Peter Williams couldn't tell if this was a dream or reality.
It was Saturday afternoon, October 4, 2008, and Peter was one of only four adults at a large house in Los Angeles. Two of the other adults were his brother Paul and his wife Aurora. The rest of the house was filled with children: it was the seventh birthday party for Paul's daughter Tiana, and the sound of cheering, hyperactive kids almost drove Peter, who had no children of his own, nuts.
Yet there was another adult there--a young woman about 25 years of age, who fascinated Peter's eyes. She was dressed as Cinderella, with a beautiful silver-and-blue dress and hard clear plastic shoes that passed for glass slippers, and the kids loved the idea of meeting a "real-life Disney princess."
Peter could not take his eyes off her. She had silky golden-blonde hair, bright blue eyes and a lovely smile. He couldn't believe she had such patience with these annoying children. He had to get to know her, somehow, someway.
By 7:00pm, Tiana and her friends were beginning to get tired. Paul and Aurora walked up to "Cinderella" and whispered something to her; Peter presumed that it was about payment. "Cinderella" waved goodbye to Tiana and her friends, then walked towards a black Cadillac that was waiting for her.
Suddenly, Peter ran out of the house towards "Cinderella," moving so fast it startled Paul and Aurora. "Hi," he yelled. "Not exactly a carriage you've got there!"
"Well, it's not exactly a pumpkin either," "Cinderella" said, her voice showing traces of an accent she had kept hidden while she was interacting with the kids.
Peter laughed. "I'm Paul's brother--I didn't want to bother you while you were working. I just wanted to say you did a terrific job--I work for a different firm than my brother's, but a lot of my colleagues also have young children as well. I think they'd love to have you at their birthday parties. Can I meet with you next week so we can discuss this?"
--
Please don't tell me this is another creep, Grace Houghton thought to herself as she looked at Peter's name and number. She thought back to all the unpleasantness she had seen since she started this work--the freaky fathers who tried to stick their tongues down her throat once their kids had gone to bed, the old multi-millionaires who grabbed her arse right in front of the child they'd had with their third wives. She loved the kids, couldn't stand the adults.
Paul and Aurora Williams happened to be her first Black clients. Paul and Aurora had been very nice--they didn't complain about her fee, didn't give her a long list of dos and don'ts, made sure she had car service to and from their daughter's party. Peter also seemed nice enough--and handsome enough--but you can't tell by looking who's crazy.
--
"Oh, wow, this is the first time I've been to the Ivy."
"I figured you'd want something a little more prestigious than In-N-Out Burger."
Grace laughed, and Peter knew he wanted to hear that laugh every day for the rest of his life.
"So, I read so much about you--I knew your brother was pretty powerful, but you've done pretty well for yourself!"
"Thanks. I mean, it hasn't been easy. We were raised to be pretty competitive with each other, and sometimes it gets ugly between us."
"Oh, that's such a shame. I'm an only child, so I can't relate."
Peter smiled. "So, I know that's an Aussie accent, but I can't pinpoint specifically where it's from--our firm has offices in Melbourne, but I don't think it's from there."
