The Cinderella Obsession (3 page)

Her mind waged a losing battle against her traitorous body as her feet carried her along with him. Could she discuss this with him? Tell him who she was and why she was here? Would he laugh at the comical thought of a plain, working girl like herself entering his world for a night? Her common sense told her he’d find her plight wildly entertaining, but her highly sensitized body told her not to care, to go with him and accept the pleasure he could give her.

"What the hell are you two doing?"

Vanessa felt her companion tense, then mutter an expletive under his breath. Slowly, he pulled away from Vanessa without totally letting go. Kyle stood glaring fiercely at them.

"Amy, how could you?"

"Don’t you get it, Kyle? It’s over between you and Amy."

Amy!
Good heavens, Vanessa had totally forgotten that this man was already involved with another woman. How could he have kissed her so passionately once he knew she wasn’t Amy? What kind of man did that make him? And he almost …
she
almost….

"Is it true, Amy?"

Vanessa stared at one man, then the other.

"Amy, for God’s sake, tell me," Kyle demanded.

Vanessa jerked her hand free from her companion’s grasp and started to back away.

"No, don’t go--" he cried, but Kyle grabbed him before he could catch her wrist again.

"Leave her alone."

She kept backing away, toward the bushes.

"Kyle, you don’t understand--"

"I understand more than you think I do. I’m not stupid." He grabbed Vanessa and pulled her toward him, shaking her slightly. "How long have you two been--"

Oh, God, she had to get out of here. She jerked her leg, kicking him sharply in the shin with her pointed shoe. He yelped and fell backward, knocking her Prince Charming off balance. As the two men tumbled, she snatched up her skirt and raced through the bushes.

How had she gotten herself into such a crazy mess? She ran downhill and soon stood facing a small creek glinting in the moonlight. Shouts behind her warned that the two men were close behind. She kicked off her shoes and hiked up her skirt. Treading through the shallow water to the other side, she ignored the trembles of cold adding to her shudders of panic. She raced toward the thick hedge bordering the estate. Finding a slight gap in the growth, she shoved her hand into the dense foliage and decided she could manage to push her way through. She pulled off her crinoline and wrapped it around her shoulders to protect the delicate bodice of the gown, then squeezed between the trunks.

More or less intact on the other side, she raced down the quiet street. She rolled up her crinoline as she ran and tucked it under her arm, then tugged her wig snugly into place. As her hand brushed the curls behind her ear she realized something was wrong. She couldn't feel her glass slipper earring. Her fingers wrapped around her earlobe. It was gone!

Vanessa heard the phone ring again as she frantically searched inside her purse for keys. She shouldn’t have put them away for the short journey from the parking lot to her door, she berated herself, all the while digging deep, trying to trace the source of the jingling noise. Finally, her fingers closed around the smooth, plastic key holder and she dragged the clump of keys out, then jabbed the square one into the lock. She dashed across the
living
room
to the
desk
, dropping packages on the way, and snatched up the phone.

"Yeah, hi," she panted.

"Hello, Miss Graham? This is Mrs. Charter from Power Systems."

"Oh, yes, hello," Vanessa stuttered, the pulse in her temple rising to a thunderous roar. This woman had interviewed her last week. She straightened her posture and tugged on the hem of her jacket to pull out the wrinkles. Why in the world would she be phoning today? Companies didn’t make job offers on Saturdays. Vanessa couldn’t think of any other reason for the call.

Unless….

Had someone found out she’d been at Nicholas Powers’ party on Friday night in Amy’s costume? Nicholas Powers
was
Power Systems. If he knew she had crashed his party and was angry about it … Were they going to press charges of some sort? For trespassing? For stealing the costume?

No, she scolded herself. They wouldn’t do that. A big executive like Nicholas Powers wouldn’t want to waste his time pressing charges against someone like her for such a minor transgression. She wouldn’t be worth the trouble. Anyway, she’d returned the costume to the shop this morning, so they couldn’t possibly accuse her of stealing it. There hadn’t been a single stitch out of place after last night’s bold escape through the bushes. Might they be calling to demand the money back for the rental fee?

"Miss Graham, are you there?"

Vanessa realized the woman had been speaking and she’d missed whatever had been said. "Yes. I’m sorry."

"I do apologize for calling you on a Saturday, but it’s a bit of an emergency."

"Emergency?" Vanessa squeaked. "What do you mean?"

"Well, you see, we have an immediate opening for Mr. Powers’ secretary, starting on Monday, and--"

"But that’s Rachel’s position." Vanessa’s concern for Rachel immediately crowded out her own worries.

"Oh, that’s right. You know Mrs. Jones, don’t you? Well, she called this morning to tell me she’s in the hospital and will be starting her maternity leave right away."

