His Nanny Mate By Eve Above Story

Chapter 20: The Banquet
Moana

The day of the Morgan family dinner banquet finally came. Selina informed me that anyone attending these banquets was expected to dress formally, so I found a nice, dark blue dress with bows in Ella’s closet and dressed her up with cute socks and shoes, then curled her hair and put a big bow in it. She seemed to have completely forgotten Kelly’s rude comments at the luncheon the week before, and if she didn’t forget, she at least didn’t seem to let it bother her.

“Wow! My hair’s so curly!” Ella said, bobbing her head to make her curls bounce. “Thank you, Moana!”

I smiled at the little girl in the mirror and squeezed her shoulders. All of a sudden, her gaze slipped over to my outfit, and her smile faded.

“Are you going to dress up?” she asked.

I looked down at my own outfit with a slight frown. I had chosen the nicest clothes I owned that were also appropriate for a nanny at a family gathering: a simple dress, low heeled shoes, and no jewelry so as not to stand out too much. I thought I looked perfectly fine for my status, but now that Ella pointed it out, I felt incredibly plain.

“Oh… I’m just wearing this,” I said with a shrug.

“Nonsense.”

I looked up to see Selina standing in the doorway. Her lips were pressed into a thin line as she looked at me, shaking her head with her arms folded across her chest.

“Is this inappropriate?” I asked Selina, stepping away from Ella to show my full outfit.

Selina sighed. “It’s fine, but you can wear something a little nicer. You’re a pretty girl, but it makes you look homely.”

blushed at the housekeeper’s sudden kind words. She had never mentioned my appearance before, save for the night of the interview. She seemed a bit shocked, herself, when she

heel. “We’ll take

that, Selina disappeared down the hall. I jogged after her,

“Now, let’s see…”

knowing where Selina went although I could hear her muttering to herself and the sounds of her digging through something. “Hmm… Too big…

suddenly emerged from a large closet in the hallway holding a long dress. It was

holding it out to me. “The green will complement your complexion and your

like a light cotton material, perfect for the summer heat,

and turning to look in the

at her, I noticed that her aging cheeks were a bit red and she quickly averted her gaze. “I haven’t worn it in years. You can keep

grumpy old housekeeper’s kindness. For a moment, I imagined

room. It fit like a glove, and Selina was right — it suited my coloring perfectly, and brought out the green in my eyes. Although it was a dress that

pulled it back into a half-bun before giving me minimal makeup, with dark red lipstick that made me feel attractive. Once they were finished,

as he looked at me, and for a brief

had hundreds of rooms, countless staff, and dozens of garden courtyards with fountains and marble sculptures. As we entered the foyer, I couldn’t help

aunts and uncles and cousins who all doted on her, and who also barely paid me any attention — not that I minded —

“Come here, Ella.”

judging from the steely gray eyes and his tall, thin build, he was Edrick’s father. Ella, somewhat nervously, walked up to the

“Hello, Grandpa.”

— and the way that her eyes widened when she saw me told

with Edrick’s father — I discovered his name was Michael — sitting at the closest end of the long

duck,” Ella whispered into my ear,

a gentle smile. “You can

swirled her wine around in her glass, “is such a dress suitable

question and didn’t know how to respond; Verona, however,

look beautiful, darling,” Verona said with a wink. “I’m so glad you were able to come. Aren’t you, dear?” she said, turning to