eight: fitting
Fourth of July weekend was still underway, and all of the wedding attendants remained under one roof with Kristin’s strict instruction not to go anywhere until everyone was fitted for their wedding attire. So when Saturday morning arrived, seven bridesmaids and seven groomsmen were exactly where they were supposed to be. The women were sprawled throughout the main house, where two designers were helping come up with patterns for dresses, and the men were in the guesthouse, consulting with a tailor.
“Sooo,” Mila approached Kristin in the kitchen, seeking her approval of the silver shift dress she’d co-designed for the wedding. “What do you think?”
Kristin gave her petite pal a quick once over and immediately denied her. “A little too hipster for my wedding, friend.”
“Seriously? Not even with a belt?” Mila looked down at herself, totally in love with the look. “This is a dress that everyone will look good in.”
“I don’t like it,” she shrugged. “Sorry.”
“But why not?”
“It has no shape, Mi! It’s just… there. I want a cutesy, girly something, not some sexy club frock.”
“Okay, you’re using a lot of words right now, and I’m not quite sure I understand them,” she shook her head. “Why do you hate me?”
“I don’t hate you,” she laughed, heading into the den, where Cecilia was trying on a very simple but cute full-skirted cocktail dress. “See how great this looks,” Kristin showed Mila.
“Okay, she is lovely, yes. But I would look like a five year old in this dress.”
“You look like a five year old anyway,” she grinned. “Find a dress that I like.”
“Fine,” Mila rolled her eyes, beginning to pull off the vetoed dress.
“And keep in mind that your dress will be navy blue!”
“Bite me,” she mumbled, watching Kristin disappear. “This is exactly why I’m not having my own fucking wedding.”
“Oh Mila,” Cecilia chuckled, watching the movie star walk around in her underwear. “You’re just so agreeable.”
Detecting her sarcasm, she retreated a bit. “I’m sorry, I know I’m like a raging bitch right now.”
“You? Noooo.”
“No, seriously. I’m not usually like this! I’m just on major edge right now.”
“It’s understandable. I mean, to be in this wedding with your ex-husband at every turn can’t be easy.”
“Right?” she agreed with wide eyes. “Like, am I crazy, or is this not normal?”
“I can’t imagine having to do it.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I can handle it.”
“Of course.”
“But it’s not gonna happen in one day.”
“Right. Of course not,” Cecilia was nodding, not quite sure where to go next in the conversation.
“All right, Cece, let me try on this dress.”
“I… you want my dress?” she looked down and then back at Mila, totally confused.
“Well yeah. Kiki said I needed a dress like yours, so let me try it on so I can show her.”
“I-I-I don’t think we’re the same size.” Mila was, at most, a size 4, while Cecilia was closer to an 8. “Are you sure?”
“Just gimme the damn dress.”
“O-o-okay.” She pulled off the silver sheath and helped Mila into it, following her back into the kitchen, holding it in place so that they could get Kristin’s approval.
“All right. Are we done?” Mila announced once she was in plain view.
Kristin grinned at the sight. “I think you should do a bateau neckline, but yes. I would say we have a winner.”
“Thank god,” she exhaled heavily, turning back to Cecilia. “Thank you so much. You’re a lifesaver.”
“Can I put it back on now?” she hoped, not quite as comfortable as Mila in just a bra and panties.
“Oh! Yeah, yeah, yeah, sorry.” She quickly stepped out of the oversized dress and handed it over with a smile. “Tell Megan that I’ll take one in a size two. With the bateau neckline?” she looked over to Kristin for confirmation.
“Bateau. Yes.”
“Thanks again, Cece.”
As Cecilia obliged and headed back for the den, Kristin gave Mila an odd look. “Cece?”
“You know I have to shorten everyone’s name. Kiki, Cece… Hell, I shortened my own name to Mila.”
“You are so deliciously odd.”
Mila hopped on the stool adjacent to Kiki, picking at the strawberries that sat in the middle of the island. “So when do we get to see your dress?”
“I didn’t show you my dress?”
“No, bitch face, you did not!”
Kristin’s big blue eyes widened in shock, and she quickly grabbed her friend’s hand to pull her upstairs. “I totally thought I showed everyone.”
“Well clearly I am not everyone.”
Together, they raced up the steps, and down the long corridor of bedrooms, passing by one in particular that sounded… occupied. “Must be Becca and Jon’s room,” Kristin whispered, hearing the definitive sound of a headboard being knocked against a wall.
