Happily Ever After: (A Cinder & Ella Novel)

by Kelly Oram

  “Oh.” She slid a drawer closed and reached for the chopping board. “I’ll just be careful, then.” She laughed in exasperation as she started cutting up one of the avocados I set out. “That boy. He’s so much like his father. I worried he’d be an eternal bachelor. I’m amazed that there is anything in his fridge besides old take-out.”

  I laughed and threw some shrimp into a frying pan with a little olive oil, garlic, and lemon juice. “There wasn’t the first time I came over. I made him take me grocery shopping. I couldn’t stand to see a nice kitchen like this go to waste.” At Liz’s sigh, I added, “He’s not hopeless, though. When I cook, he lets me put him to work without complaint.”

  “That comes from being raised by me.” She shot me a wicked smile and winked. “He’s used to taking orders.”

  “I should probably thank you for that, since I’m a lot better at giving them than taking them myself.”

  We both laughed and continued to enjoy ourselves as we cooked until the front door opened and an unfamiliar voice called out to us. “Hello?”

  Liz and I were both startled by the intrusion. After the insanity at the movie theater yesterday, and all of Brian’s platitudes about how he needed such heavy security, we were both freaked out. “Who’s there?” I called back while Liz reached into a cupboard and grabbed a skillet.

  I recognized the young, well-dressed blond who walked into the kitchen just in time to stop Brian’s mom from beating the poor guy with a cast-iron frying pan. “Oh! Liz, wait. It’s okay. That’s Brian’s assistant.”

  Scott jumped back, raising his hands in surrender. “Whoa! Sorry! I didn’t mean to startle you. I didn’t realize anyone would be here, or I would have knocked. Brian never has company, and he always says to just let myself in in case he’s in the middle of a workout, or oversleeping, or hiding from a meeting he doesn’t want to go to.”

  My adrenaline was pumping through me at an alarming rate, but I managed to laugh. It wasn’t hard to imagine Brian oversleeping through something important or purposely not answering his door. “Does that happen often?”

  My laughter made Scott relax. “Yeah,” he admitted, with a shake of his head. “Often enough.”

  He held his hand out to me with a sheepish smile. “It’s good to see you again, and meet, officially.”

  I cringed as I shook his hand. “Yeah, we didn’t really get introduced last time, did we? It’s Scotty, right?”

  “I prefer Scott, if that’s all right. My Nana is the only person who calls me Scotty. Well, and Brian, because annoying me seems to amuse him.”

  I laughed again. “That sounds like Brian.”

  Scott shrugged. “It’s all right. There aren’t that many people Brian genuinely likes, so I figure the teasing is a positive thing.”

  I smiled at that. “Very true. He really isn’t much of a people person. And the torture is definitely a positive thing. He only messes with people he likes. He adores you. Can’t get through a single conversation without mentioning your name.”

  Scott’s smile turned wry. “How many of those times is he using it in the phrases I’m sure Scotty won’t mind or Scotty can do that for me?”

  “Only six out of ten,” I promised, with a grin. “The rest of the time it’s We need to find Scotty a good woman or We should invite Scotty to that. He needs to get out more.”

  Scott shook his head as he set his messenger bag on the counter. “I can see why Brian likes you.”

  The compliment surprised me, but it was easy to return. “Ditto, Scotty.”

  He chuckled at the taunt and flashed a nice smile at Liz when I gestured to her. “Have you met Brian’s mom before?”

  His eyebrows lifted in surprise as he shook her hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  I went back to finishing up the lunch prep while they got acquainted. “So what brings you by?” I asked once there was a lull in conversation. “I really hope Brian wasn’t demanding your presence the day after Christmas.”

  “He did mention needing to sit down with you this week to go over a few things, but actually, I texted him this morning. He promised I could use him as an excuse anytime I needed to escape the house over the holiday, so I asked if this afternoon worked to have our meeting. He said it was probably best to do it as soon as possible. I decided to take that literally and came straight over.”

