Happily Ever After: (A Cinder & Ella Novel)

by Kelly Oram

  “Lame.” Juliette pouted. “I’ll ask, but you’re right. Dad definitely won’t agree to it.”

  Vivian shrugged as she took shots of all the piles of mail. “Whatever. We’ll just have your face blurred out or something.”

  “Double lame.”

  I laughed just as there was a knock on the door.

  “Who just sends someone a whole living room set?” Rob asked as he helped me to my feet.

  “I don’t know. Some designer who hopes I film lots of webisodes while sitting on it?”

  “Are you going to keep it?” Rob asked.

  I shrugged. “May as well, I guess. I don’t have any yet.”

  “What if it’s totally ugly?” Juliette asked.

  I shrugged again. “Yeriel said it looked nice.”

  When I opened the door, Juliette dashed past me into the hall and gasped. “Oh, Ella, it’s fabulous! We’re totally keeping this!”

  “We?” I laughed. “If you want it to stay, then come in here and help clear a spot for it.”

  The delivery guys looked surprised when they saw the mess in the living room. I grinned sheepishly. “You aren’t the first to drop off a surprise delivery today. I guess just set it along the wall in the hall for now? It’s going to take us a few minutes to make room for it.”

  “Sure.” The burly mover guy motioned to his crew to set the stuff down and handed me a clipboard to sign. “We’ve got to go get the rest anyway.”

  “The rest?”

  The man seemed indifferent to my surprise. His mind was already back downstairs with the rest of his delivery. He looked at his clipboard and nodded. “This is just the living and dining room stuff. There’s a bedroom set and some office furniture, too.”

  I supposed I should be used to the surprises by now, but I still gaped at the man. “They’re furnishing the whole apartment? Who?”

  “Dunno, ma’am. Some interior designer to the stars. There’s a card somewhere. We’ll be back in a minute with the rest of it.” He eyed the mess in my apartment warily. “Try to at least clear a path so we can get furniture into the other rooms.”

  With that, the man gathered up his other three guys, and they headed back to the elevator. I left the door open for them and turned to face my friends, stunned. “It’s the whole apartment.”

  “Crazy,” Vivian murmured.

  Everyone jumped to action, trying to clear as much space as possible. A minute later, the house phone rang again. Considering the only time it had done that all day was when Yeriel called me, I groaned as I answered it. “Please tell me it’s not another delivery. I honestly don’t have room for anything else.”

  Yeriel laughed. “No, Miss Ella. Mr. Oliver and Mr. Thompson are here, but they have a couple of guests with them who are not on your list.” He cleared his throat and spoke a little lower. “He, uh, said he recruited a little extra manpower to help with the move. May I send them up?”

  I laughed once. “Yeah, sure. Brian and Scott are welcome to bring up whoever they want. Tell them they’re right on time.”

  When I hung up the phone, I grinned at my friends who were still scurrying about the living room. “Excellent news. Brian’s here, and he’s brought help.”

  “Brian Oliver recruited help?” Vivian set another box out of the way and picked up the video camera again. “This ought to be good.”

  Not two minutes later, Brian called out using some kind of deep cheesy porno voice as he knocked on my door. “Special delivery for Ellamara Rodriguez.”

  I shrugged at the inquisitive looks my friends all shot me. “What can I say? He’s a dork.”

  “Perfect.” Vivian hit record on the video camera and gave me a cheeky grin as she pointed it toward the door. “We need shots of him when he’s in a silly mood, because he’s usually so grumpy or serious toward the public.”

  I let her have her fun. After all, the girl had a point. Even Brian’s agents had mentioned I was good for his image because I made him seem more personable. “Come on in,” I called. “Just be careful and watch your step. We’ve cleared a little room, but it’s still pretty chaotic in here.”

  Brian walking through the door carrying a small coffee table wasn’t wholly unexpected. The fact that he was shirtless, however, was a bit surprising. When I cocked a questioning brow at him, he gave me a big, cheesy grin to match the ridiculous porn star voice he’d adopted. “I’ve got a nice big package for you, Miss Rodriguez. Is there anywhere special you’d like me to stick it?”