“Yeah, no,” Mila quickly countered, knowing for a fact that it was Justin’s room.
“No?”
“Nope,” she deadpanned. “My room is next to Jus’s, he’s been going at it with that girl since we got in yesterday.”
“Nadia? Are you serious?”
“Oh, I’m very serious. I was about three seconds from sleeping on the couch last night due to the incessant banging.”
“Mila, you are lying,” she laughed awkwardly, leading her into the bedroom where her dress was being housed. “Nadia was too through with him when they got in yesterday.”
“Why the fuck would I lie?” she chuckled in response, if only to hide the fact that the shit stung like a bitch. “Didn’t you notice they were mysteriously absent after dinner?”
“When we played Taboo?”
“Yeah. No Justin. No Nadia.”
“Huh.” She certainly hadn’t noticed during the game, but when she thought about it, Mila was right. “Interesting.”
“More like gross and annoying.”
Kristin disappeared into a large closet for a moment, returning with her wedding day masterpiece. It was a lovely strapless A-line gown, a full tulle skirt, draped in petals. It was the essence of Kristin Levitt. Dainty and full of Southern charm, but simple. “What do you think?”
Mila’s frown instantly melted into a grin when her eyes landed on the dress. “Holy shit, Kris, this is amazing.”
“You like it?”
“I fucking love it, friend! You’re gonna look fucking gorgeous in this.”
“I hope so,” she sighed. “I can’t wait.”
“I’m so excited for you,” she beamed, examining the intricacies of the dress. It was then that a small part of her wished for the big wedding production, with the dress and the bridesmaids and all the hoopla. More often than not, Mila hated hoopla and would strangle anyone that said otherwise, but sometimes, that want for a little more snuck up on her. This was one of those times.
October 2001…
Mila had been staring at her reflection for the better part of half an hour, utterly conflicted with what she was preparing to do. She loved Justin “ that was something she was clear on. He was such a great guy, so cool and thoughtful, and she adored the hell out of him. But they’d just met two months ago.
When he first proposed marriage, it sounded so ridiculous that she laughed in his face. She was eighteen. What business did she have marrying anyone? But five minutes later, she couldn’t imagine not being married to him. It seemed like the only thing that made sense.
But a week later, it was actually happening, and she couldn’t help but wonder how the hell she was going to pledge an eternity to a guy she didn’t even know before the summer began. If her parents knew what was about to happen... And she stood there in a cute little dress she'd found at Saks -- certainly no wedding dress, second guessing all of it. None of her friends would be there, she hadn't written any vows, she wouldn't even have a bouquet. Their secret nuptials were such a secret, she barely felt like they were actually happening.
“Mom is going to kill you, you know.” Her brother, Michael, had just entered her room, keys in hand, prepared to whisk her off to her destiny. But he wasn’t shy about telling her how stupid this was. “And I don’t mean that figuratively. She’s going to literally choke you out when she finds out.”
She glanced back at him with big, quizzical eyes. “Shut up.”
“I’m just saying. I’ll do this with you, because I love you, but just know that when you vow forever, your forever will not be very long.”
“I’m serious, shut the fuck up, Michael!”
He was laughing as he wrapped his sister in a headlock that turned into a hug. “I kid, Milena. Good for you.”
“Yeah?”
“You’ve always done whatever the hell you wanted. Why should this be any different.”
“Is this selfish?” she wondered out loud. She was earnestly scared of breaking her parents’ hearts, but she knew they wouldn’t approve, and the last thing she wanted was for this to become a big deal.
He avoided his sister’s gaze in their reflections and came up with a diplomatic response. “You’re eighteen, you’re supposed to be selfish.”
“I wish that made me feel better,” she half-smiled.
“Come on,” he let her out of their embrace and fixed her hair for her. “It’s your wedding day. Who cares what Elvira and Mark think?”
She was getting sadder by the minute. “Will they forgive me?”
“Hey, if you end up being happy… if, by some miracle, this ends up not being a colossal mistake, how could they not?”
And then she immediately became consumed with how she would forgive herself if this ended up being a colossal mistake. This was it, a big girl decision with big girl consequences. She had to believe that it would all be worth it. But in the end, she wasn’t so sure it was.
“You all right, kiddo?” Kristin took note of the look of anguish all over Mila’s face and it hurt her to know that her wedding might have been taking its toll on her friend.
Mila looked up from the dress and shook away her thoughts. “I’m fine.”
