Wednesday afternoon: three days until Vegas

"Ok, Ceece. Tell me what I'm looking for here."

Cece had brought Jess to an elegant wedding boutique downtown to shop for their trip to Vegas. Knowing the owner from a modeling shoot, the two woman had been ushered to a back room full of gowns that had yet to be tagged for sale in the store. They had been unsuccessfully browsing through the racks for several minutes.

"I guess I just really want us to wear red. Then I can at least feel like I'm honoring some of a traditional ceremony."

Jess pushed her glasses up her nose and nodded. "Red. Okay, got it."

"Can I help you find anything specific?" Both woman turned around to see the owner, Natalie, carrying a tray with two champagne glasses balanced on top. She placed the tray on the small table by an overstuffed white chaise lounge in the middle of the room and smiled.

"Well," Cece extended her hand as Natalie handed each of them a glass. "I want us both in red."

Natalie glanced back and forth between them, a little confused. "Red?"

Cece laughed. "It's the traditional color in an Indian ceremony. Well, if that's what I were doing..." Her voice trailed off.

Natalie nodded, laughing. "Oh, that's right, your Sari..." She stopped quickly and cleared her throat, as both Cece and Jess shook their heads. "Sorry."

Cece took a sip of champagne and waved her hand, walking over to place the glass back on the table. "No worries. Now," She clapped her hands and rubbed them together, excitedly. "Let's see what you've got." Cece spun around as Natalie led them to rack in the back corner.

"So, Vegas, huh?" Natalie crossed her arms over her chest and laughed. "Really wanted to buck a tradition there, huh?"

Cece just laughed as Jess bit her lip. "Why not, right?"

"I didn't even know you were seeing anyone. When was the last shoot? Two months ago?"

Jess looked back and forth between the two, as she pulled a dress off the rack and pushed it in front of Cece. "What about this one?"

Cece scrunched her face. "I don't know. I think I want something completely different than my sari. But you should get it, it would look AMAZING on you, Jess."

"You think?" Jess walked to the set of three full length mirrors and held the dress in front of her. It was an ankle length red satin sheath dress with an empire waist and an asymmetric strap over the left shoulder. She tilted her head to the side as Cece stepped next to her.

"Absolutely."

Jess shrugged her shoulders and started laughing. "I feel like this was way too easy."

"I think I want something short." Cece turned around and started skimming through the rack again. "Maybe beaded... "

Natalie spun on her heels and started walking out of the room. "Oh, I think there's a short one up front, let me see if I can find it." She disappeared down the hallway as Cece turned back to the rack.

Cece yelled over toward Jess as she stepped behind the curtain to change. "So, uh...one year, huh?"

Jess slipped out of her blue dress in the changing area. "I know, crazy right?"

"Sorry if all this eloping business interfered with any of your plans. We weren't really thinking..." Cece started to pull a dress off the rack, then grimaced and continued sliding the hangers along the white pole.

"No worries." Jess stepped out from behind the curtain, pulling the zipper up the side and smoothing the red satin fabric over her waist. "We didn't have anything special planned."

"Really?" Cece frowned, walking toward the chaise and sitting down in front of Jess.

Twisting from side to side, Jess checked her reflection in the mirror and nodded approvingly. She turned to face Cece and shrugged. "Nah. No biggie."

"No biggie?! Jess, come on. You and Nick? A whole year?" She leaned back, putting her arm across the top of the sofa. "You two should celebrate. We're going to Vegas. Have a little fun!"

"I guess." Jess sighed, turning around to sit next to her.

"So has he said anything to you about, you know..." She glared inquisitively at Jess.

"What?" Jess reached over to grab her glass, sipping it slowly and mindlessly swirling its contents in front of her.

"You know...this." Cece gestured around, then leaned forward toward her friend.

Jess glanced at Cece, then back to her glass. She approached her next statement very cautiously. "Well, I mean, I think he's happy for you guys. We might be worried you're rushing things a little, but..."

Cece forced a laugh and rolled her eyes. "Not about us, Jess. The two of YOU."

"Me and Nick?" Her eyes shot upward. "Getting married?! NO. No, of course not." She shook her head vigorously. "I mean, we've had a few conversations and we know it's something we can see in the future."

"But, the future is now, Jess. We're thirty-three!"

Jess just rolled her eyes. "Thank you Cece for reminding me of my age."

Cece reached out to slap her arm. "Come on, Jess. I'm serious. Don't you want to move on with your life?"

Jess sighed, placing her glass down on the table and standing up to check her reflection once more. "I don't know. I guess. I just don't want to push him. We have a really good thing going and..." Her voice trailed off softly as she turned her head toward the rack of white wedding dresses just past the large three-way mirror in front of her.

Cece stood up and walked toward her friend, placing her hands on her shoulders and pressing their heads together as they looked in the mirror. "Jess, I know you want kids. You're the whole reason we went for that ridiculous test."

"I know."

Cece smiled, her voice softer. "I just don't want you to get hurt, Jess."

"I know." Jess took a deep breath and shook her head. She turned, reaching out for Cece's arm and guiding her back toward the rack of red dresses. "Just drop it, okay? I'm happy,... Nick's happy. Let's just worry about your wedding for now, okay?"

"Jess..."

She frowned. "Why are you making this about Nick?" There was a long silence before Jess grabbed Cece's hand and spun her to look her in the eye. "Are you sure about this wedding?" Jess bit her lip at Cece's silence. "I mean, you've been back together with Schmidt for a month. He really hurt you, and..."

Cece shrugged off her friend's affection, pulling away from her grasp. "Look Jess, I'm tired of playing games alright? Did you forget that I have a limited amount of time here?"

"But that's not..."

"It's great that you and Nick have all this time to figure things out, but...I don't." Cece's piercing eyes stared into hers as Jess noticed a layer of tears forming on their surface.

Jess closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, speaking softly. "I'm not trying to change your mind. I'm not, Cece. But...this isn't a good enough reason to rush into something with a man that broke your heart more than once, you know?"

Cece started to say something, but just looked at her friend with a sad look in her eye. "I know you think this is a mistake, Jess. And you know what, it could be." She reached out to squeeze Jess' arm. "But I do love Schmidt, and no matter how fast it all might be, I think this is the right thing to do."

Jess nodded slowly, a strained smile forming across her lips. "Okay, Ceece. I'm going to trust that you know what you're doing."

"Thank you."

Jess took another deep breath. "Let's find you a wedding dress and get you to Vegas!"