  My eyes bulged, and I slapped a hand over my reddening face. “Oh my gosh, Brian!” I shrieked while Juliette, Vivian, and even the extremely reserved Rob burst into laughter. “You did not just say that.”

  Brian finally lost his composure, and, after setting the coffee table down, scooped me into his arms to give me a kiss and a very insincere apology. “Sorry. I couldn’t resist. And I didn’t realize you’d have company.”

  He noticed Vivian holding the video camera and looked startled. “Did you just get all of that on film?”

  “Oh yeah,” Vivian said proudly, still aiming the camera at him.

  Brian shot me a pleading look. “You’ll edit that out of your webisode, right?”

  I laughed louder than he had a minute ago. “Are you kidding? What’s more fitting for My Fairy Tale Life than Porn Star Brian delivering me packages?”

  Brian narrowed his eyes at me, trying to figure out if I was serious. I held my smirk like a pro. Of course I wouldn’t post it if he really didn’t want me to, but he didn’t have to know that yet. “Would you cut it if I gave you something better?” he asked.

  “Better than Porno Brian?” Juliette asked. She sounded skeptical that something better existed. I have to admit, I shared her skepticism.

  Brian whistled loudly. “Okay, boys! Bring it on in!”

  I turned my eyes to my open front door just in time to watch two of Hollywood’s biggest action stars—also minus their shirts—carry my new couch into my apartment.

  My jaw dropped.

  Jesse Ramos was a popular action movie star. If you needed a display of muscles, lots of guns, and explosions, Jesse topped your list. He’d been in a couple of Brian’s dad’s films, and I assumed that’s how the two met.

  Rhett Kessler was more of an action-thriller star. He was the sexy, smart, espionage type. His movies had lots of fancy parkour stunts and ninja fights for the action lovers and the quippy sarcasm and dreamy smiles that got the women to the theater along with the men. Brian had mentioned him before, and I’d gotten the impression Rhett was one of Brian’s closer friends.

  They were both very easy on the eyes. And they were standing, shirtless, in my living room waiting for me to tell them where to set down my new couch.

  “Is it just me,” Rob muttered, “or did the cast of Hostile Takeover just show up to help Ella move?”

  “Holy crap!” Juliette said.

  Vivian nodded. “Okay, yeah, we can erase Porno Brian for this. Talk about a fairy tale.”

  Both startlingly familiar faces grinned at my friends before turning their smiles on me. “Hope you don’t mind us showing up unexpectedly,” Rhett said, flashing me a boyish grin as he and Jesse found a spot in the living room clear enough to set the couch down.

  Jesse stretched after dropping the sofa and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, we ran into Brian at the studio, and when he mentioned you might need a little extra muscle today, well…” He flexed his arms and flashed me a cocky smile.

  I finally managed to stop gaping and shot the man a wry smirk. “I’d say the two of you definitely qualify as muscle.”

  They both laughed, and Jesse stepped toward me, hand outstretched. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

  “Finally?”

  I shook his hand and held mine out to Rhett next. He ignored it and pulled me into a gentle hug, surprising me with both his sense of familiarity and his awareness of my condition. Never mind that he was shirtless and I was so much shorter than him that my face
was plastered against his bulging pectorals. “Yeah, finally.” He laughed. “This fool has talked about nothing but you since he met you at FantasyCon. I’ve been asking him for weeks when he was going to let me have a proper chance to steal you from him.”

  Brian laughed but pulled me away from his friend and tucked me tightly to his side. I was relieved to have the breathing room, but I gave a mental eye roll at the silent display of possession. I didn’t think Brian even realized he was doing it. Men.

  A knock and a tentative “Excuse me, miss?” had us all turning toward the door. The delivery guy was back with the rest of the furniture and was eyeing all the shirtless men in the apartment warily. When he realized who they all were, his mouth fell open. He glanced back at me with wide eyes, and I couldn’t think of anything except to shrug helplessly and say, “Need some extra muscle to bring everything in?”

