Cinderella for Hire

I pouted slightly. I really wanted to kiss him. It was a thought that I didn't want to entertain but it was intrusive, aggressively making its' way into my mind every time I tried to push it back out. And I really lacked the sense to prioritize because as the restaurant loomed closer and closer, I was actually still thinking about Nick's lips.

Nick, being Nick, didn't even talk about what happened at the tower.

Not that I blamed him though, I felt embarrassed enough already, thinking about it. Even so, even if I did kissed him, then what? What? Did he have feelings for me? I sincerely doubt it.

The thing was, instead of being swooned over by the thoughts of being that high up above the ground, alone with Nick, I really should be thinking about how to manage the dinner that we were going to eventually have anyway with Steven Fulton's family. Because Nick didn't look too thrilled about it – he looked puce, actually.

"Are you okay?"

"Don't ask me that."

I took that as a 'no'.

That night I was wearing this really dark navy cocktail dress with a bateau neckline that draped itself around my body beautifully. I was in love with it. I was so in love with it that I took a picture in front of the mirror and emailed it to Andrea and she gave me thumbs up. I was also wearing the familiarly (how unfortunate) ridiculously high pumps and sheer, black tights and a pair of my (fake) diamond earrings but hey, they looked real enough!

My breath caught in my throat when Nick was sliding his arm around my waist, pulling me closer. And then stupidly I realized it was because we were supposed to look like a couple now and I relaxed a bit in his arms as he lead me to the restaurant that was all glass panels and overlooked the lit city. Soft tones from the piano drifted across the space amidst chatter and the clanking of glasses.

Dining had never been scarier.



Ian wasn't there. And the food was scrumptious.

That was the only two good things that I could think of after half-an-hour being in the same vicinity as these people were. It was so weird and intimidating and I was having a headache. I didn't want to drink too much but holy crap, was I tempted to.

First of all, I was really hungry. Like barbaric hungry because all I had was some stupid gummy bears. And since tonight was a full-house, the service was slower than I've anticipated. So when the food arrived, I dug in like I had never seen or even heard about food before. But it wasn't that bad, I swear! It was just the looks that Steven and his wife, Alyssa gave me that made me feel so small and belittled.

And it was never-ending too. That look never went away. Maybe I was just being paranoid, I wasn't sure myself.

This wasn't fun at all.

"So why didn't you take up business or law, even? You know, dear, a useful…degree?" Alyssa asked me, graciously sipping her wine. Caleb's got his remarkably blue eyes from her mother, I noticed. She was wearing a sharp, black suit and had pearls around her neck. Her chestnut hair was held up in a high bun with no strands peeking out. Very polished. Very poised.

"It's not a waste," I said, feeling offended. "I don't regret taking it."

"I'm not saying it is, my dear. I'm just saying, that you would be better off taking something that would benefit you in the long-term."

"Mother," Caleb began, smiling tightly at her but Alyssa ignored him.

"It's my passion, and I'm glad that I learn everything that I wanted to know about art. If I had the opportunity to, I would've gone to grad school but I've decided to gain experience and fund my own education in the future instead of relying on my parents," I answered, trying to stay calm. I had been in this conversation far too many times and people just needed to open up their mind and chill. It was my life, my decision. And yes, I had a hard time searching for jobs and even landed one that wasn't even in my field of studies. But I wasn't miserable throughout my college years – I actually had lots of fun.

These people were just miserable.

Steven's lips twitched into a wry smile. "I like her, Nicholas. She's got courage! Passion!" He said to a very silent Nick and turned his attention back to me. "And I like that you're willing to work hard for your success, not burdening or even using your parents to get to where you want to go."

I stared at him as I gaped. Yes, I gaped.

I didn't dare to look at Nick.

Caleb, sensing the tense in the air leaned a bit closer next to me and whispered, "I can fold this napkin into a swan."

"Holy crap! That's amazing! I can turn mine into a ball," and then scrunched up my napkin just to have it fall flat on my lap again. "Well, that failed."

"You alright there, Nicholas?" His uncle asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Perfect. Just enjoying my dinner."

"How do you manage your relationship together, dear?" Alyssa asked. "We all know here that Nicholas is an awfully busy man. This is the first time in years that he actually agreed to have dinner with us. You elusive boy," she said, chuckling.

"How could I resist, Alyssa?" Nick said, surreptitiously glancing at me with a gleam of amusement in his eyes. And I wanted to snort in laughter.

Actually I recalled Nick telling me before we got here that her aunt badgered her endlessly to come with me to this dinner and that the only way to get her off his back was probably to have a restraining order against her, which didn't look too good.

"Well," I said abruptly after she stared at me for a long while, expecting something. Then I remembered she actually asked me a question. "Um, well, we manage," I said lamely. "He makes time in his schedule for me and we make sure that we see each other every time we can. He…um, he actually asked me to move in with him a few days ago," I said slowly, looking at him for some kind of approval. He didn't do anything but just sip his drink as he looked out the window.

"Congratulations!" Alyssa gushed. "You must be one very special girl, no one has ever wrestle that much of relationship commitment out of Nicholas. We actually had him meet up with this heiress for a while and even she couldn't keep up with his schedule."

Heiress.

"Or is there a hidden agenda, ey, April?" Steven said after he swallowed the bite of salmon he had.

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, Nicholas here is a pretty wealthy man with multiple assets and so far you…" he trailed off, raising his eyebrow.

I squirmed in my seat uncomfortably. What the hell was that supposed to mean?

My goodness, this couple was rude and overbearing.