lawns. Thousands of tiny beams sparkled in the night sky. The air was toasty warm and perfectly still. Candles licked the dim night from a round side table, vanilla scenting the air. It was so pretty it looked like it’d been plucked right out of the pages of a fairy tale. I popped the empty glass on a table and grabbed a full one off a tray as a waiter walked past.
I stopped at the top of the stairs and pondered how to get down. I’d have to lift the bottom of my dress up, or risk tripping on the fabric and sprawling flat on my face. I scanned the people below; everyone seemed to be deep in conversation, and no one was looking in my direction. I lifted the dress up just enough so I wouldn’t trip, stepped down, and prayed no one would turn and see the shoes.
“Nice shoes, Cinderella,” Ethan said.
Mortified, I looked up. I was exactly halfway down the stairs and briefly thought about turning and hightailing it back inside. But I didn’t want Ethan to think I cared about what he thought. I held my head up and did the best I could to look confident.
Ethan looked dashing in his sleek, tailored black suit. He wore no tie, and the top three buttons of his white shirt wereundone. I tried not to peek at his chest, which was tanned, hairless, and muscled, but failed. I told myself I was just looking at the silver moon-shaped pendant he wore.
I took another big gulp of my champagne and descended the last few steps to the grass below.
“Steady up, Cinderella, we wouldn’t want you losing a shoe at midnight, especially ones so unique,” Ethan said with a smirk, glancing down at the bottom of my dress. My shoes were now safely hidden by a curtain of green.
“Ethan, lovely to see you without a bloodied head in your hands.”
He ignored my comment as he reached out, took my hand in his, and kissed the top of it. I tried not to dwell on the soft feel of his lips, nor the butterflies that flapped like they’d just taken ecstasy in my stomach.
“You look divinely gorgeous tonight.”
Divinely gorgeous—the exact words I’d thought when I first met him.Did I mutter them out loud? I must have. Shit, shit, shit.
I groaned internally but kept my expression blank. “Thank you. You look very handsome, although I notice you’re still as annoying as ever.”