  I laughed. “You needed to escape that badly?”

  Scott nodded gravely. “My sisters are all home for Christmas.”

  “All of them? How many do you have?”

  “Six.”

  “Whoa.”

  “Yeah. And right now they’re all at home helping my grandmother make online dating profiles for their poor single baby brother.”

  As soon as his words registered, I burst into laughter. “Right. In that case, make yourself at home. Just don’t tell Brian what they’re up to. He’d likely drive over there and help them.”

  Scott’s answering sigh was adorable. He was adorable. I could see why people were always trying to set him up. “You hungry?” I asked. “I made plenty.”

  Scott’s face lit up. “Are you sure? I don’t want to intrude if this is a family thing. Brian didn’t mention his parents were here.”

  “Brian didn’t know we were coming,” Liz said. “We decided to surprise him. And it’s no trouble at all. With Ella’s new predicament, squaring away a plan for her was already on the agenda for the day. Why don’t you find some place settings for the table, and we can all discuss it over lunch? Brian and Doug should be back any minute.”

  Scott hopped up off the bar stool immediately. “Sure thing.” As he started opening cupboards, he asked, “New predicament? You mean the Erik Clarke thing?”

  Knowing there was no way to avoid the conversation, I started moving lunch to the table and told Scott all about the fight with my dad and how I would be staying with Brian until I could figure out a solid plan.

  “You don’t plan to stay with Brian?” Liz asked, startled.

  Her face fell with both disappointment and concern when I shook my head. I hated dashing her hopes of the wedding she’d been mentally planning since Brian’s slip of the tongue earlier. “I love Brian, Liz; don’t worry about that. I’m just not quite ready to live with him yet.”

  Her frown grew even bigger, so I hurried on with an excuse she wasn’t likely to question. “Besides, this house isn’t going to work for me. As soon as I can figure out how to pay for it, I’m going to need to find an apartment or something that’s a little more handicap accessible.”

  “That might not be as difficult as you imagine,” Scott said, excitement lighting his eyes. “Brian mentioned needing to go over some things. Did he tell you what kind of things?”

  “We didn’t get into it, but I did hear something about film rights for my story and needing to get agent representation.”

  Scott nodded as he set five plates out on placemats. “Film rights are only one of a hundred offers you’ve received that could bring in some revenue for you.”

  My jaw dropped. That number had to be exaggerated. But Scott didn’t seem like the type to embellish anything, and he had this focused way about him at the moment—like he’d gone into some kind of business mode. Fitting, considering he’d shown up wearing a nice pair of slacks, a white dress shirt, and a tie. It looked natural on him and made me wonder if he knew how to relax. His clean-cut appearance only added to how serious he seemed at the moment. “That many?” I asked.

  He nodded, as if that number was insignificant. “Give or take a few, yeah. Don’t worry; I’ve got a list for you, and I’ve prioritized it as best I could. Brian and I will go over all of it with you.”

  “Whoa.” I had to sit.

  I claimed one of the chairs at the table, and Liz brought me a glass of lemonade without being asked. “Don’t worry, Ella. Brian knows what he’s doing with all of this. He’ll make sure it doesn’t overwhelm you. And I’ll help as much as I can until we have to go home.”

>   Scott moved onto the silverware and gave me a confident smile as he placed a set of utensils around the plate in front of me. “It’s not as bad as it sounds. And most of it will pay extremely well, so even if you only agree to a handful of the offers on your plate, you should have no problem getting yourself into an apartment, if that’s what you want to do. Plus, I had this idea for turning your blog it into a viable business, if you’re interested in that.”

  “Really?” I perked up at the idea of turning my blog into more than just a hobby.

  “Yeah. If you did it right, you could be set for life.”

  With the table all set and lunch made, Liz excused herself to go freshen up for lunch. Once she wandered upstairs, Scott sat down at the table across from me. “Do you really think I could start making money from my blog?” I asked. “Like, turn it into a career?”