Vanessa slumped down on the
desk
chair. "Oh, my goodness. Is she in labor? Has she had the baby?"

"No, nothing like that, but she is suffering some complications. Her doctor has told her to take time off work, so she won’t be back until after the baby is born. What I need to know is, can you fill in for her starting Monday? It’ll be a two month contract, until the replacement we arranged for her maternity leave can start. I’ve received excellent recommendations from the other people you’ve worked for on temporary assignment here and, even though you’ve never worked directly for Mr. Powers before, they all feel you’ll be able to step in with a minimum of disruption. Can you do it?"

Vanessa couldn’t believe it. The woman had just offered her a job! "Yes. Absolutely."

She could hear the woman’s sigh of relief over the line. "Wonderful. I’ll send a contract over this afternoon for you to review. Bring it with you Monday morning and check in with security. They’ll give you a security pass and take you straight to Mr. Powers’ office. We’ll worry about the paperwork at lunch."

Vanessa grabbed the pen from the phone caddie
on the
desk
and jotted down some notes as they discussed salary and hours.

But as she hung up the phone, her growing feeling of euphoria at finally having a job after two months of searching suddenly burst as she remembered that she’d been offered Rachel’s job.

Why hadn’t Rachel called her? She
picked up the phone and checked for  messages.  There
was
one
from Rachel telling Vanessa she’d been checked into the hospital and not to worry.

Vanessa quickly dialed the hospital and asked for the room number Rachel had left. Rachel answered after one ring, yawning.

"I didn’t wake you, did I?" Vanessa asked.

"No, I’m just bored," Rachel told her. "I would have called you last night, but I knew you were at the masquerade, so I tried to call this morning."

"I went out to return the costume. I’m sorry, I just got back. So what’s happening? Are you all right? You’re not having the baby, are you? You’re only seven months along."

"Thirty weeks, actually, but who’s counting?"

"So tell me!" Vanessa burst out.

"Okay. No, I’m not having the baby. The doctor told me I have to take it easy until the baby arrives. He’s going to keep me here for a week or so and then I can go home, but I’ll have to stay in bed."

"That’s why you called work and told them you’re starting your maternity leave early."

"How did you know that?"

Vanessa
dragged
her index finger
along the side of the phone
. How would Rachel take her news? "Because they called me to fill in for you."

"Really? Oh, that’s great, Vanessa."

She gripped the receiver tighter. "You don’t mind?"

"Of course, I don’t mind. I’m thrilled. Do you have a notepad handy? I know how thoroughly you like to prepare for an assignment, so I’ll tell you all about how Nick likes things."

Vanessa smiled, pleased at her friend’s generosity. She picked up the pen again and flipped the notepad to a clean page, then felt a bit guilty. "Are you sure you feel up to it? Don’t you have to rest?"

"Don’t be silly. How much effort do I expend talking?"

"Well, if you’re waving your hands around like you usually do, probably too much," Vanessa teased.

"Oh, be quiet and listen."

Vanessa scrawled down notes as fast as Rachel fired out information, telling her what time Powers usually arrived in the morning, how he liked his appointments handled, where he kept his schedule, and so on. Once she’d filled the third page, Rachel finally ran out of steam.

"If there’s anything else, just call me. I’m sure to be bored stiff."

"You won’t be bored," Vanessa said, putting the pen back in its stand. "You’ll finally knit those little baby outfits you’ve always wanted to make."

"
I
didn’t want to knit them. I wanted
you
to knit them. I don’t know how to knit, remember?"

"Well, this seems like the perfect opportunity to learn. I’ll finally have you trapped in one place long enough to teach you."

Knitting would help Rachel fill the hours she would have to spend in bed. Vanessa hoped her friend would learn to share her own passion for the craft. She took delight in spending hours designing her own patterns and then searching through flea markets and clearance sales to find the unusual materials she liked to work into them.

"Oh, all right. I’ll try," Rachel moaned. "As long as you still promise to do that christening outfit I picked out. There’s no way I’d tackle that."

Vanessa laughed, thinking of the complex patterns involved and the number of times she’d had to pull out and rework pieces of the jacket. She didn’t tell Rachel she’d already finished it. It was wrapped and waiting for the baby to arrive, along with a brightly colored outfit Rachel had crooned over one day while shopping in the mall, and one Vanessa had designed herself.

"So, how was the ball, Cinderella?" Rachel’s tone had changed to one of avid curiosity.

Vanessa’s thoughts flickered from baby outfits to elegant costumes--and a certain mystery man whom she’d dreamt about in great detail--hot steamy detail--last night. All night.

