'I need something to wear!', I groaned as I ransacked my closet.

'Neeeenaaa!!!', I whined desperately and she poked her head into my room.

'You still haven't decided?', she asked with a frown.

'Well, It would be a lot easier if I actually had something to wear', I stated and sank down into my bed.

'What about the red dress I wore to Declan's birthday?', she asked.

'You'd let me wear that?', I asked.

'You barely go to social events Omi. I'd even buy you that Russian tiara of your fantasies if you'd agree to one party'

'Kokoshnik tiara', I corrected.

'Whatever'

'And it's not a party. It's a formal event just for the library members', I said.

'Will there be music and food?', she asked blatantly.

'Yes'

'It's a damn party'

The dress was a deep red, off shoulder A-line gown which fell into soft pleats on the ground. But the part that I liked the most was its bodice, it was adorned with tiny dark red stones which made it glimmer whenever I moved.

'Oh Omi! You look perfect!', she gasped as I twirled around her.

'I love it', I said and looked at my reflection. It's always been a dream of mine to wear a flowy gown and attend a formal event and I had finally made that 5-year-old girl's wish come true.

'Okay now before your cab arrives and before the night's events take away my masterpiece of hair and makeup, lemme get a picture of you!', she exclaimed and made me stand near our usual photo spot; the tall arched window.

'Call me if anything goes wrong', she said as I walked out.

'I'll be fine, Neena', I said and exited the floor.

The library was hosting its annual Founder's party. According to Miss James, the party was hosted like a royal event because a lot of the founders were millionaires and honestly speaking, all I wanted to see was how such an event looked like in real life.

The library looked like its normal self from the outside but once I stepped inside, it was like I was no longer in the quiet sanctuary I knew. The lounge furniture had all been removed and was instead turned into a ballroom. The west wing which was the reading lounge was now where people dined and I was surprised to see how efficiently they had transformed our reception area into the bar.

'Salome! It's so nice of you to come!', exclaimed Miss James from behind me.

The librarian had transformed into this elegant being who wore this silk turquoise blue gown with a trail she held in her hand.

'You look gorgeous', she said and I blushed.

'Come, I want you to meet the owners who are my old friends', she said and lead me a group of three people where two of them faced me while the other stood with his back against me.

'Celia, Davey, this is Salome. She's our assistant', introduced Miss James and the two people facing me smiled in response.

'Hi', I said and upon hearing my voice, the third person turned to reveal himself with an amused smile.

'Ethan?', I asked stunned.

'Hello Salome', he said not dropping his smile, instead, I noticed it become wider.

'Oh, you two know each other?', asked Celia.

'We're classmates', he replied.

So this was his commitment.

'It's a good thing that she's here. I was worried that our group was going to be the death of Ethan', laughed Davey.

'What do you study, Salome?', asked Celia.

'Architectural theory and history', I replied.

'That's a fine subject', she said and I smiled in response while Ethan casually kept looking at me.

'Why don't you both go off then without us boring you', said Miss James and I smiled wryly at her partially glad to be out of the adult conversation.

'I didn't know you'd be here', said Ethan from behind me.

'I could say the same thing about you', I replied without turning and proceeded to climb the staircase.

'My family happens to be members so here I am filling in for my Uncle. But  back to you, I thought you didn't like parties', he said trailing behind.

'Yeah well I sorta work here so I'm obligated to', I replied with a shrug.

'Tell me about yourself, Salome', he said as we reached the first floor.

For a second I wanted to turn around and throw the question right back at him because it would make more sense but instead, I decided to go along with it.

'What do you want to know?', I countered.

'Anything but your favorite color and band', he said to which I made a fake gesture as if I were insulted.

'Shoot your question', I said not wanting to just open up to him without a start or end.

'What do you want your final words to be?', he asked with an intense stare.

'Is this the part where I run screaming as you chase me with a knife?', I asked and he laughed breaking his serious mode.

'I've found that asking someone questions like these make things simpler', he said.

'Why because you're a mystery itself?', I asked pausing on the stairs.

'I asked first', he smiled and leaned on the banister with a boyish charm.

Strangely I didn't feel scared to answer, in fact, a part of me wanted him to know and I decide to deal with the consequences later.

'I owned every second that this world could give', I answered and continued my climb

'One Republic', he said with a small smile, following behind.

'My turn', I said and decided to unwrap his mystery by myself.

'Do you believe in heaven and hell?'

'I do. It's what keeps me sane knowing that there's a final destination for every act', he said.

With that one answer, I was able to understand that he lived by a code. We had reached the first floor now and we decided to stand near the railings to watch the festivities below.

'What's something you're embarrassed that you're so good at?', he asked.

'Leading people on', I replied wryly and he laughed out loud. At this point it didn't even embarrass  me anymore. I swear, if I ever deserved purgatory, then that would be the reason.

