If I Only Had the Heart

As a bridesmaid, Kylie figured she would have more responsibilities. In reality, all she had to do was get fitted for her dress. She was doing that today. As she chatted on the phone with Audrey while she drove towards the bridal shop, she tried to keep her mind off of the dance she and Matt shared a few nights ago. She tried to keep a mantra of it didn’t mean anything in her head at all times, but it didn’t work.

She sighed as she pulled into the empty parking lot of the bridal shop. She pushed the heavy door open and heard a chime come from above her head. She gulped at the site surrounding her. It was a vision of white, tulle, and satin. Everywhere you looked, there were wedding dresses.

She walked over to a display of an especially ugly black dress that had rips and chains and made her think it was something straight out of a Tim Burton story. While she was gawking at the non-traditional dress, she felt a tap on her arm. “Hello!” the salesperson practically screamed at her.

Her large five foot three frame matched her loud personality. Not only was this woman’s voice booming, but her outfit screamed “Look at me!” with it’s bright flowers and jewels all over it.

Kylie smiled at the woman and said, “I’m here for a dress fitting?”

“Oh yay! I love seeing woman try their wedding dresses on for the first time. There’s just so much emotion in them when they have finally found the perfect dress,” she smiled brightly. “Name?” the woman threw over her shoulder as she walked away from Kylie.

“Oh, no, I’m not here for a wedding dress fitting. I’m here for a bridesmaid dress fitting,” she corrected the lady as she hurried to catch up with her.

“Ah, silly me!” she giggled as she stopped abruptly in the middle of the store, causing Kylie to almost slam into her. “What's your name?”

“I’m Kylie Abbott, but the bride’s name is Audrey Flyzik. I’m not really sure whose name it’s under, though.”

The woman hurried over to the cash register and pulled a clipboard out from behind the counter. She flipped through the papers and finally exclaimed “Ah, yes! Here you are! A dress and a tux fitting.” Without giving Kylie any other directions, she hurried off, leaving Kylie alone.

She leaned against the counter and pulled her phone out, wondering if she had missed any calls from Audrey telling her or informing her that Matt would be here also. Of course, there was nothing. For some reason, Kylie wasn’t surprised in the least.

As she was scrolling through the text messages on her phone, something she did when she was bored, the bell over the front door chimed signaling the arrival of someone new. Kylie looked up out of curiosity and instinct and she wasn’t surprised when she saw him. He paused and looked around, obviously lost. Kylie chuckled and shook her head. His gaze quickly caught hers and he walked over to her. “Am I in the right place? Audrey said this was a tux shop too, but all I see is dresses everywhere.”

“You must be, because the crazy saleswoman who is currently getting my dress said Audrey scheduled one dress and one tux fitting. Where the tuxedos are is anyone’s guess, but they have to be here somewhere. Unless she’s doing the non-traditional thing and you’re wearing a dress,” Kylie said nonchalantly, trying to frighten Matt.

He laughed. It didn’t work. “Yeah, maybe. Do you even know what your dress looks like?”

Before she could answer, the woman came back. “Ah! You must be Matthew, yes?”

Matt smiled and nodded. “Perfect. Here’s your tux, and sweetie here’s your dress,” she said, handing over the pieces of clothing to the two of them. “The dressing rooms are over there and if you need anything just holler okay?”

Kylie smiled and nodded. “Thanks,” she said before the woman was off again. “She’s a speedy one.”

Matt laughed and nodded. “Yeah, she is. Come on though, let’s get this over with.”

The two went into their separate rooms and shut the curtains. Kylie pulled her dress out of the garment bag and smiled. Of course, in typical Audrey fashion, the dress wasn’t hideous. It didn’t have obnoxious frills or sequins all over it. It was a simple navy dress that went down to Kylie’s knees. There was a thin white ribbon that went around the dress under the bust and tied into a simple, small bow. She quickly undressed and put the dress on. She looked in the mirror and smiled. It was gorgeous. She turned around and reached behind herself to try and zip the dress up, but couldn’t reach it.

She groaned and stuck her head out of the room. The crazy saleswoman was no where in site. She sighed. “Matt? Are you dressed?”

“Yeah, just trying to figure out this damn tie,” he muttered, making Kylie smile.

“Come out, I’ll do it. I need you to come here and zip my dress up, though,” she said quickly. She could almost feel her body temperature rise and her cheeks turn red.