"Oh, it was fabulous, Rachel, but…."

Anxiety swelled in her chest. She had to tell Rachel she’d almost been exposed, but she didn’t know how to relate the sequence of events. How could she explain that she’d been swept away to the garden to be kissed by a handsome prince? She didn’t quite believe it herself.

Her hand came up to fiddle with her earrings and the memory of finding one of her precious glass slipper earring missing hit her like a punch to the stomach.

"But what?"

"Well, I…."

The quiver in Vanessa’s voice must have alarmed Rachel because her words came sharply when she said, "Vanessa, what is it?"

"I lost one of my earrings."

"Oh, no. I’m so sorry, Vanessa. Are they insured?"

"Yes, but…."

"I know. That won’t replace it but … well, maybe one can be made to match the one you still have."

"It wouldn’t be the same." Vanessa bit her lip, remembering her aunt’s smiling face as she presented the delicate earrings to her and how Vanessa had promised to take care of them forever.

"Maybe someone will find it."

Anger spurted through Vanessa as she realized that Fate had planned her revenge well. "And how do you suppose that will help me? I don’t exactly want anyone to know who I am, remember?"

"Vanessa, relax. I--"

"Rachel, it gets worse."

"Worse? What do you mean?"

"Someone found out I wasn’t Amy. There was a man named Kyle … and another man and … well, they were fighting over me."

"You’re kidding?" Rachel laughed in her familiar twitter. "But you’re talking as if that’s a bad thing."

"Rachel! Just listen. The man named Kyle thought I was Amy and the other man did, too, at first, but then…."

"Yes?" she drawled, obviously amused by Vanessa’s quandary.

"Well, it gets complicated."

"I bet. How did the second one find out you weren’t Amy? You didn’t take off the mask, did you?"

"No way."

"Then?"

"He…." She raked her hand through her hair. "He kissed me." The after-tremors of that kiss still reverberated through her system.

"Wow. Right in the middle of all those people?"

Vanessa fiddled with the spiral phone cord, twirling it around her finger. "No, out in the garden."

"How romantic. Are you going to see him again?"

"Of course not. Where has your mind gone, Rachel?" She tugged her finger free of the cord and watched it ricochet back and forth. "He doesn’t even know who I am."

"But he does know you’re not Amy."

She sighed. "Yes, and that’s another thing. He thought he was kissing Amy."

"At first."

She made a fist and pounded it lightly against her thigh. "Well, the point is, if he meant to kiss Amy, he had no business kissing me the second time."

"The second time? Hmm. This is getting more and more interesting. Did you kiss him back?"

Vanessa glared fiercely at the telephone sitting on the
desk
. "You ask too many questions, you know that?"

"And you love it. Well, did you?"

She puckered her lips in a tiny grin. "Maybe a little bit."

"Way to go, Vanessa," she cheered with enthusiasm. "So, you actually found your Prince Charming after all."

"No. He doesn’t know who I am--and if he did, he wouldn’t want me." She glanced at her reflection in the mirror across the room. Her short hair spiked straight up where she’d thrust her hand through it and her baggy sweatshirt and jeans had seen better days, though not in her closet. "After all, I’m not rich and sophisticated. Even if he did take me out, when he found out I’m an out-of-work secretary, he’d dump me, great sex or not."

"You had sex with him?" Rachel gasped in mock horror.

Vanessa could just imagine Rachel’s eyes widening and a mischievous grin crossing her face. "Get real. I just meant that we were … well, let’s just say that when he held me in his arms, the sparks flew big time, so I’m sure the sex would be great, if we ever did it." She patted down her errant wisps of hair, but they sprang up again. "Oh, Rachel, how did you get me down this path?"

"It wasn’t me. You went there all by yourself. And it sounds like you’ve had a great time along the way. And as for being out o
f work, you’re not now.
"

"No, you’re right." She stared at her tatty reflection in the mirror. "If only that would solve the problem," she murmured wistfully, wishing she was the woman of
his
dreams instead of the other way around. Then her Prince Charming would come after her and carry her off to happily-ever-after.

She sighed, knowing her fantasy was just that--a fairy tale that would never come true.

* * * *

Vanessa arrived early on Monday morning, hoping to make a good impression. She showed the security guard the letter she’d received with her contract, along with her driver’s license, then followed him as he escorted her to the executive office.

She stepped off the elevator on the twenty-first floor and drew in a quick breath at the sight of the luxurious surroundings. Glossy wood, leather furniture, and limited-edition prints on the walls all combined into one spectacular impression of elegance. As a glorious backdrop, floor to ceiling windows displayed a magnificent view of the city, the morning sunlight glinting through the glass, sending golden highlights shimmering across the office.