Page 41 of Little Gray Dress

The Wedding Day

“Everybody up!” Hannah is storming my room, pulling open the curtains and inviting the rare Portland sunshine to invade my space.

“What time is it?”

“7 am.” She stands next to the bed waiting for me to pull the blankets off my face. “I’m getting married today! We have a ton to do so get up!”

“What do we have to do that can’t get done in the next twelve hours?” She yanks the blankets off me as I say it.

“Just come downstairs and don’t ruin my day.”

She disappears through the door as I sit up on the side of the bed trying to wake up. “What? I’m not even in the wedding party,” Lily objects from her room next door.

I throw on a bra, because when you have C-sized boobs no bra is a no-go, before heading downstairs to the smells of heaven wafting my direction. A man in a black jacket and black chef’s hat greets me with a wave.

“Good Morning, miss. Is there anything I can prepare for you this morning?”

“Prepare for me?”

“Yes, Miss Cabot has hired me to feed you throughout the day. Whatever you’d like I can accommodate.”

“You can make me whatever I want for breakfast?” I ask, knowing this is a bad deal for my imaginary weight loss plan.

“Yes, ma’am.” He nods his head enthusiastically.

“Um… What do you suggest?”

“I have an omelet that most clients love.”

“Let’s do it… And for your information… I love cheese. I’m not one of these dieting girls you normally cook for.”

He smiles, showing all his teeth. “My favorite kind of girl. I’ll bring it out to you as soon as it’s done.” He nods towards the counter filled with everything needed for gourmet coffee or hot chocolate. “Help yourself to some coffee if you’d like.”

“That I will.”

“Oh good, there you are.” Hannah looks panicked already and we’re still many, many hours away from the wedding. “Listen, as soon as you’ve eaten I need you to shower, because the spray tan lady will be here at nine.”

“Spray tan lady?”

“Yeah, you’ve never had one?” She watches me shake my head. “Oh, it’s so cool, she actually brings all the equipment right to the house and does it here. It’s quick and subtle, and when it’s over you’ll glow like you just got back from somewhere tropical.”

I’ve never had a spray tan before, and I’m a little nervous with my natural skintone being not much darker than the color of snow. What if something goes wrong? No, it can’t, people do this all the time with no issues.

“OK,” I say with a shrug of the shoulders, while I pour a little too many coffee flavors into my cup.

By the time I get to the table Mr Chef is following me over with a plate heaped full of cheesey goodness. “Your omelet, Miss.”

“Are you going to eat that?” Greta comes sauntering into the room and takes the chair across from mine. “Do you have any idea how many calories are in something like that?”

“I do, actually.” I nod my head pretending I don’t hate her.

“Those are calories you definitely don’t need.”

“I do, though. I’m not trying to put on a show for the whole world. I actually enjoy life, and food.” I shove a giant forkful of eggs and cheese into my mouth as she watches in disgust.

“No wonder you lost Jack.”

“I didn’t lose him. For your information, I dumped him. If anything, you should be thanking me.”

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