Page 16 of Mister Stark

She led the way towards a private area and into a room with hundreds of wedding gowns hanging from racks. Some had a clear plastic covered overtop of them while others didn’t and displayed their true beauty. But all I saw was white.

Skylights were overhead, with sunlight beaming through, and a dressing room was off to the far side. There was a small stage in the centre of it all and it attracted my attention. It held mirrors to catch every angle of a dress. The perfect dress would hug me tight and I knew this was where I’d find the perfect dress for me.

Sandra wandered to a spot at the rack with a long row of wedding gowns, picked out three, and handed them to me. “These are the best dresses for the style you envisioned for your wedding day and they are my absolute favorite. Please, go try them on and come out when you have your perfect dress.”

“This is so exciting!” Paisley exclaimed as her voice echoed within the big room and she pushed me towards the fitting room. “Hurry up and go find your dream dress.”

I beamed brightly and didn’t wait a moment longer as I made my way towards the dressing room. It was purple inside, with a bright chandelier overhead and a tall mirror inside. The enormous mirror captured every inch of me, but my excited face reflected at me.

I unhooked one of the wedding dresses from the velvet hanger. It was a dress with white satin and a flowered lace design overtop. I quickly discarded my clothing in rushed excitement and tried it on. It flowed over me. It wasn’t the one. I took it off and eyed the next one with a wide ball gown bottom. It had a princess appeal to it and it was the perfect fit, but again, it wasn’t my wedding dress.

“Okay, save the best for last.” I exhaled with impatience and hoped this was the one.

It easily came off of the black velvet hanger and the gown fell over the top of my head. The dress hugged me in all the right places and my eyes sparkled at the sight. The dress gleamed in the mirror and I looked up as I met my deep brown eyes. They glistened with tears and should be tears of joy. But they were drops of memories from long ago as they fell down my cheeks and I remembered my mother.

My mother had gotten married at a young age, and before she gave birth to me. She had loved her husband so much, but he hadn’t felt the same. He had left her shortly after they got married, within a matter of only months. My real father not only left her, but abandoned me, and I had never known him.

I was always the child growing up with daddy issues. Every Father’s Day was a complete embarrassment at school and other kids teased me for not having a dad around to call my own. Almost every holiday was a reminder of what I’d never have, and it was a hard pill to swallow. But my birthday was the worst, and I never liked to celebrate it.

It wasn’t the balloons, birthday cake or the fact I grew older each year. I hated it because it was the day my real father walked out of my life and never came back. It was the day he left my mother, admitted he didn’t love her and broke her heart.

My mom was never the same, but she raised me the best way she knew how. Until I graduated from high school and she had a mental breakdown. She ended up at the hospital on suicide watch and later a psychiatric institution. She never came back from the hurt and betrayal my father had left her with all those years ago. It ate her up deep inside until she had her collapse with reality.

I wiped the tears from my face at the memories and inhaled a deep breath. I blew it out and plastered a smile on my face. The remembrance was hurtful all over again, but I stuffed it down and moved forward.

Just like I always did.

I ran my hands over the white satin fabric as the crystals gleam with the chandelier light and I was so incredibly lucky to be here. The past was just that, and I had so much to look forward to in the future. A future with my handsome and wealthy fiancé.

Soon to be my husband.

I nodded at myself in the mirror and opened the door as I strolled out to the center of the stage. I was ready to show off the wedding gown I believed was the perfect one. My eyes met with Paisley’s and they lit up at the sight of me.

Her eyes glistened with tears, and a hand covered her mouth. “Oh, my gosh, Celeste, you look radiant.”

I took one step and then another as I climbed up the tiny stage, but there was some commotion behind me. Sandra held a long wedding veil in her hands and placed it neatly within my black, wavy hair. The veil matched the wedding dress with the same lace, crystals, and white shimmer.

I turned to look at myself in the mirror and couldn’t believe my eyes. Beauty peered back at me and one I never thought I’d see. Myself in a wedding dress, but not just any dress. My very own wedding gown.

Tears pricked at my eyes, and I met Paisley’s thrilled stare in the reflection. “This is it, Pais. This is the one. It’s the wedding dress I’m going to wear when I walk down the aisle and marry Dylan Stark.”

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