Charity's Passion (30 page)

The dresses should be done the day after tomorrow, I hope.

Justin is flying both of our mother's and Melissa in tomorrow so that they can all come with me for the dress shopping. God bless him; he made a huge thing of it for me even after I told him I'd go alone. The following morning all of us, including Lena and Trisha, are booked early at Silk to start, followed by a private appointment at L'Fay for the bridal gown, lunch, and finally The Dessy Group for all my girls and the mom's dresses.

We grab a taxi back to the office and find it eerily quiet the moment we pass through the glass doors beyond the pacing panther hologram. Muddled voices and laughter lead us to the conference room where we find all of the girls in the conference room huddled around a few small boxes on top of the table.

"What's going on ladies?" I ask.

Their smiles are much too wide and it scares the shit out of me.

Clarice slides one of the boxes toward me. "Your wedding invitations," she replies beaming.

"They came?" I shout like a schoolgirl.

"They came," Jennifer ripostes. "And then your hunky fiancé brought them in with your guest list and asked if we wanted to help, which—duh."

"They are labeled, stuffed, and stamped," Clarice announces proudly.

How many damn times am I going to cry today?

I thank them and become the doughnut hole of a group hug before Justin appears in the doorway to the conference room.

"Seriously?" I ask as soon as I see him.

"I asked, I didn't force them," Justin defends. "They're friends, and they wanted to help."

"We were glad to help," Trisha agrees. "We all wanted to do something."

I saunter over to him, grab his face, and kiss him right on the mouth. I know he doesn't like that in the office—I just don't care.

Behind me, I hear Lynda, "Wow, are we talking turns—because I can start a line?"

IT WAS AN EARLY
time to begin our day, but Justin got it right sending all of us to Silk before we started our dress shopping. We feel pretty and pampered, and that's going to make things go with just a little less fear and anxiety. I'm not even freaking out about not having time to diet as I try on a dress by Lusan Mandongus.

Maybe every day should start off with champagne and orange juice while someone does your hair and nails. Just a thought.

In the mirror the dress looks stunning. I've been told that I'll know
the one
the second I see it on, that a feeling will wash over me, but I don't know for sure what that feeling is. This one takes away my breath—maybe that's it.

I open the door and step out into the viewing area where all of my ladies are waiting. Melissa and Trisha both gasp, and I like that; they didn't do that for any of the other four dresses I've had on already. Lena has her controlled but impressed expression smeared across her face; she likes it, but is reserving herself. Both moms are staring meet with adoring eyes.

"This might be it," I say, twirling so they can see every angle and every layer.

"You look so beautiful," My mother tells me.

"Like an angel," Justin's mom agrees.

All of them chime in with compliments and make my smile ridiculous. This really could be it.

"I love it," I tell my dress assistant, Adriana.

She looks happy to be making progress, but I don't see the excitement I thought I would. "I'll set this one aside while you try on the next."

I twirl a few more times, scrutinizing my reflection and everyone's reaction while Adriana removes the last dress I had on and hangs the next one in the changing room for me. I go in with her and start the exhausting changing process over again. She yanks at zippers and buttons that I cannot even see, and by the time I'm out of the dress I have to sit down to catch my breath.

As I'm sitting, the song on their music system changes. Ingrid Michaelson's
"
Girls Chase Boys
" begins and I just love this song. I tap my foot and rock back and forth until I see Adriana giggling at me.

We do that dress change thing two more times. One of the dresses I adored while it was hanging, but once it was on I refused to even step out if the dressing room. I hated it. Once it’s off again, I can't remember why I liked it at all in the first place.

Adriana brings in the next heap of white lace and fabric.

"Are you getting tired?" She asks.

"Yes. None of them seem as good as that Lusan Mandongus."

"Well," she breathes, "it was beautiful, but I have a good feeling about this one. I'm very good at reading my clients. I see your body type, obviously, but within a dress or two I start to get a feel for your style as well."

"And you like this one?"

"I love this one for you. That's why I just gave you that crappy one—it'll make this one look even better," she giggles. "It was a very nice dress, but I knew it wasn't for you. This one is a L'Fay TP Vienna," she says as she runs her hand in front of it. "This one is going to be different."

She helps me into it and watches me check it out in the mirror.

OH MY GOD!

It's the one! That feeling I wasn’t sure about before, I totally get it now. When I thought I had it earlier—it's not it if you only
think
you have it.

Of course I'm crying.

"And?" Adriana asks.

I can only nod. My heart is racing and my throat is mostly closed.

Now I see the look I was expecting from her—utter, complete, gushing pride. I love the layers of beaded lace and the seams in the sexy bodice that will need a lace shawl to tame it.

"Let's go show them," she says.

When I step out this time, every one of them gasps.

"That's the one," my mother sighs.

"It is, it really is," my soon to be mother-in-law agrees.

They can see it in my face.

Both of them are crying, but so are Melissa and Trisha. I twirl around for them and catch Lena's face. Her eyes are glassy and she's fighting the corners of her mouth. There's no way I can keep it together after seeing that.

As I bawl, all of them rush me and drown me in a sea of supportive arms. I happen to notice Adriana putting away the other dresses, knowing the decision has been made without having to hear it.

The dress does need to be lifted about two inches, but other than that it's great fit. By the time Adriana is helping me out of it, I'm ready for a shower. There's sweat in every crack and crevice and my ankles are killing me.

I'm so glad it's everyone else's turn after lunch, which we're having in the private dining room at the wonderful Gramercy Tavern not far from L'Fay. The room is filled with early American antiques, and Justin had the table set with several bottles of a very nice
champagne called Philipponnat Brut.

