"Come up to the second level, yeah, we're here." Ashley informed him over the line as James pushed the doors into the bridal boutique. Today was one of Ashley and Tom's fitting sessions and as a good friend of the bride and groom he was supposed to be there to give 'moral support' even though it mean burning a precious Saturday. In other words, he was errand boy.
"Yes, I've got you toffee nut frappe as per your instructions; yes skim milk, your highness." He had his phone between his cheek and shoulder as he got up the stairs.
Really, why was he here again? He could have brought his kitten out or something.
"Thanks for coming bro." Tom gave him a fist bump and took his order of café latte over gratefully. "Women and dresses."
"You're finally here!" James' peripheral vision caught a glimpse of white coming from the direction of where he assumed were the changing rooms. "I'm so hungry I could eat a cow." Ashley smiled and gathered her skirts while making herself comfortable on one of the couches.
"Where's Henz and Kendra?"
"They're downstairs, turns out that Kendra know the photographer that is doing our wedding shoot and they're discussing ideas." Tom answered for his fiancée who had just started on her turkey bacon sandwich. "Baby, here." He cleaned the corner of her lips where there was a spot of sauce.
Ashley looked up and gave him an eye smile.
"Yikes, please. I'm not invisible." James grimaced at the intimate action.
"Whatever."
"Tommy!" Kendra's voice filled the quiet surroundings, "Bring Ashley down when she's out of the changing room, we've got some new suggestions for you two!"
At the mention of her name, Ashley quickly stuffed the half eaten sandwich into James' hands before pulling Tom down the stairs.
Someone remind him why was he here again? James thought as he put the sandwich aside and picked up a random magazine. The day here was going to be spent waiting anyway. A few pages in, he heard a voice coming from the direction of the changing rooms.
"Ash? Ashley?" The voice called out uncertainly, "Can you come over here for a bit? I need some help with the zip."
It was Nadine.
James wanted to pretend he didn't hear anything but it was useless, there wasn't anyone else around to assist her and who knew when the rest would come back up? With an inward groan he stood up and walked towards the changing area behind a curtained wall.
There were four changing rooms in the area, each with a mini pedestal and a full length mirror. Long bronze curtains were used as a separator so that it became an enclosed space for the brides to be. Only one of the rooms had its curtain pulled closed at the moment.
"Ash?" Nadine called out again when she heard footsteps on the carpeted flooring.
The same time she pulled the curtains apart James gave a feeble reply, "They're uhm, downstairs."
For a few seconds, nothing, or no one moved.
"C-can you help me with this?" She gestured to the zip that still had a third of it not pulled together while holding onto the front of her dress with the other hand.
James nodded and moved closer. She had her back to him and was facing the mirror, her long hair was pinned and pulled to one side of her shoulder.
He tugged at the zip lightly, it felt like déjà vu for a moment. Both of her hands held onto the front of her dress. It was so quiet they swore they could hear the clock ticking on the wall outside.