  Scott barked an incredulous laugh. “Are you kidding? You’ve already done it, Ella. You just need to start cashing in on it.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “With the following you’ve gathered since your online identity was leaked at FantasyCon, you’re being contacted by advertisers left and right. People are desperate to throw their money at you.”

  “They are?” My jaw fell in my lap again, and my heart picked up its pace.

  Scott smiled. “They’re approaching Brian because you don’t have any contact information listed, which means I’m getting the e-mails.”

  “No…yeah…sorry about that. I had to go completely dark after the whole Kaylee thing, and I just haven’t had the time to start everything back up yet since I got out of the hospital. I planned to after the holidays.”

  “Well, when you do, your possibilities are endless. I was thinking you should convert your blog into a full-fledged entertainment e-zine. Keep it mostly entertainment review-based, but you could add subjects like music and video games to your review lineups. You could also create an entertainment news column and hire a reporter to keep current headlines running like Variety does. And you could do celebrity interviews. You’ve got the following already and every Hollywood connection you could possibly need. At the very least, you should consider creating a YouTube channel and doing some kind of weekly review show. If you did, and you set it all up correctly and monetized it, you could be pulling in more than enough to live off of with your first video upload.”

  I slumped back in my chair as my brain tried to keep up with Scott. I’d been blogging for so long, and I loved it. Loved it. If I could turn it professional and somehow support myself from it… He was basically telling me my dream was at my fingertips.

  Even better than just loving the work, it was something I could easily do even with all of my physical limitations. I’d never have to worry about trying to go get a job and wondering if I could physically do it. This was something I could do right from the comfort of my own home, on my own schedule. And I could take it with me if, in the future, Brian ever had to leave for months at a time to film on location and wanted me to come with him. It could be perfect.

  “That’s it,” I murmured, stunned. “It’s perfect. The perfect thing for me to do. It’s the solution to my problems and answers that big, gaping question mark that is my future.”

  I met Scott’s eyes and was surprised to see so much encouragement shining back at me. He seemed as enthusiastic as I was about this. “You could definitely make it work,” he said. “It wouldn’t even be hard for you.”

  I shook my head as my brain continued to spin. I wish I had his confidence. “I guess…theoretically, but…” As excited as I was, the idea of making it happen was overwhelming. “I have no idea how to do any of that. I mean, writing reviews is one thing, but converting my blog over to a legitimate e-zine, that would mean major website reprogramming, hiring a few people to run some of the different columns, someone to handle marketing and advertising…essentially, it would be starting up my own business. My own company. I might have the following to get it successfully off the ground, but I’m not equipped to do any of that. I wouldn’t have a clue where to even start.”

  “Well…actually…” Scott rubbed the back of his neck and a light layer of pink rose in his cheeks. “I…uh…sort of…already wrote up a business proposal for you…if you’re interested.”

  It took me a minute to say anything. I was so surprised, and Scott looked so nervous it. It was adorable. “A business proposal?” I finally asked. “What do you mean? What kind of proposal?”

  “Well…” Scott took a deep breath and forced his shoulders back. “I graduated from UCLA with a master’s in business management last spring. My focus was entrepreneurial studies, so taking something like your blog and turning it into a real company that brings in revenue—that’s exactly the kind of thing that I want to do. This specific project is perfect for me because I already know the entertainment industry so well. Working with Brian has given me a specific skill set that would be extremely helpful in this case.”

  “So you’re talking about a partnership agreement. We go in together and split the profits?”

  He gave me a shy nod. “Yeah. You’d be the creative head of the company—editor-in-chief of the content, and I’d be your business half—the behind-the-scenes guy. I don’t have the experience yet, but I know I could do it, and I have every confidence that you could as well. You’re entertaining and likable, and you’re smart. You have a gift for creating content that people want. Honestly, I think, together, we could be really successful.”

