by Amber Lynn
“Hold up your front and come out here,” Megan commanded.
Lisa had taken over the fitting rooms it seemed, so she wasn’t really worried about anyone seeing anything even if she didn’t hold up the front. Lisa closed her eyes so she couldn’t see herself in the big mirror outside the door, and then opened it as she tried to waddle out. The skirt gave her plenty of room to move her legs, but without her vision, she sort of swayed side to side and moved forward.
She heard a slight intake of breath, causing her to almost open her eyes. Lisa held her arms out as she continued her penguin walk.
“Let’s get you zipped up.” Megan startled Lisa when she came up from behind her and pulled the zipper up without any warning.
Lisa sucked in, expecting to need to dance around a little to get tucked in, but there wasn’t a problem with the zipper making it up to the top. The breath she’d taken when she sucked in slowly made its way out of her lips. Other than the fact that the dress weighed a ton, it felt comfortable on her body.
“Okay, open your eyes.”
Lisa really didn’t need the direction. She was just bracing herself for what she’d see in the mirror. She’d worn dresses before, but none of them were as fancy as the one she’d stepping into.
She took another breath and opened her eyes. Instantly she forgot how to breathe altogether. The dress wasn’t solid white, but she couldn’t imagine herself getting married in anything else. Looking down she saw a tag hanging off the dress and saw the number of zeroes behind the comma. Just the fact that there was a comma meant it was more money than she’d ever spent on anything, including her monthly rent.
“It looks amazing on you. I knew it would.” Megan sounded way too excited about someone else finding a dress that looked great on them.
Lisa sighed and turned slightly so she could see the back of the dress. It was unfair that it seemed to look good from every direction.
“I do like it, but I think it’s just a little too much, both for the wedding and for my wallet. It’s actually a lot too much for my wallet. So unless you like to loan dresses that will be returned the next day, I think I’m going to have to go back to the dresses I picked out.”
Lisa had looked at their price tags and knew that all of them combined didn’t come up to the cost of the one dress. It was a little depressing to realize that.
“I think it’s perfect for our wedding and last I checked you don’t have to worry about money. I know we haven’t gone over specifics, but I really haven’t spent all my money on drugs and hookers.”
It would’ve been funny if Lisa wasn’t shocked to hear Ryan’s voice. She looked to the mirror on her left and found him standing in the doorway leading to the fitting room.
“Well, now I definitely can’t get it. You do know there’s a rule about a groom not seeing the bride in her dress before the wedding, right?”
“I thought we were all about breaking the rules.” Ryan was all smiles as he walked closer to Lisa. His eyes drifted up and down her body.
“That’s your fiancé?” Megan sounded confused.
Ryan and Lisa had split up before Megan had gotten a chance to see them together. It was good to get someone else’s reaction to that fact.
“Yes, I’m her fiancé, and I don’t know what other dresses you’ve tried on, but I think you look beautiful in that one, sweetheart. You’re setting the bar high for attire, but I think I can find something to make sure I don’t look like a slob standing next to you.”
As soon as Ryan got to Lisa, he pulled her close to him and kissed her on her cheek. Lisa’s face warmed a little from the touch, causing her to reach up to feel the spot after his lips left and he straightened up.
“It’d be impossible for you to look like a slob, so I don’t think we have to worry about that. The price tag on the dress has a comma in it, though, so maybe we should rethink dressing up like we’re walking the red carpet or something.”
Lisa wanted to be practical. Even if they had money thanks to his career, that didn’t mean they needed to spend it on a dress she’d only wear once.
“I hate to tell you this, but the ring I just bought you also had a comma on the price tag, so I think you’re going to have to get used to wearing things worth over a thousand dollars.”
Before saying something stupid, Lisa took a deep breath. She knew Ryan was just teasing her, not about the cost of the ring, but just the general idea that she was going to need to get used to a more luxurious life. It felt a little bit like a challenge to her, and it was hard not to tell him what he could do with his price tags.
“Megan, do you mind giving us a few minutes while I get back in my clothes and talk to my fiancé?”
“Umm, we don’t usually let guys in the women’s fitting rooms.” She sounded uncomfortable giving her response.
“He can’t fit in the room with me and this dress, so you don’t have to worry about us doing anything.” Lisa didn’t want to come out and say they hadn’t even seen each other naked, so there was no chance of them all of a sudden deciding that a fitting room was where they were going to have sex for the first time.
“Okay, but if I hear anything, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
Lisa hadn’t taken her eyes off Ryan, so she didn’t observe Megan’s facial expressions to see how she really felt about the idea. People probably wouldn’t think of Lisa as an exhibitionist, but Ryan was another story. He got a look in his eyes when he was thinking naughty thoughts, and Lisa had noticed the look showing up more often in the hours they’d spent together.
Really wanting to get out of the dress, Lisa walked back to the room she’d picked out for herself and shut the door. The second it was closed, she realized she couldn’t unzip her dress, so she had to walk back out to get Ryan’s help. She thought about calling him over, but if Megan was keeping an eye on them, she’d probably think the hanky panky was about to begin.