Needless to say, the emotional edge was dull half way through lunch and gone by the end.

I'm ready to sit back and watch when we arrive at The Dessy Group. It's their turn, even the moms. The assistants, Fran and Julie, take every name and measurement first, and then the dresses begin like a mini parade.

Each of my bridesmaids and Melissa, who of course is my maid of honor, are given a different dress so they can decide and narrow it down quicker to the style that they like. I have only one rule for them—nothing puffy.

"The three of you are hot as hell and there's no reason to hide you in some frumpy dresses. You should look and feel sexy," I tell them.

Trisha speaks up first, "I can do sexy." She takes her dress from Fran and trots off to a changing room. Lena and Melissa follow after with their own dresses.

Nicolette, Justin's mother, looks happy beyond words to be here right now, but her eyes have been glassy since I found my dress. "Are you okay?" I ask.

"Absolutely," she replies. "I never imagined I'd be
here
doing this right now; watching my oldest son's beautiful fiancée picking out her wedding dress. This is beyond words for me. Six months ago I was just grateful to see him one more time before I die, and now I'm going to be at his wedding as he marries the perfect woman. If I could have chosen a girl for him it would have been you."

It's a huge, beautiful compliment.

My mother is crying as she listens, and she slides her arms around Nicolette. "I don't even want to imagine what those years were like for you, but we're so glad to have you here with us now."

The jerks have me crying again now. "The past is past," I say comfortingly. "We are all family and together now and that's what counts." I wrap myself around both of them as we laugh and cry at the same time.

Julie has a couple of pretty dresses for the moms in her hands. "Ladies, are you ready to try on some dresses?"

They head into changing rooms and for a few minutes I am alone. I use the time to text Justin.
"Babe, just wanted 2 say thank u again. Having a great time. The moms r in their glory."

Not long after he replies,
"I'm glad. This day is all about u and ur girls. I do miss you though."

I'm smiling and missing him when the girls begin popping out from the changing rooms.

"What do you think?" Melissa says, turning in a slow, clockwise spin so we see it all.

"It's really pretty," I reply. "It's it comfortable?"

"As much as it can be."

"What about mine?" Trisha interjects. "What do you girls think?"

"Also pretty," I say.

Suddenly Lena steps out into the viewing area and all of our eyes pop out of our heads.

"Oh holy shit girl! Lena, you look gorgeous!" Trisha bellows, making Lena blush.

We make her turn like a fashion model, which she loves about as much as she would love to be shot at one more time. It's beautiful from every angle.

"Do you like it?" Lena asks me. "This is for your day, you have to like it or it isn't right."

"I love it. It's hot but not slutty, and Trisha's right, you look amazing in it."

"I think we should all try that one on," Melissa tells the assistants with all of us agreeing.

Fran and Julie scramble to get the sizes needed. If this looks good on everyone, we'll only have the moms left to take care of.

Each assistant comes back carrying one and takes a girl back to the changing rooms to help them. It's not long before they step out next to Lena and we are WOW'd.

It's a full length, matte satin dress by After Six in a color Fran calls midnight. The simplicity is sexy hot with a sweetheart neckline, seams at the waist and a killer trumpet skirt that manages to look as incredible on Lena's long slenderness as it does on Melissa's gentle curves and Trisha's voluptuousness.

"I'm floored, ladies. It's amazing on all of you; I have the hottest bridesmaids."

"Wait until the men see them," my mother says, making everyone giggle as she peeks out from her changing room.

"That's totally true," Trisha says. "Terrence is going to have a heart attack when he sees that on you, Lena."

"You should talk," I add. "Garrett is going to snap. No way he has the strength to keep his hands off you in that."

Nicolette is nodding her head ferociously. "I agree; I don't know what you two are waiting for, but it's all over when you wear that to the wedding. I know him, he's as taken by you as Justin is by Charity."

Finally, Trisha blushing. I live for these moments.

"I LOVE YOU LADIES
, but I have to admit it was not easy leaving Justin and coming out with you tonight. You have no idea how delicious he looked."

"No, I think I can imagine," Jennifer teases.

"Did he look like candy? Because that's how I imagine him, all glistening and sugary for the tasting," Lynda says before bursting with laughter.

"You said candy—GUMMY BEAR SHOTS! Eight Gummy Bear shots," Melissa yells to the bartender.

That's one of the rules for my bachelorette party; when someone says a word related to the flavor of a shot, we all have to drink it—no exceptions allowed. I'm chasing mine with water, though, after arguing there was nothing in the rules that said I couldn't. Clarice, Kathy, and Lena all started to do the same thing after I won the fight, and I know Melissa will start with the water soon too; her tolerance is good, but nothing like Trisha, Lynda, or Jennifer.

The bartender lines all eight shots up along the bar in front of us. "Okay girls,” Melissa says, passing the drinks to everyone, "To Charity and Justin, cheers." Glasses clink and liquor spills over already sticky fingers.

The rules were laid out in the limo and the first shot came at dinner. Everyone has to have at least one drink in every bar we hit unless they flash their tits or get a guy to buy at least one of the other girls a drink, which cannot be refused.

"So what are the guys doing tonight?" Kathy asks.

"Dinner and then Resorts World casino," I answer.

"And Sapphire," Lena giggles. "Justin insisted on no strip clubs, he told them it was a waste of time when the hottest girl would be at home with him later, but the guys plan on forcing him into Sapphire for at least an hour."