  Something fluttered in my stomach. I could never do something like this on my own, but with Scott’s help… Scott was like Superman. Brian always said so. If anyone could help me make this happen, he could. And he was right about being the perfect man for the job. He knew the entertainment industry a lot better than me, and with his education…

  “I already spoke to Brian about it,” Scott said. “I’m not trying to go behind his back or anything. I just noticed what was happening and figured it’s a great opportunity for both of us.”

  I wish I could have been a fly on the wall for that conversation. What Scott was talking about would mean a full-time job for both of us. Maybe not right away, but once we hashed out a formal plan, there’d be a lot of work to do. Scott would eventually have to quit working for Brian. I smirked a little as I asked, “How’d that meeting go?”

  Scott cringed, but his eyes sparkled with amusement. “Pretty much how you’re imagining it.”

  “Lots of pouting? Whining about having to find a replacement?” Scott nodded. “He used the word traitor, didn’t he?”

  Scott’s shoulders relaxed, and he shook his head, chuckling. “Several times. But, he also gave me his blessing, because he knows how much you’d love an opportunity like this—his words.”

  I had no doubt that was true. This was the opportunity of a lifetime for me. I was sure Brian knew that. I wouldn’t have to be dependent on him, and I’d get to build a career doing something I loved and was passionate about.

  A long silence stretched out between us as I thought over the idea again and again. Maybe I was just excited, but I couldn’t find any downsides to this other than Brian losing his favorite assistant. Though, that might be good for him. Scott was right that Brian didn’t care for many people, but he really did love Scott. If Scott wasn’t his employee anymore, their relationship could morph into the real friendship that Brian kept trying to make it and Scott wouldn’t allow because he was too professional.

  When I met Scott’s gaze, he squirmed in his chair. He seemed to be holding his breath as he waited for my reaction. “I accept,” I said. “Where do I sign, partner?”

  Scott laughed nervously, and the pink tint returned to his cheeks. “Well…um…you should really read the proposal first and talk it all over with Brian before you accept. And I know it’s on the bottom of a very large stack of other offers and opportunities for you, so I know—”

  “Stop trying to talk me out of it.” I laughed. “I’ve always wanted to do what you
’re talking about—it’s what I planned to go to college for—and I have no doubt you could handle it.”

  When Scott blushed, I smirked. “Brian calls you Super Scott behind your back. I had to talk him out of getting you your own personalized superhero costume for Christmas.”

  Scott’s blush faded as the side of his mouth quirked up. “Seriously?”

  I laughed. “Yes. He was thinking about making you wear it as your work uniform.”

  The fact that Scott’s eyes went wide showed just how well he knew Brian. Anyone else would have thought I was joking. I wasn’t. Brian had contacted his favorite comic book artist and was having the two of us drawn as superhero characters for a new webisode series for my blog. We were calling it The Adventures of Cinder & Ella. He had the guy make a drawing of Super Scott as well. It took a lot of effort to talk him out of having a real super suit made up for Scott.

  “I appreciate the assist on that one,” Scott said, grinning at the thought. “But maybe you should have let him do it.”

  I cocked a brow. “You have a thing for running around in skintight rubber suits, pretending to be an Avenger?”

  “Not especially, but…do you know what he got me for Christmas instead?”

  That sounded ominous enough I was almost too afraid to ask. “No…what?”

  He rolled his eyes. “I’ll give you a hint. It’s parked in the driveway and cost as much as he paid me this year.”

  A car? “He didn’t.”

  Scott’s flat look told me all I needed to know.

  Brian and Doug came home before I could ask anything else. Doug entered first, and a smile burst out on his face as he inhaled deeply. “It smells wonderful in here.”

  “Yes, it does,” Liz said, coming downstairs, having heard her husband arrive. “Ella is a closet gourmet chef, and she’s made a spectacular lunch for us all.”

  Doug grinned as he headed for the dining table. He eyed the food and took another deep breath. “It looks delicious. You need to keep this one, Brian.”

  Brian had come in the door right behind him and proudly kissed my cheek at his stepfather’s advice. “I plan to.”