After The One (The One Series Duet)

by Danielle Allen

  “Great job, Bridezilla,” Koko joked as she poked me in my side.

  I jumped away from the tickling and smacked her hand playfully. “I hope I didn’t hurt her feelings. That was not my intention at all.”

  Keisha put her arm around me. “No, you were sweet about it. I think she was just really proud of her selection and when you shut her down, she was disappointed.”

  “Yeah, don’t worry about it,” Lenny added. “It’s your wedding day. You have to pick what you want.”

  Keisha bumped me with her hip before letting me go. “Even if you are a bridezilla.”

  I pointed at each of them as they laughed at me. “You’re all in a three-way tie for the worst!”

  We spent twenty minutes searching for dresses that could be purchased same-day since they were leaving in a few hours and there wouldn’t be a lot of time for alterations if we had to wait for shipping. Another group of bridesmaids entered and I felt pressure to find something before they started looking as well. I didn’t want my perfect bridesmaid dress to wind up in the ‘no’ pile in the other dressing room.

  If this place doesn’t have the dresses, I don’t know—

  My thoughts stopped almost as abruptly as I did.

  “That’s it,” I mumbled after being in a daze for at least a minute.

  I grabbed the dress from the wall and held it in my hands. The black satin gown was short in the front and long in the back. It had a deep V-neck with a sheer and black lace panel that carried over the shoulders and down to the small of the back. The dress was sexy without trying too hard. It used traditional fabrics in a unique way.

  It was completely me.

  “Hey, I found it,” I called out to my friends. As they got closer, their eyes widened. “Anastacia!” I swept my eyes around and heard her shoes clicking the floor before I actually saw her.

  “Oh!” The surprise in her voice as she stared at the dress gave me pause, but I didn’t let it deter me.

  “Do you have this dress in stock?”

  “Well we just got it today. It is an original design concept from Urbane’s couture line. It’s at market price and will be for the next eight weeks. We get new shipments of the mass market dresses every day though.” She made a face. “Sorry.”

  “Oh okay. It sounds as if you’re making some assumptions.” I flashed a tight smile, not trying to be rude even though I felt like she was trying to talk me out of looking at the dress. “So to be clear, I looked at the price tag and I’m aware of the cost, but I appreciate you letting me know.”

  “Not a problem.” Her smile matched mine. “I can find some similar styles for you just in case. Now that I know what style you’re looking for, I’m sure I can find you some great alternatives.”

  I paused, grinding my teeth from irritation. My eyes narrowed, challenging her. “No, this isn’t the style I’m looking for. This is the dress. This exact dress.”

  “Oh,” Anastacia replied, her thin auburn eyebrows relocated to the center of her forehead. She pursed her lips before casting her gaze to my friends. “I’ll need to take measurements and then I can check.”

  “Perfect. Thank you.”

  She gave me a tight smile as she turned and stormed off to the back of the store.

  “What was that about?” Koko asked with her hands on her hips.

  I carried the dress in my arms like a small child. “I have no idea.”

  “If she wants the commission and doesn’t want to lose it to Kim, I suggest she fixes her attitude,” Lenny snapped.

  Keisha laughed. “I was thinking the same thing! We will call Kim over to do our measurements in a heartbeat.”

  A few minutes after we entered our dressing area, Anastacia reappeared with Kim on her heels. I sat on the couch directly in the middle and picked up a bottle of water. Anastacia and Kim took Koko and Keisha behind the curtains first.

  “So…?” I pried, dying for an opportunity to ask Lenny about the conclusion of her night. “I saw you and James talking in the kitchen before Julian and I went to bed. What’s going on with you two?”

  “And speak up so we can hear you!” Keisha yelled out.

  Koko started laughing which just made me laugh. A second later, all four of us were cracking up.

  “Well…” Lenny started, a glimmer of something devious in her eyes. “James talks a big game, but he’s nothing like he seems.”

  I covered my ears and recoiled from her. “Please tell me that doesn’t mean what I think it means.”

