Chapter 71 The Puffball
Pam came out of the change room in a dress that did not suit her at all. It looked like it wouldn’t suit anyone. It had a short skirt that gathered in at the hem, making her butt look comically big. The neckline seemed to have some sort of paperbag-like fabric sticking up all around her chest. The whole thing made her look like an over-decorated puffball.
“Okay, I know this is a bit unusual,” Pam said, “but I really like this one. What do you all think?”
Pam’s mom and dad, sister and several friends including Byron and Emily sat around in a semi-circle as the bride-to-be stood in the center. Everyone stared at her, most people humming in uncertainty. No one dared to say that it was horrible.
“Haha! April Fools!” Pam exclaimed, laughing uproariously, “Isn’t this the worst dress ever? I just wanted to see your faces when you saw it.”
“Pam!” her mother reproved, “You’re being silly. And Laurent is probably not impressed with you making fun of his dresses.”
“It’s fine, it’s fine,” the shop owner said. “I’m going to throttle you later,” he added in a dramatic whisper.
“It’s not even April 1st anymore,” Emily complained. But then she started laughing too.
“Okay, this was just a bit of fun,” Pam said, “I’ll put on some real dresses now.”
Now that they knew she wasn’t serious about it, everyone went on laughing about the horrible dress for a few more minutes while she changed.
“See? I told you it would be fun,” Emily said.
Byron didn’t want to come at first, but he also didn’t want to offend the bride, who had specifically invited him along with Emily.
“I could see you in that dress,” he joked.
Emily wondered if Pam wanted him to come just for his fashion advice, or if her friend was trying to get both of them in the mood for matrimony.
Maybe her plan was working because when Pam came out again, wearing a dress fit for a Greek goddess, everyone sighed with admiration, and Emily did wonder for a moment how she would look in a dress like that.
The high waistline and flowing diaphanous fabric made Pam look divine as she walked gracefully towards her audience.
“It’s beautiful!” her mother said.
“Totally gorgeous,” her friends agreed.
“Hmm... I can’t decide,” Pam said, “this one, or the first one?”
Everyone shouted at her to stop being ridiculous.
She tried on a few other dresses, but it was agreed that the goddess dress was the one to wear on her wedding day.
“Hey, I hope you’re not disappointed that I didn’t ask you to design my dress,” Pam said as she took Emily aside later. “I promised Laurent I would get a dress from him, and you know how he gets. He’s very jealous.”
“Of course,” Emily said, “I knew you had a prior commitment.”
“But... since we never said anything about bridesmaid dresses, how would you like to design those?”
“I would love to!” Emily exclaimed.
“Only could you make them... not too attractive?” Pam asked in a hushed voice.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Emily said, “You’re not doing the whole putting the bridesmaid down thing to make yourself stand out? You’re already going to look beautiful in your white dress.”
“I don’t know... Some of my friends are way too attractive.”
“Pam, I can’t believe I’m hearing this from you. You’re always so confident!”
“I feel like I’ve gained a bit of weight lately,” Pam confessed.
“I don’t see it,” Emily stated. “And I’m going to make your bridesmaids look pretty.”
“You could design something that looks like the puffball dress...” Pam suggested with a sly smile.
“If it’s what you really want,” Emily replied, “but you should really think about this.”
As Emily rode home with Byron, she felt extremely annoyed.
“Sometimes I hate weddings,” she confessed, “They bring out the worst in people.”
“What do you mean?” Byron asked.
“It seems like the time to show off in front of all your friends while putting them down at the same time.”
“That sounds about right.” Byron snickered. “But it doesn’t have to be like that.”
He looked over at her, and Emily felt both alarmed and cheered because she guessed that he intended to marry her one day. Of course, that day was still somewhere far in the future...
