Page 72 of Christmas off Script
Oh, Leo…
The main lights were off, but the room was illuminated with the soft glow of thousands of fairy lights adorning an enormous Christmas tree. The boxes holding the majority of her belongings had been wrapped to look like huge presents then placed at the base of the tree, and the branches were heavy with decorations; hers, and ones she’d never seen before.
Padding across the floor in awe, Ella took them in. A tiny dove with real feathers, a felted mouse, glitter ball baubles, a model of Elvis dressed in a Santa hat, a trio of robins with red sequinned breasts that sparkled in the light. She tracked them up to the ceiling. Leo must have used a stepladder to decorate the tree, as it was at least ten feet tall.
‘Leo,’ she murmured aloud as her vision blurred with unshed tears. ‘What did I do to deserve you?’
Swiping her fingers across her eyes, she took a deep breath. She wasn’t going to thank him when she looked a mess and smelled like her stepmother’s house. Ripping off her clothes, she dashed for the bathroom. Hopefully, a hot shower, Summer’s clothes, and Willow’s magic would make her feel as beautiful as the tree.
‘Oh my god, Ella!’Summer screamed through the phone as Willow held it up. ‘You look amazing! Divine! Stunning! The belle of the ball!’
Ella grinned shyly at her. ‘Thank you so much. This dress is incredible.’
‘It’s yours. Keep it. I could never do it justice.’ Summer turned away from her screen. ‘Mario! Come and look at my friend!’
A deeply tanned and indecently gorgeous man dressed only in board shorts strolled towards Summer’s beach lounger and leaned over her shoulder.
‘She’s going to a ball at my folks’ place,’ Summer said to him. ‘Isn’t she beautiful?’
Mario stroked his stubbled chin. ‘Sí.’ He lowered his head a fraction, eyeing Ella through thick lashes. ‘Do you have a boyfriend, beautiful?’
Her face flushing, Ella shook her head.
‘Would you like one?’ Mario continued.
Summer screeched with laughter and batted him away. ‘You outrageous flirt! She’s on the other side of the Atlantic.’
Mario shrugged. ‘For someone that delicious, I would travel to the ends of the earth.’
‘My, oh my,’ Willow murmured, turning the screen around to see what Mario looked like.
‘And who are you?’ he asked her.
‘My sister,’ Summer said to him. ‘And she only goes for squeaky-clean good guys, so you’ve got no chance.’ Standing, she strolled away from Mario towards the azure water. ‘Honestly, it’s a nightmare here. The men are too charming for their own good and all look like supermodels.’
‘How you must suffer,’ Willow replied drolly.
Summer snorted. ‘I’m actually really looking forward to getting home. It’s paradise here, but it feels weird to be on a beach in December.’
‘Do you know when you’ll be back?’
‘Hopefully by the Christmas quiz.’ She glanced past Willow to Ella. ‘Don’t crush the Beardy Boys too spectacularly this year. I don’t think Finn can take it.’
‘They’ve really upped their game,’ Ella replied with a grimace. ‘It’ll be a close-run thing, but please don’t tell them I said that.’
Summer mimed zipping her lips shut. ‘Your secret’s safe with me. Now bugger off and have the best time tonight. And thank you for stepping in to play Cinders on my behalf. You’re the best.’
‘No worries.’
As Willow said her goodbyes to Summer, Ella turned to gaze at herself in the full-length mirror again, blinking at her reflection to make sure it was really her.
The bodice of the dress was a white silk corset, decorated with jewels, and moulded around her breasts to give her support and a cleavage she wasn’t used to showing off in public. The straps were superfluous, hanging off her shoulders around her upper arms with white feathers carefully stitched onto silk bands. The skirt of the dress reached the floor and was made from white taffeta, decorated with more jewels and feathers and given body by a net underskirt. It was a designer dress for a swan princess, and Ella had never worn anything as beautiful before.
Willow had curled her hair, so it now fell in long ringlets around her bare shoulders, a section pinned back with a jewelled clip, and she had artfully applied make-up so subtle that it hardly appeared there, whilst also making Ella feel like a model.
Willow held out a sparkling necklace. ‘One finishing touch coming up.’
‘Oh, my god! Please tell me they’re not real diamonds.’