  Koko’s curtain opened first and then Keisha’s. They were both wearing white oversized robes.

  “I think I’m thinking the same thing Zoe is thinking,” Koko vocalized in a singsong voice.

  Anastacia gestured for Lenny to come to her. “I’m ready when you are.”

  Lenny got up and winked at us in the mirror. “To be continued.”

  The three of us loudly speculated until Lenny was done with her measurements and exited in the same white robe the other two wore.

  She strutted across the room toward us. “I’ve been around James maybe ten times over the last couple of years and even though I think he’s sexy, I was never interested in him. I mean, there was always a woman all over him. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever seen him without a woman trying to attach herself to him, so I thought he was a playboy, you know?” A small smile played on her lips. “But last night, we just talked.”

  “Awww,” I cooed.

  “Not that we could’ve fucked anyway with how loud you and Julian were,” Lenny finished, giving me a look.

  I felt my face starting to heat up as Koko and Keisha howled with laughter. A giggle escaped my lips as I tried to look perplexed.

  “What are you guys talking about?”

  “I didn’t know what that knocking was!” Koko gasped between bouts of laughter. “I thought I was just having a drunken dream!”

  Keisha was clutching Lenny’s arm as she tried to talk. “I thought Scott was watching porn!”

  I let my head fall into my hands as I laughed. My shoulders bounced and my stomach muscles hurt.

  “Sounds to me like I know why you’re marrying him,” Koko joked before she stood up and thrust her hips.

  Anastacia walked in just in time to see Koko’s slim hips pumping, which made us laugh even harder.

  “While you’re standing, here’s the size two,” Anastacia said slowly, hanging the dress in one of the dressing rooms. She looked at Koko. “You can get dressed when you’re ready.”

  She looked at Keisha. “Your measurements indicate that you’d be a size six; however, due to your, um, lower body—”

  “My ass,” Keisha offered, taking a sip of her mimosa.

  “Well, um.” Anastacia flushed. “Yes. I have an eight here for you. You’ll need to get it taken in.”

  With a look at Lenny, Anastacia looked uncomfortable as she hung up the third dress in the third dressing room. “Your dress is right here.” She gave her a sympathetic look. “If you need a larger size, we don’t have anything bigger than this. Our slimming girdles are around the corner in the bridal lingerie section. That should help.”

  My mouth fell open and I eyed her glaringly. “That was rude and unnecessary.”

  “Oh, it wasn’t my intention to be rude,” she replied in a tone that contradicted her words.

  “Zoe, it’s cool. Anastacia, I should be good with the size twenty, but thank you so much for your concern.” Lenny rolled her eyes.

  “We are going to sit and talk for a few minutes before we get started,” Koko announced.

  I looked at my phone to check the time and nodded. “We’ll let you know when we’re ready to get started.”

  “Very well,” she replied as she exited the area, shoes clicking in her wake.

  “We’re not going to let her negative ass ruin our time together. So let’s get back to the porn star Zoe is marrying,” Lenny joked.

  I rolled my eyes good-naturedly, but the grin on my face was undeniable. “I d
on’t even know what to say in response to that.”

  “Besides the sex—because from what I heard, that has to be one of the reasons,” Keisha started with a giggle. “Besides the sex, what made you decide to marry Julian right now?”

  All three pairs of eyes looked at me eagerly as I bit my bottom lip. “The moment I knew I would marry him was about eight, maybe nine months after the show ended. We’d just gotten back from spending Thanksgiving with our families and went straight to the apartment when we got back to Cali. I got my bar results and he read them aloud to me and then he kissed me.” I paused, closing my eyes and remembering that moment. “He’s kissed me hundreds of thousands of times before that kiss and each was amazing, but that kiss was something different.” I opened my eyes and looked around at my friends. “That kiss was like he was promising me forever. When we pulled away, he stared at me and said ‘I’m proud of you. I love you. Go call your mom.’” I slumped back in my seat with my hand over my heart. “He knew. He knew exactly what I needed and that was the moment I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. When he returned from tour, it was the first time we’d been apart for any significant amount of time and when I walked in the house and saw him, those feelings just intensified.”

