The Cinderella Project (A Comedy of Love, #1) Read online

  We finally found a small, bare patch of grass against a bushy pine and spread our blanket. Ella dropped the pillow and then plopped down on it, patting the blanket next to her. I sat and pulled her close with a kiss.

  “I’m so glad I got you, Nicky,” she sighed as her lips left mine. “Daddy always told me I deserved the best. I swore to myself that I’d never settle for less than tall, dark and handsome.”

  “I’m blonde, Ella.”

  She laughed. “It’s a figure of speech, silly. You’re everything I want in a man. Rich, six-two and you’ve got the best pair of smoky-blue eyes I’ve ever seen.” She ran a hand along my jaw and down my neck. “And that face of yours. It’s enough to make a girl just want to eat you up.” She nibbled my ear playfully.

  I shrugged. “If you’re happy, I’m happy. Looks like we both got lucky in love. You’re the most breathtaking thing I’ve ever seen.” That got me a long kiss. I laughed when I heard a firecracker burst overhead. Oh man… it was like living one of those sappy movies I’d been watching for the last two years.

  Ella cupped my chin in her hand and turned my face back to her. “Wouldn’t it be great if we didn’t have to wait clear ’til December to get married?”

  “I’d marry you tomorrow if I could, Els,” I said. Another, smaller firecracker popped from somewhere in the parking lot. “Still, what with my dissertation defense and all….”

  She nuzzled me a bit more. “Nicky?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Tell me about us, Nicky. You’re so tense, tonight.”

  “I guess I am. It’s been one heck of a day, Ella.” I pulled her into a one-armed embrace and she snuggled up against me. “So… what about us, specifically?”

  Her enchanting gaze made it easy to remember why I’d been attracted to her. “Tell me about how we met, Nicky. You know I can never hear that story enough.”

  I paused. Sure, I liked this story too. Our initial courtship had been rather magical. But I wondered why she’d been asking for it so often, as if she needed some kind of ongoing reminder.

  “Well?” she said expectantly.

  I smiled wide and gazed at the western mountains where the sun had already gone to sleep. “Once upon a time,” I began. Ella always had a penchant for fairytales and giggled every time I started it that way. “Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful young woman named Ella. Ella, because of her sophistication, beauty and intelligence was the prime envy of her stepmother and stepsister.”

  “Oh, Nicky, don’t tease.”

  I smiled at her. “Ella’s father did what he could to protect Ella from the stepfamily, but Ella’s stepmother, the old witch—”

  “Nicky!” she cried in disbelief. “How could you say such a thing about the woman?”

  Put politely, Ella hadn’t presented either her stepmother or stepsister as saints, the few times she’d even mentioned them. I still didn’t know their names. Apparently, Ella’s home situation was so unpleasant that when the time had come to ask her father for permission to marry his girl, Ella had told me that it was better to just write him a letter and have her deliver it. A letter? I had asked her. Did the man not have e-mail? Or a phone? Something about “keeping me out of the mess.” I complied and I guess it was good enough. Nevertheless, Ella’s extreme evasiveness combined with the obvious animosity toward her step family bothered me. I hoped that one day she’d trust me enough to fill me in on the details.

  “Sorry, sorry,” I chuckled. “Anyway, Ella’s stepmother always wanted her daughter to be the prize of the household. She’d do everything she could to make sure that Ella never got the chances her stepsister did, hoping that Ella would just fade away.

  “But one day that all changed.”

  She smiled. “I love this part.”

  “A handsome young man named Prince Nicholas came riding into town. Nicholas was a good soul, kind to children, animals and visiting politicians.”

  “Oh, you,” she said, slapping me lightly.

  “Prince Nicholas had come from a far-off land in order to complete his princely education. Suitably enough, Prince Nicholas was studying love. Fortunately for him, all the princesses and maids in the county noticed his studies and wanted to give him first-hand experience.”

  Ella stiffened surprisingly and tightened her grip, but I spoke before she could. “But none of the fair ladies were quite fair enough and Prince Nicholas knew that his heart’s desire lay elsewhere.” Ella relaxed, but left me wondering.

