Beauty and the Bridesmaid

Chapter Twenty Three

Gradually, the last few remaining people take to their seats until only the three of us barefoot bridesmaids are left.

With the doors still open, I can see Ash waiting at the other end of the room for his bride.  I wonder how today would have worked out if he had never found out about Josh. Would I even still be standing here?

There’s a rustle, and Lela appears from behind the wall to my right. It’s the first time I’ve seen her in all her bridal glory, hair and makeup fully perfected with a tiny silver tiara sitting on the crown of her head. She’s clutching the train of her meringue dress with one hand, and her borrowed shoes are just visible underneath the heavy fabric.

“Is it time?” She takes a worried glance towards the room full of people waiting for her entrance.

I nod and step back for her to pass me, but Kerry is already shouting, “Wait!”

We all turn to look at her to see what could possibly be so important.

“We’ve forgotten the four somethings!” she declares, reciting the old bridal tradition of good luck.

“Well…well this is old,” says Lela, holding out the simple necklace she’s wearing and desperately searching her body for the other three things.

“Your dress is new!” Steph points out.

“Do wedding dresses count?” Lela asks. “You can’t get married without a dress, can you?”

“I’m sure it does,” I reassure her. “And we’ve already got borrowed covered.” I point towards her feet, and she clicks the heels of her loaned shoes like Dorothy.

Kerry studies all three of us closely. “It’s just blue.”

I bite my lip, unable to come up with any wedding-saving blue item that will satisfy Lela.

“There might be one thing,” Lela says slowly. “You remember the bridal underwear I bought?”

This is obviously a shopping trip that the head bridesmaid wasn’t invited to. Not that I’m that bothered about it. I can’t imagine much worse than underwear shopping with these three.

“The ivory satin set?” squeals Kerry, clapping her hands together like a circus seal.

“Why didn’t we think of it before?” agrees Steph.

I finally decide to ask, “What am I missing?”

“Most wedding underwear is very similar, all ivory or cream satin, lace and bows,” Lela explains, sounding like a bridal shop assistant. “But we found one a bit different.”

“A cornflower-blue ribbon stitched all the way around the basque!” Kerry shouts with glee, before promptly shooting an apologetic look in Lela’s direction. “I mean, they must deal with these things all the time in bridal shops. It’s a good idea.”

“So are you ready now?” I ask, trying to erase the image of Lela’s blue-trimmed bridal underwear from my mind.

“What if he doesn’t want to marry me?” Lela wails. “I mean, would you want to marry me? I’m a terrible person, aren’t I? I’m too selfish to be anybody’s wife.”

“Calm down,” I urge, grabbing her by her bare shoulders. “Take a deep breath.”

She slowly inhales, sucking the breath into her cheeks and puffing it out again.

“All these people in that room are here today for you. Do you think they’d be here if they didn’t love you? Do you think Ash would?”

“Oh God. When I started planning this, I suppose all I really wanted was a wedding. I didn’t even think about what being married would be like. And I panicked. That’s all Josh was. A panic. But I should have just told Ash how I felt. Maybe we should never have got engaged.”