Three Weddings and a Dress (25 page)

Now what?

The sun soon chased the shadows away. Sounds of the awakening day finally trickled to me. The door cracked open, I could see a slim hand. My bolero tightened around me as if protecting me from what was to come.

“Clean the room out Ari. I don’t want anything left in there. We have another wedding tomorrow and the rehearsal dinner tonight. The bride should be here soon.” A gruff voice instructed.

Ari must be the person entering. Now I could see her golden hair that hung over a shoulder glinting in the morning sun. The side of her face, turned to whoever was in the hall, was smooth and flawless. I could tell her height was about my size.

Then the door swung wide and she faced the room.

Zing.

Every bead on my bodice shouted with joy.

Ari was my soul mate.

She knew it too. Her eyes widened when she saw me. Her soft gasp rippled over my lace.

Suddenly, it became clear to me. I was meant to help Cecelia, and then Jessie, find their way. I was the catalyst in their dramas.

Now it was my turn.

Ari leaned toward me, placed a finger on the edge of my bolero. A skyrocket shot through both of us.

I knew this because she jumped back and looked at her finger as if it had been singed.

Chapter Sixteen

Zing.

The shock traveled from the tip of her finger to her heart. Ari knew designs. After all, wasn’t she studying to be a designer? Heidi had created this beauty. It was magical.

Skirting the chapel train, she carefully checked the tag. Oh yes, she’d been right. There it was, in bold embroidered letters.
Heidi By Design
and underneath,
Bella
. This was one of Heidi’s famous girls.

Ari sighed. If only she could take this splendor home. She could place the gown in her room. Use it for inspiration for her own designs. Someday she planned to be as famous, or more so, than Heidi. She planned to discuss an apprenticeship with Classic Manhattan. Designing dresses for girls who couldn’t afford a designer gown, but wanted an opportunity to have one. Okay, so she wasn’t famous, but she had to start somewhere.

Now all she had to do was convince Gertrude Schneider.

Gulping air, she regarded Bella. As much as she wanted to keep Bella to herself, she had better advise her boss of what treasure was left.

The rest of the room was clean. It was as if the family had left the dress deliberately.

She remembered the young couple from the day they’d come in to pick out their flowers. With that dragon of a mother-in-law, she’d have done the same thing. Eloped.

She’d bet her last dollar on the fact Jessie was now Mrs. Mark Taylor. How romantic. Gertrude had said they’d left via the fire escape. A giggle slipped between her lips. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Bella’s beads glimmer. She could have sworn she heard a soft chuckle along with hers.

There had been stories about Heidi’s famous
girls
being magic when their soul mate found them.

She stared at the dress, then said, “I don’t care what Heidi says about magic and her girls. It’s not for me. I am so not in the marriage market. Don’t get any ideas.”
 

Who would want her lame boyfriend permanently? Conner was… well, Conner, and certainly not marriage material.

“Miss Bella, I need to find out what to do with you.” Ari paused to throw a look over her shoulder. Maybe she was going nuts. A dress could not crinkle its own satin.

Shaking her head at her fanciful thoughts, she went in search of her boss. She found the woman in the business office on the phone. Gertrude did not look happy. Maybe now was not a good time.

The new bride would be bringing her things in soon for the rehearsal dinner that evening. Ari needed to have Bella out before then. A quick peek at her boss told her, that it would be some time before she would be available.

She returned to the bride’s room and found the garment bag for the beautiful gown slung over a chair. Ari carefully arranged Bella in her protective cover. Now all she had to do was find a place to store the dress until she could talk to Gertrude.

After hanging Bella in her locker in the employee’s room, Ari went to work for the new wedding. Throughout the day her mind revisited the electric zing she’d felt at the sight of Bella. No matter what, she couldn’t think of a logical explanation.

“Are you almost done with the plans for the next wedding?” Ari jumped at her boss’s question.

Plans? Then her mind settled to her job and away from the gown snuggled in her locker. “Yes, is the bride here?”

“No, Darlene has a conflict.”

“With the flowers or the cake?” Ari spread the plans out, looking for any problems. “Is Darlene here? Tell her to come on back and we’ll discuss it.”

Gertrude nodded, turned and left. The woman was half way down the hall, when Ari remembered she needed to ask her about the beautiful gown in her locker. Bella.

Scrambling from her desk, the chair skittered and then fell with a resounding crash. Without a backward glance, she chased after.

“Ms. Schneider, wait.”

Gertrude stopped and scowled over her shoulder. “What?”

A few strides brought her even, then Ari stepped quickly to face Mrs. Schneider, a hand on her chest as she caught her breath. “I need to know what to do with the Perez wedding dress.”

“I don’t care.” Gertrude marched away before she could ask more.

Now what? She had the Perez phone number in her file she’d better call. A swell of disappointment raced through her. They’d want the dress. For a moment, Ari had considered taking it home to use as incentive for her own design dreams. Then a little voice reminded she’d also dreamt about wearing the dress herself one day.

