Chapter Forty
Aliannah’s mother stepped forward to embrace the girls in a long hug; she was sniffling.
“Mom, get it together; we haven’t even started yet,” Aliannah joked.
“Oh, sweetheart, this is such a big day. My little girl is going to try on wedding dresses.” Her mother sniffled some more before stepping back and holding Aliannah at arm's length to look her over. Aliannah cringed.
They headed into Fleur’s, which was so elegant—white everywhere with accents of rose gold. A woman in a navy skirt suit stepped forward to greet them.
“Hello, ladies. My name is Bethany, and I will be assisting you today. Now, who is our lovely bride?” Bethany flashed them a dazzling Hollywood smile.
“This is Aliannah; she is our bride. I am Michelle, and this is her mother, Aria.” Michelle introduced the group.
“Fantastic. Congratulations, Miss. Mr Kozlov has informed us that he will cover the expenses for today and that your budget has no limit. ‘Whatever dress my darling desires, no matter the cost, were his words.” Bethany’s eyes glittered, “If you would like to follow me into the showroom, we can begin selecting options.” Bethany waved towards a double door at the back of the reception.
“You wait here. No men allowed.” Michelle ordered to Oliver.
“I must do a security sweep before we continue, Miss. Mr Kozlov ordered.” Oliver looked to Bethany.
Bethany paused before nodding. Bethany brought Oliver into the showroom, and ten minutes later, they returned.
“All clear, Miss. I shall wait out here. Holler if you need me.” Oliver took a stance at the double doors.
“This could be a very long day; we could be hours here,” Bethany said. She brought over a chair for Oliver, who thanked her and got comfortable.
The group headed into the showroom. They collectively gasped. As far as the eye could see, there were racks and racks of dresses.
“Is there a particular style you have in mind, dear?” Bethany enquired.
“No, I will try anything, but please call me Aliannah; I hate being called dear.” Aliannah began to browse. Bethany nodded and disappeared.
A while later, they gathered in the centre of the showroom. Bethany had a rack of choices ready.
“Right, Aliannah, I have pulled many different styles, and we can narrow it down as we go. If you would like to follow me, we can go to the dressing room to begin; ladies, if you would like to take a seat on the couch behind you, we shall return when we are ready to present.”
Aliannah followed Bethany to the dressing room. She browsed through Bethany’s selection and started with the puffy Cinderella ball gown option.
“I hate this style, but I know they will demand to see one, so let’s just get it out of the way.” Aliannah did not even check it out in the mirror before returning to the main room. She did a twirl and stood on the podium. She could see their faces behind her. Michelle was clearly not a fan, but her mother was smiling and tearing up.
“I don’t like this at all. It’s too puffy, and it’s not me,” Aliannah said as she played with the skirt's netting. Michelle shook her head, and so did her mother.
This process repeated for the next few dresses: A-line, long sleeve, no-sleeve, backless, and deep V-neck. None of them were to her liking. The dresses were absolutely beautiful, but not what she was looking for. She stood on the podium, examining her latest one before deciding.
“Ok, after trying on all those dresses, I have decided I want a cap sleeve, sweetheart neckline, fitted but not too fitted, some flow but not a mile-long train. I like the lace on this one, but not the diamonds. Do you have anything that ticks all those boxes?” Bethany nodded and disappeared.
“Are you doing okay, honey?” Michelle asked. We can always go for lunch and come back if you need a break.” Michelle’s stomach growled as if on cue. Everyone laughed.
“Yes, I am good. I know what I want now; I promise we can go for food as soon as we are done, Mich,” Aliannah giggled. Bethany returned with one gown in a garment bag.
“I believe this ticks all your boxes, Aliannah. This is straight from the vault. It is brand new this season, and no one has ever tried it on or seen it. This would be its debut to the floor.” Bethany led the way to the dressing room again and took the dress out of its bag.
“Oh my….. She is…. Wow….” Aliannah was speechless as she looked at the dress on the hanger. She quickly removed the dress she was in and put on the new one.
She turned to look in the mirror before leaving, and it hit her. Her eyes stung from the tears she held in. She gasped. This was it. This was the dress. She took a moment to take in the sight before her.
