Stay With Me

All four of us were huddled around the computer back at the house, our eyes scanning tons of photos of wedding gowns.

“Ooh! I like the simplicity of this one,” Julie pointed out, finding a very simple white dress.

I agreed and we all giggled in excitement.

“What are you lovely ladies giggling over?” Tom asked as he came to look over our shoulders.

“We’re looking for dress ideas,” I smiled. “Wanna help?”

“Sure!”

He took a seat on my lap and I poked his side.

“This isn’t what I had in mind, Mr. Fletcher.”

Shrugging, he took over the computer and started scrolling through the photos.

I rolled my eyes and studied the pictures as I put my chin on his shoulder in a friendly manner.

Tom pulled up a photo and glanced at me. “I like this one. You’d look pretty fit in it.”

“Don’t tell Danny that you think I’m fit,” I stuck my tongue out.

“Yeah. Let’s try and keep Danny happy,” Kayla agreed.

“He’d just agree,” Tom replied. “What do you think of it though?”

“I think it’s really pretty. I like how it looks really comfortable and not all poofy-like. I just don’t like the whole showing my arms thing.”

Tom chuckled, “It’s not like we haven’t seen your shoulders before.”

The girls nodded, agreeing with Tom.

“There’s nothing wrong with showing a little arm,” Katie replied.

“Danny’s seen more anyway,” Julie added.

Tom laughed loudly and gave Julie a high-five.

“Ew, ew, ew…” Katie repeated, rubbing her temples.

Kayla smiled, “Alright, leave Syd alone about that stuff.”

“Thanks,” I smiled kindly, curving my body around Tom so I could reach the keyboard.

“What in the world are you doing?” Julie asked.

I could just see her facial expression.

“Tom, click on the search thing, please,” I ordered, ignoring the question.

He did as I said and I typed in “wedding gowns with lace sleeves,” hitting the enter button afterward.

I sat back in my prior position and let Tom scroll through the photos.

Suddenly, I screamed. “Ah! That one! I like the sleeves on it!”

“Ouch! Not in the ear! It’s not like I need my hearing or anything,” Tom complained, covering his ear.

“Sorry,” I blushed and then poked him. “Please click on that one.”

Tom obeyed and we all studied the picture.

“I like it,” Kayla said.

“The first on is better,” Katie stated.

Julie nodded, “I agree with Katie.”

“Well, I like the second one,” Tom butted in.

“How about this,” I started, “I’ll use the simple look of the first one, the style of the second and the sleeves of the third.”

Kayla clapped her hands once and held them together. “Love it!”

“Me, too!” Katie and Julie grinned.

“It’ll look fantastic on you,” Tom complimented, getting off my lap and standing by Kayla.

“Thanks, Tom,” I grinned and then turned back to the computer. “Bridesmaids’ dresses now!”

“Yay!” the girls squealed in excitement.

Tom copied them after they quieted down, making us giggle at him.

“What colors do you want again?” Julie asked.

“Green and black,” I answered, typing it into the search engine.

A bunch of images came up and we scrolled through them, Tom included. Sadly, none seemed to really satisfy all of us.

“Shouldn’t these be easy to find?” I whined. “This is honestly ridiculous.”

“What about those?” Katie questioned, pointing to a photo that had two styles of dresses.

Kayla smiled, “I like the strapless one.”

“Me, too,” Katie added.

“I’ll take the first one,” Julie replied.

We high-fived and cheered and Tom waited until we were silent to copy us like before.

“So what do we do now?” Kayla asked.

“Print off the photos and take a trip to a dress shop.” I looked at Tom with a sweet smile.

“Tom, would you drive us there… please?”

Tom shrugged, “I have nothing better to do.”

“Sweet!”

After the pictures were printed, the five of us loaded up in Tom’s Mini and then we took our road trip to a London dress shop.

The five of us walked into a small dress shop in the middle of town, the door ringing a bell as it opened.

“Hello!” a cheery woman greeted as she bustled over to us. “My name’s Susan. How may I help you?”

Everyone nudged me toward the woman and I blushed. “Um, well, I have a wedding in four months and I was hoping to get some help with my dress as well as my bridesmaids’ dresses.”