Walk down the aisle with Conner? Now that was a laugh.
 

“What are you so happy about?” Startled she glanced across the hall where Darlene stood.

“I didn’t see you there.”

“Obviously, you were too busy laughing at whatever fantasies you’re cooking up in your head.” Darlene met her at the office. “I’ve come to discuss the conflicts on the wedding tomorrow. Hopefully this time the bride and groom won’t shimmy down the fire escape.”

“I think it was romantic.”

Darlene gave her a disgusted look. “You would. Come on I have things I need done before the bride arrives for the rehearsal dinner.”

Ari burrowed back into her chair after Darlene left. She loved the wedding business. Seeing the brides have their day, watching the love on the grooms face at the altar, it made a girl dream.

Even she had dreams, until she pictured Conner in a tuxedo waiting for her at the altar. It just didn’t work. Bella swept over her mind again. She couldn’t stall any longer, she needed to call Mrs. Perez and ask.

The phone rang so many times she thought no one would answer. She pressed speaker and let it ring a couple of more times. Surely, they had an answering machine?

When the ringing stopped, it wasn’t a machine but human voice. “Hello?”

“Mrs. Perez?”

“Yes?” A pause a bit more ragged breaths. “I’m sorry I just walked in the door. Let me catch my breath for a minute.”

Ari remembered Carla Perez, she was an older lady, maybe she’d had to climb some stairs or something. “Take your time, Ma’am.”

“Thanks, I’m fine now. How may I help you?”

“This is Ari at Classic Manhattan. Your daughter left her wedding dress in the bride’s room. Would you like me to send it over to you?” Crossing her fingers Ari waited as if she actually had a chance of the woman saying ‘no’.

“Oh, dear I haven’t even thought of Bella. Everything happened so fast.” There was a pause, as the woman must have pondered her answer. “Ari, you’re not married are you?”

What a strange question. “Uh, no.”

“Good. Bella deserves to have her day. You keep her and please take good care of her, she’s very special.”

By the time the shock wore off, and Ari was able to reply, Carla Perez had disconnected. A
Heidi by Design
given to her. She would have never dreamt that possible in a million years.

Joy replaced shock. She’d be able to display the dress in her bedroom. Her tiny apartment didn’t have space for a design workshop.

Inspiration. And luck. Bella would bring her both and she’d be able to make a name for herself. Excitement had her up and doing a jig in front of her desk.

“What are you doing?”

Her foot slid on some paper. Her butt connected with a loud thud to the floor. “Ouch, you scared the shit out of me.”

Darlene raised a questioning brow. “I’m not the one dancing around her office like a fool.”

Brushing herself and her dignity off, she stood to return to her chair. “What did you need?”

Darlene grinned. “Nothing, I was passing by and saw the rain dance.”

“Whatever.”

“As long as it doesn’t rain, I have plans in the park tonight.”

It was Ari’s turn to raise a brow. “Oh, that new guy?”

“My nephew is playing soccer and if they win tonight they have another game tomorrow. Pray for sun!”

“Tyler? He’s only four. They play that young?”

Darlene chuckled. “Yes, they do. Everything is set for the dinner tonight. Jasmine is the bride helper. Cassie has the cake ready. Anyway, good night, I need to go to my apartment before I go to the game. Whatever has made you so happy, it looks good on you.”

Ari took a mental step back. Was she unhappy? As she cleared her desk and set out things for the next day, she thought about what Darlene had said. It wasn’t that she was unhappy, exactly. It was that she wasn’t happy. She was just drifting through life. Anyway, her mother would have told her that if she’d been alive.

When had that happened? When had she decided to settle instead of going after life with both hands?

Since she’d settled for Conner. That’s when it started.

No more. She would not be his Mommy replacement because that’s all he wanted. He’d been asking her if he could move in to her apartment for the last month.

Did he ask her to marry him? No, he just wanted a place to stay.

She’d stopped to stare. She’d been so immersed in her thoughts she hadn’t even been aware of what she was doing. Now she found herself on the first floor employee’s room in front of her locker staring at Bella.

“Come on, Bella.” Ari drew out the garment bag and carefully folded it over her arm.

With her other hand, she grabbed her helmet and then stopped. Good grief, she’d forgotten she’d ridden her scooter to work.

“Hope you like the ride.” Chuckling she went out the alley door to where her Vespa, the pink Love Machine, was parked and locked up tight.

A new dilemma presented itself. How was she going to drive and hold Bella? Walking around the machine in circles wasn’t giving her any ideas. The bag was too big and bulky to fold into the tiny top case behind the seat.

Mm… She knew. Racing into the building, she went to the ladies room. Hung Bella from the top of the stall, Ari ripped off her leather jacket, stripped out of her skirt and top. Carefully she removed Bella from her protective plastic.