The Lucky Dress: A perfect feel good holiday romance for summer 2018

by Aimee Brown

  “If that’s the kind of father you want to be, then we’ll see you in court!” Greta’s father storms out, glaring at me as he walks past. Greta follows him out, a blank stare on her face. I’m not sure she’s even seen me; even though she’s walked right past me, her head is clearly somewhere else.

  “For God’s sake, Jack, this is a disaster. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me yesterday.”

  “I didn’t know yesterday, Mom; how could I have told you when I didn’t even know myself? Besides, this changes everything.”

  I stand still, listening to them talk. They obviously don’t know they’re being overheard by the whole house.

  “Well, you know now. Today changes everything, Daddy.” As Amelia walks out, she looks in my direction and forces a less than thrilled smile. “Emi,” she acknowledges me by name and continues past me towards the stairs, causing Hannah and Evan to jump up and pretend they’ve not been straining to hear from midway down them.

  “Daddy? No, he said it wasn’t serious with Greta…” I say under my breath; my stomach is swirling and my heart is racing. I know I haven’t really stopped to even think about how I feel about Jack yet but I’m not ready for the decision to be made for me again by a girl who is pure evil.

  I inch towards the door, making it just in time for Jack to spot me before nearly closing it on me.

  “Emi. Did you uh – H-how long have you been here?” he stutters.

  “Why did your mom just call you Daddy?” I ask, my voice shaking, already knowing exactly what it means but desperately hoping I’ve heard it wrong.

  “Shit.” Jack drops his gaze to the ground before looking back at me with pain in his eyes. “She’s pregnant.”

  “What?” My heart sinks to my stomach so hard it almost makes me physically sick. “She’s pregnant with—”

  “Apparently it happened on a night where I wasn’t having my finest moment. I was trying to decide whether to go see you and get everything out there before the wedding. It was a bad night and I had a few drinks, which you know I never do so it kind of laid me out. When she showed up I knew her being there was a bad idea, but I wasn’t exactly in a state of mind to stop whatever happened either. I don’t remember sleeping with her, but she swears we did and as drunk as I was she could be right. I’m sorry.” He shakes his head and runs a hand through his hair.

  The heaviness in my chest can’t just be the disappointment of hearing this, it’s more. It’s even more crushing than the day I walked away from him. I know what my feelings are for Jack, I just don’t want to admit them, and this feeling is exactly why.

  “And she just told you today?” I fight back the tears. This can’t be happening. Why does it seem like he and I are the only ones being hurt in all this?

  “Apparently today was the perfect day to announce it and fuck me over once again.”

  “I…” I stand stunned. Any decision I wanted or needed to make has been changed in this instance.

  “I’m sorry, Em. I gotta go.”

  “Go where?” I ask, following him down the landing.

  He turns to me, pulling me against him, wrapping his arms around me in a way that tells me he doesn’t really want to leave. “I’m so proud of you, babe and I’m so sorry, for everything” He kisses my forehead and holds me for a minute before making his way down the stairs.

  I follow behind him, nearly in a run, passing my friends and family in a blur. “Jack! Please don’t run away. Please…”

  “I just need some time,” he says to me before disappearing out of the door, leaving me staring into the room wondering how everything could go so wrong so suddenly.

  Sixteen

  The Getaway

  Five years, six months ago.

  Portland, Oregon/Malibu, California

  “He asked you to go away with him? Already?” Lily almost drops her fork into her lasagne when I say it. Like it’s such a shock that a man could ask me to go away with him. Even though it has never actually happened.

  “Yeah. I guess his parents own a house in Malibu, California.”

  “Out of state?”

  “Yes, Malibu… Like where Barbie lives.” I wink at her.

  “What did you say?”

  “I said yes, duh.”

  I’ve actually been waiting for this day for the last few months. We’ve had such fun dating but I think an overnight trip will really show me if Jack is who I think he is.

