Page 60 of The Winning Ticket

“I’ll know it when I see it,” Morgan says in response, and I hear Annelisa mumble something to herself on the other side of the wall, which sounds distinctly like ‘this is torture’.

I couldn’t agree more. It’s been two hours, and I’ve lost count of how many dresses we’ve tried on.

This is the third store we’ve been in. Kylie and Tara have wandered off because they aren’t ‘having fun anymore’, as Kylie had loudly declared, and are now checking out clothes in another department. I wish I were with them rather than here, watching my sister pull face after face at each outfit the poor attendant presented us with.

I stick my head out the door and glare at my sister. “Morgan, why don’t you go and look for whatever it is you’ve envisioned so that Lis and I don’t end up walking out of these rooms and strangling you?”

“That’s a good idea. I’ll be back.” She grins at me and bounces to her feet before floating off toward the formal dress department.

“Thank god for you, Bri. I’m reaching the end of my patience now,” Annelisa’s voice drifts through the door.

“I’m just glad she gets no say in organising her hen’s party if this is the shit we have to deal with.” I step back into my sundress and put all the dresses back on their hangers before lugging them to the rack. Annelisa follows behind, looking exhausted.

“You okay? You’ve been pretty quiet this morning.”

She smiles at me, though the smile doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “Yeah, I just had a bit going on lately with work and home stuff. I hadn’t realised how difficult this dress excursion would be – otherwise, I would have been paying more attention to all those Pinterest links she’s been sending me.” She pulls her phone out of her handbag. “And, of course, the guys have finished suit shopping and are back at the apartment with beers.” She shows me a selfie that Will has sent her, with the three guys kicking back on the sun loungers in their boardies.

I groan. “So not fair.”

“Guys have it so much easier, right?”

We head back out onto the shop’s main floor, and I spy Morgan’s blonde head peeking over the racks in a completely different section from where I thought she’d be.

“Why aren’t you in the formal wear section?” Annelisa asks.

Morgan spins to face us, holding up two ice-blue dresses in different styles. Both are entirely different to anything else she’s had us try on.

“Because these are perfect! Here, these are the ones, I feel it.” She shoves them into our hands. “I promise, no more after this.”

Annelisa and I exchange a look before turning to face Morgan, who grins back at us with wide eyes.

“You swear it?” I eye her, not sure I trust her.

“I swear it,” Morgan replies, drawing a cross over her heart.

“Fine,” Annelisa says, and we head back to the changing rooms.

“Morgan, if this was your vision, why were we trying on all those other dresses?” I ask, slipping into the simple halter dress she picked for me.

I’m loathe to admit it, but it’s perfect. It’s made of a light, flowing material that floats over my curves without clinging to them, ending at the knee.

I step out of the dressing room at the same time as Annelisa. While the colour matches mine, hers is a single-shoulder maxi dress that hangs to her ankles and floats around her as she spins, a broad smile on her face.

“I knew it! These are the ones. Tara, Kylie, get in here!” Morgan sticks her head out of the dressing area, and moments later, the others join us, clapping excitedly when they see us.

“Oh, these are gorgeous,” Tara says, moving to her sister’s side to run her fingers over the soft fabric. “This is stunning on you, Lis.”

“All we need to find now are the silver shoes to match, and you ladies are done,” Morgan says.

I shake my head. “No, no, no. No more. Shoes can be something that Annelisa and I will do ourselves and send you photos when we find them, but I am not entering any more stores today.” I cross my arms and glare at my sister.

“Fine, I concede.” She sits back down, and I can tell she’s as over it all as we are, despite seemingly full of energy.

“Thank God,” Annelisa says with a groan. “All I want to do now is collapse on a couch. Movies at my place?”

Kylie interrupts before I can agree to an afternoon on Annelisa and Will’s couch. “Actually, we were hoping to steal Bri for a bit.”

“No worries. Let’s pay for these, and then we can head off,” Morgan says to Annelisa.

---