  When Brian started to follow all the men out the door to start moving furniture in, I grabbed him and pulled him back to me. “Let them do it,” I said, sliding my arms around his waist and leaning in. He didn’t put up a fight. After a quick kiss hello got his complete attention, I said, “How was your day? How’d the table read go?”

  The Scarlet Pimpernel was fully cast now, and today had been the first time they’d all gotten together to do a full read-through of the script. Brian had been a bundle of nerves and excitement this morning when he left.

  “Incredible.” His whole face lit up, and he shook his head in awe. “I still can’t believe I get to work with all of those people. This film is going to be amazing. I’m the only one in the main cast without an acting award nomination.”

  “Well, next year you’ll have one. You’ll be a shoo-in thanks to this film.”

  Brian took a deep breath and nodded as if he was trying to convince himself that was true. He hadn’t made the final list of nominees for Best Actor this year, but rumor had it he’d been close. He was a little disappointed, but not too much considering he’d never dreamed he’d get award buzz at all. It also helped that this year he was going to be the lead actor in a film that was sure to sweep next year’s awards ceremony.

  “I’m glad the read-through went well today. I was worried you’d be too starstruck having to work with your big fat celebrity crush on Astrid Graves.”

  “What?” Brian flinched at the accusation, and his face turned pink. “Where did that come from? I do not have a crush on Astrid.”

  “You’re totally blushing right now.”

  Brian put his hand to his cheek and cursed when he realized it was warm. He got as flustered as he’d been New Year’s Eve and then glared at the grin on my face. “Shut up, woman. It’s not a crush.”

  This was so fun. “It’s completely a crush.”

  “It’s admiration,” he grumbled. “Don’t tease.”

  I couldn’t help bursting into a fit of giggles. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

  His eyes narrowed on me, and he squeezed me tighter. “I’m sure you have a celebrity crush, too.”

  I totally did, but I couldn’t let Brian know who it was. He’d kill me. “Pshhh. Who me? No way.”

  “No, you do.” Brian shook his head, refusing my answer. “Everybody goes fangirl over someone eventually. When I find out who your celebrity crush is, you’re going to be sorry.”

  I grinned evilly, not ready to stop tormenting the man yet. “Maybe there is one person who could make me swoon if I met him in person, but I’m not telling you. That’s a secret I’ll take to my grave.”

  I made that sound like a playful taunt, but I really hoped Brian never discovered my crush on rock star Kyle Hamilton that was a borderline fangirl obsession. Kyle is the lead singer of my favorite band. He was the first person whose poster I ever put up on my bedroom wall. He was also one of Brian’s least favorite people on the planet. I’d mentioned liking Tralse once to him in an e-mail years ago, and I’d gotten quite the earful about what a douche bag Kyle was in real life, and that I should hate the whole band on principle. I hadn’t mentioned it again.

  “It’s got to be someone really embarrassing, or you’d just tell me,” Brian said, staring at me as if he were trying to extract the truth with his eyes.

  Maybe someday I’d admit I went weak in the knees every time his arch nemesis stepped up to a microphone, but today wasn’t going to be that day. I went for the shameless subject change. “How goes the search for the new assistant? Any acceptable candidates?”

  Brian’s grin turned into a pout, and I almost laughed. I knew that would distract him. “Hopefully horrible,” he grumbled. “Then Scotty won’t be able to leave me.”

  “There were a couple of potentials,” Scott offered from across the room, happy to contradict his boss. He’d been the one holding interviews this morning while Brian was at his table read. Anyone who applied for the position had to get past Scott before getting an interview with Brian. Knowing Scott, I doubted there were very many who measured up.

  I flashed Scott a smile. “Great. Would you mind forwarding me all the best applicants after Brian picks one?”

  Scott raised his eyebrows with a laugh. “In the market already, are you?”

  “Take a look around. I’m pretty sure I’m going to need help, if for nothing more than the fan mail situation.”

  “I’ll say,” Scott muttered, eyeing the boxes of letters and gifts he was currently helping stack on one side of my living room. “I pity your future assistant.”

  I laughed. “Me too.”

