Page 8 of A Midnight Kiss on Ever After Street
He looks over at me. ‘Wasn’t Rapunzel’s tower a prison?’
‘Well, yeah, but in a good way. A good version of Rapunzel’s tower. Maybe itisRapunzel’s tower and we’ll find a cute chameleon living up here in a minute.’
He doesn’t seem like the kind of person who’d have seenTangledso the reference probably goes over his head; his focus is on the view beyond the window and he seems miles away.
Ever After Street is glittering in the dark. Being a fairy-tale-themed shopping street means there are fairy lights everywhere. Strung across the road along with multicoloured bunting, and hanging in ropes between every lamppost, and wrapped around the posts themselves from bottom to top. The carousel is dark at this time of night, but there’s a glowing star on top of the tent covering it and lights run along every seam.
‘It’s beautiful up here.’ It feels like I’m standing side by side with someone I know, not someone I met fifteen minutes ago. ‘Thank you for showing me this.’
He looks across until his eyes meet mine. ‘You’re welcome.’
He talks in a kind of stilted way, as though he chooses as few words as possible, although the words he does use are soft and gentle, and spoken with a posh voice. Not stuck-up posh, but trustworthy, like a gentleman. How you’d imagine a prince in a fairy tale would speak. If the animated Prince Charming ever came to life, he’d sound like this mystery man.
‘This is a real hideaway. You could escape the world up here. Stay here and watch life go by out there, and no one would ever know you were here.’ I look out longingly. An escape from the world sounds like heaven some days. ‘It’d be like Quasimodo living in the bell towers of Notre Dame.’
‘Quasimodo’s tower was a prison too, wasn’t it?’
‘Well, yeah, but… It’s only a prison if you want to get out. Who would ever want to leave a place like this?’ I do a twirl of excitement again, and I can feel his eyes focusing on the skirt of my dress spinning out around me.
He shakes his head, looking back out at the view. ‘Ever After Street. I can’t believe they built up a whole street based around this castle. It never used to be like this, did it? That was where the servant cottages used to be…’
‘Yes?’ I say, surprised by his knowledge. Not many people would know that about Ever After Street, and yet he seems unsure and as though he’s asking me for confirmation. ‘It was more in tribute to the castle. People around here love this place. It’s like Disneyland but without the people in giant mouse costumes.’
‘Good, becausetheycreep me out.’ His reluctant-sounding laugh makes me smile.
‘After the castle was abandoned, it became a bit of a tourist attraction, and someone saw the benefit of setting up a tearoom because there were tourists visiting and nowhere for them to go. It started off organically, just people who loved this area trying to make it better…’ I trail off because I don’t want to reveal too much or say anything that might give away who I really am.
‘A tourist attraction? Really? I thought it would just be left to ruin. Why would anyone be interested in this place?’
‘Well, the ghost stories, obviously. The viscount and viscountess disappeared and left the castle abandoned. They say something truly macabre happened here, but no one knows what, and you know how things like that go in small villages – if people don’t know, they make something up. It became the stuff of local legend. The entrance was sealed off so no one could do anything besides stare from a distance and invent what might’ve happened here, and then one by one, the servant cottages were sold off, turned into shops or demolished and built over…’
‘And as with everything else that's nice, someone came along and realised money could be made from it and turned it into a soulless commercial venture,’ he finishes for me.
‘No! Absolutely not. Ever After Street is nothing like that. It’s heartfelt and good and welcoming. It’s a real little community.’ He has no right to be so dismissive of my home. Just when I thought he wasn’t quite as prickly as he seemed at first, he throws out something like that.
I ignore the uncomfortable feeling that seeps through me, because in that one simple sentence, he’s hit the nail on the head about what Aunt Ebony has done to my mum and dad’s business. Something that was once done for love is now done for profit. That isn’t what The Cinderella Shop should be about, and yet, that’s what it’s become. And this complete stranger has unintentionally forced me into admitting it to myself, but I can’t let him know that.
‘The people on Ever After Street are genuine. Their shops mean the world to them. We—’ I cringe and correct myself. ‘Theywork incredibly hard to make the place as magical as it can be for children and adults alike. Children already believe in magic, it’s the adults who need some persuasion.’
‘Mmm. A nice sentiment.’
‘Don’t you believe in magic?’
‘Does any adult?’ He turns his head to look at me.
This close, his eyes are a light blue and I feel like I’m looking directly into his soul. A blush sweeps across my whole body from tiptoes to cheeks that are reddening behind my mask. I usually try to keep the whimsical side of me in check when meeting new people, but I don’t feel I have to hide anything from him. Maybe it’s the mask. I can be anyone I want tonight with no judgement because no one knows who I am. It doesn’t matter if I ask a grown man if he believes in magic. No one can laugh at my silly questions when they don’t know I’m me. ‘I do.’
He blinks slowly, holding my gaze for such a long time that it should get uncomfortable, but it doesn’t. I’m not very good at talking to people either. I tend to get flustered and only make eye contact when I remind myself to, but nothing seems to be awkward with him. My mouth tips into an involuntary smile, getting even wider when he starts to smile too, until he shakes his head and looks away.
‘Are you local?’ he asks and then hesitates. ‘Sorry, that was too much of a personal question when we’re meant to be anonymous.’
‘It’s fine. And I am. You?’
‘No. Just visiting. For work.’
‘This is a pretty splendid thing to be a part of your work trip.’
‘What, the castle?’ He makes a noise of indifference. ‘If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.’
