If The Shoe Fits

“Of course the damn shoe didn’t fit. Whaddya think? I’d been bustin’ my keister off. Scrubbin’, cleanin’, cookin’ and all the rest. By the time I got to his crib my feet were so swollen, I traded my new Louboutins for flats. I figured with the long dress ‘n all no one was gonna know I did a switch-er-oo.”

“How did that work out?”

 “Not great. After I ditched the party and called my Uber, I realized I only had one of the shoes in my bag and I must’ve left the other one behind. Somewhere. I turned that bag inside out and upside down, but there was only one. I’m not gonna lie, I almost turned around and went back for it.”

“But you didn’t.”

“Nope ‘cuz that’s not how this yarn gets going is it?”

“It’s not.”

“The next day, sure as rain, there was ol’ Prince Charmin’ knockin’ at my door. ‘Cindy,’ he said, ‘I think you may have left this at my place last night.’ And there in his hand he’s got my shoe, swingin’ it around like he’s about to lasso a bull at the rodeo.”

“So, you got your shoe back.”

“Yeah, the step sibs freaked a bit seein’ that I was the perfect fit.”

“What happened next? With Prince Charming.”

“After that, we got to talkin’ and there was a pretty solid vibe between us. And here’s where the story differs a bit from the one that you might have heard, ‘cuz followers don’t know what goes on behind the scenes. All anyone talks about is that I live happily ever after yada yada yada.”

“Don’t you?”

“Oh no, I do. I have a pretty sweet deal, but we work on it.”

“That doesn’t sound like he swept you off your feet.”

“Oh we have chemistry all right, but I’m talkin’ about actually havin’ a relationship with someone. Something that means something once you’re out of your clothes and makeup. That’s harder to come by.”

“Seems like it worked out between you two.”

“Sister, you don’t know the half of it! When I first moved in, Prince Charming —I call him PC for short —anyway PC wanted to get married right away and live happily ever after. But what he meant was that he wanted me to be his wife AND, like, do all the household chores and cookin’. But hey, that’s not how this fairytale goes, right?”

“Not the way I recall it.”

“I mean I already knew what it was like to keep house for someone. What interested me was the man. The relationship. Us. So, when we got back from our destination wedding, I made it clear, there was a schedule for chores around the house and we would both be doing them.”

“For real?”

Cindy nods her head remembering back to the early days of her marriage with PC. “He didn’t take me seriously at first, but when the laundry pile reached an impressive height, he realized I meant what I said about us being a team.”

“That’s an interesting way to get your man to do chores.”

“Nope it has nothing to do with that. It’s a relationship goal pure and simple. It took a while but he understood that I wanted a love that was going to make me stronger not weaker.”

“That’s solid.”

“See, I grew up never saying ‘no’. Ever. At all. I knew how to put dinner on the table, but I had to learn to put my needs on the table too.

I didn’t want someone who was going to help me forget my past, as horrible as it was. I wanted someone who was going to help me create my future. And this is where PC really lives up to his Prince Charming name, ‘cuz he wants that for me too.”

“Awww.”

“In the end, I think good relationships are about finding the person who transforms you, not the person who leaves you feeling the same. I’d been through the ringer with my step family but I didn’t have to stay in that darkness once I left. I chose light instead. And when we do disagree, we always speak to each other from a place of love.”

“What about your step family? They must have been pretty peeved when you left.”

“Ya know, I don’t feel bad about that at all. When you think about it, they had all the ingredients to live happy lives. Nice clothes, a warm bed, companionship. But they never noticed. The only time they felt good was when they were pounding on me and that’s messed up.”

“Sure is.”

“I knew that if I was ever gonna have the life I dreamed about, I needed to find my voice.”

“And did you?”

“I did,” explains Cinderella. “It’s not always as strong as I want it to be, but I’ve learned that I have one and I can use it and should use it because I’m the only one that knows where I need to go.”

“That’s quite a transformation.”

“Girlfriend, my lifestyle choices have influenced legions of generations of girls who aspire to have a fairy tale romance. Just. Like. Mine. The sad part is, they don’t appreciate all the work it took to get here. Nobody wants to talk about that.”

“Your journey is inspirational and that’s exactly why we asked to do this interview. To inspire others.”

“Well the glossies never stop talkin’ about how my influence has waned with the Kardashians and TikTok, but I’ll always be the OG fashionista. I mean no one rocked a glass slipper before me.

Now I just wanna set a good example for those girls who follow me. So now I make sure I’m photographed with no make-up on when I do a grocery run, ‘cuz ya gotta love yourself all the time and not just when you’re glammed up. I’m keepin’ it real for them. Showin’ ‘em how to be authentic and unapologetic about who they are. I always tell women to find their voices and then use them. But most importantly, I tell them that not every story requires a Prince Charming to live a full, happy life. And I should know, because I intend to be the hero of my own damn story.”