Chapter 9 - Malory.

"Malory!!"

Malory ran towards Cara with glee and excitement and the two ladies almost lost their balance with their arms around each other.
Cara started laughing as she held unto Malory for support and the both of them hugged each other again.

"Hey! I've missed you!!"

"Me too! I wanted to come pick you up at the airport but it seemed like you had other plans."

Cara said as she winked suggestively and Malory rolled her eyes

"Oh! Its not like that! You know it's been a while since Tom and I saw each other."

"Besides I knew you would be at work. I didn't want to bother you."

Cara waved her friends comment away as they walked into the bridal shop. The other bridesmaids would join them later but Cara just needed to have everything else ready.
She had been putting off so much of the wedding planning that she had forgotten that her bridesmaids and maids of honour didn't have dresses yet.

She wanted to make sure everything was perfect. They had limited time to do everything else they wanted to do, each and everyday the wedding date drew closer.

"Picking up my best friend a bother? No, never!"

Malory chuckled as she cupped Cara's cheeks. She and Cara had been friends for a very long time and they knew each other like the back of their hands. They used to do everything together when they were still friends, they even told each other their secrets, that was how close they were.

They even almost looked alike. They both had dark hair except Malory's was a light brown rather than Cara's dark brown hair. And Malory was shorter than Cara and she had also been wearing glasses for as long as she could walk.

"How are you doing though? You looked very stressed."

Cara touched her forehead. It was true, she did look and feel tired more than half of the time.

"Oh you have no idea. Thank God for my wedding planner or else I would have gone bananas!!"

"Well, fear not! I'm here. And how's the groom?'

"He's good. Really."

There wasn't a lot Malory also knew about her relationship with Alex, But Malory had always felt they were more compatible with each other because they were both cool headed people with similar personalities.
Malory thought wrong.

There was a lot she didn't know.

And slowly Cara was able to see the kind of person that her fiance was.

"Hello, my name is Grace, I'm your consultant today."

A woman came out of the dressing room with a smile and Malory and Cara said hello to her. She led them to the consulting room where Malory and Cara both dropped their purses.

"Where's the rest of the entourage?"

The woman asked as she looked around and Cara shrugged.

"They'll be here in a few minutes. I just wanted to pick out a couple of dresses for them to try. And my best friend here is my maid of honour so she needs a dress too."

Cara said as she laid her hand on Malory's shoulders and Grace smiled widely.

"Oh well! That's good. I'm sure you'll absolutely love what we have in store for you."

"You mentioned the colour lavender earlier. Any other specific details you would like!"

Grace added and Cara shook her head, she only had a few popular designs and she hoped that her bridesmaids would like it too.

"I'm not sure. Would you let me take a look with you?"

Cara asked and the woman nodded.

"Sure, please come with me."

Together Malory and Cara examined styles and picked out the ones they thought was best. They spent more time picking a dress for the maid of honour.

And that was because Malory was looking for something very simple and Cara wanted her to wear something really nice.
Her friend had a great figure but she was always hiding it under baggy and unattractive clothing.

They were able to agree later on a lavender dress with an A line skirt. It had a low back and small sleeves and it looked like something Malory would like. Cara was also in love with the details on her lace top.

When they went back to the consulting area they met the rest of the three bridesmaids. Stephanie, her fiance sister, Jean and a colleague from work Lucia.

"Finally! You guys are here."

Malory said as she walked in with two dresses still with the hanger on. Cara said hello to all of them, especially Stephanie who looked like she would rather be hitting her head on the wall than going dress shopping. Her mother had made sure that Stephanie became her bridesmaid.

A position that Stephanie had accepted begrudgingly.

"I'm glad you could make it."

Stephanie smirked.

"Yes, I surprised myself too. But It's not going to be so bad trying out pretty dresses."

"Yeah, it's not so bad."

"Hey Cara!!"

Jean called out as she waved and Cara waved back at her.

The dinner date had been very awkward, for her especially. And maybe Nicholas. She and Alex had almost gotten into another argument and it was more than glaring that there was something wrong between them. Jean on the other hand seemed to be latching on Nicholas's every word and Cara almost felt sorry for her.

Nicholas didn't look like he was ready for a relationship and Jean seemed to be more than ready to force one on him.

Alex and Nicholas also threw shades at each other all though the dinner and Cara was pissed that Alex had planned the double date exactly for that reason. Fortunately Nicholas didn't let it get to him and and Alex had left in frustration.

He dropped her off at her apartment and drove off and Cara had been relieved. All through the dinner she and Nicholas barely spoke to each other but they had stolen glances at each other all night. 

"How are you doing Jean?"

Cara said and Jean smiled.

"Oh I'm doing good. Really good. How's the whole wedding stuff going on?"

"Oh it's going well. So, I've picked out a couple of dresses for you guys, would you like to try them out already ?"

"Sure! I'd love to."

Grace directed the bridesmaids to the dressing room while Cara called to reschedule the cake tasting with the baker. They had not yet agreed on the colours and designs and time was already running out.

"What's wrong?"

Malory asked as Cara rubbed her face.

Cara sighed.

"I have to reschedule my cake tasting. I just remembered that I have a work thing."

Malory nodded slowly as she held her friend's arm. She felt like something was bothering Cara but Cara seemed to be hiding it perfectly well.

"Are you okay?"

She asked and Cara looked at her strangely.

"Yea, why do you ask?"

Malory shrugged.

"Because you look really stressed out. And I just feel you have a lot on your mind."

"Oh Malory. Stop worrying about me. I'm fine!!"

"Are you really?"

Malory raised her eyebrows and Cara sighed. There was really no hiding from her best friend. She could lie to her but Malory would always see right through her and her words.

"We'll talk later."

She whispered and Malory nodded her head, she understood.

"Here they are in Charisse Walsh."

Grace said as the three bridesmaids stepped out in a sweet heart neckline lavender dress with a short full skirt and a huge bow at the sides.

Malory and Amelia glanced at each bother. They both didn't like it.

"Well, I think we can both agree this dress looks better on the hanger."

Cara said and Malory nodded.

"I agree. That bow is just so childish."

Grace walked to see Stephanie's dress and fumbled with her dress for a while.

"I assure you the bow is detachable."

She said as she raised up the bow after detaching it.

"What do you think girls? Do you like it?"

Stephanie shook her head.

"I hate it."

"I agree."

Lucia said and Jean nodded.

"I definitely think I'd like something a bit longer."

"Okay then. Shall we bring out dress number two then?"

Grace asked and they all nodded.

"Yes "

They all answered simultaneously and Grace hurried the bridesmaids back into the dressing rooms.

Cara turned to Malory as she remembered something.

"Remember my surprise engagement party?"

Malory nodded.

"Yea, how could I forget how drunk you got?"

Cara cringed.

"Oh not that! I don't want to remember that."

"Do you remember Nicholas being there? Alex's twin brother?"

"Ohh!!! Yea. But he left so quickly I didn't have a chance to say hi. What happened?"

Cara shook her head. She just wanted to confirm that he came at all.

"Nothing. I just wanted to know."

"Hey! Cara can you come here for a minute? I need your help."

Jean said as she peeped out from the dressing room.

"Sure! Okay!"

Cara walked into the dressing room and met Jean putting her hair in a bun.

"What do you need help with?"

She asked as she looked at the dress and Jean scoffed.

"Just kidding. I just really needed to talk to you."

"Oh, about what?"

"Oh! It's about Nicholas."

"Nicholas?"

Cara repeated as her heart skipped a beat.

Jean nodded as her look turned serious.

"Yea! Nicholas."