  “And so he plowed through his education, always longing for that one, special someone to whom he could give his ring. He was nigh ready to cease searching when he heard of a large, formal ball that was to be thrown in honor of the school’s hundredth anniversary. It was to be a grand gala, with lords and ladies from all corners of the campus. Furthermore, it was to be a costumed ball, in order to celebrate the ‘Many Faces of the University.’

  “Prince Nicholas was delighted at such an opportunity. Perhaps he would finally meet his one, true love. In any royal case,” I continued, “at the insistence of his sister, Prince Nicholas decided to disguise himself as a prince from times of yore. He knew this would draw the hordes of gold-digging vampire women that infested the campus, but he braved the ordeal nonetheless, in hopes that one of the ladies would be real. Little did he know that the very woman Destiny had selected as his bride would attend the ball that very night.”

  My voice quieted for effect. “With help from a godmother, Ella had escaped from her wicked stepmother and stepsister. Ella knew that the stepmother and stepsister were very fond of this godmother, for she was the very godmother of Ella’s stepsister, who shall remain nameless.”

  Ella giggled again, but said nothing.

  “Ella and her one, true girlfriend raided a local costume shop, intent on making it gloriously obvious that Ella was, indeed, the most beautiful girl at the ball. Ella would dance in the guise of a masked angel, come from Heaven above to bless the royal ball and to answer some lucky sap’s prayers.

  “That lucky sap—our handsome prince—had been at the ball for hours by the time Ella the angel had arrived. He’d used his powers of distraction to deflect an eager freshman girl or twenty and was nearly ready to throw in the towel when… she appeared.”

  “I love this part, too,” Ella said, sighing.

  “It had just so happened that one of the roving spotlights—put in place to make the dance floor an epileptic’s nightmare—seized up just at the precise moment that she materialized… right in the middle of the spotlight’s glow.”

  I dropped my voice to just above a whisper. “A hush fell over the crowd. Who could this gorgeous being be? Surely no mortal woman could look that celestial. Surely, no mere human girl could have such sparkling, crystal blue eyes; such long, golden locks; such a radiant smile and such a hot, sexy figure.”

  “You are such a flirt, Nicholas Cairn,” she said, jabbing me playfully in the ribs.

  “Yes, I know. But as I was saying, the crowd was stunned. Prince Nicholas knew at once that he had been saved from a life as an internet-surfing bachelor. At once, our prince battled his way through the swarm of males gathered around her. As the last man fell beneath the righteous fury of Prince Nicholas’ assault, his eyes finally met hers. Lady Luck smiled on the young prince and the heavenly woman graced him with a dance.” I smiled at the memory. It was one of my better ones.

  “You stole my breath, Nicky. Why would I not dance with a charming man in uniform?”

  “Because I looked like the Burger King?”

  We both laughed at my lame joke.

  I resumed. “Prince Nicholas wasted no time sweeping this girl onto the dance floor. After the most breathtaking dance of his life, he was about to sweep her into his eighty-two Datsun when the dee-jay announced that curfew had arrived with the stroke of midnight and that the lords and ladies would have to get out of the building before the janitorial crew kicked them all out.

  “As the crowd surged toward the doors, Nich
olas lost sight of his one, true love. He hadn’t even gotten her name. But once again, luck was with him—she had dropped her cell phone before getting pulled into the throng. Had Nicholas not bent to retrieve it for her, our handsome prince might not have lost sight of his love. But still, he had a tie to her.”

  Then I reached the part I tended to… embellish… for her sake. “Prince Nicholas couldn’t sleep that night, knowing full well that he had no other choice but to find his true love and propose marriage to her. Before the sun had risen, Nicholas was waiting anxiously outside the classiest jewelry store in town, credit card in hand. Soon thereafter, he purchased the finest ring money could buy and returned to his royal palace of an apartment, to await the phone call of destiny.

