Secret Crush

Chapter 13 - [Wedding Preparations]

Gina sat at her seat with a wary expression. “I don’t think so.” She said to the manager of Bride Wonderland, a Bride’s one stop shopping center for all her bridal needs.

Literally.

This place had everything related to weddings.

It was an absolutely beautiful store and each floor looked like a room in a castle.

Especially the floor with the wedding gowns.

It was a large room filled with beautiful photos, vases, flowers, and racks of wedding dresses.

Val, Gina and I were sitting on a couch right in front of a massive set of three mirrors, looking at the dress the Manager was holding.

Gina had already tried a couple on and nothing seemed to be right for her.

“Seriously…” Gina said. “Nothing that has no straps. I hate no straps, it just doesn’t work for me.”

“But that’s what all the women are going for these days.” The manager said.

The manager was a tall, thin Caucasian lady with blue eyes and luscious brown hair. It was curled and all pulled over her right shoulder, and though it was a simple look, it suited her.

She wore a black blazer with a white dress shirt underneath and a black pencil skirt.

And her square glasses topped the look.

“But tube tops or whatever aren’t me.” Gina said.

Val leaned back on the couch. “This is taking longer then expected.”

I smiled. “Really?” I asked. “I actually expected it to take much longer then this.”

Val shrugged. “I guess I should have expected that too.”

The manager then went looking for another dress.

“I like the ball gown look.” Gina called after her. Gina then turned to me. “Your brother is so picky.”

I laughed. “He is?”

She smiled. “Yeah! He hates strapless stuff. It’s him, not me!”

Val chuckled. “Well, the one you tried out actually did look horrid on you.”

Gina started to laugh. “I love your honesty. You’re going to stay by my side and help me pick everything in this wedding, got it?”

Val winked at her. “Sure thing, ma’am.”

“Back.” I heard Gale say as he returned with the coffee. Blake followed closely behind him.

“Make sure you’re careful.” Gina said as she took her coffee from Gale. “The manager will freak if you spill.”

Gale rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah.” He then walked over to Val and I. “Coffee for you ladies.”

I took mine with a smile and Val took hers with a sarcastic grin. “Thanks buddy.”

Gale hesitated, but I could see that he was too afraid to say anything. One wrong move with Val and he’s done.

I held back my laugh.

He then sat next to me, Blake on the other side of him. “Picked a dress yet?” Blake asked Gina.

Gina, who was sitting across from us, sighed. “Nope.”

Blake’s eyes widened. “No way.”

Gale snorted. “It takes her hours to pick out an outfit in the morning. Imagine how long it’s going to take her to pick out a wedding dress.”

Blake groaned as he leaned back into the long couch. “There goes my Sunday.”

I shrugged. “I dunno… this is kinda fun.”

Blake then leaned forward to look at me. “You’re kidding?”

Gale looked at his best friend. “Girls.” He said, rolling his eyes.

Blake grinned. But then his grin faded. “Where’s Nate anyways?” He turned to me. “Shouldn’t he of all people be here?”

I shrugged.

Gina rolled her eyes. “Stupid Blake.” She said, but she smiled. “I’m going to surprise him on the wedding day! He can’t see the dress.”

I clapped my hands together. “Aw!”

Gina winked at me. “If we don’t pick a dress that makes him stand there gaping, I’m going to throw my bouquet at him and leave.”

We all laughed.

Right then, my eyes fell on a pretty dress that was hanging at the back of this lovely room.

I stood up and walked over to it. “How ‘bout this one?” I asked as I pulled it off the rack.

Gina got up and walked over to me, she then gasped. “Oh god… that looks beautiful…”

The manager returned a moment later, holding a bunch of ball gown like wedding dresses a Gina turned to her. “Can I try on this one?”

The manager hesitated. “That’s quite a cheap dress…” She said. “I thought someone like you would want something a little… fancier?”

Gina shrugged and then turned to me. “You want me to try it on, right?”

I hesitated. “It wouldn’t hurt.”

Gina smiled. “Then I will.” She looked at the manager. “That’s my fiancé’s sister.”

The manager hesitated and then nodded. “Alright.”

I went and sat back down in between Val and Gale and waited for Gina to put on her dress.

