my fingertips. My lips twitch. It's not the dress for me, but I could definitely see myself wearing it somewhere else.
Then again, where else you need a full length lace wedding dress?
A plump blonde woman looks up from sewing the him on a dress mannequin. It only takes a second for her to recognize Margot, the Queen of Denmark. Her dark eyes dart over Princess Annika… then they land on me. She quickly realizes that I must be the one marrying into the royal family. A look of pure, unadulterated joy comes over her face.
“Ladies!” She curtsies awkwardly. “Or should I say your highnesses? I'm Brigid. Welcome to my shop. Please, come in and make yourself comfortable. Tell me what I can do for you.”
Nika and Margaret obviously each have their own dresses in mind, because they start talking at once, at full volume.
“I was thinking something like strappy top and full at the bottom…”
“I think Pippa needs something simple, something with no sequins or anything shiny…"
I roll my eyes. Brigid seems unfazed by the girls talking over each other. She hustles us to a large fitting room area, with several seats surrounding a runway of sorts with a three way mirror at the other end.
“Please, sit. Would you like some champagne?”
“Sure,” I say, relieved to at last be presented with something that I can say yes to. Nika and Margot immediately decline, causing me to raise my eyebrows.
When Brigid is off getting my champagne, I look at Nika. “Is there reason you're not drinking?”
Nika flushes. “Nothing so exciting as that, I'm afraid. I just have a dress fitting next week and I am trying to maintain my figure, that's all.”
I look at Nika's perfect, petite body and I pull a face. “Well, all right then. I guess I will drink alone.”
Bridgid returns with my champagne and askes for what I am looking for exactly in a dress. I wrinkle my nose delicately.
It's not as if I have not dreamt of exactly what my dress would look like. I'm a very girly girl and I'm into fashion already. But it just seems wrong to even talk about that when I know that I won't be wearing any dress.
She sees the hesitation on my face. She leans over, pats me on the shoulder, and says, “Should I just pick some things out for you? We can go from there.”
My cheeks flush. I nod a little. “That would be great, thank you.”
I sit back, sipping my champagne and looking at Nika and Margot. Margot is eyeing me, trying to figure out what I’m feeling so weird about.She peels off her white woolen coat and straightens the hem of her pink skirt.
“What's going on with you and Lars? I sense that there is something that you aren't telling us.”
I take another sip of champagne as I decide how to answer that. “What do you mean?” I finally settle on.
Margot leans forward. “I've seen you two together. It's obvious that you are both in love with each other. But you aren't excited about trying on wedding dresses? That's not the Pippa I know.”
Nika shoots me a smirk. “Wasn't it just yesterday that we were sitting together at a fashion show? Surely you should be inspired by the dresses, at least.”
I suck in a breath, trying to figure out how to thread this very thorny needle. I don't want to lie to my friends. But I also don't want to tell either of them the truth. I would hate for them to know that I am just playing a part.
Then again, I have been playing a part for so many years now that it's hard for me to tell the difference.
I opt for changing the subject very slightly. “Lars is fine. I just haven't slept much in last month. You know how that is, surely.” I raise a frank brow at both of them.
“That we do,” Margot agrees.
“So, it's easy dating Lars, then?” Nika asked. “I always imagine that it would be sort of a nightmare. Seeing him settle down with you instead of running around with a new blonde supermodel every week is just sort of… gratifying, yes. But also somewhat mystifying. I genuinely thought he would never get it together.”
Margot sits down beside me, shooting Nika a glare. “I'm sure what she means is that we're very glad for both of you. I just want to make sure that you know that you have us to talk to, no matter what.”