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[Not Another Cinderella Story Masterlist] • [Membership Stories]
Miriam’s day was far from being over, but her shift at the Maison du Lavien was close to done. As she wiped the tables in the empty main room, she kept glancing at the clock near the main counter, counting down the minutes before she could take off her uniform and call it a day. She hoped she could evade a serious conversation with Paul, but after the events of this morning, she was sure Levi had pestered him to give her some sort of reprimand. As much as she knew she deserved it, Miriam also knew she would do it again if she had to.
A knock on the entrance door got her attention. She dropped her towel on the table, fixing her uniform and name tag as she walked towards it. They had been closed for the past hour, but she hated having to turn people away with a polite smile. The devastation of realising they had arrived a little too late always broke her heart. If she could, she would keep this bakery running until dinner time. But she wasn’t the owner and her opinion didn’t matter.
In Levi’s words, she was a mere waitress.
Miriam knew she was more than that, though.
Outside Maison du Lavien, a dark-skinned woman waved at her with a bright smile, walking closer to the door. As always Zoe was impeccably styled in a matching two-piece skirt suit, their price probably more than what Miriam did in a week.
“You know I can’t let you in,” Miriam said as she opened the door slightly, smiling at her friend. “Can you wait a bit?”
“How long until your shift is over?” Zoe asked.
Miriam looked over her shoulder at the clock and sighed. “Twenty minutes. But I’m sure Paul will want to have a word with me, so make it an hour.”
“That’s too long. I need to speak to you right now.” Zoe frowned. “Are you sure you can’t let me in? If Levi comes for you, I’ll handle him.”
“And how, exactly, will you do that?”
Zoe dismissed her with a wave of a hand and then winked. “Let me in, and you’ll find out if it comes to it. If not, then I won’t reveal my secrets.”
Miriam pursed her lips, glancing between her friend and the clock, pondering her options. She didn’t have much work to do in the main room, and with everyone busy in the kitchen prepping and cleaning for tomorrow, she could easily sneak her friend inside for a few minutes.
“Fine.” This conversation wouldn’t last long, anyway. “Come on in.”
She stepped aside and Zoe stepped inside, her heels clicking on the wooden floor. After a quick scan of the place, she shrugged and collapsed on one of the booths, grabbing her phone from her purse. Miriam crossed the room and grabbed her towel, wiping the table once again before moving to the next one, making her way to her friend.
“So,” Miriam said, “what is it you need to speak with me right now?”
“Two things.” She raised two fingers, not lifting her eyes from her phone screen. “One, are you still available to be my assistant part-time?”
“Well, it depends. How is the pay?”
“Are we seriously going there?” She cast a glance at Miriam.
“I need the money,” she said, almost too defensive. “And I need to be able to manage that offer with my current job.”
“I know.” Zoe sighed. “How much do you need?”
“That’s not how these things work, Zoe.”
“As a businesswoman, I know.” She adjusted herself on her seat to get a better view of Miriam. “Does fifty an hour sound good? I would have you work four hours a day, probably. Weekends are included. But I can work around your schedule. I mostly need you to help me with my dress fittings and such, and with my incredible persuasive skills, I can get us to do those fittings whenever you’re available.”
Miriam gripped the kitchen towel, biting her lower lip. Fifty an hour sounded good. Very good. It was more than double what she was currently making an hour working full-time at Maison du Lavien. Not only that, but she had worked with Zoe in the past, and she knew what this work entailed. Schedule fittings, go there with her to try on gowns and then retrieve them once they were finished to drop them at her place. It was an easy job, and she didn’t have to pay her this much for that.
“You’re a good friend,” Miriam said, smiling at Zoe.
She rolled her eyes and focused back on her phone. “I’m a very good friend, thank you very much. Will you do it?”
“Yes.” Miriam nodded, unable to hide her smile. “Thank you, Zoe. For thinking of me.”
“Don’t get all emotional with me yet. This isn’t the real reason why I came here to talk to you. I just wanted to make sure you’d help me this year.” She got up from her seat and walked to Miriam with confident strides. “This is.”
She held up her phone to Miriam who took it. Holding it with both of her hands, Miriam read the text conversation between Zoe and someone named Elisa Genet. At first, it was a series of messages of two people getting to know one another and establishing a baseline of where they had met, but then, the real reason behind said conversation appeared.
“She’s looking for a baker?” Miriam asked.
“Yes.” Zoe nodded, looking over Miriam’s shoulder. “She didn’t say much, but from what I remember from this Elisa Genet, she is someone trustworthy. She also happens to be close with the royal family.”
