Chapter 44 - Forty-four

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After Nikita's haunting words, Isobel had made her presence known by bringing in Starbucks. For Alexis, it was a vanilla latte, because she seemed like a vanilla latte person and to be honest, Isobel wasn't wrong.

"So wedding dress huh?" She teased Alexis with a mischievous expression.

"Oh um," Alexis saying that just smiled a bit in return. Talk of being awkward.

"Oh come on, let's go to a wedding dres' store next. From Louis Vuitton to wedding stores. What do you want? A Christina Wu, Marchesa Bridal, Naeem Khan, Jenny Packham, Reem Acra, Nicole, Lela Rose, Monique Lhuillier or oh—oh! Vera Wang!"

Isobel expectantly looked at Alexis. 'Was she expecting me to answer to all that?' "Well," she started again, "we could pay a visit to Ralph Lauren as well, I mean we got the money and time for it." She leaned into a whisper as well.

"Isobel, honey," Isabella, Angelo's mum called from the place where she was standing at. "I don't think Alexis is going a lot into details, like so deep to do some research. So we'll just buy the one we find the prettiest of all. Okay?"

"Okay," Isobel felt dejected. She wanted to go to all of them.

"So let's start with Vera Wang?" Alexis questioned them, "I've heard of her." She smiled.

Everyone nodded and they entered Vera Wang. The ladies screamed money and immediately attracted the attention of the three salesgirls over there.

"So who's the lucky bride?"

"You all are so pretty!"

"What price range should we start with?" Ouch. Direct to point.

Alexis for a moment just stood there and watched them. Why were they so eager for her wedding when she wasn't? This was starting to be a headache.

Nikita jutted her chin out, "You," she pointed to the first one. "She is the bride. Show us all the latest dresses of the season." Pointing at Alexis, she grabbed her hand started wandering around the shop.

The salesgirl, Summer, was with the bride while the others were attending the ladies with the bride.

"So what do you want?" Summer softly asked the bride, not wanting to intrude on her thoughts but also help her at the same time. She had been working in this shop for quite some time to know that the first thing to be kept in mind was the bride's vision for her dress.

"I don't know," she breathed out. "I haven't decided. It's on very short notice." Alexis felt like an idiot when she said that. She had no idea about what she wanted. She was the bride or a girl, to begin with, and every girl had something in mind for her wedding dress. From lace to a ball gown design or from shear to a mermaid styled dress. So, she immediately gave a reason for her indecisive response.

"Oh," Summer understood, maybe that's why she was so clueless. "You must have imagined something as a child. You know, like um, lace or glitter or skin fitted or like a princess. Every girl wants to be a princess on her wedding day. Would you like to see one?"

"Um.. maybe the flowy one? From the end?" Alexis didn't sound sure about her choice but then again she wasn't sure about the wedding itself.

"Sure!" Summer immediately scurried away. A moment later she came back and took Alexis with her.

"Okay." She brought Alexis to the trial room. "Please take off all your clothes but your undergarments, I'll bring some dresses in for trial."

The first dress she brought out, Alexis wore it with the help of two helpers. Coming out, she saw the ladies waiting for her.

"Okay, so?" She nervously did a little twirl. Alexis didn't even smile, she was nervous about the dress and the judgment and it was clearly shown on her face. 

"Well," Isobel started, "it's lace at the sleeves that I like. But it covers all of your arms and it's going to be in a church, where so you might want a little bit of um, skin to breathe."

Nikita murmured her agreement to Isobel's claims as well. "True, you don't want to sweat out of nervousness like me." She laughed a bit. Isabelle simply said no.

She nodded and came back to the trial room. She felt like crying a bit, her eyes stung all of a sudden. Was it all too soon? Or was it that she couldn't look good in a simple white dress?

She felt rejected a bit and that had made her mood turn sour. The other dress came and she changed into it but didn't bother to look at herself in the mirror. She went out. 

"So?" She sounded a bit off.

"I don't feel it." Nikita bluntly spoke her truth and somewhat, Alexis appreciated it. The dislike was visible from the faces of Isabelle and Isobel. 

"You know what?" Isobel stood up handing the second glass of champagne to the salesgirl near her, "why don't we look around and find something we like for her? Alexis could look for what she wants."

Alexis immediately nodded and walked off, everyone following the pursuit. She walked through lanes of dresses and the store seemed bigger with every step she took.

Her hand which was touching the dresses as she walked, stopped. She gently held out the dress to look at. It had a similar design to what her grandmother wore to her wedding. The dress was made of silk just like Gram's but instead of the veil that was lace and there was a cape attached to the dress like a veil. It came to her mid stomach and stretched to her toes but a bit longer to the back but not the front and looked perfect to her. It was sheath with a slight, very little mermaid design at the end.

This was perfect. 

She took it out and walked to the trial rooms to meet the other ladies.

"Wow!" Isobel immediately said as she saw the dress. Nikita nodded as well as her eyes lit up.

"Hmm," Isabelle looked with a little distaste or was it worry? "Honey, the elders prefer a little fluffy dress for a new bride. Something about reflecting of character, I don't the reasoning. Even though the cape makes it modest and you don't need to listen to them, I'd say as Don's wife you do." She simply held a sympathetic gaze to the dress in her hands. It was pretty.

If Alexis from two years ago had been told this she would've done what Isabelle said. She would have kept the dress back and gone for the one everyone liked. But Alexis did not choose to marry the guy, so she sure as hell would decide what she wanted to wear. 

"But I like it," she butted back into the conversation which Isabelle had ended, making all three of the ladies blink back in shock. If the maids, Agatha and the guards thought something about it, they all simply chose to stay still.

"I want to wear it. It matches what my grandmother wore to her wedding and she lived a happy married life. I don't know what I am hoping for but I want her there in some form, so I am going to wear this dress. It reminds me of her." She breathed heavily, she hadn't talked since she came here anyway.

She breathed a bit and closed her eyes. They didn't deserve to be talked like this when they didn't even know but had accepted her already. It made her feel guilty. "No offence guys, I'm sorry but I want to and this is pretty. And to not offend them, I've decided that I'd wear this one to the reception being a pampered bride for a little longer and then for the wedding I could choose a fluffy one. How does that sound?" She was not spending her own money or resource on it. So she could stretch a little more than necessary. 

"Not bad," Nikita said, liking the idea of pissing the elders one way or the other. They could not say anything when their wishes were met. "They can't say anything about now wearing something traditional and common with the brides bride them. That makes no sense!" Nikita complained!

"Yeah. I like it too. None of us wore two dresses and the Donna does. That makes a good and bold statement about you!" Isobel commented and all of them looked at the former Donna. Even the guards did so with a side-eye.

"I think I like it too." She smiled. "Come on, people we have to find one more dress."

Everyone cheered and even Alexis did so. Isabelle watched her. The girl had grown a spine, good lord gives her more strength. More than you had given me.. She watched her daughter-in-law disappear into the aisles of wedding dresses.