“I’m sorry,” Ryan said as he slid Lisa’s zipper down.
She wasn’t expecting an apology. She turned around to continue the conversation, holding up her dress with one hand. “What are you sorry for?”
“Showing off. I understand why it would make you uncomfortable, but I do think you look beautiful in that dress and I wasn’t sure if you’d get it if I didn’t remind you that money isn’t an issue.”
“Can I see the ring?” Lisa didn’t know what she wanted to do about the dress, but she was curious about what he’d bought. If it cost over a thousand dollars, it wasn’t going to be what she pictured at all.
The smile Ryan seemed to always have grew as he reached into his pocket. “So, I may have fibbed a little. I didn’t get it out of a cereal box, but it also didn’t have a comma in the price tag, as you like to put it.”
Lisa had to smile at his admission. For a second she thought all their talking hadn’t really sunk in and Ryan didn’t know her as well as he claimed.
Ryan produced a small black box, which he handed over to her without opening. He had to lift up her free hand to put it in it since she was busy holding her dress against her body.
“If you want me to open it, you’re going to miss my expression because I’ll need to go in the room over there to use both hands.” Lisa could’ve probably figured out a way to open it one handed, but that took away the fun.
“Well there went my evil plan to finally see your boobs,” Ryan said as he laughed and took the box back. “I guess I’ll just have to wait until our wedding night.”
Ryan didn’t delay opening the box. Inside the black felt, or whatever fabric lined the box, sat a pair of rings. The diamond of the engagement ring wasn’t huge, but the square stone looked big to Lisa. The second ring was a band that looked to have about ten small stones making up the part Lisa could see.
“How do you seem to know everything about me?” Lisa whispered. The ring may not have been exactly what she had in mind, but it was perfect.
“I hope you didn’t get knocked on the head trying on dr
esses, because you’d have to have a little case of amnesia if you don’t remember telling me everything yourself.”
“I don’t remember ever describing any rings to you.” Lisa wanted to pick up the rings and try them on, but she still wasn’t willing to see how quickly her dress fell down.
“You didn’t have to. I know you, Lisa, and I love who you are. I would be honored if you would become my wife tomorrow, whether it’s in that dress or in your birthday suit.” Ryan’s eyes definitely had the naughty look shimmering in them. “I guess I’m trying to do the whole proposal thing, but I’m not exactly good at it.”
“I don’t know about that, I kind of like where this is going.” That was a bit of an understatement from Lisa’s point of view.
“Great, that means you’re not getting cold feet yet. So, what do you say? Will you accept my proposal and marry me tomorrow?”
Ryan slipped the rings out of the box and onto the ring finger of her left hand. Lisa didn’t speak her response, but she was pretty sure he got the message when she wrapped her arms around him and kissed his lips. So her dress fell down a little, big deal. She was wearing a strapless bra and was in the arms of the man she was going to spend the rest of her life with.
Chapter Seventeen
Ryan didn’t remember a time he’d been more nervous. Never during a game, no matter how big it was, did he feel the butterflies trying their hardest to escape his body. Lisa had agreed to marry him, she was wearing the engagement ring he’d picked out for her, and she was even in the dress that made her look like royalty.
It had taken a little convincing to get Lisa out of the store with the dress, but she mentioned it had been returned, so they worked out a little discount on the price. She was hesitant to put it on in the morning, because she felt overdressed, but he stuffed himself into a not quite perfect fitting suit and gelled his hair up to make it look like he was going to the same ball Lisa was.
“How are you feeling?” he whispered to Lisa, who was standing next to him as they waited in line to get their license.
They hadn’t said much after waking up curled around each other that morning. They knew the basics and then some about each other, so it was interesting to just move around each other in the morning and see what it felt like cohabitating. Ryan hadn’t been forced to live with someone for years, not since he was rooming with teammates in juniors.
It was a little different living with the fairer sex, even just staying in a hotel room, but Ryan thought it was something he could get used to. Just waking up next to Lisa somehow made his day better. At least it felt like that after three days.
“I’m a little anxious, but that’s probably because people can’t stand within three feet of me because of this dress.”
Ryan laughed. He was well within the three-foot bubble. “If that’s the only thing causing you anxiety, I think we’re in pretty good shape.”
“What about you? You’ve seemed to want this from the moment we met, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get cold feet.”
There was no seeming about it. Ryan had told her as much. He couldn’t explain why he felt different when he met Lisa. He just knew he did.
“Didn’t you see me put on an extra pair of socks this morning?” It sounded a little cliché, but he wanted to keep things light.
“I must have missed that.” Lisa looked away from the people finishing up in line in front of them and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek.
The couple in front of them finished filling in and signing their paperwork. Their expressions held smiles, but Ryan didn’t think they were as enthused as he was about the life-changing decision they had made. They weren’t running from the room trying to find a judge.
They could’ve very well just been completing an item on a pre-wedding checklist for a date far off in the future. Ryan preferred to think that no one else was looking forward to marriage as much as he was. That had to explain why they didn’t have the glint in their eyes that he’d seen looking back at him in the mirror that morning.