  “I never knew that.” Lenny’s red painted lips turned downward. “What is this feeling I’m feeling? My heart feels funny. I feel like crying…but…I’m…happy?” Her voice got comically higher with each word.

  “Does he have a brother?” Keisha asked, tapping her finger against her chin.

  “At this point, I’ll take a cousin,” Koko chimed in.

  I laughed. “You guys go get dressed! Why are we talking about me? I thought we were trying to find out what’s going on with Lenny and James. And Keisha, you have two very eligible bachelors fighting over you. Koko…” I cocked my head to the side. “You need to talk to your man and see what’s really going on because I’ve been around you two. He loves you.”

  “I told you guys last night.” Koko took the sunglasses off my head as she stood, sliding them onto her face. “I’m single,” she sang comically as she made her way into her dressing room.

  All three of them went into their dressing rooms and a few minutes later, Anastacia and Kim returned. They helped each of them into the gowns and then one by one each of my best friends came out.

  “Oh my God… Stunning. You all look stunning.”

  Although they were wearing the exact same dress, because they had such different body types, the dress took on a life of its own. For Koko’s thin frame, the dress managed to make her appear curvier in the hips while accentuating her long legs. For Keisha, the deep V-neck of the dress made her breasts look a little bigger and her waist a little smaller before fanning out dramatically around her hips, giving her a distinct hourglass silhouette. For Lennon’s larger frame, the sheer and lace design fanning out into the satin skirt highlighted the sexiness and softness of her body without trying to cover her up. The dresses were even more exquisite on them than on the rack.

  “How do you feel?” I asked them.

  They raved about the cut, the fit, the color, the design, and my style choice. I was glad to hear it because I’d already planned on buying the dresses anyway.

  “I’ll take them. All of them!”

  Anastacia’s eyes widened. “You want all of them?”

  I nodded. “Absolutely.”

  I looked at my friends, who looked absolutely beautiful in the gowns they were going to wear for my wedding to the love of my life, and I felt a flutter of excitement. Prior to that moment, I was just thrilled about being Julian’s wife. The wedding, especially after having to fulfill Julian’s contract with The One, was for everyone else. But, as I watched the curtains close and Kim popping in and out from each dressing room helping them remove the expensive garments, I was actually looking forward to the wedding. Even though it would be filmed and televised, I started to get excited about the public declaration of my love for Julian Evan Winters.

  Fifteen minutes later, I was standing at the cash register swiping a black credit card to pay the ten thousand dollars for the three gowns.

  Robert Brady is going to regret saying money was no object.

  I had no intention of being wasteful with my spending just because the network was paying for it, but I knew if I had to sacrifice the wedding I wanted for a drama-filled weekend of debauchery, I was going to make sure my family and friends looked good.

  The four of us left the boutique and headed to a few shoe stores until we found the perfect shoe to match their bridesmaid dresses. After an impromptu frozen yogurt stop, we headed back home with the bridesmaid dresses strategically placed in the trunk and four boxes of shoes stuffed between Keisha and Lenny in the backseat.

  We laughed, joked, and sang the entire way back. I turned the music down and flashed a smile to the security officer at the entrance of Julian’s neighborhood. He opened the gate without hesitation as familiarity registered on his features and he waved.

  “So when did you officially move in?” Lenny asked from the back seat.

  I glanced over at Koko in the front seat next to me. “Um, I guess I haven’t officially moved in. I still pay rent downtown and Julian and I haven’t really talked about it.” I shrugged, my hands tightly gripping the steering wheel.

  “You go back and forth?” Keisha questioned, confusion in her voice.

  “I have stuff here and some stuff in the apartment,” I answered uneasily.