  “I hope you’re planning on having sex with him, because guys don’t take women to fancy Malibu beach houses for long weekends and not expect to get laid. Not to mention that you’ve been dating for a few months now and you still haven’t given it up.” She scrunches her face as if talking about it is the ickiest thing ever.

  “I wanted to be sure!” I glance around the restaurant to see who now knows just what a prude I am since she’s talking about my celibacy so loudly. No one appears to be listening in, but who knows?

  “Sure of what?”

  “That he wasn’t just one of those guys who would screw me and then move on to the next.” I shrug my shoulders. So, call me old-fashioned. “Apparently, he’s not.”

  “I’ve told you the whole time, Ems, he’s a good guy. You should stop holding him at arm’s length like you’re scared of him. This is a big step in your relationship.”

  “I know it is. And I’m so freaking nervous! I have no idea what this is going to be like.”

  “Don’t even pack clothes, you won’t need them.” She takes a bite of her lasagne before nearly choking on it when she looks up at my horrified face. “I’m kidding! If I know Jack, and I think that I do, it’ll be all romance and rainbows and he’ll set the tone for your entire relationship.”

  “A good tone?”

  “A romantic tone…. Maybe we should go shopping?”

  “For what?” I pick at my salad, almost too nervous to eat.

  “Uh, hello, have you not been listening? For lingerie ya weirdo. You do want to make him want you on your first time, right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Then you need good lingerie. Have any?”

  I think about my underwear drawer for a minute. Which I’m pretty sure putting nice lingerie in a plain old underwear drawer pretty much proves that I’ve got none. “I have a pair of bra and panties that match?”

  “You are so sad.”

  “I know, seriously, you have to help me.”

  “Don’t worry, Lily to the rescue.” She grabs her phone and starts tapping away, planning goodness knows what, in order to get me ready to consummate my relationship.

  *

  When we walk into the shop I’m almost a little scared. This is no Victoria’s Secret. Lily’s friend Merri used this shop when she was shopping for her wedding night. They make private appointments and do fittings to suit your body type.

  “I don’t know about this…” The room is filled with racks of swanky lingerie, expensive underwear, and floor to ceiling mirrors. “I feel like I’m in a secret sex shop.”

  I glance through some of the racks, peeking at the prices and knowing full well that I shouldn’t be here. I’m a college student, there is no way I can afford over forty dollars for a single bra.

  “Ladies!” A middle aged woman in a dress far too tight and short comes walking in from the back part of the shop, carrying an armload of what looks like hot pink lace string bikinis.

  “Are you Esther?” Lily asks.

  “I am!” Esther has a sing-song type voice. “You must be Lily! I’m thrilled to meet you!” When she speaks, every single sentence ends with either a question mark or an exclamation point. Lingerie obviously excites her.

  “And you must be Emi!” She grins over at me. “Lily told me a bit about you and based on what she said I pulled out a few items for you to try on. They’re waiting in here…” She leads me to a giant dressing room with three way mirrors and a plush couch. People actually watch others try on lingerie? Is that why the couch is in the dressing room? “Try them on and co
me out for our opinions.”

  “You want me to model?”

  “Well…” She glances over at Lily. “You don’t have to come out, but we’re here to help you make the best decision for this special occasion. You’re in a safe place and there is no one here but us.”

  “No cameras?” I ask.

  Esther bursts out a laugh, then quickly stifles it away. “No! No. No cameras; that would make the news, dear. Now go, try and model.”

  I make my way into the dressing room, glad there is a locking door as opposed to a curtain. I glance through a few things hanging on the rack. Obviously, Lily didn’t tell her I’m a business major, not an X-rated dance major. Everything she’s chosen is skimpy, lacy, some crotchless, and wild colors that would definitely make me feel like the center of attention when all I normally want to do is blend in.

  I pull one set out of the line up, the only one I’m even halfway willing to try on and that’s only because it’s got the most material. Of course, it’s see through, but it counts, I think.