  “She phoned him later that evening. Her wicked stepmother had been furious that Ella had lost her cell phone and had forbade her from using the home phone in order to call the cell phone and find her prince.

  “But once again, the godmother arrived to distract the stepmother and stepsister and Ella was able to escape to a local payphone, where she frantically—it was frantically, wasn’t it?”

  Ella nodded in eager agreement.

  “Right, then. Where she frantically dialed her cell number, knowing that destiny was just a call away. Sure enough, Prince Nicholas picked up the phone. The sound of her musical voice moved him nigh to tears and apparently his voice was nice enough that she didn’t assume a middle-aged stalker had grabbed her phone. They agreed to meet in a local park to declare their true love and live happily ever after.

  “The end.”

  Ella clapped excitedly for me and I bowed as best I could. Despite my overwhelming fatigue, entertaining her was always enjoyable. By now, the fireworks were in full force. I especially liked the ones that produced specialty shapes. Ella squealed and kissed me when an explosion pasted a giant, pink heart on the night sky. I laid down and she curled up beside me, resting her head on my chest as the heavens lit up in a lovely dance. Absently, I stroked her arm and felt her get goose bumps.

  “How do you still manage to do that, Nicky?” she asked in awe.

  “No idea, really,” I said. It was the plain, honest truth.

  “Nicky?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Do you love me?”

  “Of course I do,” I answered. I could already see where this was going.

  “Prove it.”

  “Um… how?”

  “Did you mean it when you said you’d marry me tomorrow if you could?”

  I blinked, caught off guard. “Well... yeah. But you know we’ve already ruled out eloping. Mom and Dad would politely kill me and I don’t know that your dad would be thrilled with it either. Besides, we still need the time to plan the wedding.”

  She pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Do we?”

  I blinked again. “Um…. Did you have something else in mind?”

  She looked up at the brilliant color-bursts for a while before answering. “Nicky? I don’t think I want to get married in the winter. I don’t want holidays interfering with our anniversary. And really, I don’t want to wait that long. Let’s just do something smaller and go for October. Just think! We could be man and wife in only two months!”

  I stopped cold. Where had this come from? “Um, Ella? October is… a bit busy for me already.”

  She sat up quickly. “Why?”

  What did she mean “why”? I gently placed my hands on her shoulders—that always seemed to calm her—and then quietly reminded her that the defense of my dissertation was scheduled for late that month.

  Ella suddenly looked as though she might start to cry. She composed herself quickly and then turned her gaze elsewhere. Softly she said, “So you’re not going to prove it, then, are you?”

  Okay, this was officially confusing. “I guess I must be tired, Els. I’m not putting two and two together on this one. You know I love you, no matter when we get married. If you don’t want a big wedding, I’m okay with that. But we chose December so that we could really have the time together without all the distractions of school. Help me see how I’m not proving my love by wanting to go with Plan A.”

  Her face closed and her voice grew soft. “If you really loved me, you’d love me more than school.”

  Whoa. Did she really believe I loved school more than I loved her? I struggled with the notion for a while, but when I didn’t answer immediately she began sniffling lightly and made to stand. I stood with her and pulled her to me.

  “Ella, I’m not sure what I’ve said or done to worry you about my commitment, but if this is really that important to you…,” though my gut told me I was making a mistake, I finished, “October should be real fun.”

  She smiled, kissed me warmly and then thanked me. The tear of joy on her face certainly looked real. The fireworks had ended, and people were busily gathering their belongings and making their way home. I glanced at my watch and sighed, knowing I’d be wasted in the morning after this late a night. Without another word, we walked back to her apartment. I could only hope my proof of love was enough for her.

  CHAPTER THREE

  “Jim, what did you think, the first time you saw me? Like, really saw me?”

  “No way? Can you believe how much stuff is out there on these… social network things? For the love of Peter, it’s no wonder identity theft is everywhere. Jeez, you can even find out what kind of underwear someone’s wearing right now.”

  “Jim, did you just hear a word I said?”

  “What? Oh, um… no. Just Facebook me.”

