Cinderella Story

It was a dusty, barely lit storage room. On the walls were different shelves with boxes full of completely disorganized files.

A young woman was looking through one of the files, her clothes dirty from looking through box after box.

'April... June... July!'

After 20 long minutes, she finally found the document she's been looking for. With a bit of effort, she was able to put the box back on the shelf.

Carrying the file, she turned off the lights and left.

Cindy lost her parents as a child. She grew up with her aunt and now worked on her company, though it would be more fitting to say she slaved away in it.

Low wage, gratuitous amounts of overtime, along with having to put up with her two cousins, ensured her hate for every second of it.

Unfortunately, Cindy had nowhere else to go, as this was the only job she was able to get without a high school diploma.

She climbed the two flights of stairs, as she wasn't allowed to use the elevator, and was once again in the office.

"Took you long enough orphan, now give me that."

Said a blonde and skinny, almost pure bones, woman as she took the file from Cindy's hands. That was one of his cousins, Paula.

She browsed through the file for 5 minutes while Cindy remained standing. Cindy didn't say anything, as she was already accustomed to this kind of situation.

"You didn't screw it up this time." Paula spoke and handed the file back along with another folder with a report. "Take these to Mom, and hurry up. She is waiting."

"Yes, Miss."

Cindy crossed the office towards the big room at the end of the floor. The big, frosted glass door had - Linda Walker- written on it.

Linda was Cindy's aunt and the company's owner. Cindy always found the name ironic, as Linda really resembled an evil witch from the fairy tales.

Cindy lightly knocked on the door.

"Come in." A cold, commanding voice was heard.

She opened the door and entered. Linda was at her desk and had her back to Cindy while talking on the phone.

"Certainly, Sir." Linda spoke with an amiable voice, completely different from usual. "I shall personally welcome young Robert when he arrives. I've arranged a small welcoming party for him."

Linda talked for a couple minutes more before hanging up.

She turned around and once again had her cold disposition as she asked. "What is it?"

"Miss Paula asked me to bring you this file, along with the monthly report." Cindy quickly handed the folders and stepped back.

"Good, you're dismissed."

"Yes, Mrs." Responded Cindy with a sigh of relief.

She always felt a bit suffocated in front of her aunt.

Her aunt never really liked her, and she made sure to instill the same distaste for Cindy on her daughters.

Growing up in the same house as then was hard. Even now, Cindy still had to live in her aunt's basement, as she couldn't afford her own place.

Cindy left the room and headed towards her desk. She had a small, worn out desk where she would work.

Though small, it had a couple of benefits.

First, her desk was located quite far from her cousins, diminishing the amount of time Cindy had to interact with them. Though interact, almost always meant being berated for some random reason.

As for the second reason...

"Oh, dear, look at you, having to go to that old storage room." An old, kind-looking woman spoke to Cindy when she saw the state Cindy was in. "Mrs. Linda really should hire someone to organize that place."

"It's okay, Rose. I'm already used to it, so don't worry." Cindy said with a smile.

Rose was the only person who seemed to care about Cindy. She had a head full of white hair and has been in the company since it was founded by Linda's now dead husband.

While Linda resembled an evil witch from the fairy tales, Rose looked like the kind fairy godmother

"It's wrong that you even have to get used to something like that. Mrs. Linda has always been cold, but she seems to have a special distaste for you."

Cindy was aware of that, as well as the reason. Linda and Cindy's mother never really got along. When they were teenagers, they both fought for the same man, Cindy's father, and Linda obviously lost.

Cindy resembled her mother quite a lot, making Linda dislike her even more.

------

During lunchtime, Cindy was still working at her desk, making up for the time she lost while looking for the file Paula wanted. She kept at it until there were just 15 minutes left of lunchtime when she finally headed for the company's kitchen.

The kitchen had 2 refrigerators, along with a microwave oven and a coffee machine.

Cindy opened the refrigerator where she left her sandwich and... her sandwich wasn't there. Cindy didn't need to think too much to know who took it.

