The Masque – Cinderella

I walked into the ballroom with some trepidation.  There was no reason for me to be nervous, no one knew who I was.  This was a masked ball and only those who stayed until midnight were asked to reveal themselves.  Even then they didn't have to if they didn't really want to.  I knew what my choice was going to be.  I was leaving as quickly as I could. I wasn’t even sure why I bothered to come tonight. 

I supposed that I was curious.  Someone had slipped the ticket under my apartment door.  Attached to the ticked was a note explaining that I could pick up my costume when I had the chance at the designated costume place.  All I had to do was give my name.

At the top of the few stairs, I looked around the room just to see if by any chance I knew anyone. I saw him from across the room and was immediately intrigued by him.  First of all, what I could see, he was gorgeous. Actually, his face was almost entirely covered by his mask but he was built incredibly well. I could certainly tell because he was actually wearing tights. I knew that there was another name for them but, to me, they looked like tights. And they were tight, I noticed with admiration.

I knew it sounded very cliché to say that I saw him across a crowded room but sometimes that is the way things happened.  He caught my eye and I watched as he handed his drink to someone before weaving his way in my direction. Several men approached me but I rebuffed them all until the man made his way to me. He reached me and without speaking, gallantly offered me his hand. I took his hand, somewhat startled by the spark I felt, before slightly lifting my skirt revealing my glass shoes. He bowed to me before offering his hand again in a silent request to join him in a dance. 

We danced for a while before I finally decided to speak,  "So, who are you?"

"My dear Cinderella, I am who I am.  Don't you recognize your Prince Charming?" he said in a soft voice.

"Prince Charming was a bigamist," I said with a smile causing a laugh from him.  "He lived happily ever after with Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and Snow White to name a few."

"Lucky guy, but I think I got the best one.  There is just something about you..."

"I know what you mean,” I said with complete honesty surprising myself. “You remind me of someone.  I don't know why though."

”Who do you think you are dancing with?  Or a better question,” he paused as he leaned down to speak tenderly in my ear. “Who do you wish you were dancing with?" I knew he should feel the shiver that ran through my body.

"Unfortunately, that can never happen," I said with a touch of sadness.

"Why can't you dance with the one you want?  Did your evil step-mother cast a spell on him?"

I smiled sadly at his reference to our costumes, then looked down, not wanting to meet his eyes for some reason before mumbling, "A co-worker."

I didn’t think he heard me but then he gently lifted my chin. I looked deep into his eyes that were so easy to think of as someone else.

"Then let me be him for you tonight, Cinderella."

"What?  I can't let you do that," shocked by his suggestion.

"Why not?"

"Because it isn't fair to you," I said looking down again, not wanting him to see the hope I was sure flashed in my eyes.

"Will it be fair if I think of you as the one I can't have?"

"That evil step mother sure gets around doesn't she?" I looked up at him again, amazed that he had the same problem as me.

"You could say that," he grinned beneath his mask.  "How about we forget about the evil step mothers and just enjoy ourselves?"

"Just Prince Charming and Cinderella?” I asked. “As you wish, Prince Charming."

"Then I say we dance, my lady."  He began to twirl me around the dance floor.  I had to admit that I felt a little bit guilty thinking of him as someone else. I knew though that I would never get the chance to dance with him like this so I soon let my guilt go. 

I was actually surprised with myself the more the night flew by.  I was being more myself than I had been in a long time.  Ironically, the only mask I wore tonight was the real one, not all the different ones everyone put on me by their assumptions.  I was truly being just me tonight.  I found that I liked it. 

We spent the next few hours in each other's arms on and off the dance floor.  We both learned that we would have liked to help the charity that sponsored this ball but neither had the spare $500.00 per ticket.  It seems that he found his ticket under the door of his place too. I couldn’t help but think that maybe things were finally looking up for me and that just maybe my fairy godmother was the one responsible for the tickets.  I wanted to be able to thank the person if it was possible but I also knew that I would probably never find out who that was.

During the hours that seemed to fly by we both discovered that we actually had a lot in common.  In fact, my head debated with my heart with the question of if I wanted to unmask my Prince.  Part of me longed to leave him a mystery so he could remain the man I wanted to be with but another part of me wanted to remove all the masks between us.

Close to midnight, my Prince Charming possessively wrapped his arm around my shoulder before leading me over to the balcony. I was glad that we were alone in case we decided on unmasking and not being pressured by anyone else.

"So, my lady.  Midnight is approaching.  Shall I see you to your carriage or would you like to stay for the unmasking?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," I said honestly.  "Part of me wants to just remember tonight as the magic that it has been and the other wants to know who you are." 

"I know how you feel.  Tonight has been..." he caressed my cheek with his thumb.  As the clock began to strike midnight, he leaned down and touched his lips to mine. After the chimes were through, I pulled back and looked into his eyes.