She stepped onto the podium in the main room and turned to face everyone. Aliannah’s mother and Michelle gasped. Soon, all three women had tears spilling, which reconfirmed to Aliannah that this was indeed the one. Bethany reappeared with a thin diamante belt and a veil. She put the veil on first.
“I know you said you did not like the diamonds on the last dress, but trust me for a moment.” She tied the thin belt around Aliannah's waist and stepped back. Aliannah looked in the mirror and nodded. It was the perfect dainty touch of glitz that rounded off the dress completely.
“Sweetheart…. Oh, sweetheart… you are a vision….” Her mother said between sobs. Michelle was speechless, just crying tears of joy.
“So Aliannah… the most important question of the day…. Are you saying yes to the dress?” Bethany stood behind her in the mirror, smiling. Aliannah took a breath.
“Yes… Yes, I am,” Aliannah smiled through her tears. The ladies erupted with cheers. Aliannah twirled once more, and then Bethany stepped forward and began pinning the dress where it was needed. Thankfully, there were not too many alterations to be made, as they had a very short turnaround time to get the dress fully altered.
“Mr Kozlov has paid extra to push your dress to the top of the alteration list, so we should have it back in two to three weeks for a final fitting.” Bethany guided Aliannah back to the dressing room to get back into her clothes.
Oliver jumped up when the ladies emerged from the showroom. He looked from each to the other and bunched his brows.
“You all look a mess! What happened in there? You guys were in there for hours.” He tried to look past them into the showroom. The girls just laughed.
“Oliver, you wouldn’t understand.” Michelle patted him on the shoulder as the group headed to the SUV.
“Lorenzo, please take us to Ger’s,” Aliannah smiled as she climbed into the back. Lorenzo nodded.
“As you wish, Miss. Was it a successful day?” he asked as he helped her mother in next.
“Very,” Michelle smiled at him. A short drive later, they arrived at Ger’s. It had been so long since they had been to Gers.
“You should join us, boys. I am certain you have earned a meal for waiting around all day for us,” Aliannah waved towards the bar. The men looked at each other nervously. “I insist, and if Ivan has a problem with it, I will deal with him. Come on, let’s eat!” Aliannah walked into Gers.
Aliannah’s mother and Michelle went their separate ways when the lunch was over, and Aliannah was accompanied home by Lorenzo and Oliver.
“Thanks, guys, for today. It was a blast” Aliannah smiled as she skipped to the dressing room. She got changed into some gym gear and headed to the roof terrace to do some yoga.
Ivan joined her on the terrace that evening as she sat on the swing bench reading a book. He carried a glass of Prosecco in one hand and a glass of bourbon in the other.
“I heard you had a good day.” He smiled, passing her the Prosecco as he sat down.
“Yes, I picked my dress. Bethany was lovely and so helpful! I invited Lorenzo and Oliver to join us in Ger’s for lunch afterwards.” She sipped her drink. Ivan’s expression darkened. Ivan opened his mouth to speak, but Aliannah held up her hand to stop him.
“Don’t be moody. I insisted they join; we were at Fleur’s for most of the day, and you cannot begrudge the boys a lunch. If anything, it was added protection, having two guards sit at the table with us, so don’t you even dare scold them.” Aliannah shrugged before turning back to her book. Ivan sat there in silence for a moment.
“I spoke with marketing today, and they suggest we do a sit-down interview with one of the big magazines. This will feed the media the information they crave while giving us full control of the situation.” He took a big mouthful of his drink. “We have that meeting on Monday afternoon in the bar at the top of the Empire State Building. My team will have full security control over everything.”
It was Aliannah’s turn to sit in silence now. If the public hated her, she would be in danger. If the public loved her, she would be in danger. She could see no positive outcome for agreeing to do this interview. Yet, at the same time, hiding from it would make the public hate her anyway, so why not let them have the opportunity to hate her for real reasons rather than tabloid trash rumours?
“Okay, I’ll do it,” Aliannah said with a hint of nerves. She hoped Ivan would take the lead on all the questions and just let her sit like a pretty face beside him, but deep down inside, she knew this would not be the case. She knew this interview would be directed at her and about her, with Ivan being the pretty face. Ivan leaned over and kissed her cheek.