The Wedding Dress
Addison stepped from behind the curtain covered in white. The dress was a strapless, low cut sweet-heart front, form fitting mermaid gown. Susan didn't have to look at Bizzy to know that she did not like it.
Addison was getting married in a year to Derek Shepherd, a fellow resident. She was here shopping with not only Bizzy, but Derek's mother, Carolyn and two of his five sisters, Nancy and Amelia. Her best friend Naomi had tagged along for moral support. They had been at this appointment for nearly two hours, and Bizzy and Addison couldn't agree on anything. Susan arrived shortly after Addison asked the consultant to call her.
Luckily the hotel they were staying in was nearby. She came right over, fearing that the two women might drive the poor sales consultant mad if she didn't. There were coos of you're so beautiful from the other women in the room, however Bizzy was conspicuously quiet.
"She doesn't like it." Addison said. There was no sadness in her voice. She knew that her mother wouldn't like it when she tried it on, but, she just had to try it on. Everyone looked at Bizzy waiting for her to make a remark. When she didn't, Addison looked at Susan pleadingly and mouthed a silent "please".
"Addison, why don't you take that off?" Addison went back into the dressing room. Susan picked up the bottle of champagne that was in the bucket next to Bizzy and refilled the redhead's glass.
She introduced herself to the consultant. They chatted a little bit about what Addison had wanted and then Susan produced a copy of Modern Bride. "Marlene I was wondering if you had this."
Susan handed the dress shop owner a copy of the magazine. Before she came over she popped into a bookstore to pick it up. Flipping through it she found a dress that she thought both Addison and Bizzy would appreciate.
"It just came in. It's not something either of them asked for. You don't think it will be too much?" Susan was sure that Bizzy's silence had scared Marlene at this point in the appointment. She was terrified that the frozenly civil woman would explode from her seat and do her some bodily injury.
"No I think it will be perfect for both." Marlene disappeared in the stock room and Susan sat down on the sofa next to Bizzy. Bizzy sipped her champagne and pretended not to notice the other woman's presence. However, it was all she could think about. Their thighs touched in a way that would've looked completely normal to anyone else, however, an extremely intimate moment for the two women; the simple move practically setting Bizzy's skin on fire. Bizzy smiled inwardly at the gesture, giving a sideways glance to Susan who merely sat there innocently.
She didn't want to be here. The redhead wanted to be alone with Susan, preferably naked. She had an insatiable appetite when it came to the brunette and jumped at every opportunity to indulge. Even if they couldn't make love Bizzy would settle for some fully clothed alone time with the woman who understood her like no one else ever had.
Marlene came back into the room with the dress Susan had selected in her hand. She pulled back the curtain to the waiting Addison.
"I hope this is the last one." Addison said with a bit of exasperation in her voice. It seemed with every new dress she tried on Bizzy's distaste for this particular activity increased.
"You've been through almost every other dress, I hope it works too. It's Susan's choice." Marlene said.
Bizzy leaned over to Susan and whispered. "She hopes it works so I won't go buy a dress in New York." After a few minutes Addison reemerged. Again in white, but this time it was a stunning silk taffeta gown with a gathered waist, a tank style neckline with floral detail at the waist and a chapel length train.
Marlene stood next to the beaming Addison. Addison looked at Susan expectantly.
"Do you like it?" Susan asked.
Addison's gaze flicked to Bizzy's. "Yes." The younger redhead's voice held no doubt, just fear that her mother would not.
Susan stood. The entire room was quiet. Bizzy still had not said a word. "How about you put this on?" Susan pulled a plastic bag with a veil in it from her purse.
Susan had brought the veil with her to New York, not knowing whether Addison would actually want to wear it. When Susan had worked for Bizzy about six years, she began organizing the storage areas in the main house. She had actually started with the carriage house, but it didn't take her very long to finish that. When Susan had gotten tired of searching for things to supply every single event, she decided it was time. After about a year of solid work, she finally came across a room that held a lot of Bizzy's personal things - mostly things that she took with her when she left her parents home.
Stuck in a box was her wedding dress and veil. Both had yellowed over time; and Bizzy didn't seem to be at all upset about the dress. She explained that it was her mother's choice and she never cared for it.
Susan had seen her wedding pictures. Bizzy looked beautiful, but she didn't look particularly happy. The veil, however, had actually made Bizzy tear up. She told Susan that right before she married she traveled to Europe again with her paternal grandmother. They had searched far and wide for a perfect veil and finally in an old clothing shop in the outskirts of Scotland they had found it. The perfect veil. Bizzy had forgotten all about it. She was devastated that she had let it be destroyed. She told Susan to throw it away.
Susan however, seeing how much it meant to Bizzy, did not. It had taken her a while, but she had found someone to restore it to its original beauty. Marlene took the veil and put it on Addison. She affixed it with the same combs that Bizzy had worn more than almost 30 years before.
Addison looked like a bride. Bizzy put her glass down and stood. "Very nice." Bizzy gave Susan a small smile. The fact that Susan knew exactly what she wanted without having to ask dozens of questions made Bizzy's heart swell with love. Bizzy noted that she had also taken the time to learn Addison's wants to further mediate between mother and daughter.
Addison was delighted and everyone gathered around her. "This is it." Addison kept saying to herself. At that moment Addison knew that she would not have the marriage her parents did. She would not be like her mother. She had found the man that would forever make her happy, and she would hold on to him no matter what.