Page 26 of Becoming Cinderella

It’s perfect for the fairytale and based on Liam’s chuckle I think I audibly gasp at how picturesque it is. Way to play it cool, Carter.

There are rows of people with clipboards and headsets and some with more than one phone in their hands. Several people stand behind large black cameras and a couple of director type chairs sit nearby unoccupied.

Liam pulls me towards the edge of the set where Olivia is sitting in her chair looking at her phone. She’s wearing a tattered dress with dirt smeared across her face.

“Come on Liv, try to be more upset you might not make it to see me at the ball.”

Olivia glances up and smiles at Liam. “I forget you’re the one I’m trying to see. Maybe I should let them keep piling on the chores.”

“Yeah whatever.” He drawls out the way he says whatever and I can’t help but smile at it. Maybe it’s the accent? “So Liv, this is Carter.” He steps aside, where I realize I’m practically hiding behind him. It’s a good thing my fight-or-flight is the reason I was able to talk to Liam the first time, because I’m not off to a great start with Olivia.

She turns from Liam to me, a genuine smile on her face. “Carter!” She stands up and gives me a hug. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

This takes me by surprise. First, I wasn’t expecting her to be this friendly and second, she’s heard a lot about me? Was that just something she’s saying to be nice? I wouldn’t mind details on what she’s heard.

“You have?” I dumbly answer. Not an ‘it’s nice to meet you’ or even an ‘I’ve heard a lot about you too.’ Which, from Liam I haven’t, but from tabloids and interviews, absolutely.

She laughs, like I told a joke. Her laugh is musical, and it’s not fair that even her laugh seems perfect.

“Of course. You’re the girl Liam keeps running off to see.” Her smile doesn’t falter, in fact I think it grows. Does she know about our deal?

“Um,” I glance up at Liam. He’s not meeting my eyes though, so I don’t know which direction to take. “I guess so?”

“Olivia, two minutes.” A man in a headset calls to her.

“Alright Liv, we’ll let you get to it. Just remember, I want pure heartbreak you might not make it to the ball.” Liam tries to say this with a serious face but a hint of a smile still appears.

She shoots Liam a look as she gives me another hug. This was a fun tidbit about her I didn’t know; she’s a hugger.

“It was so nice to meet you, Carter. I hope Liam stops keeping you to himself and I see you around.”

I feel myself blush. Liam keeping me to himself? If only she knew the real reason he keeps running off to see me.

“Sorry about that. She uh,” Liam glances over his shoulder once we’re out of earshot. “She doesn’t know you’re helping me with the dance.” He takes my hand. “Come on, the ballroom set is right over here.”

He guides me through some trees, still holding my hand. I glance down at our joined hands and my chest suddenly feels like it has a band wrapped around it. It seems harder to breathe suddenly and as much as I wish I could blame the altitude, it’s not. I’ve lived here too long to use it as an excuse.

We break through the trees into a clearing where he drops my hand as we reach the set.

I stare at the set, stunned by how gorgeous it is. The flooring is made of gray stoned designs and a double staircase that meets into one for the grand entrance. The walls appear to be made of marble, or at least a material to look like marble. The walls are tan with splashes of blue and gold from the curtains and accents in the floor. It’s exactly what I would picture the inside of a castle to look like.

There are also only three walls, leaving one opened for where the camera’s will be set up.

“It’s actually really cool, this started out as some paper model in the studio back in California and then they built it out here. To see how it’s come from that model to this is quite extraordinary.” Liam takes my hand again and pulls me onto the floor. “Even though it’s a modern adaptation, they wanted to go with a baroque-era feel, a way to pay homage to the original Cinderella telling.”

Once we’re in the middle of the floor Liam let’s go of my hand again and I spin around to take in the entire set. I look at Liam who is watching me with a growing smile.

“You like it?”

“I love it,” the words come out as an almost whisper. I really feel like I’ve been transformed to a real-life fairytale.

“Picture it, there will be over 200 extras for this scene.” He gestures around the floor. “And then right there,” he points towards the double staircase. “Cinderella will make her grand entrance. I’ll meet her at the bottom of the steps, and after a quick exchange of words, we’ll dance.

“It’s going to be incredible.”

Liam nods a couple of times. “It’s going to be a lot of people watching.”

“I’m sure by the time it comes for filming, you’ll be able to do the dance in your sleep.”

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