A Slave to Broken Hearts (A Slave to Love Sequel)

Chapter 25: Cinderella

Seeing a long golden box on the counter with a black bow and a note, my heart skipped a beat. Could it be from--?

I hurried forward to scoop up the paper, seeing my name scrawled in unfamiliar script. Turning it over, I deflated. Of course not. Why would Blade send me anything?

Thought you might need something fabulous to wear - Ace

Taking a moment to compose myself, squashing down the flood of emotions threatening to spill, I dropped the card onto the counter and pried open the box. Inside was a beautiful teal dress, simple but elegant. I lifted it carefully out of the box to examine it, holding it against myself as I walked over to the mirror in Katie's room. The fabric was soft and supple, the color contrasting quite nicely against my skin.

Who knew Ace had such an eye for fashion?

I took my time getting ready, trying to find some excitement for a night out and an excuse to get fancy when I had been mostly mucking around in my ugliest, but comfiest clothes, when I wasn't at work. I even went the extra mile to straighten my hair, pinning the top half back with a silver looking floral pin, borrowed from Katie for the evening, to glam up the more simple look. I paired it with matching dangling earrings, also on loan from Katie, who was clearly my fairy godmother despite not even being present. She had been kind of enough to help me with makeup, even giving me a few tips, before she left, so that once I was alone it was mostly a matter of showering, shaving my legs, moisturizing, and doing my hair.

The dress, much nicer than anything I owned besides perhaps my prom dress, wasn't ridiculously over the top; instead it was classy yet understated, a perfect fit for me. It was kind of lucky too, I had only managed to grab one simple sundress from my room and I had made my peace that I was going to be woefully underdressed for the occasion; all my nicer things were still in my room at ho--Blade's home.

I adjusted the thin straps, making sure I wasn't showing too much cleavage with the scooped front, and smoothed the front of the long simple skirt, trying to see the whole look in the mirror in Katie's room; it was quite narrow and short, not meant for someone as tall as me, but if I backed up against the far wall and hunched slightly, I could see the whole look. If I ignored the red leeching from my tattoo up my arm, I had to admit, it looked quite good. Especially as Katie had done a spectacular job with my makeup to hide the bags and darkness around my eyes from exhaustion and how pale and sickly I was becoming.

The apartment buzzer sounded and I rushed to answer it. "Hello?" I said, somewhat breathlessly. Was it nerves? Running for the buzzer? Probably a mix of both.

"Your carriage awaits, Cinderella!" Came Ace's familiar drawl.

"Alright, I'll be down in a minute!" Gathering my things, I stood at the door, trying to convince myself it was going to be okay, that the need to cancel and stay home to hide all night was just me being dramatic. Then I finally left, praying that I was simply overreacting and that so long as I had Ace with me, everything was going to be okay.

When I got outside, Ace was leaning against a black car when I arrived, looking casual in his absolutely ridiculous powdered blue suit. It was literally the stereotypical ugly 80s prom blue suit and the sight of it had me bursting out laughing. He perked up when he saw me, making a big show of sweeping into a grand bow. 

"My lady," he said, as he straightened, giving me a wide grin. "You look positively radiant this evening."

I gave a clumsy curtsy, pulling at my skirt as I dipped. "Why thank you. You're looking quite handsome yourself."

He preened, posing for me. "You think? It's not too much?"

"The suit? Definitely," I teased as I made my way over.