“Don’t worry. After this, I’ll distract her with a selection of dresses with one of my staff while I switch out all the dress sizes. For right now, we can just let the zipper down, and I’ll cover it with a veil.”
“You’re a lifesaver,” I tell her with a watery smile.
“Hey, I have amonster-in-law, so I pretty much know what you’re going through,” she says with a knowing smile.
I decide in that moment that I really like Ava. I watch her work her magic as she attaches the veil and covers the unzippered part of my dress. Hopefully Cosette won’t see the mishap so I don’t have to hear about it later.
“All set,” Ava says. “Let’s go show this off before I can get you into something more comfortable,” she informs me before pulling back the curtain.
Cosette looks unpleasantly surprised by the fact that I managed to stuff myself into a size four dress. Luckily, for me, the gown has some give; otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to get into the damn thing. A tiny line forms between her botoxed brows as she frowns at me. “Wow, that looks great on you,” Cosette proclaims, but I can hear the disdain in her voice.
I approach the platform in the center of the room and stand on it justas Darby comes back with an armful of dresses. “What do you think?” I ask her.
“It’s okay, kind of plain. Definitely not thewowfactor dress we’re looking for,” my best friend says earnestly before adding, “You need something that’s going to show off your boobs.”
Leave it to Darby to not have a filter, but I have to admit I totally agree. Well, maybe not so much about the boob part, but she is right about the dress being nice but too plain. It’s definitely not going to dazzle anyone, including my future husband.
Cosette scoffs at Darby’s opinion but decides to down another flute of champagne instead of speaking her mind, which I’m grateful for.Thank goodness for free booze.
I stare at my reflection in one of the full-length mirrors, and I can’t help but wonder what Dimitri would think about this. He probably wouldn’t care what I wore to the wedding, because he’d most likely be ripping it off of me by the end of the night anyway.
And then, I have to force myself not to laugh at the absurdity of it all. Here I am standing in a wedding dress, but I’m thinking about the groom’sbrother. The man who ate my pussy so good the other night that I actually passed out. And the same man who then put together the cursed vanity that I’ve been struggling with for over a week. When I woke up the next morning to see he had not only constructed the cabinet but had carefully put my things away inside of it, I’ll admit to having shed a few tears. If Dimitri is anything, it’s not knowing how to be gentle, and he’s definitely never kind. But what he’s been doing lately has been both of those things, and it’s seriously messing with my head.What if I was wrong about him this whole time? It might change everything…
“Would the material be easy to let out if Savina would happen to gain weight?” my stepmother says, breaking through my inner thoughts.
Darby pipes up this time. “Why are you always on her about her weight? So what if she gains a couple of pounds? It’s not the end of the world, Cosette.”
Cosette’s mouth falls open in complete shock that Darby is speaking to her like that. “I just want her to look her best for her wedding, that’s all,” she sputters.
Ava calls for another attendant and then says, “Can you please show Mrs. Cipriano some mother of the bride dresses, please?”
“Sure thing,” the older female says.
“Thank you,” Ava says with a saccharine smile.
Once Cosette begrudgingly leaves, Darby turns and rolls her eyes. “I don’t know how you put up with her shit,” she mumbles to me. “I would haul off and hit the bitch. Family or not,” she says before grabbing a glass of complimentary champagne from one of the tables.
I sigh inwardly. I would love to hit Cosette too, but the consequences of such actions wouldn’t make the satisfaction of finally putting her in her place worth it. And so, I simply keep my mouth shut and plaster a fake smile on my face, which is getting harder and harder to maintain by the minute.
“I’ll be right back with the correct sizes,” Ava says to me before disappearing from the room.
“Correct sizes?” Darby questions with a raised brow.
“Yeah, Cosette told her I’m a size smaller than what I actually am.”
“That bitch,” Darby seethes. “I’m telling you, Savina,” she says before balling her fist and punching it into the palm of her other hand.
I laugh. “No violence today, okay? I just want to get through this.”
“All right,” she agrees with a frown and a nod. “I’m gonna go try on some of these dresses. I’d hate to see what Cosette would say about my size. It’d probably send her to an early grave.” Then she turns and her eyes widen. “On second thought…”
I laugh out loud. “Go and try your dresses on!”
Darby waggles her dark, perfectly arched brows and then goes into a dressing room, pulling the curtain shut. Darby has the type ofbody that men dream about — curves in all the right places, big boobs and a big butt. If she would ever try to put herself down, which she wouldn’t, I’d set her ass straight. She’s perfect just the way she is. And if Cosette would ever make a remark about her weight or her size, then I probably would haul off and punch her. That would definitely send me over the edge. Consequences be damned. I don’t care if my stepmother talks about me and puts me down; but talking shit about my best friend is a whole other matter.
Ava eventually exchanges out all the sizes, and we try on another dress. It’s a ball gown, and I feel like I’m going to fall over as I walk out to the platform. It’s a definite no, and Ava can clearly see my thoughts written all over my face. “Let’s try another one,” she suggests.
I’m slipping into yet another gown when I hear my stepmother asks, “I like this dress for me, but do you have it in white?”
