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As for my dress, Dana and I went out together to find it, and spent the afternoon on my day off from classes walking the stores on Fifth Avenue in the garment district looking for just the right dress.
“We have to go to Bergdorf’s,” Dana said, pulling me along Fifth Avenue past the Gucci store and Armani. “They have the best bridal salon. You simply must go and see the dresses there.”
I laughed, because Dana seemed almost more excited than I was, but that was only because the idea of spending a lot of money on a dress was still foreign to me. Usually, the bride’s family takes care of wedding expenses or the couple themselves, but since we were doing everything so fast, and since Luke was so wealthy, there was no reason for my parents to do a thing or spend a penny. Luke was paying for their trip out to New York, and they’d stay with us at the beach house for the week.
We went from designer bridal shop to designer bridal shop and soon, my feet were tired. Finally, Dana took me into Bergdorf Goodman’s on Fifth and I was overwhelmed with the opulence. Dana was much more used to it, and she took over, leading me around, sorting through dresses, pulling out ones that she thought matched my ideas. Soon, I had four dresses to try on and each one was worth the price of my tuition at Columbia for a semester.
It was disgusting but the dresses were beautiful.
Even I had to admit it.
I finally settled on one in particular – an A-line lace dress with spaghetti straps but an overlay of lace covering the bodice. It was simple, not overly flouncy, but still said ‘bridal’.
“It matches your skin tone and shows off your assets,” Dana said, almost giddy that she found a dress we both liked. “Luke’s eyes will bug out when he sees you in it. You look beautiful. You should put your hair up and have flowers in your bun.”
“No veil,” I said and made a face. “No train. Just a dress and maybe a small bouquet.”
“Don’t be so shy about it,” she said, turning me around so she could look at me in the mirror from all perspectives. “You got the curves.”
“I don’t want to be too risqué.”
“You aren’t. It’s very demure, because of the lace here,” she said and pointed to the lace and tulle that covered my cleavage. You have to look really hard to see your cleavage. Anyone who looks that hard should get a swift kick.”
She grinned at me and I smiled back. “Okay. I do like it. It’s the nicest one we’ve seen.”
“It is. Buy it. Luke will be really happy.”
“Okay,” I said and after the seamstress looked me over to make sure it fit as well as possible, I took off the dress, returning to my casual clothes, none of which were fit for shopping at Bergdorf’s. I used the American Express card Luke got in my name for me. I still felt weird using it, but it was the only way I could pay for that dress. The seamstress was going to take in a seam on the waist and it would be ready for pick up on Friday. Luckily, they agreed to expedite the alteration so I could have it in time for the wedding.
Once we were finished, we stood on the street outside of Bergdorf’s and glanced around. The limo was waiting, the driver standing beside the passenger door. We piled in, happy to get off our feet.
“Now, let’s go and celebrate,” Dana said. “We’ll go get a decaf café mocha at Starbucks!”
I laughed, glad that Dana was so upbeat about everything.
When we were finished getting our café mochas, I dropped Dana off at her place and took the limo back to the hotel. We were staying there until our bedroom furniture was delivered the following week, so I let myself in. I was alone, since Luke was still at the office with John and looked forward to sitting with my feet up. I sent Candace some pics of me in the dress I’d chosen, and we texted back and forth for a while.
ALEXA: I wish you could have been with me.
CANDYC: Me, too. I’ll be with you at the wedding. We’ll have a gas.
ALEXA: We will.
It was then I got a call from the reception desk in the front lobby.
“Ms. Dixon, I wanted to let you know that your mother-in-law is on her way up.”
“Okay,” I said and made a face. “I wish you would have called up to ask me first.”
“I’m sorry, but she was on the list of people you approved to come right up to your room.”
“I know,” I said and chewed my bottom lip. “Thanks for calling.”
I wasn’t at all happy that I would be alone with her. What would she try to do – talk me out of marrying Luke? Maybe realizing I was pregnant would make her change her mind and she’d finally be happy.
That was my hope.
Of course, my hope was dashed.