“Why’d you pick that one?” Val asked.

I shrugged. “It looked really nice… and I feel like it’ll suit Gina.”

Gale leaned back in his seat. “Well, we’ll see about that.”

I was suddenly all nervous… especially now that the manager said it was a cheap dress.

It didn’t look cheap. It looked rather expensive actually.

But I didn’t want Gina to think I had horrible taste or anything like that…

I shook my head.

She’s just trying them on. I have nothing to worry about.

A moment later, Gina walked out.

“You guys have to tell me what you think before I look in the mirror.

Gale’s mouth fell open and he dropped his coffee cup.

We were all too shocked to care.

Gina stared back at the four of us, clearly confused by our gaping. And for a moment, I could tell she was afraid to turn around.

“s**t Gina… this is perfect.” Gale said.

Gina’s cheeks turned a little pink. “Really?”

Gale nodded his head.

She then turned to me. “Will Nate like it?”

I stared at her.

The dress was a gorgeous white dress made of taffeta, with a sweetheart neckline and was one shouldered with a big fabric flower on it. It was the mermaid look, so very fitted, up till the waist and below it had cascading organza ruffles. It had a semi-cathedral train and there were also simple works of beading on it.

It was definitely perfect.

“Well?” Gina asked nervously.

I let out a small laugh. “If he doesn’t gape at that… I’d pick up a table and throw it at him.”

Gina laughed and then turned around to look at it herself.

When she did, she threw her hands over her face and her eyes got watery. “Oh my god. It’s beautiful.”

The manager crossed her arms. “I’m sure there are more expensive dresses-”

Gina shook her head. “Nope. This one is it.” She said. “Plus, Mimi would know. I trust her choice.”

I grinned, getting more and more excited.

The manager hesitated. She was clearly not pleased with the fact that she couldn’t swindle some more money out of the rich Miss. Dallas. But she smiled. “Alright.”

“You’re going to get this fitted for me, right?” Gina asked.

The manager nodded. “Of course.”

“You know… while you’re at it… is there any chance you can replace these white beads with mandarin colored beads?”

“That’s not a problem, but we charge a lot more for that.”

Gina nodded. “Yeah, that’s fine.” She said. “Including the beads inside the flowers.”

The manager pulled out a notepad and wrote it down. “Got it.”

Gina took a deep breath and looked into the mirror again. “How would I do my hair for this…”

“A bun may-” The manager started.

But Gale interrupted. “No way. No bun.” He said as he picked up his coffeecup and stealthly tried to cover the small stain he left in the carpet. “Leave your hair out… I dunno what fancy thing you wanna do with it but you should definitely leave it out.”

Gina nodded her head. “Yeah… Nate likes it out too.”

I laughed. “C’mon Gina… don’t worry about him! He’ll like whatever you pick.”

Gina looked at me and chuckled. “I know…” She took another breath. “Well, my dress has been picked. Time for you guys.”

It took Gina a while to get out of her dress and when she did, the manager returned with her. “What color are you looking for, for your bridesmaids?”

“Mandarin.” Gina said.

The manager nodded. “Be right back.” She said before she rushed off.

“That’s specific.” Gale said to his sister.

Gina just smiled.

“Is Mandarin your favourite color?” Val asked.

Gina smiled some more. “Not really…” She started. “I decided that the main color for the wedding would be mandarin.”

“Why?” Blake asked.

Gina chuckled. “Well, Nate and I started talking because of a mandarin.”

My friends and I started laughing. “No way!” Blake said.

Gina grinned. “Way.” She sat down on the couch. “When we were kinds, he and his friends were playing catch with a mandarin and he decided to whip it at his friend. His friend ducked and it hit me instead. Hard.”

Gale snorted. “I remember this.”

Gina let out a laugh. “I wouldn’t stop crying.” She said. “And he felt so bad. That’s how we started talking.”

“That’s actually really cute.” Val said.

Gina grinned. “I wanted the colors to have some meaning behind them.”

Right then, the manager returned with a handful of dresses.

Gina walked over to them and looked at them carefully, one by one. A moment later, she gasped.

She pulled out a lovely knee length dupioni dress with a pleated skirt and pleated cap sleeves. It had a sweetheart neckline and it was actually really cute.