  “Yeah… I don’t think these will work,” I say, struggling to pull the panties of the lavender baby doll set past my hips.

  “Why?” Lily calls back.

  “Because I don’t wear a size stripper and I’m not trying out for an X-rated movie.” I grab the robe and the… I dunno… outfits and open the door. “Can’t I pick something? I feel like these all say I’m trying too hard. Jack is gonna know something is up.”

  “Something is up, you’re losing your Jackinity.” Lily and Esther both laugh at Lily’s dumb joke.

  “Stop. I’m serious, don’t you have anything like… just normal, but sexy?” I glance over at Esther who is sitting at a desk with a hot pink fluorescent light around the top.

  “Normal?” She hops off her stool and heads to a far section of the store and is out of sight for a moment, returning with a few hangers in her hands. “Like these?”

  When she holds them out I know I’ve found my normal. Light gray lace, girly bra and matching panties, without any frills. “YES!”

  “Ems… Those are so, boring!”

  “I like boring.” I pull my actual double digit size from her hand and head back into the dressing room. “Jack likes boring, too!” I yell through the door.

  I glance into the mirror and breathe a sigh of relief. Finally, I look like a normal, twenty something woman who is having sex and not trying to look like she’s the lead in Emi Does Malibu.

  “Let’s see it,” Lily yells back at me.

  I hesitantly open the dressing room door and step out of the room, checking first for eyes of people that weren’t here earlier or the flashing red lights of hidden cameras that Esther insists don’t exist.

  “Well?” I ask, but both Lily and Esther have on their poker faces. “Not good?”

  “It looks lovely, dear, but for your first time don’t you want to wow him?” She holds up a bright red negligee and swings it back and forth as if trying to entice me with it.

  “No. If he’s not wowed by me being me, then he’s not the guy I want.”

  “Oh…” Esther lays the red nightie on her desk. “You’re a sweet girl. I have this set in a couple of other colors if you’d like more than one?”

  “Load me up.” I look over at Lily whose face is not so approving.

  “This is it?”

  “Yup… I’m not as flashy as you. Or as easy.” I smile before disappearing into the dressing room before she can throw something at me.

  “I’m not easy, I just want to test drive my men to see if I should go on a cross country trip with them.”

  “Whatever,” I laugh at her ridiculous comparison. I like to play it safe. That’s just me, though. From me, there will be no sleeping with a guy on the first date to see if I’d like there to be a second. That’s Lily’s game and she is good at it.

  I’ll admit, though, Josh is the first one for a while to pass the cross country test for Lily. Her last few boyfriends barely made it to the two week mark, but there is something different about Josh. I don’t know him very well yet, but I feel like he’s the exact guy she’s looking for. She’s so happy when he’s around, relaxed even. He could very well be her lobster. Maybe she’s onto something with the whole testing out a guy to see if they pass the test physically, because I’m hoping that Jack’s my lobster too. I guess I’ll know soon enough.

  *

  Today is the day I go to Malibu with Jack. I’ve never been on an overnight trip with a boyfriend before and now I’m exiting a plane in southern California.

  “You’ll get to meet my sister, Hannah. She’s really excited to meet the girl who’s stolen my heart.” Jack squeezes my hand in his.

  “Aw… I stole your heart?” Mine races in my chest as we walk through the airport. I get more and more nervous with each step. “Wait, your sister will be there?”

  “Yeah,” he nods with a smile. “My whole family, they’re excited to meet you.”

  “Jack! Oh, my God, you didn’t tell me I was meeting your family. I’m not ready.”

  I stop walking and try to stop myself from hyperventilating. Why would he surprise me with this? He knows I hate surprises and meeting a guy’s parents for the first time is a big deal as a surprise. Finding out your meeting them when you’ve prepared for a weekend of no clothes is an even bigger deal.

  “Don’t be nervous, babe. They’re gonna love you.” He runs his hand down my arm before once again squeezing my hand reassuringly.

  “Really? ̛Cause this is important.”

