The salesgirl tugged the dress up over my hips and then instructed me to hold the bodice against my chest as she laced me in from the back. It took almost ten minutes to get the whole thing on and fastened, and she hadn’t even laced the corset completely.
I tried to turn around, hitting the salesgirl with the enormous skirts as I did. She gamely leapt out of the way as I waddled out the door, following behind me while I propelled my poofy self down the hall. The dress made quite the rustling sound. And God, it weighed a fricking ton. The thought of spending an entire night in this thing, when I could barely move, was like a nightmare. And I hadn’t even seen how it looked.
The salesgirl presented me to Tori and Brooklyn with a dramatic, “Ta-da!”
Tori let out a gasp of delight as I trudged over and got some help stepping up onto the pedestal so I could finally get a look at myself.
I had to admit, I was a vision. A vision of a giant cupcake.
“What do you think?” Tori asked, hands clasped to her chest.
All I saw in the mirror were piles of white fluff, shimmering sequins, and embroidered lace. The dress overwhelmed everything. Including me. Sure, my boobs looked great, but that was the gift of big tits and a corset. They were practically overflowing, and I had a feeling that if I bent over, or breathed in too deeply, there was a real possibility I’d spill right out of the top.
“It’s very, um, prom queen-ish,” Brooklyn said carefully as I turned a little to the left and then the right. “What do you think, Tori?”
“It’s agorgeousdress,” Tori said, her eyes shining. “What do you think, Em?”
Frowning, I shook my head. I had to nip this in the bud, or else I’d be stuffing myself into these kinds of princess dresses until midnight. “It is a gorgeous dress, don’t get me wrong, but I feel like I’m swimming in all this fabric. I’m just too short for these styles. I mean, look at me. I look like a…a glittery pumpkin.”
Brooklyn let out a snort, and then both of us were laughing, even as Tori pouted. “Try one of mine next,” Brooklyn suggested. “Pretty please? I’m dying to see one of them on you.”
“Sure,” I said, attempting to sound upbeat. “Coming right up.”
I shuffled back to the dressing room, sighing with relief when I was unlaced from the dress. The salesgirl pulled a fresh gown off of one of the hooks and handed it to me, then left me to it. I saw right away that the dress Brooklyn had chosen would require far less help than the one I’d just stepped out of. Mainly because there was practically nothing there.
Typical Brooklyn. Being a model herself, she always loved things that were avant-garde, fashion forward, and devastatingly sexy.
Though some were ratherconcerninglysexy. Slipping out of my strapless bra, I wiggled into a dress that was borderline obscene—the upper portion was sheer, flesh-toned mesh with strategically placed strips of raw silk to cover my nipples, and the skirt was thigh-skimmingly tight all the way to the knee, where it spilled into an asymmetrical hem with a ruffle. It was stunning, and would have looked amazing on Brooklyn. On me, though…
My phone buzzed at that moment, and I dug it out of my bag to find I’d gotten a text from Ford.
How’s it going?he’d asked.
It is, in fact, going, I texted back.I feel very sorry for the employees of Blue. My sisters-in-law have them running around in circles. I myself am about ready to have a heart attack.
“Do you need any help in there?” the Blue employee asked from outside the door.
“No,” I said, dropping my phone back in my bag. “I’m coming out.”
I had to take mincing little penguin steps all the way to the pedestal, thanks to how tight the skirt was, and I wondered if the side seams would survive me actually sitting down.
This time it was Brooklyn that let out a gasp of excitement.
“Oh my God, Emzee, it’s fucking incredible!” she exclaimed, hopping up off her chair to come over and poke at me, trailing her hand down the shimmering skirt fabric. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“It’s certainly…different,” Tori said, obviously trying to sound impartial.
“I think there’s a bit too much side boob going on,” I said, narrowing my eyes at my reflection. “And too much top and bottom boob, as well. There’s no way I can wear a bra with this dress.”
“That’s what they make fashion tape for,” Brooklyn offered. “It’s double-sided and super sticky. It works.”
“Mm,” I said, glancing at the Blue employee, whose expression remained neutral. “The thing is, I’d rather literallydiethan have Ford’s mother see a wardrobe malfunction happen if the bodice shifts and exposes a full-on nipple on my way up the aisle.”
Tori shot Brooklyn an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, but I have to agree. It’s really pretty, but it’s also…distracting? With Emzee’s chest—no offense, Em—it’s impossible not to stare at the whole boob area. And those silk shreds just make it even more of an eye magnet.”
Pouting, Brooklyn let out a sigh. “Fine. I can’t argue with that. I concede.”
Off I minced, back to the dressing room. A different Blue salesgirl was waiting for me there, a younger woman I’d taken note of earlier thanks to the black rose tattooed on her wrist.