Matt chuckled, though, seemingly unfazed by her request. He stepped out and walked over to the room she was in and pushed the curtain open. “Turn around,” he said lightly. Then he gently tugged the fabric and zipped the dress up. “Good?”

She turned to face him and said, “I don’t know, you tell me.”

He couldn’t though. She was gorgeous, of course. He wasn’t expecting any less from her though. Suddenly, his heart was hit with a slight pain. A feeling of longing overtook him and he couldn’t speak. He smiled, as a sign that she was gorgeous. “Stunning,” he finally got out.

She smiled, and gestured to his tie, trying to change the subject. “Come here.” She reached up and quickly tied the bow-tie like the expert that she was. “There,” she said when she was finished. She took a step back and nodded in approval. “You clean up well, Flyzik,” she told him before she could stop herself. Suddenly, thoughts of their first unofficial date were invading her thoughts. She remembered the dress she wore and the nice shirt/tie/vest combination that Matt had pulled off. She remembered dancing with him and she remembered wanting to thank Squire over and over and over again for making her bring a date to the event.

Matt just smiled. “Thanks, Ky. I think we’re good to go, though. Mine fits, does yours?”

She nodded wordlessly, afraid that if she spoke she’d start crying.

Suddenly the saleswoman appeared. “Oh, you two look so good! Such a fine looking couple.” Kylie wanted to protest that they weren’t a couple, but she was still silent. “Do we need to make any changes?”

She shook her head and Matt said, “Nope, I think we’re good.”

“Oh wonderful. You two change and I’ll ring this stuff up.”

Kylie thanked her and turned to step back into her dressing room. Just as she was doing so, the bell above the door jingled, the arrival of a new customer being announced loud and clear. Kylie, again, turned around to see who it was out of pure curiosity.

She wasn’t surprised to see a beautiful brunette walking towards them. She was probably getting married and here to try her wedding dress on. Her wavy brown hair floated around her gracefully and her green eyes twinkled. She seemed kind of flouncy though, so she was probably late for her fitting Kylie assumed.

She should have learned that you never assume.

“Matt!” the girl called out. “Sorry I’m late… I get held over in a meeting at the office.”

Kylie looked to Matt, telepathically asking Who is this chick? He didn’t even look in her direction. “It’s cool,” he told her. When she was closer, the brunette hugged Matt tightly. Kylie’s skin crawled. “How are you Jade?”

“Oh, you know. Still late to everything in my life… hopefully I won’t be late to Audrey’s wedding too!” she laughed, laying her hand on Matt’s arm.

Kylie wanted to claw her eyes out. Instead, she cleared her throat so the two of them didn’t start making out in front of her, something they looked very close to doing.

The attention shifted over to the blonde. “Oh, hi there! I’m Jade,” the girl politely introduced herself. “I’m a good friend of Matt’s.” She paused to laugh and added, “And hopefully I’m his date to the wedding, as long as I don’t miss it!”

Kylie laughed with them, feeling obligated to do so. “I’m Kylie, I’m…” she stopped, letting her sentence trail off into space. Who am I? she wondered to herself. “I’m a friend of Audrey’s,” she said at the last minute, sneaking a glance at Matt to see his reaction. He looked relieved. Of course he looks relieved, I just saved his ass from a potentially very awkward situation.

As the two chatted, Kylie slipped into her dressing room. She shut the curtain and took a deep breath, quickly removing the dress from her body and putting it in the bag. She got dressed and walked out, where Matt and Jade were still talking. She wanted to roll her eyes, but she refrained. “Well, I’m going to pay for this and head out. I’ll tell Audrey that everything is done,” Kylie told Matt briefly. “It was nice meeting you Jade,” she smiled at the girl who had no idea what she was getting into.

Before Jade could say you too, Kylie hurried over to the register. She paid and then hightailed it out of the shop. She got in her car and took a deep breath before she looked up to leave. As she did, she saw Matt jogging over to her. When he finally reached her, she put her window down. “What?” she said, her tone short.

“I need a ride back to my place… I got a ride here.”

“Why don’t you ask Jade? She would probably be more than willing.”

“Kylie, why are you being so pissy?” Matt asked her, genuinely curious.

“It’s been a long day, and I just want to go back to Alex’s. Fair?”

Matt sighed. “Fine, fair enough. I’ll see you later,” he said, letting her leave.

She breathed a sigh of relief, happy to know that when she got to Alex’s, where she was staying until she and the guys went back to New Jersey tomorrow, she would have a few people to talk to. She needed to get her head on straight and figure out exactly what she wanted.