In a Different Life
Disclaimer: I own nothing! Everything belongs to their perspective owners which is mostly Disney. (After all this is a Disney fan fiction)
Staring at the gigantic house in front of her, Cinderella wondered if she'll be able to clean the whole estate by herself. A car beeped behind her and she turned around to see her friends waving goodbye. She gave them a smile and gazed at the house again. Exhaling a sigh she didn't know that she was holding, she started to walk towards the front door. She could hear her friends driving off probably to have a little date in Naveen's opinion while Tiana would rather call it 'hanging out'. Knocking on the door, she wondered if there were other servants around, hopefully they could teach the ropes and provide some company. Any company is better than having none, she thought.
It was about a few minutes until the doors opened and a woman with her nose up looked down at her. Cinderella was dressed in her usual cleaning garb. A light blue sleeved crew shirt, dusty brown jumper skirt and a white apron. The strawberry blonde gave her a small smile but it was not reciprocated.
"Cinderella, I presume?" The woman asked, extending out her hand. Cinderella shook it and the older woman nodded.
"Yes, ma'am" The woman ushered her in and walked with confidence about her. The younger woman wondered if she was the missus of the house. Upon seeing the interior of the mansion, Cinderella had to restrain herself from fainting or gawking. It was absolutely marvelous! The walls were well maintained, seeing as how the pearl white paint looked new as it illuminated the light from the crystal chandelier that hung above the middle of the entrance.
"My name is Prudence and I am in charge of the servants in this household," Prudence said as she gave Cinderella her tour. "There are certain rooms that off limits to you which are the Master Bedroom, the Young Master's Bedroom and the Master's office."
"Oh I see, where do the servants sleep in ma'am?" Cinderella played with her fingers while taking in the scenery before her. Seeing that the people that own the house are men, she is completely terrified but she made sure to maintain her composure.
"Well seeing as how you are working here for the weekend in order to replace one of our servants, you'll be sleeping in the servant house that is located a few feet away from this house. Don't worry; it is a lovely and comfortable abode. The young master wouldn't want anything less than for everyone to be happy," Prudence assured her as they walked through the hallway that lead to the bedrooms. A huge red velvet curtain blocked the sunlight from entering through the stain glass windows. Gasping in awe, Cinderella is half pleased and half scared to be here. The benefits surely are wonderful, but the more powerful that they are, the servant's word is less than theirs.
"Well, Cinderella, this is it. The Servant's house," Prudence opened the entrance to her two-day abode and Cinderella was happy to see that it didn't look ghastly as her last one. "I hope that it is to your liking—"
"It is more than what I had hoped for! Oh thank you for hiring me!" Cinderella enveloped the woman in a big warm hug whom sported a blush due to the sudden attack. Clearing her throat, Cinderella remembered that she had to be on her best behavior and released her. "Sorry,"
Straightening up and ironing out the creases on her suit, Prudence raised her hand to let her know that all was fine but to never let it happen again. "Right, well your chores for the rest of the day is inside your room along with some bare necessities while you stay here. Also, when you are done you are free to use the facilities in here,"
"Of course, thank you so much ma'am," Cinderella bowed and gave her a smile. Prudence tried to return the favor but it looked like she was having trouble or more like the smile was crooked and left after nodding her head.
Walking towards her rooms, she found hers located at the end of the hall with a small door tag that read Cinderella. Smiling she looked at the clipboard that was hung up next to the door. There are not a lot of female servants; most of them are men that worked the manual labor to make the estate beautiful. The females worked inside the mansion to keep tidy and to serve its owners. It was going to be a long day but it was worth it. With this money not only could she buy books for her studies but she could also buy something for herself.
In a place near the outskirts of Corona stood an aquarium, it wasn't that huge nor small, just the right size. It was filled with many fishes from around the world. However there isn't any bigger fish like dolphins or sharks. A young is seated on one of the benches in front of the aquatic animals with her pad and pencil in hand. She was preoccupied with the songs that blasted from her headphones to notice a man approaching her. She sketched and sketched being unaware of her surroundings and completely lost in a world that isn't hers. She hummed the tune to the song without a care in the world if someone overhears her.
"Nice fish… I think," a person beside said with a smile. The redheaded girl was startled by his presence and clutched her pad tighter to her chest. The man laughed showing his dimples which captivated the girl in front of him. He motioned for her take off her headphones which she did unknowingly, still lost in his smile and sky blue eyes. "So what are you drawing?" he asked causing her to wake up from her current daze.
"O-Oh! Um… I was drawing a mermaid," she replied in a low voice.
"Really? Mind if I look at it again?" He asked standing next to her and shyly gave him her sketch pad. He looked at the drawing in front of him and opened his mouth in awe. Looking at it normally was much better and different than looking at it over her shoulder like he did earlier. "Wow, you have such great talent. Mind if I sit here?" He asked and she shook her head then tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. He returned her sketchpad to her and gave her a small smile.