“Oh how lovely!” Susan grinned. “I’ll be more than happy to help you out. What do you have in mind for your dress?”

I handed her the three photos for my dress and began explaining what I wanted. “I want a dress that’s almost exactly like the second one here, but I want to keep it as simple as this one. But I want sleeves similar to the ones on this dress.”

Susan nodded, “Follow me and I’ll see what I can draw up.”

Silently, we followed behind Susan as she led us to a drawing board toward the back of the store. She began drawing and she conversed with us, asking my opinion occasionally on what she was drawing.

“So is this the lucky man?” Susan asked, glancing at Tom.

“No,” Tom and I answered in unison.

“It’s actually one of his friends," I added with a red face.

“Oh! Pardon me for assuming,” Susan apologized and then smiled up at me. “What would you like the sleeves to be made of?”

“Lace. No, wait.” I looked at the second dress, “Is there a way to make the sleeves out of the same material this part here is made of?”

“Why of course! Do you want them to still be in the same style as the sleeves here are?”

“That’s fine,” I smiled.

She nodded and continued drawing.

Tom wrapped his arms around my shoulders and Kayla’s to look over our shoulders, making us blush.

His smiled at us curiously, “What?”

I chuckled at him, “You don’t have to put your arm around us to watch.”

“I know,” he kept his smile, his eyes quickly shifting to Kayla and back.

I rolled my eyes and wrapped my arm around his waist. “You are such a boy, Tom.”

His smile grew and I hugged him with one arm, taking my arm away from him just as Susan finished the drawing.

“What do you think?” she asked me.

“It looks almost like the dress Princess Leia wears in A New Hope,” Tom replied, earning a jab in the side from me.

“That because it’s only a drawing, dork,” I giggled and then smiled at Susan. “I really like it. If you think that it needs something more on it, I give you the power to add something to it.”

Susan smiled, “Alright. Is that all you needed help with?”

“Oh, um, no,” I answered, handing her the photo of the two styles of bridesmaids dresses. “I need two of the strapless dress and then one of the other.”

“I think we might have something similar to this.”

“Do they have green on them?”

“We can arrange for that. How about I go ahead and get down your measurements for now and when I get your dress done, we can do a fitting with all the dresses, alright?” Susan offered.

“Okay. Who’s first?”

My friends looked at me expectantly and I sighed.

“I guess I’m first then.”

Like a pro, Susan took a tape measure and started her work, jotting down all the info on a sheet of paper.

Once I was finished, she got the other three girls up on the platform, measuring them as well. Kayla was up last and I watched Tom watch her in a non-subtle way. It was amusing to see.

“You’re Katie’s escort, Tom,” I whispered to him. “Quit staring at Kayla because it’s not subtle and you’re drooling.”

Tom smiled and whispered back. “I may be escorting Katie, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be interested in another one of your friends.”

I started swaying, hitting my hip against his, and I smirked at him. He smirked back and did the same as I, but a bit harder. It was funny when he winced in pain and I didn’t.

When Susan had all of the girls’ measurements, she asked me to write down my number and then she told me she’d call when the dresses were in.

“Thank you so much,” I thanked.

“It was my pleasure. The wedding is in four months, right?”

I nodded, “Yep.”

“Then I will have your dresses done as soon as possible,” Susan promised.

“Thanks again.”

She bowed her head, “Good luck with your wedding and all of you have a great day.

“Bye!” we all said, walking out of the store.

I bumped my hip against Tom’s as we walked to get his attention, but it made me look stupid, so everyone laughed at me.

“Oh poo on you,” I giggled and then linked my arm with Tom’s. “Guess what?”

“What?” he answered in a question.

“You and the boys are going to find your tuxedos within the next week because I’m not letting you guys wait until the last minute.”

Tom frowned, “Do we have to?”

“Yes,” I grinned, letting go of his arm and linking both my arms with Julie and Katie. Kayla linked arms with Julie and Tom walked behind us.

“If fans find you, we’ll meet you at home eventually!” I exclaimed as the four of us began skipping towards his car down the street.

Tom was about to say okay, but then he realized he didn’t really want to get mobbed my fans.

“Wait!” he called, running after us.

We all laughed and wouldn’t leave Tom alone as he drove us back home.