Authors: Rosanna Chiofalo
Bella Fortuna (10 page)
“This is my sweet, sweet cousin Kathleen. She's so youngâand innocent! Can you believe she's getting married at nineteen? You and I could never do that! But I have to say Kathleen is in love, and nothing will keep her from marrying Andrew, not even listening to her older cousin. But who am I to stop her? Kathleen is an adult now.”
With all of Tracy's faults, she is blessed with the gift of condescension. On many occasions, I too have been made to feel like Tracy is far superior to me. Poor Kathleen. The color in her cheeks is slowly flaring up, and she gives me a timid smile. Her shyness is in extreme opposition to Tracy's obnoxious personality.
I shake Kathleen's hand. “Hi, I'm Valentina. Congratulations on your engagement! I'm sure you must be so excited.”
Kathleen lifts her gaze from the floor, and I detect a glow in her eyes. “Thank you. I am excited but nervous, too.”
“It's okay to be nervous. But I don't want you to be nervous about your dress. If you decide to order your dress at Sposa Rosa, you can put away any worries you might have about your gown. That's what you're paying us for. We'll take care of everything. Now, have you thought about what you might want your dress to look like?”
“Well, I . . .”
“Of course, she won't have to worry about getting the perfect dress here. I told Kathleen she had to go to the best bridal shop in Queens. And since you and I were friends in high school, I knew you'd take care of us, Vee.”
Naturally, Tracy has to turn the spotlight back on her.
“So you were beginning to say, Kathleen, what you want in a dress before Tracy interrupted you.”
I shoot Tracy a look that tells her she'd better let her cousin speak for herself. She gives me one of her own dirty looks and crosses her arms.
“Well, I was thinking of something simple yet elegant?”
Kathleen looks to Tracy for approval. But I quickly jump in before Tracy can take over the reins again.
“Yes, many brides are going for the simple yet elegant look now.”
That isn't entirely true. This trend had been hot about a decade ago. I'm disappointed that Kathleen is going for what I've always thought is a bit of a boring look in wedding gowns. But I need to remind myself that this is her wedding, and not everyone has my fashion tastes. I have to fight the urge to tell brides-to-be what I think they should choose in a design. Of course, I can give recommendations. But completely swaying a bride as to what she wants for herself, that's out of the question. I also must ensure the bride is choosing the dress
she
likes. Often, their mothers or whomever else they bring to help them with the dress shopping influence their choices.
she
likes. Often, their mothers or whomever else they bring to help them with the dress shopping influence their choices.
“I don't know if you know anything about Sposa Rosa, but we do offer brides knockoff designs of famous designers' dresses. Most brides, however, usually want the dress to be slightly different from the original designer dress, but if you saw a dress you liked on a celebrity bride that you want replicated exactly, we can do that. We also do custom-made designs, so if you want us to create a dress that looks like nothing any celebrity has worn or designer has already created, we can do that, too. Lastly, we have a âFeatured Gown of the Month.' Each month we display a particular gown. And it just so happens that this month's featured gown sports a simple yet elegant design.”
I point to the dress on our mannequin in the center window display. The dress is a clean, strapless gown in satin with a modified A-line skirt and a ruched bodice. No embroidery or beading adorns the dress.
Kathleen walks over to the featured gown to get a better look.
“This is very nice, but I'm not sure it's what I want.” Kathleen says this with uncertainty, looks down at the floor, almost as if she's afraid she'll be hurting my feelings.
Tracy chimes in, “How about aâ”
“Of course, you need to look at several dresses before you decide.” I interrupt Tracy again and take Kathleen's arm in mine, leading her to our portfolios.
“We have photographs in these books of all the gowns we've designed. Pick a few you like, and then you can try on the samples. Oh, I forgot to ask you. Did you bring any pictures from magazines that you want to show me?”
“No. I haven't looked at any magazines yet. I only got engaged two nights ago, and Tracy told me we couldn't waste any time in shopping for a dress.”
I wonder where Kathleen's mother is. Maybe she passed away? Brides always bring their mothers. I don't ask out of fear of bringing up a sensitive subject on what should be a happy occasion.
“Well, you can take a seat on our couch, and I'll bring you a cup of coffee and pastries while you browse through our books. Take your time.”
“Thank you.” Kathleen smiles at me.
I bring out a tray with coffee and miniature pastries for both Kathleen and Tracy, although I really don't want to extend the courtesy to Tracy. God knows she'd taken enough from me when we were friends.
Kathleen picks up a mini Napoleon, but Tracy shoots out her hand, grabbing her cousin's arm. “You can't! You have to be on a strict diet from now until the wedding day or else you'll mess up your figure! I see you eyeing those tighter mermaid dresses. You'll never fit into them if you keep eating junk!”
Kathleen places the Napoleon back onto the tray.
“Oh, come on, Tracy! One tiny Napoleon isn't going to kill her. Besides, I'm sure you have plenty of time until the wedding. That reminds me, I haven't asked you when the date is?”
Tracy's eyes are absolutely shooting daggers into me. She isn't even attempting to keep her trademark frozen smile on her face anymore.
“We haven't decided on the exact date yet, but we were thinking maybe six months from now, so I guess Tracy is right. I should watch my figure, but thank you so much for the pastries, Valentina.”
“You have a beautiful figure. Don't be too strict on yourself with your diet. You don't want to lose too much weight.”
Okay, I'm acting like Tracy now, telling this girl what to do. This is about Kathleen, I have to remind myself,
not
my battle with Tracy.
not
my battle with Tracy.
“I'll give you some time to look over the books. Just let me know when you need me.”