“Are you sure? You look… upset.”
“I’m fine,” she repeated, more forcefully this time. The fact was, she did not want to explore her mistakes at that moment. Sometimes, it felt like that was all she ever did. “I should probably go put some clothes on.”
Kristin nodded, accepting her dress to return it to the closet while Mila disappeared back downstairs. Kristin was laughing at the entire situation she’d been immersed in when she was lucky enough to exit her room at the same time Nadia was coming out of Justin’s.
“Hey,” Nadia seemed startled by Kristin’s presence in her own home.
“Hey,” Kristin returned evenly, doing her best to keep a knowing smirk off of her face. “Whatcha doing up here?”
“Oh. Umm… I was just… I needed something out of Justin’s… umm… room,” she stuttered, trying to pull her curly fro back into place. “I’m “ I mean, I thought it was in there, but it wasn’t.”
“Uh huh,” Kristin chuckled, totally amused to watch her friend squirm. That never happened. “Are you lying, Nadia?”
“I am,” she surrendered with a sigh. “I don’t even know why.”
“Were you and Justin just gettin’ it on?” she smiled.
“Girl. Fourth time since we got here,” she shook her head in disbelief of her own actions. “I don’t know what the hell has gotten into me.”
“Well Justin, for one.”
“Oh, ha ha,” the two of them continued down the hall together. “I really don’t know what’s going on, though. Like, one minute, I hated him, and the next, I couldn’t keep my pants on around him.”
“And you wondered why we wanted call you Naughty Nadia!”
“This is not me, Kris. Like, not at all. Something about the Hamptons, I think.”
“Well hey, whatever makes you happy. And normally, for the sake of Mila, I would beg you to stop. But… you’re all grown ups.”
“That’s debatable.”
“True. But it’s best if I don’t get involved, I think?”
“I wouldn’t worry about it, Kris; I’m pretty sure I won’t be checking for him after the weekend is over.”
Kristin was surprised to hear that, given how much time they’d managed to spend together in less than 24 hours. “Wow. Okay then.”
Back in the guesthouse, Justin had returned to the festivities, where everyone was finishing up being measured for their navy blue suits. Luckily, he had been first in line, so he was done before he and Nadia ran off together.
His company had been missed, however. Grant was pleased to see him back from wherever he’d disappeared to. “Nice of you to join us, sir.”
“I had business to tend to,” Justin smirked mischievously, wiping his lips in the process. “I figured you could hold down your own fort.”
“Business, huh?” he stepped down from the pedestal where he was being measured and met his friend’s gaze. “What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“Are you really trying to play me right now?” Grant wasn’t buying it.
“A gentleman doesn’t kiss and tell, man.”
“And we know you’re not a gentleman, so I’m not sure why you even said that.”
The two of them were laughing like school girls as they sauntered towards the back of the house, where the socks and ties were set up. “Nah man, for real. I know me and Nadia started off rocky, but um… I really like her.”
“Is that right?”
“Yeah. I mean, we haven’t talked that much since we got here, but talking to her on the way up here? It was cool, it was interesting.”
“Yeah,” Grant shrugged, having listened to her on air for the past few years, he knew that to be true. “But you two wanted to kill each other just yesterday.”
“Well it doesn’t hurt that she is sexy as fuck,” Justin laughed, “but honestly, I’m thinking about asking her out. Like on a real date.”
“Really?”
“Yeah?” He quickly rifled through the options and settled on a pair of red and white striped socks, as well as a matching tie. “I mean, do I sound crazy?”
“Not crazy, per se. I’m just trying to picture Nadia with someone like you and… I can’t.”
“She already told me I’m not her type, but… I mean, that hasn’t stopped us yet, so…”
Grant strongly considered letting Justin in on what little he knew about Nadia’s dating history, but quickly decided that it wasn’t his place. The possibility of being wrong was very strong, so he just dismissed it. “You know what, dude. Go for it.”
“Just tell me? Is it herpes?” he winced. “I mean, if she has it, I probably got it by now. I mean, ‘cause I was all up in it… so just tell me.”
“No,” Grant laughed heartily. “And that’s disgusting.”
“I’m just sayin’.”
“It’s nothing. I mean, she might eat you up and spit you out, but there’s no reason you shouldn’t give it a try.”
“You sure?”
“I’m positive,” he nodded. “I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?”
Author's Chapter Notes:
This one's pretty boring. I'm sorry! I'll update soon, though!
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