“And because of that, she’s trustworthy?” Miriam scoffed and returned the phone to her friend.
“The two things aren’t mutually exclusive, but in this case, I meant to say it as she could be your ticket to work as one of the bakers at the royal palace.”
“Those things don’t happen to people like me,” Miriam said, moving past Zoe to the next table.
“Well, that’s because you never let people bet on you, Miriam,” she said. “How many times have I told you I would fully fund your bakery and help you manage it?”
“It’s too risky, and you know it.” Miriam closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to collect herself.
Whenever this subject came around, they would always bicker and fight. She was too tired for that today. She still had to pick up Elliot from school and have a meeting with one of Oscar’s teachers before she could get home. Miriam didn’t want to add an argument with Zoe to her day. She couldn’t deal with any more misery.
“I haven’t given them your name yet,” she said, her voice sounding further away from Miriam than she last had seen her. “But I will. I am tired of seeing you belittle yourself when I know you have what it takes to be the best at what you do.”
“There is only one bakery in Tudal, Zoe.” She opened her eyes to find her friend near the entrance door. “You’re standing in it. Why would people choose my bakery over one with history? It’s foolish.”
“Because you are the best baker I know!” she said. “The only reason why stupid Levi is going to become head baker of this place is because he finished that damn degree when you couldn’t. Because if you had finished it, let me tell you one thing,” she pointed an accusatory finger at Miriam, “people wouldn’t be lining these streets to take photos at a place where they could meet the royals. They would be waiting in line to taste the best baked goods in the entire world.”
“The baked goods and pastry are good here.”
“That’s because Paul hasn’t hung his apron yet.” Zoe shook her head before glancing at Miriam with pleading eyes. “I know this place offers you security and enough money to help you take care of your family. But you deserve more than this. And if I have to hammer this truth into that head of yours every day until the day I die, then I will, Miriam. I will.”
Miriam didn’t doubt that. There was a reason why Zoe was a successful business owner, and it wasn’t because she quit easily.
“Would you let me think about it?” Miriam said. “About the baker thing.”
“What’s there to think about?” Zoe furrowed her brows and walked closer to her. She grabbed her shoulders, smiling down at her. “Miriam. All I will do is give them your name and your phone number and tell them all the wonderful things you can do. And then, they will contact you, and make you an offer. That is the one you should think about. But this, right here? I am just giving you a heads-up. I am not letting you pass on this opportunity because you’re too stubborn.”
“I’m not stubborn.” Miriam crossed her arms.
“Yes, you are. But good thing I am too.” Zoe winked at her and after patting her shoulder, she shoved her phone in her purse and opened the entrance door, allowing the warm afternoon breeze to enter the space. “I will get going now, but I will call you later, okay? And don’t you dare ignore my phone calls or I will be banging on your door.”
“That’s trespassing,” Miriam said and Zoe rolled her eyes. “Call me after dinner.”
“I will.”
With one final wave, Zoe left Maison du Lavien, and Miriam was drowned in silence and her miserable company once more. She glanced at the clock on the wall and smiled, satisfied that this conversation had chewed off most of the remainder of her shift. As fast as she could, Miriam wiped the rest of the tables and put the chairs in their place, finishing her task by sweeping the floor and washing it right after, perfuming the place in soft cherry blossoms. The smell would be gone by tomorrow morning, but it was nice to feel it now.
It meant her work here was done for the day.
Miriam crossed the double doors and stepped onto the kitchen, where most people were on the opposite side of the counter, all hunched over something. Only Levi seemed to notice her return from the main room, so she slipped into the staff room and got changed into her regular clothes before letting her hair loose and emerging on the other side once again, feeling like a completely different person.
“What are you guys watching?” she asked as she walked closer to them.
“King’s about to make a speech,” someone said to her.
Two of her coworkers opened a small space for her to join them on the semi-circle around the TV, but didn’t say a single word. Everyone’s eyes were glued to the small screen where a live feed of the empty conference room in the royal palace played.
“Do you know what it’s about?”
“No clue.” Paul shrugged, keeping his arms crossed. “They said it was important for the nation, so we decided to watch it.”
Miriam couldn’t help but roll their eyes. What could they have to say that was important to the nation? Every time they made an announcement in this room was to either announce a marriage or an abdication. She couldn’t care less about that. If they announced they were lowering rent or giving every Tudalian resident free healthcare services, then Miriam would be more on board with whatever they had to say.
