Chapter 17 #2
‘Aren’t you intrigued to see what kind of dress you might like, even if you don’t end up buying it from a bridal boutique?’ Laurie had asked me on the phone the day I’d told her about my engagement – and asked her to be my only bridesmaid.
In truth, I had been curious to try on a few dresses, even just for the experience, but three things had held me back.
Firstly, the thought of having all that attention on me and me alone in a brightly lit shop made my pores shimmer with micro-pools of liquid.
Secondly, I also knew I wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about the fact that the salesperson would probably be reliant on commission, making it likely I’d end up making a guilt-fuelled purchase I’d regret.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, I knew that Mum and Anneka would have been gutted if I’d gone wedding dress shopping without them.
And taking them into a fancy shop was out of the question – knowing them, they would have ended up trying on wedding dresses, too.
So I’d decided it would be simpler for everyone involved not to bother.
But all I said to Laurie was: ‘Nah, I don’t want to risk falling in love with a dress I can’t afford.
Me and Will have already discussed it and we’ll be buying pre-loved outfits – we plan to keep the wedding as cheap as possible so we can save up for our honeymoon. ’
To New York.
Will might have been more hands-off than I’d expected him to be when it came to organising our wedding, especially since he was normally such a big planner.
But, when it came to researching our future NYC trip, he couldn’t have been more involved.
Even though our transatlantic adventure was unlikely to happen until eighteen months after the wedding, we’d already chosen a hotel – a budget but trendy place on the Lower East Side – and favourited dozens of bars and restaurants on Google Maps.
Visiting the city at Christmastime was our ultimate travel wish.
And now, here I was: in New York without him, cowering in a Manhattan department store experiencing precisely the scenario I’d worked so hard to avoid all those months ago – albeit minus Mum.
Some hushed whispers roused me from my thoughts, and moments later I heard Anneka’s voice outside the curtain. ‘Hey, Flo. Can I come in?’
‘Is it just you?’
‘Just me.’
‘Okay.’
Anneka sidled into the cubicle and, once making sure the curtain was fully drawn, joined me on the floor. She was inexplicably grinning, almost manically.
‘Stay quiet,’ she whispered, still visibly excited.
‘What the hell is going on?’ I whispered back, my pulse quickening.
‘I’ve only just gone and blagged you a huge discount!’
‘How on earth have you managed that?’
‘I told them that you were really upset, how this was meant to be the shopping trip of a lifetime et cetera et cetera.’
‘Right…’
‘And I may have also told them that you plan to get married in this outfit in two days.’
My stomach flipped. ‘WHAT?’
‘Shh, they’ll hear!’
I emptied my lungs of air slowly, processing the information, and feeling increasingly sick as I did so. ‘So, you’ve basically lied to them to guilt trip them into giving me a discount?’
‘What?! You are going to be wearing it to a wedding; it’s not that much of an embellishment.’
‘You’re kidding, right?’
‘No! Lol.’
‘But the jumpsuit is completely destroyed; I can’t wear it anywhere!’
‘They’ve already taken another one off the rack for you – and the zipper definitely works, I checked. They’re giving you a 25 per cent refund on it, plus free alterations. Amazing or what?’
I chose not to respond. Instead, I clambered slowly to my feet, stepping out of the jumpsuit through the gaping hole in the back and starting to put my regular, safe-from-disaster clothes on.
‘Flo?’
‘I’m still taking it all in, Anneka,’ I hissed, while foreseeing all the unjustified glee and questions about my non-existent wedding I’d have to deal with the moment I stepped out of the changing room.
‘I can’t believe this is happening,’ I muttered, as I fastened my final dungaree strap, took a deep breath and opened the curtain. Only Cassidy was in the room.
‘Alrighty!’ she said brightly, but with a definite edge to her voice – I dreaded to think what else Anneka had told her to convince her this was her problem and not mine.
‘The alterations team has already made a start on the other jumpsuit, and I’m ready to process your partial discount.
Plus…’ She paused for effect while she revealed something she’d been holding behind her back.
‘As an extra gesture of goodwill ahead of your special day, I asked our beauty team for a voucher for a complimentary manicure.’
All three of us looked at my hands, and I swore I saw Cassidy wince behind her impossibly white grin. To be fair, my black nail polish was looking the worse for wear, since I hadn’t been topping it up in recent days.
Cassidy handed me an envelope, and I could tell Anneka was working very hard not to squeal.
I smiled tightly. ‘Thanks, this is very generous.’
‘You should have told me it was your wedding you were shopping for!’ The words burst out of her mouth as if she’d been working hard to hold them in.
‘Like I said,’ Anneka interjected, before I could even think about how to respond. ‘It’s all very low-key and Flora’s not much of a talker.’
‘I know, I know. Sorry, it’s just so exciting! Congratulations! A spontaneous New York wedding – it’s like the most romantic thing ever…’ Cassidy didn’t stop talking during the entire refund transaction.
‘When do you think the alterations will be done?’ Anneka asked, as Cassidy handed me the refund receipt, which I placed in the carrier bag with my new shoes and manicure voucher.
‘I asked them to put a rush on it, so definitely by closing time today.’
‘Can we collect it tomorrow?’ I asked. My main priority right now was getting the hell out of here so I could fill my lungs with oxygen that was marginally fresher than the air in here.
‘Oh! Um, of course. Tomorrow morning, I assume?’
‘Sure,’ I said.
‘Great, I’ll let the team know you’ll be swinging by, before ten?’
‘Sounds good,’ I said numbly, guiding Anneka away from the counter and back towards the lifts.
‘And can you book her in for that manicure at ten o’clock as well?’ Anneka called over her shoulder while I practically dragged her by the arm.
‘Consider it done!’ Cassidy replied, just before the door to the alterations department swung closed behind us.
‘Omigod, what a result!’ Anneka said, still smiling and physically vibrating with excitement.
I said nothing as we waited for the lift to arrive.
‘Flo, are you okay?’
I remained silent until we entered the lift and the doors closed. ‘I… really didn’t enjoy that, Anneka.’
‘Oh, c’mon, it all worked out, didn’t it?’
‘I just don’t think you understand how uncomfortable that wedding bullshit made me feel.’
‘It was the teeniest white lie, Flo. It’s all good, we just flipped a potentially bad situation into a positive one; there’s nothing more to it. Omigod, Mum is going to be obsessed with this story!’
‘No. Please. I don’t want her to know about any of this.’
‘Why the hell not?’ The volume of Anneka’s voice was rising now as we exited the lift and began to navigate the gauntlet of various beauty-counter employees trying to spritz us with overpriced – and overpowering – fragrances. I felt hot, suddenly. I needed to get outside, now.
‘That whole situation was super humiliating for me; can’t you see that?’
I stepped through the automatic doors and into the freezing Fifth Avenue air. It was snowing again, but in a more sleet-like fashion this time.
‘You’re gonna have to spell it out for me, Flora. I thought we were having a nice day!’