With All That Grace

e l e v e n | Finally Time

e l e v e n | Finally Time

I had been staring at the clothing rack Bernice had wheeled into my room for the past twenty minutes, my mind utterly blank.

I had to choose one of the five dresses hanging from it.

The event hadn't even started yet and I was already having a problem. God, why were they so pretty?

I'd already been fairly warned by Bernice that all the events I'd be involved in would be extremely formal. In fact, she told me that the only time I'd ever have to be informal would be if I was lounging at the palace. Therefore I had already anticipated that when she reminded me of it while taking my measurements a couple of days ago. It also amazed me was that five dresses could be that skillfully custom made within two days. 

The dark green—a color that traditionally looked good with my hair—was probably a safe choice. Then there was the midnight blue—elegant and straight up stunning. However, I didn't think I quite had the air about me to pull that off, and these were the two I was mainly confused between. That was because I wanted to wear the blue dress but was scared, and the green one was calling out to me like the safety net it was.

Then there was also the champagne pink one. As well as the beige one.

I thought the presence of the yellow dress had to be some sort of an error. The rest of the dresses, however, were all lovely and I couldn't fault Bernice's taste (except maybe for the yellow one).

Bernice.

She could help me.

I was sure I didn't have a lot of time before the event and I had yet to choose a dress. I couldn't afford to stand there internally debating anymore—I needed to ask Bernice to help me sort this out.

Just as I exited my room, I almost bumped into Alexander, who was fast walking down the hall fumbling with his cuffs. He was clearly almost dressed, wearing a crisp white shirt and even though he didn't have his jacket on, I could tell by the pants alone that the tux was going to look good.

Belatedly, I did note he looked great as always. Me, on the other hand, with my hair quickly tossed up, the sleeves of my sweater rolled upwards and having come out in a hurry to find Bernice, I was only wearing my bright red socks with the cherry print on them on my feet in the hallway—the complete opposite.

"You're not dressed yet," he stated as his eyes hit me, stopping in front of me immediately. "Why aren't you dressed yet? We need to leave in thirty minutes."

"I'm looking for Bernice," I answered him quickly as I walked around him, thinking to head towards the television room.

"She's taking a call from the European Union in the library," he informed me and I stopped in my tracks.

Oh, crap. She was busy. That was great.

And I only had thirty minutes to decide and get dressed.

"Why do you need her?" He asked me, hands having made quick work of his cuffs, now moving to adjust his collar.

Should I even bother telling him? I wondered to myself for a short moment before thinking oh, fuck it.

"I needed help with the dress," I shrugged helplessly. "She gave me five and... I can't pick."

He only gestured towards my room in response before heading inside and confused, I followed to see him standing in front of the clothing rack. Okay, so he was going to help. I saw that he'd immediately shoved the yellow to the side, which was almost funny. One look at the pink and beige and they were also swiped aside. He looked between the green and the blue, and turned to give me a probing look from head to foot—which made me feel somewhat embarrassed because the look felt like it lasted a little longer than necessary—before throwing the blue on the bed.