Page 33 of A Midnight Kiss on Ever After Street
‘Taking what you want is generally known as robbery and comes with a prison sentence.’
He laughs, but he’s serious. ‘I wish I could see the world the way you do. I wish I could believe that. In my experience, if you keep working hard and being nice to people who don’t deserve it, you willalwaysbe trodden on and walked over and taken advantage of. People see kindness as a weakness to exploit.’
I gulp. Is that how he’ll see me if he finds out? That I’m exploiting him by using his Cinderella story to gain customers? ‘Don’t you believe there’s any good in the world?’
‘I didn’t until I met you. Now I wish I did.’
‘That’s so sad. What does a person have to go through to come to that conclusion?’
He looks surprised by how forward that question was, and I try to backpedal. ‘I meant hypothetically. I wasn’t trying to pry or—’
‘It’s okay. My father was like you. Kind, trusting, took people at face value and always saw the good in them, and he died because of it. I try to protect myself by seeing the world as it is, not as it should be.’
I bite my lip. He said his father died when he was ten… that’s alongtime to have spent thinking the worst of people.
‘Okay, answer me something. I know you haven’t had it easy either. How does someone go through hard times and come out still believing in fairy tales?’
‘I don’t believe in fairy tales, but I believe in love. I think falling in love is the closest thing we get to a fairy tale in real life. And I believe people are generally good. I believe in Ever After Street. I love this place. I love that castle. Children come here and leave thinking Disney movies are real. Cynical adults leave with a light in their eyes. And The Cinderella Shop in particular… Every little girl grows up dreaming of being a Disney princess one day, and I’m a part of making people feel like that. It’s the best job in the world.’
Both our hands are on the counter and his fingers brush against mine. ‘What about you? Does anyone ever make you feel like that?’
‘It’s not about me.’ I’m blushing because the only time anyone hasevermade me feel like a princess, was the other night, withhim.
‘Have you ever been in love?’ he asks instead of pushing me for a better answer.
I shake my head.
‘Never?’ He raises a dark eyebrow.
‘What do I know about love? I’m thirty-five and my recent dating history is nothing more than a few dates set up by my aunt with men so unsuitable that E.T. would genuinely have been a better candidate. My only relationships have been few and far between. Work has always been more important. IloveThe Cinderella Shop. I don’t want to waste time loving someonewho doesn’t make me feel anything. I want what my mum and dad had. I want magic. Maybe I do spend too much time daydreaming, but everyonehasto believe that one day someone will come along who makes it all worthwhile. Isn’t that why we all go through life – to get to something better? Someone who makes the world seem better than it did before?’
He makes that noise in his throat again, the one that meets halfway between scorn and longing.
‘If you don’t believe in love, why are you going to all this trouble to find the girl from the ball? Why are youreallyputting in this much effort?’
‘To return a shoe, obviously. They probably cost a lot of money and one is not much good without the other.’
‘You keep telling yourself that.’ I go to pat his hand, but he turns it over so my fingers land in his palm and he gives it a squeeze while holding eye contact, and I wish I could kiss him hard enough to make him believe in fairy-tale endings. I’ve always said I do, but since I met him, Ireallydo.
10
‘Save the fairies!’
‘Fairies before food!’ Imogen from Sleeping Beauty’s Once Upon a Dream shop waves around a reversible placard while shouting out her slogan.
It’s been a week since the ball and the shopkeepers of Ever After Street are gathered around an incinerator drum, doing a ceremonial burning of the ball tickets that were delivered to every shop.
‘No to a supermarket!’ Marnie from the Tale As Old As Time bookshop shouts as she throws her ticket into the inferno, and Ali, the owner and head chef at the 1001 Nights restaurant and leader of the proceedings today, cheers.
Lissa from The Colours of the Wind museum is filming the whole thing for social media in the hopes of gathering more support for the cause.
‘Magic not market!’ Mickey, who runs the Mermaid’s Treasure Trove, throws her ticket in and Ali hits the side of the incinerator drum with a stick, sending sparks up into the sky.
Ebony’s standing on the opposite side of the crowd, and it’s her turn next, but she pats her pockets and gives Ali an empty-handed gesture. Unsurprisingly, she hasn’t been able to find her ticket.
‘Keep the fairy tale alive!’ Lissa shouts, approaching the incinerator with her ticket in hand. She lights the corner and watches it burn in front of the camera before dropping it in.
I’m near the front, but I blend into a crowd easily and no one seems to have noticed me. There’s plenty of people all around, from shop owners and workers to regular visitors who have come to lend their voices to the anti-supermarket cry, even on a Sunday morning.
