Allyson hadn't been this happy in her whole life. She was about to become the brand new wife of Mr. John Bennett, or more appropriately John Bennett Esquire. At twenty-three years old she was an almost newlywed living in a brand new home in new town in the northwest. Allyson was a fresh graduate from a small liberal arts college back east where her hard work all through her entire life had paid off handsomely, and her handsome new husband John had been the grand prize. Handsome was not the word for John. He was her dashing prince charming, her knight in shining armor, her Lancelot, her Galahad.
Her husband to be was the handsomest men six counties, and his law degree and family connections were marvelous. They were far more than anything Allyson brought to the proposed marriage. Allyson had been an orphan who had been shunted from foster home to foster home during most of her younger life. No her pedigree marked her as an honest to god Heinz 57. She was a genuine mongrel with no family and no background. John was a too good to be true blue blood. He came from one of the richest and most noteworthy families in his hometown.
However, his background, or more likely her lack of background, didn't stop him from falling in love and proposing marriage to her. Of course, his parents disapproved. They concocted all sorts of reasons why he should find someone else, and when the reasons fell short they hired detectives who invented false stories about her background and family history.
Allyson, to tell the truth, wouldn't have been able to disprove or invalidate any of the ridiculous claims the private detectives contrived. She simply never knew who her parents were. It didn't matter to John. He loved her. He really loved her. Even when his parents cut him out of the family fortune he loved her anyway. It wasn't exactly a real marriage yet. It was actually an almost elopement. They were packed up and gone before his parents could interfere. Now they were safely ensconced in a new home and in a new town where no one knew them.
With his stellar credentials John had gotten a good job working for one of the more established law firms in town. She remembered how impressed he told her his new bosses were with his college records and the recommendations he'd gotten from the law firms he'd worked for as an undergraduate back east. John had made no effort to use his family to get the opportunity; he'd gotten it all on merit.
Though not officially married yet; Allyson and John settled in to live the American dream. Allyson was smallish girl, barely five foot three and one hundred pounds when sopping wet, but she kept herself nicely. She had dark brown curly hair she liked to keep short and wavy. She had small perky breasts. She was barely a 34B. She had big blue eyes with long lashes and a heart shaped face with the smallest of dimples right in the center of her chin. Her complexion was a naturally deep pink, and with a little washing it gave off its own natural glow. Make up was always a minimalist affair.
Her hands were small as were her feet. She kept her tiny little fingers and toes well manicured usually using only clear polish. She kept her nails trimmed short like the rest of her appearance. Perhaps it was her lack of a real childhood that enticed her to try to dress and look younger than her twenty-three years. Her diminutive size enabled her to pretend to capture a childhood other girls took for granted. Allyson's childhood and youth had been a litany of scrubbed floors, washed dishes, washed and ironed clothes, and made beds for other peoples' real children.
Wherever she lived as a child she always ended up with the smallest room with the least comfortable bed. In one or two of the homes she remembered how the real children teased her, and they even sometimes took her few personal possessions for themselves.
In one family she especially remembered how they always insisted on playing blind man's bluff. Of course, it was always her turn to wear the blindfold, and they always ended up finding ways to embarrass or humiliate her. Hand me downs and leftovers were her life's story. Allyson remembered often as not her early adolescence had been distracted by lascivious older foster parents, men usually but a woman once, whose sole interest was in trying to take advantage of her. It had been only by luck and a little pluck that she'd escaped with her purity unsullied.
Perhaps that helped explain the interest she now had in children's clothes. Allyson liked barrettes, bows and ribbons, and she liked dressing up in youngish attire. Allyson liked jumpers, short pleated skirts, pretty blouses, knee high stockings, penny loafers, Mary Janes, peter pan collars, and puffy capped sleeves. In bed she liked shorty pajamas and baby doll nighties. The best were the shorty translucent chemises and camisoles she wore that John liked so much. She especially liked the way John held her in his arms like a baby and called her his little dream doll.
Yes, Allyson's life was like Cinderella's. She'd gone from the poor little waif working and serving others to the belle of the ball. John was her handsome prince charming.
One evening shortly after John got home from work he announced he had a surprise for Allyson. He'd been thinking about her being home alone all day just scrubbing and cleaning. Doing all the things she'd used to do back in her Cinderella days as the two of them collectively referred to her childhood. John announced that he'd contacted a domestic service and contracted to hire Allyson her own personal maid.
At first Allyson was repelled by the idea. She'd been trapped in that lifestyle as a child, and she certainly didn't want to place that burden on someone else. John, however, had convinced her that he'd negotiated a deal with a very reputable service, and the person he had contracted with was someone just a little older than Allyson and a person with no illusions about what she would be expected to do. John said her name was Hannah, and he explained she was a college graduate with a degree in the culinary and clothing related arts. In short she was someone looking for a place to escape the urban rat race, and use her cooking, sewing, and dress making skills in her spare time. He showed Allyson a picture. Hannah looked to be just a little older than Allyson, perhaps twenty-five with blond hair and a fuller figure. John explained that she would be hired to do the cleaning and cooking as well as providing Allyson with a little companionship until she became acquainted with the people around the town.
After some soul searching Allyson agreed to John's idea, but she insisted that Hannah understand that she was coming more as an acquaintance and friend than as a servant. Allyson insisted that Hannah and she would be partners in the household chores rather than mistress and maid. After all Allyson explained, this was her first real home, and she enjoyed caring for it. John agreed that those conditions would be passed along, and a date was set for Hannah's arrival.
