Infinity & Always (30 page)

“So
which of you young ladies is the lucky bride?” he asks, smiling
at us.

Raising
my hand, I give him a slight wave. His smile never leaves his face as
his eyes zoom from my head to my toes then, back to my face.

“I’m
guessing, 36, 26, 30,” he says, nodding to himself. With that,
he is off, and pulling dresses from the racks. He puts them on one of
those roll away rails; the ones you see on movie sets and brings it
over to me. Taking the glass away from my lips and removing my
handbag from my shoulder, he puts them on the table. I just stand
stiff as a board at his boldness.

“Now
tell me is there anything you don’t like?” His eyes are
open wide and he is staring.

“I…I…eh…flowers,
I’m not into floral,” I answer. His eyebrows shoot up to
his hairline and laughs at me.

“Oh
dear,” he says, then leans closer, placing his hand by his
mouth he whispers, “I thought you said oral,” he giggles.

“Oh…oh
god no!” I answer and feel the heat bloom on my cheeks. He
claps his hands and howls with laughter at me.

“I’m
Gordon ladies, and I’m here to make all you fantasies come
true. Well wedding ones at least,” he says, waving his hand.

Mom
and Paige crack up at him and I just look at him like he is from
Mars. He puts a dress in my arms and pushes me toward a huge room
with no mirrors. Slipping off my clothes, I pull on the puff-ball he
handed me.

“You
doing okay Bailey?” his voice calls out.

“Eh
yeah, I think so.”

The
next thing I know the door is open and he is in the room with me. I
scream at him, but he waves me off, telling me he is not interested
and helps me button up the dress. We walk out to the waiting area to
Mom and Paige, who are both in hysterics.

“What’s
so funny?” I ask, stepping up onto the little stage thing in
front of three mirrors. They stop to look at me, and Mom gets all
‘emotional’ now.

“No
don’t like it,” Paige shakes her head. I have to agree
with her though. It’s just too much for me.

“I
want simple and elegant,” The words tumble from my lips before
I know I’ve spoken. Gordon smiles and claps his hands.

“I
know the perfect one,” he sighs.

I
trudge back to the changing room and wait for him. “Okay, this
one has just come from the runway and I was saving it for someone
special and look, you just happened into my store.”

His
brown eyes are soft when he smiles at me. He helps me out of this
dress and thank God I wore nice undies. Stepping into the second
dress, he slides the cool fabric up my legs and torso. Holding it
against my chest, he closes all the buttons at the back.

“Ready?”
he asks, reaching for my hand, like Prince Charming in a Disney
story. We walk out to the mirrors. Mom and Paige both gasp, and jump
to their feet.

“Oh
Bailey,” Mom has tears in her eyes again and she nods.

Turning,
I look into the mirrors and I can’t believe it. I look like a
princess. The dress is the most beautiful gown I have ever seen.

“This
ivory dress is strapless corded lace appliqué, tulle, and
organza, over a satin ball gown wedding dress with scalloped
sweetheart neckline. Corded lace appliquéd bodice with dropped
waistline and back bodice features covered buttons, softly gathered
tulle and organza layered full skirt with matching lace appliqués
cascading down to scalloped hemline and chapel length train,”
Gordon gushes.

“It’s
amazing,” my voice cracks a little.

“How
do you feel?” Paige asks. Her smile is contagious.

“Like
a princess,” I confess and she nods.

“Good
because you look like one and Knox will die when he sees you.”

Once
the words leave her lips, she gasps and covers her mouth. “I’m
sorry, oh shit. Bailey, I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I
know Paige, calm down. He will though,” I smile.

Paige
walks away from us with her head down and Gordon looks really
interested in the little tidbit.

“My
fiancé is having brain surgery in a few days,” I
explain.

“Oh
I’m so sorry,” he says and hugs me.

“It’s
okay, he’ll be fine. We will get through it,” nodding to
myself I take another look in the mirror. My own eyes tear up and for
once in the last few weeks I feel a little ray of hope bloom in my
heart.

“I’ll
take it,” I whisper.

“Of
course you will,” Gordon scoffs at me. “It was
practically made for you and no alterations needed, so perfect,”
he says, resting his chin on his fist.

Looking
in the mirror again, I check the store for Paige, but I don’t
see her.

“Mom
can you check on Paige, please? We need to pick her dress.”

She
leaves to find Paige and I go back to the room to change. Gordon asks
about Knox and I find myself telling him my life story from when we
met up until now. His mouth is gaping open at me.

“How
old are you?” he whispers, shaking his head.

“Twenty-
three, but my birthday is in August.”

“So
much pain for someone so young.”

Shaking
his head, he leaves me to get fixed up. When I walk back outside, Mom
and Paige are ready. Gordon takes us up to the second level and it is
filled with every color dress you can imagine. We browse for a while
and I find a nice asymmetrical cut dress.

“Hey
Paige, what about this?” I call out and walk towards her. She
pokes out from behind a rack and smiles.

“Ooh
I like,” she takes it from me and walks to the changing room.
She waltzes back out a few minutes later, with a smile on her face.

“Wow
you look hot,” I nod to her.

“I
know,” she smiles and twirls for us.

The
dress is a crinkle chiffon, with a halter neckline and asymmetrical
hemline. She looks really pretty.

