A House Of My Own

Lace

The bride to be arrived on my doorstep 2 minutes early. I don't know what I was expecting, the only thing I knew of her was her measurements, but she exceeded all expectation. Her hair was short, like buzz cut short, what was left dyed a mossy green. She wore layers of green and brown skirts and shawls over warm leggings and boots. She looked like she might have materialised from out of the forest itself.

"Thulin, HI!" she offered, scooping me up into a hug and walking into my cabin as if she were an old friend.

"Day, lovely to meet you" I return. Following her in, I offer her a cup of tea.

"Mm, yes please. The drive out here is stunning, how'd you manage to snag this spot?" she asks, taking off one scalf and sitting at the small dining table.

"Oh, I just got lucky. Got sick of the city just as this place came onto the market" I say, brewing the tea.

"hmm. And what's it like having no one about at all, must be quite freeing"

"Well, I have a neighbor, a few acres that way," motioning in Dorians direction. "but he sticks to himself most of the time, quite a handy man though"

We spent the rest of the morning drinking tea and gossiping while I fitted her to the mock up and brainstormed ideas for the final dress. Thulin was a really good customer, especially for my first bride and the appointment went off without a hitch. Her partner, Croft, was a florist in the town over and they were studying to be a marine biologist. They'd proposed to her on their research vessel, with a rare urchin instead of a ring. Thulin couldn't stop gushing at how much she loved them. It made me feel very warm inside to help her out for her special day.

In the end we decided on lace, layered, like her skirts were so that she looked like a forest fairy. I showed her how I could intersperse the lace with tulle for a fuller skirt and create the bodice with a more structured material before overlaying more lace. Finally the sleeves would be large bishop sleeves, pooling at her wrists each made with gausy chiffon and lace details. The whole thing covered in small silk flowers.

"what will acroft wear?" I asked, intruiged as to their choice.

"Oh, they're so last minute, I'm sure they'll think of something on the fly, probably the week before. But I don't care, they look gorgeous in everything!"

"well if they need any ideas send them my way, I'm sure I can work some magic."

She smiled at my suggestion, taking off the mock up and dissappearimg behind the changing room curtain.

***

After Thulin had left I settled down to some of my household chores. Cleaning the studio, washing dishes, folding laundry. The mornings events had me thinking about love. And marriage. What it must be like, to want to be with one other person forever and ever. Seemed daunting to me. Obviously I haven't ever felt like I needed a monogamous relationship, or felt strongly enough for one person that I though they could be it for me. But still I thought about it. I thought about it a lot.

***