“Isn’t this adorable?” Gina asked. “Come here, Mimi.”

I hesitated, but then stood up and walked over to her.

She held the dress against me and grinned. “This is it!” She said. “I want you to try it on but this size is too large…” She looked at the manager. “Do you have a smaller size?”

The manager gave Gina an apologetic look. “This is the only one we’ve got.” She said. “The plan was for you to pick a dress and for us to get the measurements of each of your bridesmaids so that we could start altering after we order them.”

Gina nodded. “Okay! That’s okay.” She said. “Val, you come here too.”

Val got up and walked over to us and when she reached us, Gina held the dress against her too. She nodded her head. “This is definitely it.”

Blake threw his hands up. “Finally!” He said. “We’re done!”

Gina laughed. “Not so fast, Mister.” She said. “We’ve still gotta pick clothes for you boys.”

Gale rolled his eyes but then smiled at his sister. “None of us know what we’ve got to wear though. Do you?”

Gina smiled. “I think I know exactly who to call.”

She pulled out her cellphone and dialed a number. When she put the phone on speaker, we waited, hearing the phone ring.

A second later, I heard my dad’s voice. “Hello?”

“Daddy?” I called.

“Mimi?” My dad called back. “What happened to your phone?”

I hesitated.

“Hi future father-in-law!” Gina yelled, playfully.

There was a pause and then my dad chuckled. “Hello future daughter-in-law.” He responded.

We all started to laugh.

“How are you today?” He asked.

“Great, great! And you, my dear future father-in-law?”

“Absolutely wonderful, my gorgeous future daughter-in-law. Is there something that I could I can help you with?”

Gina grinned. “Yes! We needed some advice from you, we’re doing shopping for the groomsmen and since my dad is M.I.A. and probably has no idea about this stuff anyways, I was wondering if you could give us a hand?”

“Sure, that’d be fun. You’re at the Bride Wonder…world store… or something like that right?”

Gina laughed. “It’s Bride Wonderland. And you don’t have to come! I don’t want to bug you too much.”

I imagined my dad smiling. “I’m actually not that far from there. My shift just ended and I can actually be there in a bit.”

Gina clapped her hands. “Yay! Thank you, uncle Chris. That means a lot.”

“Anything for my future daughter-in-law.” He said. “I’ll be there in five.”

“Thank you!” Gina said again before she hung up.

And like my dad said, he was there in about five minutes, still in his Paramedics uniform.

I skipped over to him when I saw him and gave him a hug. “Hey dad!”

He kissed my head. “Hello sweetheart.”

When I looked up at him to smile, I saw that he actually looked a little exhausted. It made me really happy to know that he still came to help though he was so tired.

All my friends greeted him too, but Gina walked over to him and gave him a tight hug. “Thank you so much!” She said.

He grinned at her. “Don’t worry about it.” He said. “Now put me to work. What can I do for you all?”

Gina walked with him as they went into the men’s section. She explained everything to him, including the colors she had picked and why.

Blake, who was walking next to me, looked at me. “That’s your dad?”

I nodded.

Blake looked back at my dad. “I never got a chance to meet him before. He seems really cool.”

I smiled. I loved it when people thought my dad was cool.

“He is.” Gale said. “While my dad sits at a computer all day, this man runs around working out and saving lives.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, he’s pretty awesome.” I said with a casual shrug.

Val laughed. “And he’s hot. For a dad, he’s hot.”

I nudged her. “That’s gross, Val!”

“I have to admit, Valerie’s got a point.” Blake said, grinning at me. “I mean, look at that ass of his.”

Gale laughed.

I stopped walking and gave them all my best ‘what the flip’ look.

They burst into laughter as Val put her elbow on Blake’s shoulder, leaning against him. “You know kid, I might actually like you.”

Blake, who suddenly looked a little nervous, chuckled.

And though I was totally weirded out by their comments about my dad, I laughed. It was good that they were becoming friends.

And then we spent the rest of the day picking out clothes for the boys.

With the help of my dad, we all found the best outfits ever and Gina was super happy.

I have to say though… I had an excellent time. And now that we’d gotten the dresses out suits settled… I was even more, unbelievably excited for this wedding.