“Next,” a young woman said at the counter. Her eyes glanced over Ryan and Lisa and then rolled slightly upwards. Obviously she wasn’t impressed by their attire.
“If you can’t tell, we’re getting married today.” Ryan pulled Lisa up to the counter so they could get started.
“I figured as much. Usually people pick their license up a little bit before the big day.” The woman slid sheets of papers in front of them and pointed to the pen the couple before them had left on the counter. “Fill these out and we’ll get everything set up.”
Ryan let Lisa take the pen to start filling out the paperwork. He was in a hurry to move on to the next step of their wedding and chances were his handwriting would be even more illegible than usual.
Lisa had started filling things in, but only a moment later Ryan noticed the pen stopped moving. She stared down at the piece of paper and Ryan saw that a little bit of the flush he’d noticed in her cheeks from her excitement drained away.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. He’d been waiting for the moment when she decided she couldn’t go through with the wedding, and it seemed like that moment had arrived.
“We can’t get married.” Her words confirmed his fears. Ryan was afraid anything he’d say would make things worse, so he kept his mouth shut in hopes that she would explain her logic. “The form asks for my mother’s name and birthplace, and I have no idea what it is.”
Ryan let out the breath he’d held in while he waited to hear what the problem was. He heard the sadness in Lisa’s voice, but could only feel relief on his part because the issue wasn’t something that couldn’t be overcome.
Looking over to the clerk who was helping them, he didn’t see much in her expression to know whether she was going to be any help with the issue. They had to come across people not knowing who their parents were. It wasn’t like adoption was a new concept.
“My fiancé found out yesterday that her mother wasn’t the woman who raised her and that her real mother died when she was a baby. It was kind of an unexpected shock, so she didn’t get around to asking for vital details on the other woman.”
“It sounds like someone probably knows the information, so maybe you can call them and get it?”
It wasn’t the response Ryan was hoping for. She didn’t say they couldn’t get married, but they had to jump over a little hurdle to get things done. Ryan glanced over to Lisa and knew even before he did that she wasn’t going to want to make the call.
“You fill out the rest of the form and I’ll make the call. You just have to hand me your phone.” Ryan glanced at the form to see what else they had to provide, and other than some of the information about his own parents, she could handle the other boxes while he made the call.
Lisa looked at him with uncertainty, but shuffled through her purse quickly to hand over the phone. Ryan didn’t have a great companionship with any of her family, but he figured he could convince Jean to tell him the information they needed.
With the unlocked phone in his hand, Ryan navigated to the contacts and found the one labeled “Mom.” She’d talked briefly about changing the label the night before as she watched it ring quite a few times before she threw it into her purse. Evidently she either hadn’t made a decision or hadn’t got around to changing it.
Ryan hit the button to call the number and waited for someone on the other end to answer. Lisa watched him out of the corner of her eye as she did what she could to fill out all the other fields on the paperwork. If he felt she was anywhere near ready to talk about things, he would’ve waited until the line connected and held the phone up to Lisa’s ear. As it was, the second the phone connected, Jean’s voice started going off a mile a minute.
“Oh thank God. I’ve been so worried about you, Lisa. Your daddy told me he told you everything and that you were upset. I went straight to your hotel when I found out and you’d already checked out and haven’t been answering your phone. I didn’t know what to think,
since you showed up with that guy and he might not have taken your reaction well and could have just left you in a ditch somewhere.”
As soon as she took a breath, Ryan butted in before she could start again. Plus, it was probably best if he didn’t hear how low her opinion was of him.
“Hello, Jean. It’s that guy.”
Lisa raised one of her eyebrows and stopped writing to look over at him. Ryan shook his head, not willing to delve into what was said until after he had the information he needed.
Jean was silent on the phone. Ryan cleared his throat, to hopefully indicate to her that it was her turn to talk again.
“Ryan?” she asked hesitantly.
“The one and only. I didn’t leave Lisa in a ditch somewhere, so hopefully that will ease your mind.” Ryan let his tone be as dry as possible. Lisa smacked her hand on her forehead when she got a clue about what was said.
“Um, well, that’s good to hear.”
When she didn’t say anything else, Ryan decided he was going to have to carry the conversation. That was his original plan, but the way she’d started off led him to believe she had a lot to say.
“As you may have guessed, she’s not really ready to talk yet, but we need some information we thought you might have.”
“I’d prefer to talk with Lisa about any questions she has.”
“Yeah, well I’d prefer not to have to hold her while she cries herself to sleep, so I guess neither one of us are getting what we want.” Ryan tended to be on the rude side, but tried not to be towards women. It was hard to be cordial with someone who had just accused you of killing someone.
“Can I please talk to her about it? I just want to give her my side of the story. I know she must think I’m a horrible person, but I love her and I want her to know I’ve always loved her.”
Ryan sighed. He didn’t like being the in-between for the comments, but he wasn’t handing the phone over.