"Thanks, not a lot of people like it," She replied in a small tone with a blush on her face. She was not that good at conversing with boys especially men older than her. Also the only guy friend she had was Flounder and he was practically a little brother to her. Other than that her life was filled with mostly women by her side, having six sisters was fun and all but they were all busy with their own lives.
"Your art? Why not! It's amazing, if I could draw that well, I could make a fortune!" He replied. The redheaded girl brought her legs closer towards her and looked at the fishes. The way they swam so easily fascinated her.
"No… mermaids," she looked at the picture she had drawn, a young mermaid with red flowing hair and a green tail. It wasn't like how they were pictured…it was prettier as if it was just a human with a fish's tail. But mermaids weren't like that, according to myths they lured fisherman with their beautiful voice just to kill them. That's why they were hated and sometimes that's also why they were so fascinating. How could such horrible creatures have such beautiful voices?
"I like mermaids…" The man beside her replied while looking at the aquarium tank in front of them. She turned her head to look at him…to see whether he's bluffing or not, but the look in his eyes seemed sincere and so she smiled a small smile before looking at the tank again.
They talked about a lot of things, mermaids, fishes, crabs, dolphins and the girl was happy to know that her hobbies didn't seem unusual to him. She studied him, his features as he passionately talked about when he went fishing in Denmark two summers ago with his father, the day that he also lost him to the sea. His head fell as he looked to the ground his black hair cascaded down and his sky blue eyes were filled with so much sadness. The redhead placed a hand on his back and rubbed smooth circles to comfort him. He turned his head to look at her and gave a small smile to which she replied with a small sad smile. They continued talking until he left to get refreshments.
"I really like talking to you, I'm Eric," he said as he handed her a pretzel and smoothie.
"I really like talking to you too Eric—" She replied as she took her food from him with a smile. It was nice to know that someone liked her. "I'm A—"
"Eric! Dude hey! There you are!" A man about his age yelled from across the room. He had short brown hair and was dressed in a red jacket, navy blue dress down shirt, dark gray skinny jeans and brown Jodhpur boots. He was accompanied by an Arabian man with the same black hair as Eric but messier. His outfits weren't designer unlike the brunette but he wore a purple vest with white button down shirt, white pants and black converse.
"Hey guys! I'll be there in a minute!" He replied while waving his hand towards them. His friends looked impatient but nodded nonetheless. Turning back to look at the redhead, he was met with nothing. Her bag was gone and so was her food. Groaning in frustration he ran a hand through his hair and stood up but before he was about to leave he noticed a piece of paper that was on the floor. Noticing that it was from her sketchbook he picked it up to find the drawing of the mermaid but this time it had a note on it that wasn't there before.
The Little Mermaid.
"Hey come on man, you'll be late for your celebration. You're going to get your father's company remember?" The brown haired man ushered them all three outside towards his car. Eric nodded his head and looked back at the aquarium, wondering where the girl went. The Arabian man claimed shotgun and jumped in, causing the brown haired man to scowl at him.
"Geez calm down Ferdinand," The man said buckled up. He looked at the back and flashed a smile at their confused friend. "Are you ready Eric?"
"How can he be ready when he's dressed in commoner clothing? He is getting his father's business and going there with a white shirt and blue pants and some tacky shoes is going to make the investors wonder if they should even buy one stock in the company." The brunette replied while keeping his eyes on the road. They were headed towards the nearest designer shop to purchase a decent outfit for Eric other than the one he was wearing today.
"Has it ever occurred to you that Eric might not want the business, Ferdinand?" Aladdin crossed his arms and glared at him, concerned for the well being of their friend. "Here you are spouting your high class shit on him, it's not his fault that his da—"
"No Aladdin, Ferdinand is right. Going to the celebration in my current state would be social suicide not to mention it would destroy my father's company. I have to look the part," Eric interrupted which aggravated Aladdin even more, he slid back to his seat and stared off to the window.
"Fine sure Aladdin, you weren't brought up in a rich family so your opinion doesn't matter," he muttered. "You're just a commoner in nice clothes."
"Aladdin, I didn't mean that—"
"Save it, we wouldn't want you to waste your precious breath on someone like me. Waste it on the speech you want to make."
Ferdinand looked at Eric through the front mirror and saw that his friend was in a state of distress. He couldn't help having his friends sad and he knew that he was at fault, so this time he was making it up to them. With a determined look, he was going to make this day worthwhile.
A/N: Right! So the third chapter is done and the fourth is on the works! Forgive me for any spelling or grammar errors. I will fix it tomorrow if I find any. Have a good day to all of you! And as always, review! Thank you everyone that followed, favourited, and reviewed! It really means a lot to me!