The little girl at the airport meant that she wants to be like Cinderella when she grows up. While I’ve been there, done that, and am most certainly all grown up and swiftly breezing through my twenties, I don’t feel like I’ve fully grown up. Who am I? What do I want? How can I give instead of take? These questions circle my thoughts.
Maybe I’m not a princess in title, but I’ll rescue myself. I’ll figure out a way to stop living paycheck to paycheck. To create a life I truly want instead of struggling to get by.
My first task: how can I turn a pumpkin into a gentleman?
Granted, Declan is as sweet (and salty) as can be. We have a friendship that involves teasing and the occasional prank. He’s never been anything other than a gentleman to me, but I can only imagine the torment he’s caused his teammates, never mind the women he dates. Then again, they line up to be with him, so perhaps there’s another side to Declan Printz that I don’t know.
The notion causes me to stagger back onto the firm silk sofa.
Casting those silly notions aside,Take two.
A book titledA Guide to Blancbourg Academy d’Etiquette,along with a white card outlining my schedule for the week, sits on the coffee table.
I flip through the book first, learning more about my role, appropriate attire, and tips for dealing with various personalities. The book also explains each of the lessons I’m to conduct, starting withDinner Table Dynamicstonight. Thank goodness, because otherwise, I’d have no idea where to begin, other than with Declan cleaning up his beard. Cinderella’s bluebirds could build a nest in there.
I consult the personality test we did earlier and match it with the key in the book, which offers strategies for dealing with and appealing to Declan’s type: alpha male.
Be direct
Show no fear
Don’t tolerate man-trums
Challenge him to work toward a goal
Calmly and clearly communicate
The takeaway? Remain best friends and nothing more, while pretending that we’re not friends and don’t know each other. Cue hysterical hyena laughter, because that is turning out to be easier said than done.
I hang his tailored jacket on a chair and shower, then dress. Most of my clothing is better suited to the Florida heat and humidity than Concordia’s relatively mild weather. I don’t have the funds to go shopping and buy a new wardrobe. A pair of simple black pants from when I waited tables and a white blouse with pink polka dots will have to suffice. Giselle had given it to me when I had to go to an event at my old job. Never mind aclothes horse, the woman is a clothes elephant. I slide on a pair of black patent leather heels to complete the look.
Declan’s comment aboutcooling offreminds me of what the creepy kid said when he pulled me into the fountain. At first, embarrassment crushes me because there’s no doubt Declan saw the viral video. He lives for that stuff. He’s probably already hatching a plan to capitalize on it because we’re the kind of friends who poke fun at each other.
Back in high school, he perpetually had pillow creases on his face when he’d come to first period and I’d tease him about it. I didn’t come away unscathed because he’d comment about my cow eyes. He claimed it’s because they’re big. I don’t know about in Ireland, but telling a girl she has a cow-anything isn’t too kind.
But then the embarrassment reverses, blazing through me and lighting me up with determination.
I’ve cooled off, alright. After the shock of reuniting with him and the fear that he’ll recognize me from the viral video, my demeanor bordered on frosty. But that’s what I need to do to keep our friendship from interfering with this job.
