The Girl with the I.V

Chapter 11: Dress fittings

Maverick

"Ricky! The ball is in two weeks! Pay attention."

I snapped my head up from my phone, watching as Emily strode in every single dress they owned in this store. Of course, looking flawless in each.

Right now, however, she was wearing a light blue ball gown with a sweetheart neckline. The color matched her eyes, bringing attention to them. She was stunning, as usual.

I smiled sweetly, watching my fiancée spin around happily. "I'll take this one!" She giggled, waving the owner over.

I stood up, ready to get out of here. I offered her a hand off the pedestal, then surprised her by wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her close to me.

She blushed and swatted my arm. "What do you think you're doing?" She muttered, watching me with intense blue eyes. I grinned, leaning in close and kissing her cheek.

"Nothin'. Just admiring my fiancée." I said, avoiding her eyes. I could feel her eyes closely watching me, reading me like a book.

"Mhm. You're just making sure I'm not still mad at you."

"Not true—"

She scowled, pushing me away. "I've forgiven you, Ricky. Let it go. You don't have to make it up to me. I love you regardless."

I grabbed her hand again and bowed at the waist, placing a sweet kiss onto her hand. "Yes, M'lady."

She laughed, linking our arms. "Let's go."

*****
Lyra

"This one. Hands down."

I grimaced at the dress Carly held up, its red sequins making me gag. Gus smacked her hand away, shaking his head. "That's hideous, Carly. Put it away. Let me handle this."

We had all snuck away on our lunch break to the dress store down the street. I assured them that they didn't need to come, but they insisted that I was lost when it came to shopping.

They were right.

I sighed, getting sick of trying on dresses. "This is hopeless! I can't pull off any of these anyway—"

Gus shushed me and gasped as he pulled a dress from the rack. I couldn't see what it looked like from where I stood on the other side.

"What?" I asked.

Gus laughed evilly, skipping around to grab my hand, and shoving me into the dressing room. He thrusted the dress in with me before pulling the curtain closed.

"This should be good." I murmured, looking at the dress with a mixture of awe and regret.

Maybe I shouldn't have said yes to this. But it is just a trial run. I could say no. I could say no...

But...

I peeled off my clothes, stacking them in a neat pile in the corner. I took the dress of the hanger and slipped into it, adjusting it to fit. Surprisingly, it fit perfectly.

I pulled open the curtain, stepping out in nothing but the dress.

My copper red hair was surprisingly tame today, so I decided to curl it at the ends. It looked pretty good and I was pleased with it. My makeup was natural, as usual.

So when I revealed myself in the dress to my friends, their jaws dropped.

I turned to look in the mirror, my heart skipping a beat as I realized just why they were speechless.

It was a deep green, a spaghetti strap, tight fitting dress, falling just above my knees. My skin was surprising tan from the summer heat, so it looked...

Beautiful. On me. On me...

I turned and looked at myself to see what I looked like in the dress from each side.

Still...beautiful.

The dress had wrinkled lines of some sort that wrapped around it, Giving it texture. The front part of the dress, the part covering my chest, sagged a little, showing some skin. I thought I would feel like a child in her mother's dress but I felt...confident. Like it fit me. Like it was mine.

My eyes blurred with tears. Why are you crying? It's not like you're getting married!

Carly rose from the chair she sat on, coming to my side and grabbing my hand gently. She whispered softly, "A vision, Lills. A vision."

Gus smiled and clasped his hands together in delight. "What did I tell you? It fits perfectly. And ooo girl,"

He swooned, using his hands to shape curves in the air. "Look at them curves!"

I laughed, swiping away a tear. "Don't flatter me. My curves are nonexistent. Let's just buy the dress and get outta here. We'll be late back if we don't hurry."

They both nodded and started chatting up a storm on who would buy the dress for me. I tried to tell them I had it covered but they shut me up and threw me back into the changing room.

I laughed happily and pushed them away. "I'll be out as soon as possible. Meet you at the exit."

Carly kissed my cheek and followed Gus back to the cash register. Left alone in the dressing room, I actually looked at the mirror inside. I didn't when I was getting dressed because I figured I would hate it anyway.

But...It was...

I smiled and swept off the invisible dust. I turned from side to side again, actually admiring myself for the first time.

I jumped like I was caught doing something I shouldn't have when I heard my ringtone go off. I picked up my phone and glanced at the message I saw there.

Spencer: Find anything good?

I smiled at the screen, remembering that I had told him I planned to look for a dress today last night. We had talked for hours. I'm not sure how appropriate it was, but oh well. He's just a person.

Lyra: I don't know...guess you'll have to find out later. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Spencer: So be it. Now come back here cause I can't remember the password to this site. 🤣

I rolled my eyes and laughed, typing a quick message before shutting my phone off.

Lyra: You're hopeless.

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WriterGirl ❤️