  Right about then is when Ana waltzed into the apartment with a puzzled look on her face. “Did I just see…Rhett Kessler and Jesse Ramos carry a desk down that hallway?”

  “Shirtless,” Juliette chirped, bobbing her head enthusiastically. She patted the empty space on the couch beside her with a huge grin on her face. “Come have a seat, and enjoy the show with us.”

  “Just watch out for Jesse,” Brian said, with a chuckle. “He’s the biggest flirt in L.A., and he won’t care that you’re underage.”

  Ana shook off her shock and smirked at Brian. “If that’s supposed to be a warning to stay away from him, your technique could use some work.”

  “He’s got crabs,” Brian offered.

  Ana snorted. “Better.”

  “Is that true?” I whispered as Ana took a seat beside Juliette.

  Brian grinned. “Doubtful. But now that’s all she’ll think about whenever he hits on her.”

  I was still laughing when a couple of the delivery guys stopped in front of me, carrying a giant headboard for what looked like a queen-size bed. “Miss, could you show us how you’d like the bedroom to be arranged so we can set up the bed?”

  That question ended my moment with Brian, but he did come with me to offer his thoughts on how my bedroom should be set up—which he was surprisingly opinionated on. He didn’t want the bed in the corner because he didn’t want to have to crawl to the foot of the bed to get out of it whenever he had to pee at night.

  When I reminded him that it was my room and that he had his own up the canyon, he muttered the word technically and told the men putting the bed frame together that he planned on staying over often enough that he deserved an opinion.

  The delivery guys sided with me, of course, but I ended up caving and not placing the bed in a corner, even though it made the room feel a lot smaller. I had a feeling that moving out of Brian’s apartment wasn’t going to give me as much space as I’d planned on. It looked like I was going to have an unofficial roommate most of the time. I didn’t know why that wasn’t quite as scary as an official roommate, but it wasn’t.

  Once my presence was no longer needed, I was put in charge of ordering the pizza, since I couldn’t do any lifting or moving. I had no idea how many pizzas it took to feed men as big as Rhett and Jesse, so I ordered a lot to be on the safe side and got a ton of chicken wings, too.

  The food arrived just after the deliverymen left, and my guests attacked it with gusto. With everyone settled in, I got back to sorting my ma
il. Having a couch to sit on and shelves to put the knickknacks on helped.

  Ana was the first to join me, while the others all laughed and joked in the kitchen. She sat down on the couch with caution and hesitated before speaking. “So…um…” For a moment, I almost thought she was going to try and apologize or something; guilt and remorse were all over her face. But she seemed to talk herself out of it at the last second and said, “What can I do to help?”

  The offer was almost as surprising as an apology. I guess because, in a way, that was her saying she was sorry. I wanted to tell her not to worry about it. I really didn’t blame her for the Erik Clarke thing. But I figured Ana was the type who didn’t want to hear it. I was sure she just wanted to move past it and pretend it never happened. I could give her that much.

  After handing her a box of unopened cards and explaining what I needed her to do, she got straight to work. The silence was awkward, so I tried to think of a way to break it. “Hey…um, have you ever heard of Nash Wilson?”

  “The photographer?”

  When I nodded, Ana shrugged and went back to skimming the current card in her hand. “Sure. My mom is a huge fan of his work. I think she’d faint if she ever met him in person. We went to some fancy event held in his gallery once, and she could hardly stand still. Have you seen his stuff? It’s incredible.”

  It was the most normal conversation Ana and I had ever had. It was strange but nice, and I wanted to tread carefully so that I wouldn’t take ten steps backward after this giant leap forward. “Yeah,” I agreed. “Brian and I visited his gallery a couple weeks ago. His work was much more beautiful than I’d expected.”

  “What made you bring him up?”

  “Well…” The question was again very cautious, and when I looked up, Ana was watching me through wary eyes. I wondered if talking to her about this was a mistake. There was a good possibility she’d think I was trying to brag or shove Nash’s offer in her face as a way to make her see that she was wrong about me. Hopefully that wouldn’t be the case, though. “He’s approached me. He wants to do a photo shoot to help me reveal my scars to the world.”