Something About Alice Murphy: BOOK 3

P A R T - F I F T E E N

Chapter Fifteen: The Arrival
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Monday, 20th December

"Just turn a little to the left," a seamstress murmured as Alice stood up on a box, her hair thrown up into a messy bun and her face make up free. She was having her bridesmaids dress adjusted to her size five days before her father's wedding, having been home now for just over a week. The sound of To Me by Alina Baraz flowed gently from the speakers as the news played silently on the flatscreen behind Alice as they were in the main living room.

"My feet are aching." Alice murmured bluntly as Amara lounged across the room on a chaise longue, typing something on her phone whilst she relaxed since she'd already been adjusted.

"Just a few more minutes." The seamstress replied, having had Alice stood up on the box for just over an hour now, making adjustments to the custom designed dress that had been sent in from Italy that morning.

"I sent in my measurements, I don't know how he got my sizing so god damn wrong." Alice muttered, growing annoyed since she was hungry and tired. The seamstress didn't reply, but Amara chuckled whilst she lowered her phone to look over.

"He obviously didn't look at them, mine squeezed my waist so hard I thought I was going to collapse." Amara replied, "It's like these dresses were made for sticks."

"Literally feels like I can't breathe." Alice sighed, holding the bodice of the dress to her chest as the seamstress undid some of the sewing at the back to loosen it.

"It looked like your boobs were going to break out and kill everyone." Amara giggled, standing up to stretch. "Do you want some coffee?"

"Yes, please." Alice smiled, feeling herself being tugged from the back as the dress was adjusted even more.

"We could probably add some more mesh here, I have a similar material back at the workshop." The seamstress spoke as if she was talking to herself, so Alice didn't reply. She stared ahead, watching the snow fall lightly outside the tall windows, blurring the view of the mountains and the large lake that could usually be seen well from there, although during winter it became a snowy wonderland with not much else to look at.

A few minutes passed quietly, the music playing softly to fill the silence although it only seemed to amplify the lack of noise in the open space. "...Ow." Alice murmured slowly, feeling a sharp pinch of a needle in her back and glanced over her shoulder.

"Sorry," the seamstress replied quietly before the room became quiet again for a few more minutes.

"How's it going?" The sound of Peter's voice suddenly came from the large doors opening into the hallway leading to the foyer.

"Well," the seamstress replied, "I'm almost done." She added, sounding a little nervous as Peter casually came closer to inspect her work whilst holding a mug of coffee in his left hand.

"My daughter isn't giving you too much trouble, is she?" Peter asked with a subtle amusement in his tone. Alice could see him in her peripheral vision, and turned her head to the left to look at him properly... He could see the irritation in her eyes, and could only smirk, knowing that Alice had probably been making a fuss because of the look on her face.

"No, she's been very patient."

Peter chuckled and took a sip of his coffee, suspecting that the seamstress was simply too polite to tell him the truth, not that it mattered to him. "Good," he replied, "The event company has arrived to start decorating, Alice. So the property is going to be busy for the next couple of days. Okay?"