The day started quietly. With all the chaos from last night, Cinderella and The Boss could finally take a breath. But not for long.
Cinderella was still sleeping when something soft was thrown in her face. She jerked awake and met the deadly stare of The Boss.
'Do you have any idea what you have done?'
Cinderella blinked rapidly and looked at the object that The Boss threw. It was today's newspaper. The headline screamed, in thick bold letters: "Who is the mystery girl who lost her shoe?" Underneath, there was a photo. One of the glass slippers Cinderella had worn that night. Cinderella's blood froze, and she looked up. 'I, I'm sorry. I didn't know I had lost it...'
'You didn't know!?' The Boss walked away angrily, to come back in an instance. 'You're telling me that you had no idea that you had lost a freaking shoe?! How can you not notice?'
Cinderella hung her head and didn't dare to look at her anymore. Besides fright, she also felt irritated. 'Look, I'm sorry I lost the shoe, but there was chaos last night. It was probably adrenaline and later euphoria. Also, there were the stairs and-,'
'Stop blaming it on your feelings, your hormones, or your surroundings.' She pointed her finger towards Cinderella. 'You're the one who let emotions like that get the better hand. It made you unaware of your surroundings, and because of that, we have loose ends now.' She stopped for a second, and when she spoke again, her voice was a little softer. 'I get that there was chaos, and it was your first assignment, but you are the one who f*cked up. Not because of the things you felt.'
'...I'm sorry...'
The Boss sighed and massaged her temples. 'Seriously, I'm grey because of you.'
'But you're already-'
'No smart remarks. I need to think about the next move.' She opened the basket next to Cinderella. 'I got some breakfast. Let's just eat.'
Cinderella nodded and looked inside the basket to see freshly baked bread and strawberry jam. For weeks now, this was all the food they could afford. Neither her nor The Boss had much money, so they had to do with whatever they could either steal or pay for if they had received money from some forgiving monk. When The Boss stole something for the first time, Cinderella was shaken. No matter how bad she had it, she never had to steal before to get access to food. At first, Cinderella was against it. She wouldn't eat stolen food, but after the first two hungry nights, she realized she didn't have much choice. Now, the stolen bread and jam were almost ordinary.
'So, what is our next move going to be?' She asked. In the meantime, she sat down and removed a piece of bread. She dipped it in jam and enjoyed the rich taste of fresh bread and strawberries.
The Boss glared at her, irritated but answered. 'I was going to sell the crown to the market 20 miles away, but because of the incident yesterday, we can't. Instead, we will go to a different market that is 50 miles away. That is two days or, if you walk slow, three days of traveling.'
'But why so far away? And if it has to be that far, why can't we catch a ride?'
The Boss looked at her like she just said something stupid. 'We have to go to a different market because a certain someone lost her shoe. And not only that, but the prince know what you look like.'
'Yeah, right. There were a lot of girls at the ball.'
'And he still only danced with you.'
Cinderella put her gaze down. No matter what, The Boss would always have the upper hand. 'Alright, he knows what I look like. So what? It's not like he will inform everyone in the country that he is looking for me.' She pointed at the newspaper. 'It's only a local newspaper. We got nothing to worry about.'
'I'll decide whether or not we have to worry about this. I got a lifetime of experience that is warning me right now. Trust me, Cinderella. This is only the beginning.'
They were silent for a while, as they both thought and ate.
Then The Boss sighed and said: 'We have to stay as hidden as possible. Which means; sleeping outside instead of an inn. We walk as much as possible, and we travel together at all times. If something goes wrong, we have to rely on each other. Whenever we go to a market or any public place for that matter, you stay hidden and wear something like a scarf or something you can hide that face of yours.'
Cinderella groaned when she heard all of the do's and don'ts but realized she had no choice. It was like The Boss had said: she made a mistake, and now she had to pay for it. She wasn't looking forward to the cold nights. Cinderella had way too much experience with cold nights.
The Boss noticed Cinderella going silent but didn't say anything. 'Let's just pack up and go, alright? We have a long journey ahead.'
Cinderella smiled softly and started packing up her things. She didn't have much on hand. A thin but soft mattress, a sleeping bag, and a bag for some personal belongings. Not that she had a lot of those either. When The Boss asked her to come with her, she agreed and left with just a few things. A dried flower from her dad and a pendant from her mom. Her stepmother didn't give her much. Cinderella shook her head to get rid of the gloomy thoughts and was almost done packing when The Boss sat right next to her.
'What is it?' Cinderella asked.
'Let me help you pack the final things.' The Boss started to fasten everything on the backpack she gave to Cinderella when they first met. Cinderella was taken aback by this act of kindness. The Boss acted like there was nothing wrong and helped her stand up.
'Is something wrong?'
Again, The Boss didn't reply, but when Cinderella and she stood up, The Boss laid an arm around Cinderella's shoulders. 'Let's go.' The Boss' face was relaxed but her hand gripped firmly on her shoulder and urged her to start walking. The Boss took her stuff as well, and they left the spot.
----
"Honestly, when that happened, I for sure thought I was going to die soon."
Because The Boss wasn't so affectionate towards you?
"That, and the fact that her body language was way off. Her face was tranquil, peaceful even. But her body was as stiff as a wooden plank."
Well, we know why she did that.
"Hehe, yeah. We do. Should we inform the readers as well?"
We're going to let them speculate for a little while, for now. Until next time!