  Koko must’ve sensed that I was uncomfortable with my backseat inquisition so she stepped in. “Zoe is getting married. Of course she’s going to be living with her husband. But since he’s on his way to superstardom and he travels, whenever she needs to stay with me, she has a key. It’ll always be our apartment.”

  She reached over and held my arm. I smiled at her. Without me saying a word, I knew she got it. It felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

  It wasn’t that I was avoiding the conversation, but something about letting go of the apartment felt wrong to me. Koko was at work most of the time and when she wasn’t, she was with Bryce.

  Well, before they broke up.

  Most of my time was spent at work or with Julian so neither of us were hardly ever there, but it was our safety net.

  The apartment is like home base.

  With me getting married and Koko breaking up with Bryce, the timing didn’t feel right for me to officially move out…even though I had unofficially moved out over a year ago.

  I punched in the code for the gate and then creeped up the driveway and into the garage.

  “I’m sad I have to get on the road. This is going to be the longest drive,” Keisha said with a pout.

  “It’s two and a half hours right?” I asked, looking at the time.

  “Yes…unless there’s traffic, and then it’s easily five hours.”

  We laughed.

  Getting out of the car, we heard the guys before we saw them. They were in the kitchen, heading to the garage just as we were coming in.

  Goodbyes and hugs were exchanged. Dresses were shown and ogled. Laughter and genuine happiness filled the space. I thought I even saw some flirting between James and Lenny. The kitchen was lively and active then forty minutes later, I was closing the door behind Koko, who was the last to leave.

  I exhaled loudly as I slumped against the door. My hand slipped underneath my tunic and rested on the fleshiness of my belly.

  “Tired?” Julian asked without turning around, as he diced an onion. Wearing a sleeveless t-shirt, his biceps flexed with each chop.

  “Exhausted. What about you?”

  “Well, I took a nap after our shower, so I’m feeling ok. The tailors came by and we were measured, and then we watched football and hung out. Oh and they’ll have the tuxes back the Thursday before the wedding.”

  My eyebrows flew up as I stared at him tossing the onions into something that was simmering on the stovetop. “It won’t be back until the
Thursday before the wedding? What if it doesn’t come in on time?”

  “It should be fine.” He looked over his shoulder and smiled. “Don’t worry.”

  I pushed myself off the door and locked it behind me. Crossing the kitchen, I stood behind him, kissing the back of his arm. “It’s just cutting it close, that’s all.”

  “It’ll be here long before you choose a wedding dress.”

  “Hey now,” I protested, slapping him on the ass for good measure. “Don’t you worry about my dress that I’m getting off the rack somewhere. You worry about these custom silk suits you and your boys are getting.”

  Julian chuckled. “Why silk? In the two years we’ve known each other, what have I ever done or said that would lead you to believe that I’d wear a silk suit?”

  “The amount of nineties R&B we’ve been listening to,” I returned, amusement in my voice.

  His head lolled to the side as he continued laughing. “Dinner is ready.”

  I grabbed two plates and sat them on the counter next to him. Heading to the refrigerator, I glanced over my shoulder to find him staring at me. “Do you want wine or something else?”

  “I want you. I’ll settle for whatever you’re drinking.”

  I felt my lips turning upward as I grabbed two bottles of water and silverware before heading to the dining room.

  “So funny thing,” I started after we’d been eating for a few minutes. “Either we were really loud last night or the walls are thinner than they look.”

  Julian’s chewing slowed as he gaped at me. He took a swig of water before he spoke. “What?”

  I nodded, taking a small sip of water. “While we were dress shopping, it came out that we were overheard after we got home from Lux. As I’m told, we were loud.” I bit my bottom lip as I thought for a second. “I didn’t think I was much louder than usual.”

  “You can get loud, beautiful.” His grey eyes darkened as his voice lowered an octave. “And it’s hot as shit.”

  I crossed my legs and leaned forward, pointing my finger at him. “Don’t. You. Dare. We need to eat.”

  He leaned forward and let his tongue run from one corner of his mouth to the other. He looked at me like he was going to spread me out on the table and eat me.