The Billion Dollar Girl

(Chapter 13)

Ͼ Ella Castillo Ͽ

She handed me a napkin, and I took it, gratefully. She watched me mop myself up, with a disdainful look on her face. Slowly, she pulled back a chair, and sat down next to me.

“Good morning,” she said, as normally as she could. Her British accent stuck out. “I am Lady Emily.”

I tried to work out the chocolate from my teeth as I nodded intelligently…or so I hoped.

“For the next week, I will train you for the Debutante ball. The Debutante ball will be held on January the first, and Mr. Ash Castillo will be your escort –”

“Wait,” I interrupted. She glared at me, and I shrunk away a little. “I have a couple questions. First, what’s the Debutante ball?”

Lady Emily sighed and launched into a long monologue that sounded pretty rehearsed. “A Débutante ball is for young ladies from an aristocratic or upper class family, who has reached the age of maturity, and as a new adult, is introduced to society at a formal "début" presentation. Originally, it meant the young woman was eligible to marry, and part of the purpose was to display her to eligible bachelors and their families with a view to marriage within a select upper class circle. But,” she added, “this is simply an event to introduce you to our society. You have married already.”

“But… you said January the First…”

“Is there a problem?” she said, raising an elegantly plucked eyebrow. It probably took a lot of effort – Botox, again.

“It’s just that… I always spend New Year with my family…”

She shrugged. “That is not my problem. Please take that up with Mr. Castillo. It is only my job to get you ready for the event.”

I bit my lip. “So…uh…how are we going to get ready for the event?”

She narrowed her eyes, and her lipsticked lips stretched into a rather scary smile.

“We’re going to change everything. But first thing’s first…your name. Ella is so common, so normal. From now, your name is Gabriella.”

***

ῼ Ash Castillo ῼ

“She’s there?”

“She is, sir,” he confirmed.

“Alright. I’ll be around in ten.”

“As you wish, sir.”

***

Ͼ Ella Castillo Ͽ

“Stand up, Gabriella,” she said. I gulped, complying. She was too scary to argue. I stop up, feeling incredibly stupid as she looked me and up down, shaking her head, unsatisfied. “Like I thought…no fashion sense whatsoever. No simple color-coordination… This is going to be hard.”

I stared at my clothes, and tried to work out what was wrong. I mean, isn’t orange meant to be a cheerful? And purple is… “cool”, right? She got me to spin around a couple times.

“Right,” she said, glaring at me again. “Now walk.”

“Excuse me?”

“Just walk. Normally, please.”

I walked down the dining room, as the smell of food filled my nostrils. God, I was hungry. I licked a stray crumb from the corner of my mouth, as she ordered me to turned around, and walk back to her again.

“Did you never learn posture, at your school?”

“Uh…posture? We learnt…tennis postures.” I demonstrated, and she shook her head sadly.

“Ah, this country’s education is becoming ever so average. How could they miss out such a vital part of a young lady’s education?”

 What the hell was she talking about?

“This is a simple exercise,” she said, pulling out an old, thick book supposedly from nowhere. “Balance this on your head, and walk again. Make sure it does not fall.”

I gingerly took the book from her. “1001 Color Schemes”, the title read. Wow. Light reading.

I tried to balance it on my head, and it felt like I’d broken my neck. I winced, staring at her. She glared at me, her face emotionless. I tried again. It fell off, before I could even take a step.

I looked back at Lady Emily. Her face was still blank.

I tried again, and it fell off.

She still didn’t respond.

This was going to be a long day.

***

ῼ Ash Castillo ῼ

The front door was open, Ella’s voice drifting through.

“Please, stop it!” she practically cried. “I really can’t do this…”

My heart started thudding and I burst in, slamming the door against the wall. Suddenly, all my thoughts of confronting her about the “Will thing”, was gone.

“Stop!” she begged.

I ran into the dining room, my chest straining, panting hard. My eyes quickly searched the room, taking in the long, wooden table in the middle, laden with dozens of plates of food. I turned, and saw Ella. My breath caught.

She was standing on one foot, tears streaming down her face and book on her head. Her eyes met with mine and this delicate position collapsed, the book slamming onto the floor as she collapsed next to it.

I sighed, in relief.

“I told you I couldn’t do it!”

Lady Emily – one of my Mom’s old friends – glared down at Ella. “How come Lucy can do it? How come Alexis can do it? How come, all of my other pupils were able to pick it up in less than ten minutes, yet you…?”

Ella glared back at her. “Maybe they just have really flat heads! It’s not my fault my head so egg-shaped –”

Lady Emily sighed, cutting her off. She turned to me, pointedly ignored Ella, who was still sat on the floor like a little kid who’d been naughty. “Mr. Castillo, how are you?”

“I’m fine,” I said, smiling. Okay, sometimes Lady Emily was harsh, but mostly she didn’t mean it. I’d met her a couple times before, as a kid. “But, wait…Lucy…Lucy Andre?”

Both Ella and Lady Emily gave me a look. “Do you know of her?” Lady Emily asked.

“Uh…yeah.”

“More than know,” Ella muttered angrily, looking down. Wait, was she…jealous?

Lady Emily glared at me now. “You know I don’t approve of adultery.”

I knew. That’s why she and my Mom no longer talked. Because of what my Mom did.

“I…didn’t…” I said, gritting my teeth, more for Ella’s benefit than anything. “How’s Ella doing?” I said, changing the topic.

She shot Ella a look, as if remembering she was here. “Gabriella! Stand up.”

I frowned. Gabriella?

Ella stood up, looking like she was about to cry again.

“Put these on,” she said, thrusting a box towards Ella.

Hesitantly, Ella took the box from her hands and opening it up. Her whole fell crumpled.

“Oh God, no…” she begged, dropping the box. It fell to the floor. “Please, no. I’ll do anything. Just don’t make me…”

She was the only teenage girl who would react that way to a free pair of six-inch Jimmy Choos.

***

Author's Note: LOL, I guess this story is moving slower than my others - but I wanted to do this one in true detail. I hope you don't hate me, and you'll stick with the story :)

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