  “I know,” he nods his head.

  “I mean like… this is we’re-in-a-serious-relationship kind of important.”

  “I know,” he says again with a smile.

  How is he not worried about this? We’ve never even talked about how serious we are or where this relationship is going. Yet he felt arranging a meeting with his parents without telling me is where we are.

  “So, what you’re saying is, that we’ve reached that point, the serious relationship point, even though we’ve never… you know?”

  I watch him laugh as I nervously glance about at the people heading to their destinations around us.

  “Yes, I’m ready to hit that serious relationship mark. I actually wanted to… uh… talk to you about something this weekend.” He runs a hand through his hair, something I’ve noticed he does when he’s nervous or frustrated.

  Oh my God, he’s going to propose. This is way too soon; we haven’t even slept together yet! In this case, I probably should have gone for the racy lingerie. Please don’t hyperventilate Ems, this is not the time or the place.

  “Talk about something?” I repeat, it comes out all squeaky and weird. Definitely not the cool card I’d planned to use right there.

  “It’s nothing bad. I promise.” He takes my hand in his. “Ready?”

  No.

  “Sure.”

  I’m anything but ready, but I’m not telling him. He cannot know how freaked out I am about meeting his family.

  *

  The house is nothing short of spectacular. Even Barbie couldn’t compete. It’s a modern style house sitting on a rock bluff overlooking the ocean. The deck surrounds an infinity pool and there’s a path from the back patio all the way to the beach. This I did not expect. I mean, I kind of figured the house would be nice considering it’s in Malibu but mansion on the beach never even entered my mind. Why does it make me even more nervous to be here?

  “Hello Jack, and you must be Emi?” We’re greeted by an older woman with dark hair pulled up into a perfect bun at the top of her head. The chic kind, not the librarian kind. Her face is pulled unnaturally tight and made up like she just walked off Broadway. “Isn’t she just darling?” she asks Jack as if I’m not standing right in front of her. “I’m Jack’s mother, Amelia, and this…” She motions towards the next room at a man who’s sitting so still on the couch that I didn’t even notice him. “This is Robert,” she says, somewhat unimpressed. “Jack’s father.”
/>   Robert glances in my direction with nothing more than a nod before going back to the paper sitting on the table in front of him.

  “It’s nice to meet you both,” I say, not knowing whether I should shake their hands, bow, curtsy, or run.

  “How nice that you could join us. I’m sure Jack has spoken to you about the sleeping arrangements?”

  “Sleeping arrangements?” I ask, looking at Jack nervously.

  “Mom, we just walked in.”

  “You will be sharing a room with Hannah, Jack’s sister. She’s out by the pool.”

  I glance through the room that looks out onto a pool, the figure of a perfect body is lounging at the far end.

  Why in the hell did I go to the trouble of buying lingerie in preparation for our big night if I won’t even be sharing a room with Jack?

  “You may bring your bag up. Jack will show you the way.”

  Jack rolls his eyes at his mother's demands but grabs my bag as she suggested and heads off up the stairs. I follow him into a room so pink that I feel like I’ve just walked into a bottle of Pepto Bismol.

  “How old is Hannah?”

  “Too old for pink,” he laughs. “She doesn’t come out here often so the room hasn’t been updated since she was about fourteen.”

  He sets my bag on the floor near the door. “Listen, I normally sleep out in the pool house so…” He glances towards the door to the balcony off the bedroom. “I don’t expect you to stay in here. My parents never go out there, and they’re very rarely home anyway so they’ll never even know you’re out there with me.”

  “What about your sister?” I whisper.

  “She’s cool. She’ll cover.”

  “What if she doesn’t like me?” I ask, worried his whole family will think I’m a complete whore if they find out I’m sneaking into Jack’s room at night.

  “She doesn’t like anyone. But I’ll make sure she does. If you’d be more comfortable I can get a hotel room, it’s no problem.”

  “I don’t want to cause trouble…”