Chasing the Wild Sparks (41 page)

“A fucking dress shop? Come on, you jerks!”

“It’s for my wedding, Dick Rod. I’m inviting you to my wedding, so you
will
refrain from any further complaining about the dresses.”

He pouts, “Can I complain about the invitation, then?”

“Bite my ass!”

I intervene, “Okay, you two. Let’s go in and take a look around.” Rod rolls his eyes and opens the glass door for us.

“Now you owe me a case of beer, Hadders, and two happy endings!” A woman, who is looking at dresses, makes a face at Rod in disgust.

I reply, “Eww. No, thanks.”

He leans close to my ear. “Eww? I guarantee you I’m packing more than your old man.”

I snap,
“Old
?”

He snorts. “He
is
older than me.”

A red-haired woman walks over to us with a stiff smile. “Can I help you?”

Morgan clasps her hands together and states excitedly, “I’m getting married and am looking for my dress!”

The saleswoman looks at Rod. “Are you the groom?”

Rod nearly chokes on that question. “Hell no! I wouldn’t marry this sea hag.”

The woman’s face is a mix of surprise and regret. “Oh, my mistake.” She points between Rod and me. “Are you two together then?”

I glance over at him and he cringes. “The thought of marrying her gives me severe abdominal cramps, but I’d probably give her slightly higher odds of marrying me.”

“And I’d give you a negative zero.”

“I’d still want to slit my throat, but maybe if she’d dump that lazy dud she’s currently dating, we might have a sliver of a chance.” The woman is staring at Rod likes she’s trying to figure out a trigonometry equation.

I hiss, “Rod, shut up!”

The woman, whose name is Paula, leads us over to a two rows of dresses. Rod pulls at a few of them and scowls. He not-so-quietly whispers, “Why does it smell like an old lady’s funeral in here?”

“I don’t know, Rod. What about this dress, Morgan?” I pull out a dress and hold it up for her.

“That’s a good one! Keep it and I’ll try it on along with this one.”

“Hadders, check this one out.” I take a look at the dress Rod is holding. It looks rather elegant. “Morgan, you should see this one!”

Rod says, “No. I picked it out for you, not Morgasm.”

I look up at him. “Why? I’m not looking for a dress for me.” I wish I were.

“Maybe you should, Hadley,” Morgan says from behind me.

I shake my head without looking at her. “Why? And get my hopes up? No, thanks.” Morgan brushes past me and pulls the dress out more so she can get a better view of it.

“Rod, you picked a good one,” she says and peers up at him. He looks down at the dress and grins.

“Check the back, Morgue.” He spins the dress around and shows us the reverse.

“Where
is
the back?” I ask.

Rod points. “Right above the ass.”

Morgan says, “I don’t think it goes down quite that far, but yeah, it is low. Look at the top.” She flips the plastic-encased dress over. “It’s a V-neck. There’s lace all over it. Hadley, this screams your name.”

“Well, let it scream something else in the other direction.”

“Why don’t you go try it on?”

“No.”

Rod waves the dress closer to me. “Come on, Hadders. It’s just us girls!” he shrieks.

Morgan yanks on my arm. “I’ll try these on, and you can try that one on.” She checks the size, looks at my body and then shoves me to a dressing room, telling the saleswoman that I’m trying on a dress, too. She smiles and again glances at Rod, and her smile drops.

Once I’m in the dressing room, surrounded by mirrors, I feel sadness swirling in the pit of my stomach. I don’t want to try this dress on, but yet I do. I want Finn to be my husband so much. I want him to love and cherish me for as long as we both shall live. As I will him. Why doesn’t he want me as his wife? He says he wants to share his life with me, but it seems like he doesn’t even want to share his name with me.

Morgan giggles in the next room. She’s getting everything I wanted. I have to find a way to suck it up and be the friend she needs.

I hear Morgan open her door and step out. She says my name and Rod knocks on my door. He asks, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” I make sure the door is locked before I take off my clothes and slip into the dress.

“Hadders, do you need me to come in there and zip you? I’m awesome with zippers.”   “Not a chance. Move away, Gregory.”

“I’m right here to help,” Paula offers near the door.

I adjust the V shoulders and look into the mirror. My mind is blank.
Wow
. Tears immediately spring to my eyes. I look so different. But I’m still Hadley, the want-to-be bride without an eager groom.

Morgan knocks on the door. “Hadley, are you okay?” I snap my head away from the mirror.

“I’m coming,” I mumble. I take a deep breath, slowly open the door and step out. Paula is immediately behind me, zipping me up.

“It’s a little big, so we would just have to take it in here and here, the shoulders and of course, nip the length,” Paula assesses.

I look over at Morgan. “Morgan, you’re absolutely beautiful! I love the sequins!” Her dress has a deep plunging V all made of silver sequins. The white, silky material sweeps up over her breasts. It’s also a very simple, yet extremely elegant dress. I cover my cheeks with my hands in wonder. I lower them before I say, “I think it’s
perfect
for you!”

She grins and twirls what she can of the slinky dress around her. “I love it, too. Look at you, Hadley. You…you are gorgeous.” I look down at the dress I’m wearing and smile.

Looking up, I see Rod grinning at me. “You really are absolutely beautiful, Hadley. Wilder has no damn clue what he’s missing. I think he would be speechless if he saw you wearing it. He’d love it.”

I bite my lip to curb both a smile and tears. “Thanks,” I say quietly.

