Page 9 of Cinderella Is Faking It

“Oh no.” My heart sank. Imposter caught at high society event. Anna Delvey 2.0. There went my job chances. Again. “I’m so sorry.”

“No, no, no, sorry, in a good way. Here.” She pulled the first page from her stack of paper and handed me the printout of an online article. It detailed the event and included a picture of me and that Beck guy dancing. He was photogenic but the picture didn’t hold a candle to the real version. The way I smiled up at him. Ugh. Like I was 16 all over again, meeting Harry Styles at a fan event, eyes bugging out of my head. Some people’s superior genetics really turned your brain to goo. I read the caption out loud: “Power couples for a powerful cause: Cordelia Montgomery and August Beckett sweep the dance floor.”

“We can debate whether or not conserving old buildings really is apowerfulcause, but this is good press for me.”

Really? “You’re welcome?”

“You don’t go to these events to help any cause. If you want to help a cause, you donate to a charity directly instead of attending a $10,000 dinner. These events are about being seen.” She tapped the picture. “You got me seen and I didn’t even have to be there.”

Right. Networking not food. Beck had said as much. I blinked. “Those three stuffed mushrooms per person were not worth ten grand.”

Victor came back and put a dainty floral teacup down on the side table next to Cordelia. She offered him a smile and a quick ‘thank you’ before turning back to me. “I want to hire you.”

“What do you need an English teacher for?”

“No, silly. I want to hire you as a double. A stand-in for public appearances.”

I wasn’t sure what to reply to that kind of offer, so I said the first thing on my mind: “You’re way taller than me.” Granted we shared some of the same features, but not in a double-take kind of way.

“Nobody knows what I look like. There have been no public pictures of me in over 15 years. And the ones from back then… blonde hair, blue eyes, stubby nose. Close enough.”

That seemed… what in the… “I can’t. I’m a teacher.”

“You’re not. You’re looking for a job.”

“A teaching job.”

“I can get you the job at Truman.”

“No.”

“What do you mean, ‘no’?”

“I mean, no, you can’t get me the job. And no, I’m not going to be your stand-in. People at the school would recognize me. I mean, you. Me as you.” The idea alone had me pinching the back of my hand because of all the things that could go wrong.

“Oh please, the princess of Spain could walk through any American school and not a single person would know who she was. I don’t want you to become a socialite or fashion-icon. It’s a handful of events this summer. That’s all. Look.” She shoved the rest of her papers under my nose.

“No,” I said again, not even looking down. What could it be? More articles about me? Her plan for me to get a boob job, so I could fit into all her designer dresses?

“Oh.” She pulled the papers back, her shoulders sagging as she smoothed a hand over them.

Goddammit. My curiosity won out when I caught a glimpse of a pie chart. “What is it?”

“I made a PowerPoint presentation.”

The only thing better than a PowerPoint presentation was a color-coded excel table. If there was one thing I couldn’t resist, it was good organization and planning. “Can I see?”

Cordelia’s chest swelled and she jutted the stack of paper back at me. “Why don’t you look through it on your own time. You don’t have to decide right now. Are three days enough? If so, we can reconvene here in three days.”

“Sure,” I sighed. Considering the Elie Saab dress hanging in my closet and the fact that she wasn’t downright suing me for identity fraud, I could come back and say ‘no’ again in three days. Besides, maybe Truman would have called up my references by then, rejected my application, and I’d be in desperate need foranyincome.And I’d rather pretend to be Cordelia than sell my socks like Defne did.

FIVE

Nothing had changedin three days. Parker stayed at his own place. I still hadn’t heard from Truman. I kept sending my CV to schools that never replied. But at least one of Tabitha’s followers had deep enough pockets to buy the Elie Saab dress, so I would be able to pay my rent this summer.

That also meant I could confidently reject Cordelia’s job offer even though her PowerPoint presentation had been very compelling. It was an intricate outline, detailing eight weeks of social events. It basically came down to her father’s estates still being in probate. A multi-billion-dollar company, set to be inherited by Cordelia alone, currently completely up in the air. Tied up in the legal proceedings of processing an inheritance that huge. Stakeholders were beginning to get cold feet because they didn’t trust some young woman they had never seen, and the second the company was out of probate, its value could plummet unless Cordelia showed everyone by then that she was totally capable of rubbing shoulders with all the right people. From there on out, she had a whole business model that I’d only skimmed because I wasn’t cut out for corporate jargon.

I expected to find Cordelia in her office again that afternoon, but Victor wordlessly led me to a conservatory at the back of the house.It was filled with large, exotic plants that covered all the side windows, and a small fountain gurgled in the corner, but sun still flooded the room through the glass roof. Cordelia wore a fitted pink summer dress and sat in a wrought iron chair with her little, floral porcelain teacup. I’d always wanted one of those, not just the chunky mugs I’d accumulated over many birthdays and Christmases.

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