Cinderella || A Modern Story [Wattys2015]

Chapter Five

CINDERELLA
Chapter Five

Claire exhaled with relief once her father parked his car at the end of the cul-de-sac, just outside their home. The ride back was silent—jam-packed with tension—and she couldn't take another second of it.

Shrugging past Lavinia and her daughters, Claire jogged towards the front door, an uncharacteristic eagerness in her step as she went inside. She roamed through the entryway, a sense of normalcy coursing through every fiber of her being as she reveled in the sight of the familiar, unchanged living area.

Claire had been craving such sensations since this morning, when her life abruptly altered. She now had to cope with the fact that she not only had a stepmother, but stepsiblings too! She was unprepared for this new, cramped lifestyle, but was willing to make it work...for her father.

Claire sighed, her normalcy depleting as she watched Lavinia circle the living room, surveying her surroundings. She stared in awe at the various antiques that furnished the room, smiling iridescently as if she'd never seen anything like it before.

Katharine and Mariana mimicked their mother's steps as they entered the house, but were seemingly less pleasant as they did so.

"So, this is where you live?" Mariana asked, trailing her finger on an old lamp shade. Eric, who trudged through the entryway with a fistful of suitcase handles, beamed proudly at the question.

"Why, yes Mariana," he said. "Is it to your liking?"

Mariana muttered something. "See on kohutav," she said, speaking low enough so that only her sister had heard. She and Katharine began snickering, but Lavinia quickly shushed them.

"Vaikne!" She snapped regally before turning to Eric. Claire raised a brow, wondering what all that was about. "Your home is precious, Eric. It is very kind of you to let us stay here."

Eric smiled at her. "Well, it would be impolite of me to allow my wife to spend money on a hotel room. We're a family now; we should get used to being together like this."

Claire eyed her stepsisters as they scoffed under their breaths. She had yet to discover why they were so rude, and promised herself that she would find out before their stay was over. No matter the reason.

"Claire, why don't you show Mariana and Katharine to their room?" Eric suggested. The girls sneered at the thought of being near Claire, but she nodded obediently nonetheless.

"Okay then," she clenched her hands and turned towards her stepsisters. "Follow me."

Claire climbed the stairs to the next level of the house, Katharine and Mariana trailing behind her. As they reached the top of the staircase, the girls shrugged past her and when into the nearest room, leaving Claire alone.

Eric moved to the base of the steps and yelled, "We'll call you down in an hour."

He then winked at Claire, as if wishing her good luck, then left with Lavinia to another part of the house. Claire sighed and went into the room where her stepsisters had gone, gasping when she'd realized it was her own.