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.”

words. She had never mentioned my appearance before, save for the night of the interview. She seemed a bit shocked, herself, when she

quickly turning on her heel. “We’ll take care of this. Hurry up! You haven’t

that, Selina disappeared down the hall. I

“Now, let’s see…”

around confusedly, not knowing where Selina went although I could hear her muttering to herself and the sounds of her digging through something. “Hmm… Too

holding a long dress. It was a dark emerald green color and had short flutter

me. “The green will complement your complexion and your

It felt like a light cotton material, perfect

I said, holding the dress up to myself and turning to look in

taking me by surprise. When I looked at her, I noticed that her aging cheeks were a

imagined her as a young woman wearing this dress, and pictured

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

hair and then pulled it back into a half-bun before giving me minimal makeup, with dark red lipstick that

emerged with Ella’s hand in mine, Edrick’s eyes became transfixed on me for a fleeting moment. I felt my heart pulse suddenly as he looked at me,

where the party was held was a palace. It 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 but feel out of place in such an expensive mansion, and wondered to myself how huge the Morgan family must have been

family was enormous. Ella was immediately accosted by older aunts and uncles and cousins who all doted on her, and who also barely paid me

“Come here, Ella.”

voice boomed above the rest. I looked up to see an older man standing beside Verona; judging from the steely gray eyes and his tall, thin build,

“Hello, Grandpa.”

— and the way that her

I found myself seated between Ella and Kelly. Across from me sat Edrick and Verona, with Edrick’s father — I discovered his name was Michael — sitting at the closest end of

my ear,

a gentle smile. “You

Kelly suddenly chimed in, grabbing my attention as she swirled her wine around in her glass,

taken aback by the curt question and didn’t know how to

darling,” Verona said with a wink. “I’m so glad you were able to come. Aren’t