Page 25 of Cinderella Is Faking It

Oh. My. God.

Could the earth hurry up with the swallowing-me-whole already?

At least he didn’t point it out or make fun of me for my stupid, childish reaction. Instead, he said: “Still ready to ditch her if you say yes.”

I stared up at him, feeling my nostrils flare and my pulse spike against my will. How could he- He was just so- What on earth made him think-

“Del?” Parker called from behind me, snapping me out of it. I turned to face him, knowing fully well that my face had to be the same color as his strawberry refresher. “Uh, it’s just that I have work.” He tapped his wrist where a watch would be if he wore a watch. I glanced back at Beck’s wrist, finding a glinting gold watch with a leather strap on his arm. What the hell had I done that for? Horrible person, making horrible comparisons. Watches? Who the hell cared about watches?

“Coming!” I called and turned to Beck one last time. “Enjoy your date.”

He smirked. “It’s a business dinner.”

“Whatever,” I bit out with all the cadence of someone who was definitely, totally, absolutely unaffected by that revelation. Beck had an unnerving ability to creep under my skin. Totally not my fault, right? I breathed in deeply, filling my lungs with his citrus, woodsy smell, thatunfortunatelydidn’t compare at all to the sugary, flowery scents the pheromone perfumes had described. “Enjoy your business dinner.”

TWELVE

My eyes burnt,but no matter how much I blinked, the pain didn’t ease up. All the bright pink in Cordelia’s office didn’t help. It burnt itself into my corneas. That’s what I got for sleeping all of two hours.

Defne and Tabitha had insisted on celebrating my new job with me even though I had felt less than jubilant in midst of the Parker-Beck-chaos. Plus, I couldn’t really go out, now that my physical appearance was tied to Cordelia - at least until I cut and dyed my hair at the end of summer. That hadn’t deterred them from pumping me full of caramel fraps and dragging me to a karaoke bar, where they’d booked a private room for us. And by the third Abba song, my life had been peachy.

Except now I didn’t feel like much of a dancing queen at all anymore, trying to focus my eyes on the little plastic card in my hands. “Where did you get this picture?” I asked, holding the license up to the light.

“I don’t know. I just tell people what to do. I don’t ask them how they do it.” Cordelia shrugged as if it was totally normal that she could just get her hands on my passport picture, and put it on a fake ID.

“Wait,” I scanned the details on the license again, exhausted brain goo piecing together that I wasn’t just getting an ID that made me 29 instead of 27, “why are you giving me a fake ID with your name on it?”

“I would have just given you mine since we look similar enough, but I don’t have a driver’s license.”

“This is your real address,” I added, pointing at the Beacon Street address on the card.

“Real name, real date of birth, everything. Your height, obviously. In case anyone ever questions you, I suggest dropping your wallet at some point, in a restaurant, or a hotel lobby maybe.”

“Makes sense.” At least it sounded logical to my tired brain. I pulled out my wallet and placed the Cordelia ID in the little see-through compartment, hiding mine between old receipts and half-full loyalty cards.

“One last thing,” Cordelia hummed and opened the top drawer of her desk, pulling out a set of keys with a large, gold CM keychain. “You should move in here for the next five weeks. The guest suite on the second floor has been prepared for you. Feel free to go have a look. If there’s anything missing, just let Victor know and he’ll sort it out for you. There’s a grocery list on the fridge that the housekeeper takes care of twice a week.”

I laughed. “Cordelia, I can’t move into your house. I have an apartment.”

“You’re renting and your boyfriend lives with his brother, right?”

I wasn’t even going to start discussing Parker with her. She probably knew about him the same way she could get her hands on my passport picture. “Yes.”

“I can cover the two months of rent if that’s what you’re concerned about.”

What? Pay for my rent while I was living here for free? God, I wished I had more energy for this conversation. I reached for the cup of horribly rancid tea on the desk in front of me and downed it in one swig.Bitter caffeine save me.“I have a life to go with that apartment,” I said. “I have friends. I have a- I have a cat.”

“Is the cat physically chained to your apartment?”

“No.”

“Then you can move in here. No offense, but your neighborhood isn’t the kind of place I would be seen in more than once. I don’t need anyone tracing me there after an evening event.” She placed the key on the table between us. “Pool and gym are in the basement. Breakfast is ready at 7.30, dinner at 8.00. The Wi-Fi password is on the desk, but I do ask you not to illegally stream or download anything while living here. The TV in your room is all set up and you can buy whatever you want to watch. We’ve had… an issue with that before. During the Game of Thrones hype.”

My brain was trying to process the information as fast as it was relayed to me, but I was still stuck onpool and gym are in the basement.

“Victor will pick you up with the car at 9pm sharp. That should give you ample time to pack your bags. What supplies will your cat be needing?”

“What?”

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