Cinderella

The Orphanage

-Cinderella-

There is an age-old inner monologue that every woman experiences when they are stood up. Ella was unraveling quickly as her mind went through the stages.

She was sitting in the shade of their tree, her knees had been tucked to her chest, and her head had been turned down the street, watching for nobody. She had waited through the late hours of the morning, and most of the afternoon when she finally realized that he was not coming. She was unbelievably gullible.

What was worse was that even when she realized he would not arrive, hope still won out and she waited. She could hear a carriage coming before she saw it, and for a fleeting moment, she thought her family was returning, and for that short moment, she froze with fear. When the Clark's carriage came into view, Ella sighed in relief, but she still stood and hid behind a tree. All it would take was one society lady to see her, and word would inevitably get back to Lady Tremaine.

Once the Clark's carriage came and went down the road, Ella finally realized that she was sacrificing the one day she had freedom. The one day a week without her stepmother and stepsisters had almost wasted away, and now Ella was angry. The tower of Bellview loomed over her head as a stark reminder of where she belonged.

She would have done anything at that moment to avoid returning home, so she did the only other thing available to her. She was going to go visit the orphanage. The orphanage lay nearly a mile up the road towards the castle. The land used to be a part of the Bellview estate before her father donated it, and now it was the only place she could go that still offered her any comfort.

The walk was not long, and she made it frequently. She kicked rocks as she walked. Her boots were abused and scratched, but the repetitive act cleared her mind from more painful thoughts.

The thundering sound of footsteps rang out, signaling Ella to move off the road. She walked into the tall weeds on the side of the road to make room for the approaching rider. Her shoes grew a film of mud around the bottom, and her best dress caught up in burrs on the side of the road.

The lone rider came into sight pulling behind him a wild cloud of dust. The horse was a brilliant chestnut running at full force. As the rider drew closer, she recognized him. It was him. Everything began to slow down around her. Her hands reached up to pick at her hair, and then they moved down to straighten her dress.

Her words all scrambled from her mind, and she could actually hear her heartbeat. A small part of her was excited to see him, but a much larger part had already closed off while she waited for hours. She would not allow herself to get roped into her own fantasies again and just be more vulnerable to disappointment.

As he neared her, his eyes met hers, and she got to see shock register on his face. He pulled his horse to a clattering stop just past her, and he reigned his horse around. Ella waited on the side of the road, not believing her eyes. The cloud of dust he had kicked up dispersed around them as soon as he dismounted. Once he was on the same ground as her, and they stood only feet away from each other. Charles was breathing hard from his ride, and Ella was pulling at her dress distractedly.

"I am sorry." She said automatically. Her constant apologies were a defense mechanism that usually chased away all the confrontations she faced, but the anxiety that welled up in her stomach could not be cured through an apology this time.

"What could you possibly have to be sorry about?" He asked.

Ella blinked. She realized all at once that there was nothing she was actually sorry over.

"I am sorry," He continued, "I was unavoidably detained. Did you wait long?"

lie. That was the only word coursing through her body. The truth was too shameful and pathetic. She had counted down the days to this afternoon, put on her best hand-me-downs, and then waited for hours to meet some high-born Lord. He showed up late. Her actions alone told her that she needed to kill this crush before it killed her.