safety// z.malik

xliii. dress

"God, hurry up, Syd," Ash complains, tapping his foot against the ground.

"Let me finish making my coffee, asshole," I mutter, not loud enough for my mother to hear.

"Do you have to go?" Zayn whispers, pressing a kiss to my forehead.

"Ew, Zayn," Ashton whines.

"Ah, shut up, Ash. Go wait in the car," I mumble. "And yes, my love, I do have to go. Or I'll never get a dress and we'll never get married."

Ash listens, sauntering out of the flat.

"I told you, we should've eloped in Vegas, when we had the chance," Zayn jokes.

"I know, I know. It would've spared us all this shit," I chuckle. "But I gotta go. You're family is gonna be there soon, and it looks pretty bad to have the wedding party there before the bride."

At the bridal boutique, a middle-aged lady, Caroline, takes Ash, Mum and I into a private room. The remainder of Zayn's family, plus Louis, is there waiting for us.

"I'm so sorry that I'm late," I apologize. "You guys know Zayn."

"He's never been on time, unless he had to get on our good side," Tricia laughs.

"You're not that late, but let's get on with it," Caroline grins. "First of all, what are you looking for?"

"I was thinking a ball gown, but I'm open to other options. My only 'no's are no lace, no sleeves, no short," I shrug.

"Mum?"

"Well, Trish, Yaser, and I think that her fiancée just wants her to show off her body, but also her personality. As much as he loves her body, he fell in love with her mind first. We were talking about mermaid and fit-and-flare styles, with lots of bling," Mum explains.

"Brother?"

"I just want my sister to be happy. As long as she's happy in the dress, she's golden."

"Sister-in-laws?"

Don opens her mouth first. "We were discussing this, and Liyha, Saf and I think that bling and ball gowns are her type of thing. Definitely no short dresses, and no lace."

"Best friend?"

"She needs a stunning, simple dress that will showcase her natural beauty. Nothing too glam, that will overpower her presense."

"Thank you. Sydney, would you like to follow me?"

I nod, following Caroline out of the room. She opens a door to a white room, filled with racks upon racks of dresses.

"Budget?"

"Preferably as low as we can get, but no more than eight-hundred-fifty pounds," I answer.

"Follow me," she waves me on, with a smile.

Once I'm in the racks, I'm so overwhelmed by the number of dress possibilities. I pick out an a-line ballgown, and a traditional ballgown, before throwing them over my shoulder.

"What do you think of feathers?" Caroline questions, holding up a feathery, ugly (in my opinion) dress.

"No way," I breathe.

"Bubbles?"

"Why not?"

"That's four," she nods. "I have a mermaid style that would look absolutely gorgeous on you. Let's go get you in that dress."

I grin, following her back to the room. Behind the curtain, I slip the dress on. She clips it onto my body, letting me take a look at it. The first one, is the bubbly dress she had chosen. I don't like it very much. I think the bubbles are a bit too much. I don't want glam and powerful, I want simple and stunning.