Marriage of Unconvenience

“Well, it just so happens this is a discontinued design, so both pieces are half off.” I turned and looked at her over my shoulder.

“Half off of what?” She finished the buttons and glanced at the tag hanging from one sleeve and then the tag on the skirt.

“So it would be around four hundred for both pieces.” I almost choked. I had no idea how much wedding outfits cost. If two simple pieces were this much ON SALE, how much was Cara’s dress going to be? I had a moment of panic and had to remind myself that it didn’t matter how much they were. I had thousands coming to me soon. Right. I didn’t have to buy generic toothpaste anymore. I could get the expensive kind that helped with tooth pain. Speaking of that, I should go and visit a dentist. It had been a while.

I slammed the brakes on that little momentary anxiety attack and slipped out of my jeans and shoes. Chloe helped me step into the slip and then pull the skirt up and get it so it fit right.

“I’m a genius,” Chloe whispered. “I should win awards. Just wait ‘til you see it.” Not that I didn’t trust her, but there was one person’s opinion on this outfit that I needed, and she was sitting out there waiting for me.

I was getting nervous again. Like this mattered. I was just trying this on, like a costume. That’s all this was. A costume. A frilly, lacy costume.

“Come onnnnn,” I heard Cara whining.

“She’s coming out,” Chloe said, sticking her head out and then holding the door for me.

I locked eyes with Cara and she froze, a smile on her face. She sat up slowly, her hand going to her mouth.

I desperately wanted to look in the mirror, but I couldn’t stop looking at her.

“Once again, I’m going to take a shot in the dark and say that she likes it. Correct me if I’m wrong,” Chloe said, but I ignored her. All I could see was Cara.

“Do you like it?” It was my turn to be uncertain.

Cara got up from the couch, walked up the steps and put her hands on my shoulders.

“Turn around and look at yourself,” she said in a quiet voice.

“I can’t,” I said, laughing a little under my breath.

“It’s okay,” she said, stepping close to me. “You can look.” She pushed at one of my shoulders, so I took a step back and then continued until I did a 180 degree turn. Cara rested her chin on my shoulder.

“You’re gorgeous, Lo. So fucking gorgeous.”

She was right. The two pieces were... perfect. Utterly perfect. I couldn’t have imagined anything better, or more me. It wasn’t something I would have picked, but it was completely me.

“Would you like to see them together?” Chloe said. I took my eyes off myself and Cara and remembered that she was there and were in a bridal shop with a bunch of other people. We weren’t the only two people in the entire world.

“Come on, Cara, let’s get your dress on and you can see how they look together.” I didn’t want her to leave me, but she squeezed my shoulders and followed Chloe back into the changing room to put her dress on. After what felt like an eternity, she came out and I lost my breath again.

“You’re like two cake toppers. I can’t even deal,” Chloe said, stepping back and examining us as Cara stepped beside me and took my hand.

“Look at us,” she said. “Look at us together.”

“I know,” I said.

Eleven

We stood there forever, just smiling at each other in the mirror until Chloe cleared her throat.

“I’m so sorry to ruin this perfect moment, but my next appointment is coming up. If you’d like, I can ring you up and you can take them today, or you can come back another day. We have a fee for putting things on hold, but don’t worry about that.” I finally looked at her.

“What?” I had missed half of what she said.

“Don’t worry about the hold fee. I’ll waive it for you. Don’t tell my boss.” The last sentence was said in a conspiratorial whisper.

“Oh, wow, thank you,” I said.

“Yes, thanks,” Cara said. “But I want mine today. I don’t think I can walk away from it. I don’t want to take it off.” I felt the same way.