'What inspires you the most?'

'My past', he replied but looked down as he answered.

So I was right, Ethan had been hurt.

'What is one thing you are certain you'll never experience', he asked.

The answer escaped my lips without a filter that I myself was shocked as I heard myself say, 'Fairytale happily ever after'.

I winced at my vulnerability and sat down in one of the high back chairs to calm myself down.

'What's that supposed to mean?', asked Ethan.

'It's silly. Forget it', I said feeling warm from inside.

He walked towards me and then pulled up a chair so that he could sit right next to me, 'I promise to explain one of my answers if you do', he said and I looked at him.

Ethan actually looked interested and not the 'curious' type of interest but the 'actually cares' type and I felt it give me the confidence to say,

'To fall in love with someone. To find what makes each other tick and help each other overcome it. To be hopelessly romantic and all those cheesy old school things, To fight and then fall back into each other's arms. To know that I'll be walking towards him in church to say my vows. That kind of happily ever after'

As I explained it, I realized that I hadn't taken a single breath and my heart was beating fast. Ethan's intense stare, so close to my face was making it impossible to get what was denied to my lungs. It was only when he broke into a small smile and sat back into his chair, did the air rush into my lungs again and make the world spin again.

'That's the first time I've heard someone explain a fairytale love like that', he said with his eyes shining as an amused smile played across his lips.

With the oxygen back in my brain, I was able to say, 'Well in the words of Sebastian the crab 'hopeless! Simply hopeless!'' and he chuckled.

'I don't think you're hopeless, Salome. In fact, I think that the world needs more romantic people like you to make them remember what good ol' love is', he said and I shrugged as I stretched my arms out in front of me.

'Yes, well, unfortunately, it's only a dream. I'll be married to a stranger and be expected to figure it out with him without the break-up option', I said and realized that it was actually something I feared; Commitment without an exit.

'Arranged marriages aren't all bad, are they?', he asked.

'No, but it doesn't mean mine will be perfect', I said and picked at my dress which made him take my hand into his as if he were trying to calm me down.

'I wish for you the most hopeless, tragically, romantic fairytale, Salome', he said softly that I almost got lost in his eyes but I felt my heart pound at that almost similar literary phrase.

'My turn', I said and he let go of my hand as if he were bracing himself.

'Why does your past inspire you?', I asked. It was my only chance at asking him about his secret burden that he carried like Atlas, except Ethan did it willingly.

He closed his eyes for a brief minute and then opened them to look at me. They seemed to be flooded with memories that he guarded with his poker face.

I swear this man was going to murder me with his eyes.

'I've had what some people would call a troubled past but yet here I am. If I could overcome things like that and be standing here, like right here at this moment, talking to an amazing person, then I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat', he said without taking his eyes off of mine but I wasn't ready to give in yet.

'Is this what you tell all the girls?', I asked and Ethan grinned as he replied,

'Only the hopeless romantics'.

.
.
.

'And then?! Then what happened?!', urged Neena as I lay across the sofa.

'And then we danced on moonbeams into the night sky', I replied and was rewarded with a cushion flung at my face.

'Omi!!', she whined.

'Then nothing! We went back downstairs, had dinner and I said I had an assignment to do, so he was kind enough to drop me off and here I am!', I exclaimed as I got up.

'Cinderella came back at 1 am because her spell broke. You come back at 9 because of homework!', she exclaimed unbelievably.

'Well this Cinderella has a degree to get and no fairy godmother to help turn her assignments into A's', I said brightly.

'Well bibbity bobbity boo hoo to you!', she exclaimed and slammed her door with a dramatic force.

I sighed and went up to her door, holding up a brown paper bag.

'I brought back cherry pie', I sang.

The door opened slightly revealing an arm that snatched the parcel out of my hands and the apartment resonated once again with its slam.

As soon as I got back into my usual attire of sweat pants and printed tees, I was reminded of Ethan's wish for me, 'a hopeless tragical romantic fairytale'.

Gilbert Blythe in an adaptation had once asked Anne a similar thing, 'Tragical romance and all?' to which she replied, 'Remains to be seen'

My face suddenly started to get warm and I quickly hugged myself to prevent the explosion of butterflies from within.

After five minutes of reassuring myself that it was all in my head and that my list was simply a childish dream, I quickly got started on my assignment.

Falling in love or wanting a relationship was not something that ever bothered me in the past because it was out of the question. I mean why worry over something that was doomed to be a disaster?

But now like Neena said, I had a chance to do the things I always wanted to do. Out of my parents' eyes which would seem reckless to anyone else but when you've been a prisoner in your home for too long and then one day find the door to your cell open, wouldn't you take the chance?

But this wasn't a Cinderella story, this was a Grimm's little mermaid tale where the only sure outcome was turning into sea foam and I had no intention of doing so.