I walk to the front of the store and check a few e-mails. Since it's Monday, our slowest day of the week, the shop is empty except for Kathleen and Tracy.
“So I see congratulations are in order for you, too.”
I look up to see Tracy staring at my engagement ring. The expression on her face is equivalent to a dog staring at a juicy hunk of raw meat.
“Yes, thank you.”
“So you got him after all.”
Of course she must've heard from someone in Astoria that it's Michael whom I'm engaged to. I pretend not to hear her, focusing my attention back on the computer screen, hoping she'd get the message and leave me alone. No such luck. I should've known the inevitable was coming as soon as I saw her drag her bony butt into Sposa Rosa. She's still a very unhealthy-looking size zero.
“I guess I was wrong that he would never see you as more than just a little sister. My bad.”
Something in her voice makes me look up. She is wearing that same warped smile she had on the night she was making out with Michael. And her nostrils are flared slightly, just like on that night, giving her the appearance that something smells really bad. Flashing back to that image makes my blood boil. I feel territorial toward Michael, especially now that he is my fiancé.
And then she pushes my fury over the edge by adding, “I'm very happy for you, Vee. You deserve to be happy.”
That's it. I can't hold back any longer.
“Thank you, Tracy. You don't know how good that makes me feel to know that you of all people are concerned for my happiness, especially since you never seemed to want anything for me but misery when we were friends.”
I didn't have the nerve to stand up to her when I was a teen, but I'm not that helpless kid anymore.
“I don't understand, Vee. I thought we'd put everything behind us. I thought you'd forgiven me. But it's obvious you haven't.”
“I'm not getting into this with you at my workplace, Tracy. Besides, this was over fourteen years ago. I did forgive you. But don't expect me to be thrilled whenever I see your face or even think that we're going to pick up our friendship. You know those days are over.”
Tracy actually looks like she is going to cry. Crocodile tears. That's all they are. She's a good actress. I know that now.
“It's because you're engaged to Michael, isn't it? You're still mad about that night you saw us?”
“This has nothing to do with Michael, and you know it. Stop trying to shift the blame for your ugly actions onto others.”
“Vee, I'm so sorry over how things ended with us in high school. I don't know how many times I have to apologize.”
“Let me make this easy for you. Stop apologizing. I told you this all those years ago, and I'll say it again. I can't ever be your friend. I don't hate you. I just don't care about you. You don't exist for me anymore. Being friends with you gave me nothing but grief. All the times you lied to people and told them I said things about them when I hadn't. You always competed with meâmy grades, my family life, my friends. I could go on and on. I have no interest in being friends with someone I can't trust. How could I be friends with you again when just the sight of you brings me back to that horrible day when my father died?”
Tracy's tears spill down her face. She grabs a few tissues from the counter.
“I shouldn't have come in here,” she whispers, glancing nervously at her cousin, obviously not wanting her to see how upset she is.
“Then why did you?”
“My cousin.”
“There are other bridal shops in Queens.”
“Okay, I'll admit it. I was hoping things would be different after all this time. I was hoping you'd see I was a kid who made a lot of stupid mistakes.”
“See, that's what got to me even after all those other times I forgave you. You never really seemed sorry for what you did. And there was always some excuse. I was a kid, too. I didn't act the way you did. I never hurt you. You don't deserve my forgiveness.”
“But that's not like you, Vee. You always forgave me.”
“Well, things change. I'm not that naive girl anymore who lets others take advantage of her. Look where my forgiveness got me. You just kept treating me like a doormat. You never changed your ways. No wonder. By constantly forgiving you, I just made you think it was okay to act the way you did. âVee will just forgive me if I lie to her again or make out with her crush. It doesn't matter what I do to her. She's a sucker, and she'll always forgive me and be my friend.' Well, not anymore.”
“I know I hurt you, and I messed up big time, but you think you're so perfect?”
“No, I don't.”
“Yes, you do. You were always lording it over all of us in high school. You were such a Goody Two-shoes. You wouldn't even smoke a cigarette, for crying out loud. You thought you were better than us.”
“That's not true, and you know it.”
“It was true, and it's still true. You're just as bad as me that you can't even show me some compassion.”
“You have a lot of nerve. Where was your compassion when my father was dying, and you sent those little skanks to my house? If it weren't for your cousin, I'd throw you out of here right now.” I struggle to keep my voice low, not wanting Kathleen to hear our argument.
The front door swings open. It's Rita. She freezes when she sees Tracy.
“What are you doing here?”
“Her cousin is shopping for a wedding dress.”
I tilt my head toward the back of the shop where Kathleen is. I know if Kathleen weren't there Rita would make a scene.
“You okay, Vee?”
Rita scowls at Tracy as she walks over to us.
“Yes, I'm fine. Tracy and I were just clearing the air. Excuse me. I just remembered I have an important phone call to make. I'll check in on you and Kathleen as soon as I'm off the phone.”
After I walk past Tracy, I can't help muttering under my breath, “Slut.”
Not long after Tracy made out with Michael, she developed her rep as “The Slut of Astoria. ”Almost every guy in Astoria was dating her. Even though Tracy had transferred to a different high school in her junior year, I still heard about her notorious rep for going through guys like yesterday's dirty laundry. Most of the girls in town both despised and were in awe of her. She wasn't that pretty, so why were all the guys drooling over her? What did she have that the rest of us didn't? Of course, soon the other girls and I figured it out. Tracy was easy with a capital E. Tracy had even confided in me about many of her sexual exploits. I had tried to talk some sense into her, but she'd laughed at me and said, “Oh, Vee! Just lose it already so you can stop preaching to me!”
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