Fly Me to the Moon

oo2 | Say Yes to the Dress

"Um, hi..?" says the mysterious person who happens to be at my door.

"Oh. My. God... You're not my mom," I blurt out. "Sorry I was just- my mom had knocked before and-"

She laughs and enters the room admiring the vintage posters. "No worries girl, I know you just moved in, it must be tiring," she says without taking her sight away from the decorated wall.

"You have no idea." I sigh. "Oh and not to be mean or anything but... Who exactly are you?"

She giggles and finally turns her sight to me. "What happened to my manners? I'm Liana, but please don't call me that, my friends call me Ana." She offers me her hand and I shake it, still confused. "I'm your new neighbor!"

"Pleasure to meet you, Ana, I'm Fira."

"Well the pleasure is mine," she replies with a warm smile. "I came here to welcome the new neighbors, and your mother told me to go upstairs to meet her lovely daughter, who immediately implied we were moving to Sweden." She giggles.

"I can't tell you how sorry I am for that."

"Forget about it, do you want some pie?" she offers instead.

Immediately after those words come out of her mouth, I know we are going to be good friends. "Please!"

We laugh and run downstairs, where we find my mom chatting with Ana's. "Honey, let me introduce you to Mrs Clemm, she's our new neighbor."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs Clemm, I'm Fira."

"Oh, please call me Donna," she says with a soft smile on her face. "I see you've already met Liana, she can talk a little too much some times, please excuse her."

Ana rolls her eyes. "Was that really necessary?"

My mom and I chuckle, when she seems to remember something. "Oh dear, Mrs Clemm invited me to brunch this evening to introduce me to the other neighbors, so I can't go with you to see the dresses," she says. "I thought maybe you could go with Liana instead."

"Absolutely yes!" Ana exclaims. "I will most certainly go and I'll make sure Fira gets the prettiest dresses ever!"

"It sounds like a plan to me," Mrs Clemm says. "But first... who wants some pie?"

We spend a couple of hours enjoying the most delightful pumpkin pie before my mom drops Ana and I at her friend's house. We are now looking for beautiful formal dresses and none seem to make the cut.

"No, no and no," I say while observing a defeated Liana with a bunch of dresses on her arms. She goes back to the wardrobes and takes about five more minutes to return with another sparkly dress and a big smile drawn all over her face.

"Yes," she insists while showing it to me.

"No," I reply as my eyes examine the dress, "It's just... Too much."

"Please, do it for me! I know it would look gorgeous on you," she dramatically pleads. "It's not about the dress, it's about the model."

"And I can guarantee I'm not a model, so, once again, no."

"Whatever," she responds before losing herself again in the immense sea of dresses.

As Liana disappears I begin to think what was I even doing here. I would've never imagined ending up searching for fancy dresses for my new singing job, when I'm everything but a singer. I'm starting to panic. Maybe it isn't too late and I can call all of this off and go find a proper job. Maybe-

"Found it!" Ana's voice interrupts my negative thoughts. "This dress screams Fira."

"Let me see!"

She shows me what was a long, white, silk slip dress. "It's beautiful, Ana," I say while admiring the cowl neckline. "Let's just hope it fits."

I try it on and can't help falling in love with it. It fits me perfectly. The soft silk hugs my silhouette and suddenly makes me feel confident again. The Fira I see in the mirror is somehow a grown and elegant woman. I check myself one more time in the mirror before leaving the bathroom to show Ana.

"Oh. My. God. You could actually be a model. The dress seems to be part of you!" And there goes the overly exaggerated Ana again. "You know, I could put my show of  Say Yes to the Dress, with Liana Clemm."

I chuckle. "Okay, okay, Ana, I'm going to give this one to you." I raise my hands in defeat. "It's a gorgeous dress."

"I know! If it wasn't rescued by me, who knows what horrible future would await this gorgeousness."

Of course, this is only the first of three dresses we need to get. So we spend what seems like infinite hours until we finally find two other equally beautiful dresses that are appropriate for the occasion.

After letting my mom's friend know our choices, we thank her for the favor and promise to take good care of them. As we triumphantly leave the house I receive a new message from my mom.

"Shoot!"

"What is it?" Ana asks worriedly.

"I start work tonight."