Paula asks, “When are you getting married, honey?”

I pull my hair over my shoulder and slide my gaze away from everyone. “You’d have to ask my boyfriend that.” Sensing an impending breakdown, Morgan walks over and ushers me back to my dressing room.

I turn to face her. “I love your dress, Morgan. I would pick that one before even seeing you in the other dress.” I smile and she grins back at me before she gives me a hug.

“Thank you so much for doing this for me today, Hadley. I know it’s hard for you, so it means so much to me that you did this.” She pulls away from me and says, “I’m not just talking about watching me pick out dresses. You tried one on for me. I’ll always cherish the image of you wearing one and remember how beautiful you looked…” She puts her hand on my cheek. “That is, until you wear your own someday. Then you’ll look beyond gorgeous because of the smile you’ll wear with the dress. It
will
happen.” Her eyes flick over my face. “I promise you.” I can only offer her a small smile. She turns to go back to her dressing room.

Before I can shut the door, Rod is in the doorway and quickly instructs me to smile. He looks over his shoulder and then at me, raising Morgan’s phone and taking my picture. “One more. Smile this time.” I give him a real smile and I shut the door just in time for my real tears.

“Let’s just skip the jewelry store,” I gripe from the front seat.

“No, Hadley. I got my dress picked out, so I’m in a really good mood.”

“That was a horrifying experience for me. I’m going to go ahead and wear a trash can now.”

“Just make sure you’re naked underneath so I have easy access,” Rod says from the backseat. I turn around and my mouth drops open. His grin spreads across his face. “Keep your mouth just like that, Hadders. I might fit.”

Frowning, I complain, “Rod, you’re being exceptionally crude today. Why?”

He fleetingly looks away from me and out his window, anxiously rubbing his hands together between his legs. He softly says, “I don’t know. It makes me feel better.” He glances at me contritely and whispers, “Sorry.” Poor Rod. If this helps him feel better, then by all means.

I impishly smirk at him. “Are you going to wear something that will make it easy for me to give you your happy endings?” I can’t help but laugh.

Morgan squeals and bangs her hand on the steering wheel, “No! Stop! I can’t get the mental picture out of my head!”

Rod cringes mockingly at me. “That was lame, Hadders. Try again later.”

I laugh and turn back around in my seat. Rod asks, “So, you’re actually going to propose to Wilder?”

Peering out my side window and watching the passing buildings, I say, “I’m thinking about it. I don’t know what I should do, though. He says he doesn’t want to get married, so why am I even bothering?”

Rod leans forward and taps me on my arm. I turn to look at him. “Yeah?”

“I think if you ask him, he’ll say yes.”

“Why would he suddenly say yes if he won’t even ask me in the first place? I need to rethink this because it’s stupid. How would my proposing to him really change his mind?”

Rod angles his head to the side. “If you actually get down on a knee, with his crotch in your face,” he stops to laugh and I shove his head, “and you offer a ring to him while asking him to marry you, I don’t see him refusing you. He’d say yes.”

“Okay. He may say yes and wear the ring, but how do I know if he’ll ever actually marry me?”

Rod shakes his head. “You don’t. You have to have faith in him. Maybe you don’t have enough faith in Wilder that he’ll make the right decision for you both. I don’t know. Just because he doesn’t want to get married now, doesn’t mean he won’t change his mind in a few weeks or a few months. Give him the ring and let him sort it out. He may surprise you.”

I nod. “Why do you have spurts of clarity, Rod? One minute you’re cussing like a truck driver stuck behind a children’s parade and then the next, you’re Yoda.”

He sits back. “That’s how I roll, Hadders. Multiplicity is the seasoning of existing.”

Morgan frowns and turns her head slightly. “That was a convoluted way of saying that variety is the spice of life, Jerk Rod.”

“It was. Thus, the meaning of the adage, Morbid. Fuck, you’re slow.”

Morgan reaches back, flips Rod the bird and then smacks his leg, making both us laugh.

We walk into the small jewelry store, not far from the boutique as Morgan had said. She walks us over to the display and shows us the rings she and Ivan picked: big, gold and very sparkly. Not my style, but perfect for her. What is exactly my style? I look down at the ring Finn gave me. I guess he did get it right.

A salesman asks us if we need help and Morgan steps in for me. “She’s looking for rings that could be used as an engagement ring for a man.”

The salesman, whose name is Leon, raises an eyebrow in surprise. “Really? I don’t see that a lot. I love the idea, though. There are some great rings over here.” He leads us across the store to a large glass case. “Here are some wedding bands, but can also be used as engagement bands, as well. There aren’t any real set
rules
to men’s engagement rings, as there seem to be more so for women. A lot of men that I know of that have received an engagement ring; wear the ring on their left hand’s ring finger until the wedding, which they then move it over to their right hand, so the wedding ring can go on the left. Some men wear both rings on the same finger, but that choice seems to be rarer since men’s bands are typically wider, leaving little room for two rings. Other men will just wear their engagement ring on their right hand from before the ceremony until after it’s over. Even yet, some men will use the engagement ring as also their wedding ring. So, one ring or two, left or right hand, it’s whatever your man wants to do and is really a matter of personal preference.”

I nod, feeling overwhelmed. “Okay.”

“Do you know what kind of metal he’d like or design?”

I glance up at Leon. “Something unique, but has a special meaning to it.” I twist my ring around my middle finger and peer into the case.