Eventually, people appeared in the frame of the image, all standing in the back of the room, near the wall. The camera focused on them, running through their sullen expressions and impeccable makeup.
She recognised Princess Emma, with her short hair and vivid green eyes. Next to her was who she assumed was Prince Ollie, although he looked different from what she remembered. From her mental image of him, Prince Ollie was shorter than Princess Emma and didn’t have this much hair. She didn’t remember him having brown eyes, either, but considering all the knowledge she had of the royal family had been acquired against her will, she wouldn’t put it past her to not know what Prince Ollie looked like.
“Who is he?” Miriam asked, gesturing with her chin to the only man in the frame before the camera panned out to Princess Katherine, the youngest of the siblings.
“That’s Prince Richard,” someone said, casting a judgemental look towards her.
“Isn’t he the one that lives in America?” Paul asked, twirling one end of his thick moustache.
“I think so.” Levi nodded. “It’s surprising to see him here. He’s not one to be on camera often.”
That would explain why Miriam didn’t know very much about him, then. Still, as the camera panned out to show the three siblings, she couldn’t take her eyes off him. He stared at something to his left, away from the camera. Eventually, they all bowed, and the King appeared, followed by the Queen, who joined the siblings behind Tudal’s Ruler.
In the kitchen, everyone straightened their backs, resting a hand over their hearts as they stared at the screen. Reluctantly, Miriam did the same, stretching her neck as she waited for the man to speak.
“To all my fellow Tudalians,” he started, his deep voice carrying in the space around him, “I bring you grim news.”
The monarchy has fallen, Miriam thought. Finally.
“It is with a heavy heart that I inform you all of my decision to remove my second child and currently first in line to the throne, Prince Ollie, from my line of succession.” A small pause. The Queen’s shoulders sagged and Princess Emma cast her an emotionless look. Prince Richard didn’t move, focusing his attention on his intertwined fingers. “This decision comes after careful deliberation. After the accusations brought forward against my son, I cannot, in good conscience, keep him in the line of succession.”
“Who is the first in line now, then?” Paul asked, narrowing his eyes on the TV. “Could Princess Emma return?”
“She abdicated the throne,” Miriam said, crossing her arms. “She was forced to do so.”
“Well, she wanted to marry a woman, so it makes sense why she would do it. It’s what’s best for Tudal, you know.” Levi narrowed his eyes on her before focusing on his father. “The next in line is probably Princess Katherine.”
“Isn’t Prince Richard older than her, though?” Miriam asked. “Wouldn’t he automatically be in line to the throne since his two older siblings either abdicated or got removed?”
Levi scoffed, looking at Miriam like she was beneath him. “Prince Richard lives in America, Miriam. He has never been involved in any of Tudal’s royal events so—”
“Shh!” Paul hushed Levi, pointing to the TV. “The King is still speaking.”
“With this change in the line of succession, I inform you that Prince Richard is now the next in line to the throne. I ask all Tudalians to cheer for him and support him as he embarks on this new journey as Tudal’s heir to the crown.”
“So the guy that knows nothing about Tudal is the guy that will become King one day?” Miriam chuckled. “This monarchy thing really is a joke.”
“He will learn,” Paul said, nodding to himself. “Every King has to start somewhere.”
“I have a good feeling about him,” someone said and all around the kitchen, people nodded and hummed in agreement.
It always surprised Miriam how so many people had such blind faith in these people. They were in no way different from them, other than for the fact they had been lucky enough to be born into a family that was rich and happened to be in charge of an entire country.
They weren’t special. They were lucky. And that was the biggest injustice of all. While the next in line to the throne of Tudal had been spending the crown’s money living in America, that same money could have been put to good use in Tudal to help the people he was so looking forward to serving in the future.
It was a lie, all of it.
“I don’t think he’ll last,” Miriam said, casting one final look at Prince Richard as he took the stand where his father had been.
When he looked directly at the camera, it was as if he was staring directly at her. She gulped. He shouldn’t be looking this miserable. As someone who was just announced as the next in line, he should be beaming. That was everyone’s dream, right?
“Why do you say that?” Paul asked, nudging her shoulder. “You think he’ll abdicate too?”
She didn’t answer. Miriam blinked, and the trance she had with the TV ended. Prince Richard was staring down at a piece of paper, his lips pursed into a line as he gripped the edges of the stand, turning his knuckles white.
“He’s too nervous,” Miriam said, straightening her back. “To be King, he needs to toughen up.”
She put her jacket on and left the kitchen through the back door, walking towards her sibling’s school to pick Elliot up.
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