  Moiré showed up right on time the following Wednesday, turning heads as she walked in the door. So what if she was a little pretty? So what if her perfume made me want to hover over her? Physical beauty was only skin deep. It was nothing more than the product of a properly shaped skeleton overlain by just the right proportioning of muscles. Her slightly-lidded eyes needn’t be mysterious if one just understood that she was merely relaxing her orbicularis oculi. Her lips might look pleasant as she smiled, but that only meant that her incisivi labii were shaped in a balanced, symmetrical way that indicated good overall health and muscular development. She was a healthy specimen, sure. That meant she probably had lower health insurance premiums. Right. Nothing more than show. Nothing.

  “Moiré De Lanthe reporting as ordered,” she said with a small grin and a mock salute. My heart stopped at the sound of her voice.

  Get a grip, I told myself. That’s just air moving through a properly shaped larynx in a non-dissonant manner.

  “Miss De Lanthe,” I sighed. “Look, about the other night—” I stopped as I noticed curious eyes turn my way. Everyone knew I was usually the last person out of the lab. Neither was my engagement a secret, even though it was never discussed.

  “Actually, why don’t we discuss this outside,” I said quietly, gesturing at the door.

  “Sure,” she said and we walked out into the hall.

  “As I was saying,” I continued in muted tones, “I was really tired and my mind really was not thinking properly. I’m sure you’re a very talented individual and I’m sure you probably have a lot to contribute to the Department. I don’t think it’s fair that you should have to go completely unpaid for that work and that’s essentially the situation you’re facing working for me.”

  “Yes, you mentioned that last night. I wasn’t expecting pay. Most internships don’t pay.”

  I was well aware of that fact. Let’s try reason number two. “You’re right, of course. Another thing I ought to mention is that I’m within three-and-a-half months of completing and defending my dissertation. Again, I’m sure you’re very intelligent and capable but given my workload, I honestly don’t see myself having anywhere near enough time to properly train you. That and I’m so far into my work that you’d probably spend most of that time just getting up to speed, only to come to a screeching halt when I finish.

  “Look, I know you’re interested in this subject. You’re more than welcome to read my dissertation w
hen it’s published, but I don’t want you to waste the better part of a semester just trying to catch up. I really think you’d have a more beneficial experience if you found someone who was just starting out his or her work and then go with them. You’d get in on the ground floor. They’d spend a semester fumbling to get into gear anyway, so you’d both be on the same page the whole time.”

  Moiré cupped her chin in her hand. “So in other words, you think I’m an idiot and you don’t want to babysit me when you’re this close to the finish line. Does that about sum it up?”

  My. She was rather direct. “No, no, that’s not it at all,” I said, waving defensively. “Again, I’m sure you’re one of the best and brightest. I just honestly don’t believe that I—that my situation—will be of any benefit to you.” That was true enough. “For your sake, I’m making a professional suggestion that you consider something you could spend more time with and something that’s still new enough that you would be able to come abreast of the project in hours or days, instead of months.”

  “I appreciate your concern for me,” she said and I noticed that those perfectly-formed labii were still molded in that teasing little smile. “Maybe I can allay some of your fears? You see, I’ve had some spare time this summer and I chose this project quite deliberately. I know that you’re measuring the way people’s nervous systems respond not only to different physical stimuli, but how their perceptions about the source of those stimuli affect the neurophysical response. Your objective is to determine whether standard indicators of relationship success can be detected by brainwave patterns and I know that you’ve got enough drive to compare that data with anecdotal observations. You use couples in various stages of romantic relationships, from beginning to end. You stimulate brain function with pressure on certain body regions typically associated with romantic contact. Your baseline tests use just pressure, which is then supplemented by pressure exerted on those regions while the subjects view images of people unrelated to them.

  “You have a very straightforward and comprehensive methodology and your results have been very consistent. Your core literary research involves several hundred books, including novels from the romance genre alongside official psychological texts. You’ve supplemented all of those with multi-media research, primarily in the form of films and love songs. According to what I’ve found, you’ve conducted over nine-hundred tests thus far.