Leaving the kitchen, she looked across the office and saw a fat, brunette woman munching on something. She was Cindy's other cousin, Karen.

While Paula looked as thin as a stick, Karen was the exact opposite. As a child, Cindy believed Karen used to eat for two to compensate what Paula didn't eat.

Cindy had no doubt what Karen was eating right now was Cindy's sandwich.

'I shouldn't have taken so long to come to eat.'

Unable to do anything about it, she could only ignore the rumbling of her stomach and go back to work.

------

With much effort, Cindy was able to endure until the time for leaving. As there wasn't any work piled up, Cindy wouldn't need to do overtime today.

Though, before people could leave, Linda had an announcement to make.

"This Friday night, the son of an important client will be coming. We want to secure a new contract with him, so it's imperative we take good care of his son. I shall host a costume party for him when he arrives, and I would like for everyone to attend. That's all."

After giving the news, Linda and her two daughters left the office and headed home. Even though Cindy lives with the trio, they never bothered taking her along.

"A costume party, how exciting." Rose spoke. "You definitely should go Cindy, if there's anyone in this company who deserves a break, it's you."

"It looks nice, but I can't pay for a costume."

Cindy's salary was simply too low, she could barely make meets end as it was. Even her phone was just an old model with a cracked screen that Paula no longer wanted.

"Don't worry my dear, I can help you. My daughter works as a theater producer downtown. I bet she can arrange a costume for you."

"Really?" Cindy asked excitedly.

"Haha, have I ever lied to you, my dear?" Rose asked with a smile. "Now tell me your body measures so I can ask her to prepare everything."

Cindy told Rose her measures. She could hardly wait for the party.

------

Cindy felt like Friday would never come as she kept working like usual. Rose assured her that she would love the costume and that it was a costume that fitted Cindy perfectly.

Friday finally came.

Cindy arrived at the office, but Rose was nowhere to be seen. When she finally arrived, Rose had a white garment bag with her.

"Is that..."

"That's right, your costume is here, but you can only see it later. Hehe, I want it to be a surprise."

"Can you at least tell me the type of costume? Or at least the color?"

No matter how much Cindy asked, Rose wouldn't budge. Cindy could only wait patiently.

The minutes seemed to drag on as Cindy couldn't stop thinking about the party.

When there were only 30 minutes left for the time to leave...

"Hey, orphan." A voice came from behind her. Cindy didn't need to turn around to know it was Paula.

"Yes?"

"Mom wants to see you." Paula said with a smirk and left, which gave Cindy a bad feeling.

Cindy lightly knocked on the door before entering.

"You called me Mrs.?"

"Yes I did, I want you to organize the storage room tonight." Linda said as coldly as ever.

Cindy felt her body go cold. "But, but, the party... "

"I gave you an order! Now leave!"

Cindy's eyes began to tear up as she ran towards the toilet. She began to cry inside the toilet stall.

*Knock* *Knock*

"Cindy, are you there?" Rose asked.

*Sniff* "I'm sorry Rose..."*Sniff* "I won't be able to go to the party." *Sniff* *Sniff* "I have to organize the storage room."

"Dear, open the stall, let me help you."

Rose had to wait a few seconds before Cindy would open the stall.

Cindy's eyes were red from crying.

"Come here. I'll take care of the storage room, so you can go enjoy the party."

"But, my aunt will see me there."

"Don't worry. I figured Linda might not want you there, so I prepared something." She said as she took a silver Venezian mask from the bag. The mask covered the whole face and could hide the hair.

"See? No one will ever know you were there. Now wait here, I'll take care of these red eyes of yours." Rose said before leaving. She came back a few minutes later with a bottle of cold water.

They spent half an hour before Cindy's eyes were back to normal.

"Now, time to show you your costume." Rose finally said. She opened the garment bag and took a sky blue dress, along with a pair of low heels and a tiara that could be placed on top of the mask.

"Remember how I said it would fit you? A princess costume, because that's what you are." Rose spoke with a smile.

"It's beautiful. Thank you, Rose, you really are my Fairy godmother." Cindy said as her eyes teared up again.