“I hope she finds something soon,” Mya bemoaned, waiting for Tanika to come back out of the dressing room. “I think my blood sugar is low.”
Bronwyn looked up from her phone and rolled her eyes. “Mya, we’ve only been in this store for thirty minutes. You’ll be fine! I’m sure she’ll find something here!”
Those were the same words Bronwyn had said at the first two bridal stores they visited, but Tanika had yet to say yes to the dress. The only reason Tanika had honored Jackie’s desire to take her gown shopping was because PJ finally agreed to the interview with Sara at WWSN. Although All-Star Weekend was a couple of months away, he was already being swamped with interviews. WWSN would be the first to talk to the hottest rookie in the league. A deal was a deal. And Sara, Bronwyn, and Mya were along for the ride.
Unlike Mya, Jackie was grateful for the multi-stop shopping excursion; she could use the distraction. It had been days since she and Antonio almost kissed in her office. For the most part, they’d been cordial at work. But there were lingering glances and thinly veiled innuendos exchanged whenever they were alone. And it took the strength of Samson for Jackie not to jump the man’s bones again. It didn’t help that her voice was playing hide-and-seek. When her voice came back just in time for the phone call with Manny Guzman, she’d thought it was a miracle—but it had left just as quickly the next time she ran into Antonio in the hallway.
She was trying to take Mother Mary’s advice and speak truthfully, but sometimes she just couldn’t. There were no words in her vocabulary to tell the man that she had once reviled that maybe, just possibly, she was into him. Or that she forgave him. And that sometimes, she daydreamed about the endless possibilities of a life together.
The ladies quieted when they heard the rustling of fabric, signaling that Tanika was coming around the corner. She walked slowly and stood on the platform in front of them.
“Well, how’s this one?” Tanika asked.
“It’s a choice,” Jackie typed into the app, flabbergasted at the massive amount of fabric she saw before her.
“I’m going to be honest. It’s a bit much,” Bronwyn said.
“Yeah, like Princess Diana and Cinderella had a baby, but not 1997 Brandy Cinderella. Like, the old-school one,” said Sara, her nose scrunched up. “And if we are going for princess as our reference, think more Duchess Meghan, not her mother-in-law. May she rest in peace.”
Tanika puffed out the massive tulle skirt. “Okay! The last dress you all said wasn’t bridal enough! And now you’re saying this is too bridal?”
Jackie shook her head and typed, “This is just over-the-top bridal, babe.”
“We want bridal, but notallthe damned brides,” Mya said. “That dress is swallowing you up like a jar of marshmallow fluff. You need to show off those curves, girl!”
Tanika wiped her eyes under her glasses and sighed. “This is useless. I told you, I don’t need a fancy dress! Hell, I don’t even need a wedding.”
Jackie typed quickly. “We know deep down you want a wedding.” Jackie stood next to Tanika and gently squeezed her hand. “And you deserve the perfect dress. Remember your vision board from college? You’ll know when you find it. Trust me.”
“Everyone says you’re supposed to get that feeling, but none of these dresses give me that feeling,” Tanika said. “Let’s just go get mimosas and brunch at Verdure before they close.”
Mya gathered her purse and jacket. “I’m down with that. Let’s go before the after-church crowd gets there.” Bronwyn and Sara began to follow her lead, standing as if to leave the store, until Jackie pointed an angry finger.
SIT!she silently commanded before typing an actual response. “Tanika isn’t leaving until she finds the perfect dress to marry my cousin in!”
“Ugh, such a tiny tyrant,” Sara said as she eased back down in her seat. “Well, at least there’s champagne.” She poured herself another glass and passed the bottle around to the rest of the crew.
Tanika stepped off the platform. “I’m going to take this off. I think the tulle is making me itchy anyway.” She followed the sales associate back to the dressing room to try on another dress.
After Tanika left, Mya turned to Jackie. “Your voice isn’t back. I guess that means you didn’t get more magic stick?”
Jackie gritted her teeth at the mention of Antonio. “Mya, shut up!” she said through her app.
Sara looked confused. “Whose magic stick?”
“Remember Antonio? From the cookout?” asked Mya.
Sara’s face lit up with recognition. “Oh yeah! Dude she threw the beans on! Wait, have they been hooking up?”
“Girl, have they!” Bronwyn exclaimed.
Hello! I’m sitting right here!Jackie motioned to herself. How rude were her friends to talk about her while she was sitting there? But… they wouldn’t really have been her friends if they didn’t.
