Chapter Text
Hi, everybody! Happy New Year and, please, enjoy this Christmas story!
A woman stood in the kitchen; her skillful hands were making sandwiches her husband loved the most - with ham, cheese, tomatoes and salad - when a loud pop startled her. She turned around quickly to see her partner with an opened bottle of champagne at the entrance.
“Gods, you’ve scared me!” she exclaimed, her right hand on her chest as if she had a heart attack.
“Sorry, honey,” he smiled apologetically and nodded in the cupboard direction. “Fetch glasses, please.”
His wife obeyed by taking two glasses out and placing them on the dinner table.
“What’s the cause?” she asked as he filled them with sparkling wine and handed one over to her.
“Today we celebrate ten years of abiding love, infinite happiness and unique relationship,” the man proposed a toast whereas his wife covered her opened wide mouth with her hand. “Happy anniversary, my love!”
“I can’t believe I’ve forgotten about it!” she giggled and took a sip from her glass. Oh, that champagne was really good!
“Luckily, I haven’t,” the big man chuckled and fished a large velvet box out his pocket. “This is for you!”
He opened it, revealing an expensive diamond necklace, which left his woman utterly speechless.
“OMG,” she managed after a while, still shocked, but when her fingers touched the stones her heart was ready to burst with joy.
“Try it,” her husband encouraged and reached the box out to her.
Her fingers were shaking as she finally put it on and turned to the cupboard to look at her reflection in the glass.
“That’s not all,” her man said behind her back. She whipped round, frowning.
“What do you mean that’s not all?”
He handed her his wallet, a blue folder and keys.
“These are all my credit cards, share holding of my company, your driving license, keys of my Bentley and – behold !- our divorce certificate!”
A woman screamed happily and hugged him, saying:
“You are the best!”
“That’s not a fairytale!” a dissatisfied child’s voice interrupts her dreams and a young blond woman opens her eyes to face her five years old niece with pouted lips and crossed arms. She sighs deeply, determined not to lose to a small but very smart girl.
“Oh, my sweet summer child, it’s the most realistic fairytale of all fairytales in the world!” she insists and shifts into more comfortable position in her armchair before girl’s bed. “Just listen to the end!”
So that single but very rich princess booked a ticket and immediately flew to Milan where she bought new and very expensive shoes…
“I want a real fairytale!” the girl cuts her off again. “A fairytale where a princess and a prince meet, fall in love and get married! That’s a fairytale! No divorce, no drama!”
“But it’s boring!” her Auntie tries but fails miserably as her niece frowns just like her mom.
“I will tell Mommy that you are wearing her favourite emerald earrings then!”
Though the woman is the elder sister, she isn’t that hardheaded as the rest women in their family and by her experience it’s useless to argue with such ones.
“Gods, I have no idea whose stubbornness you’ve inherited – your mom’s or your dad’s,” she groans making the girl smile widely and so charmingly. “You want a fairytale, you get it, little terror!”
Her niece jumps on her bed, throwing fists in the air and celebrating her victory over her disarmed aunt. The excitement she radiates is so powerful and catching that her babysitter grins against her will. She is so spoiled, she thinks, but so innocent and perfect at the same time. No wonder her parents took a day off from their duties.
“Behold the most beautiful, interesting and mind-blowing Cinderella story!” she begins, her voice low and designing, as her niece’s eyes grow wider and wider until she stops. “But firstly, you need to get under your blanket and put your smart little head on this soft pillow!”
The girl chuckles but obeys, accepting the rules, and as soon as she is in her bed, she demands: “Another Cinderella story!”
Her auntie leans on the back of her chair and starts the narrative, smiling:
Once upon a time, when half of people in this room wasn’t born yet so she couldn’t blackmail her poor auntie, there was a girl whose name was Astrid Hofferson…