Cinderella's Tears

Cinderella's Tears ~ Chapter 8

I returned to Mary, feeling sick inside. When Mary saw me, she lit up.

“So where is he?”

I glared at her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said firmly.

Confusion crossed her face, then shock, then disappointment. I raised my eyebrow.  So much for the emotionless Mary I knew. She looked down and didn’t say a word. Mary clutched the fabric in her arms and hurried home.

A couple days went by. My sparrow kept me company. Mary has been sulking for a while. Its weird how weak people are. It pissed me off to see just see her.

 I made up excuses not to get out of the house. I didn’t want to see Dylan again. Unfortunately it didn’t last long. It was the day before the ball. I went out to run errands and buy food.

In the open market, people were frantically shouting all over the place. You could barely hear yourself think.

Back and forth, I wandered looking for the best prices. I had a lot of things on the list. A lot of the food was probably useless. I stared at the list. Wow, they must really want me out of the house if they are telling me to buy coconuts. Where am I supposed to buy coconuts?

I went to the far end of the open market, to where there are more exotic things to buy. A lot of these people were merchants from different countries. I went up to the nearest merchant and asked him if I could find coconuts anywhere.

He looked at me strangely. Then he smiled warmly at me. The man turned his head to the left and pointed to a stall, a few meters away from us. I thanked him and nodded to him. He nodded back at me and watched me leave.

Why did I nod? It felt like the right time to do it, I suppose.

I went to the place where the merchant pointed to. The stall was decorated with strange fabrics, in warm colors. The stall itself didn’t even have a table. An elderly woman turned when she heard me arriving. She was very short and also dressed in warm colors. She welcomed me to come inside her tent. I ducked to not hit the cloth.

Inside I could see all the items she was selling. She had all kind of strange food. I explained to her that I needed two coconuts.

“Coconuts?” she said with a thick accent. The woman nodded to herself and grabbed three large, hairy fruit. She handed them to me.

“These are coconuts?” I asked, fumbling with the fruit.

“Yes, yes.” She waved her hands at me.

“Wait, I asked for two,” I stated, and handed her one of the coconuts.

She shook her head, “No, no. Gift, gift”

“Oh, thank you.” I paid her a little extra.

Looking at the coconuts with confusion, I proceeded to leave the stall. The woman stopped me. She took one of the coconuts. Then from nowhere, she pulled out a large knife. I stepped back in horror. Unexpectedly, she sliced the fruit in half and handed it to me. There was a weird white juice in the shell of the coconut.

She made an upward motion. Pushing the shell to me mouth, she told me, “Drink.”

I obeyed. I put the shell to my lips and sipped it. It was amazing. Tasted a bit like milk, but yet it didn’t.

She smiled at me, “Good, good.” Then she waved me away.

I left the stall still sipping on the coconut. I returned to the regular open market and returned to frantic shopping.

I was buying corn, when I felt something warm near my ear. My heart stops beating. I knew it. How did he find me here? Out of all the people here, how did he single me out? No, I told myself. it couldn’t possibly be him.

“I haven’t seen you in a while. Are you angry?” His unmistakable voice whispered in my ear.

I sucked in my breath, “Yes I am angry.” I felt his chest touch my arm. I couldn’t move with the crowd around me. He had me stuck in the spot.

He chuckled, “You’re so childish.”

I flushed. Is he making fun of me? Why did he seem more mature now?

“Five cobs of corn please,” I asked the vender. I felt Dylan’s hands around my shoulders. I tried to shake him away.

“Don’t try to ignore me,” he said angrily. “You shouldn’t go to the ball. You are just a child. No one will want to even dance with you.” I trembled, but he only held on tighter. “Why do you even want to go there?”

My voice shook, “I want to be normal. I want to find love.”

Dylan laughed, but this time more cruelly. “Love? What love? You just want to get out of the house.” I shut my eyes tightly, trying to block out everything he’s saying. It’s not true. “What do you think will happen? You will find a man who doesn’t want money and will take a poor girl like you? You have nothing to offer. Just stick to being a servant. That’s what your best at.”

How could he have seen right through me? I had enough. I broke out of his grip. Barely controlling my anger, I turned around and shouted, “You don’t know anything! You don’t understand!” I calmed down. Everyone stared at me. There was no one in front of me. I wanted to break down right there and cry.

Where did he go? I rubbed my eyes and told myself, “He is not worth it. He is not worth it!”

In my ear I could hear a faint whisper, “Sorry.”

I whipped around, but there was no one I could recognize there. Such cruel words. Did he really think I would just forgive him? The next time I see him, I will rip his hair out of his perfect, devilish head. Frustrated, I turned my heels and ran home.

Dylan

From the crowd, I watched her run away.  I was walking with the flow of the people. She must have not seen me since I was wearing an old business suit and my old man’s hat, to cover my face.

My old man and I had another fight. As usual, it was about the three god damn dances. Hell, he thinks he is helping me. As any other day, I went out on a walk, trying to stretch it out as long as I could. When I saw Diane, I followed her around. There was something different about her. Maybe her hair was crazier than normal. I just couldn’t look away.

I regret telling her not to go, but I couldn’t stand seeing her there. What if I guy tries to get to her? Would she fall for him? She seemed like one of those girls who weren’t experienced and would fall in love with anyone who told them that he loved them.  

 I pushed those thoughts out of my mind. I tucked my hair into the hat and looked away. Forget her. She doesn’t know how lucky she is. She could never understand. I disappeared into the crowd, hoping to never see her again.