“What
do you think of the color?”

“I’m
down, I mean it’s your day so I’ll wear whatever color
you like.”

“I
like that color on you, rose pink,” I nod in appreciation.

“Rose
pink it is then unless you want purple,” she asks.

“No,
you look pretty.”

We
agree on the dress and then we try find Mom something, but she
declines, telling us she all kinds of dresses at home. We find Gordon
at the checkout area, but there’s no register. I take out my
credit card and phone, snapping a picture of it, I text it to Knox
with a smiley face. Mom snatches it from my hand and hands over her
own.

“Mom,
no way!”

“Yes
way,” she answers. Gordon doesn’t argue with Mom and runs
her card through this odd looking thing attached to an iPad. Once we
leave the store and agree to have my dress delivered to the hotel the
day before the wedding, I am feeling a little lighter.

“Mom,
do you want to have dinner with Knox and I tonight?”

“No
baby, I have to get back. My flight is at six,” she gives me a
hug. “I’ll be back a few days before the wedding to help
you out.”

“Okay,”
I nod to her. I drop her off at her hotel just after four and say
goodbye. When Paige and I get back to the apartment, we just sit in
the car for a minute.

“You
doing okay?”

“I
think so, part of me didn’t want to buy a dress. Just in case
the worst happened then I’d have a reminder of what never would
have happened.”

“I
get that, but now you have something to hold on to. You know Knox
will shit a brick when he catches a glimpse of you in that dress.”

.“I
know,” I sigh and open the door, climbing out “I just
hope he gets to see it.” Paige hugs me and I walk up to the
apartment. Opening the door, I can smell Knox, taking a deep inhale I
smile and walk toward the sitting room.

“Hi,”
I smile, when I see him all dressed up.

“Hey
darlin’,” he gets up to give me a hug and kiss.

“You
look nice,” taking another deep inhale and I bury my face into
his neck.

“Got
a hot date tonight,” he answers, running his hand up and down
my back.

“Really,
well she better have you home by midnight, or else you’ll turn
into a monster.”

“Oh
I’ll be a monster alright,” he growls in my ear and
tickles my ribs. “Go get ready darlin’, dinner is at
six.” He kisses me quickly. I run down to the bedroom, pulling
off my clothes along the way. I have another quick shower and redo my
makeup. Knox strolls into the bedroom and sits on the bed watching
me.

“You
okay babe?”

“Yeah,
just bored sitting on my own,” he answers. I walk into the
closet and pull around my clothes. He is dressed in a white shirt and
jeans so I’m guessing casual is okay.

“Will
I wear a dress or pants babe?” I shout out to him.

“A
dress, the shorter the easier the access,” he shouts back,
laughing at himself.

Rolling
my eyes, I grab my black swing dress and my purple suede platforms
and purple purse. Slipping them on, I walk out and twirl for him.

“So
does this look okay?”

He
has me in his arms in two seconds, “More than okay darlin’,
you’re beautiful.”

We
drive out to a beachfront restaurant and enjoy our dinner, we talk
about everything, and it feels like when we first met. After dinner
Knox takes me dancing in Black’s, it’s been so long since
we were here last but I still have fun. After our date, he drives us
home and helps remove my shoes and dress. He stands staring at my
body while holding my hand.

“Knox?”

“Yeah,
darlin’?”

“You’re
staring.”

He
smirks at me and pulls me close to him. His hand moves up my arm to
the back of my neck and his fingers tangle in my hair. “I love
you darlin’,” he whispers, before kissing me passionately
and taking me to bed.

Walking
to campus I take a look around, admiring the buildings and the
grounds. The years have gone by so fast, yet sometimes it feels like
I only just arrived here. I’m torn between doing my exams and
running home to be with Knox. He forced me out the door this morning,
telling me if I didn’t graduate then he is not marrying me. We
both knew he was bluffing, but I let him have his little lie.

Pushing
open the door to the room, I take my usual seat and wait. There are a
few people here already but no one I know. By eight, thirty the room
is full and our Proctor arrives holding two big envelopes. Just
before nine we are handed a test sheet and an answer sheet. He stands
with his left arm out in front of him and his eyes are glued to his
watch.

“You
have three hours you may begin,” he announces the minute the
clock strikes nine. By eleven, thirty I am done and leaving the room.
I grab a quick sandwich and soda from the café and make my way
to another room in the computer building.

“Hey,
you all set?” Paige asks.

“Yeah,
this should be easy. You?”

“Yeah,
same. Are you done after this?” she asks.

Shaking
my head, I down the last of my soda. “No, I have one more today
then I’m done until Friday,” I frown. After a quick
bathroom trip, I find a seat beside Paige and wish her luck. This
test is easy enough for me and I finish with an hour to spare.
Leaving the room, I walk out to the quad and sit in the shade of a
tree. Putting my earphones in I play my all-time favorite Nickelback
and close my eyes. Friday is the day my life will change. Knox has
his surgery at nine in the morning, and my last test starts at the
same time. I am torn between being at the hospital and taking my
final exam. Grabbing my phone, I scroll through the pictures of us,
every memory we have made together floods my heart.

A
shadow falls across me and I look up. Agent Daniels smiles at me and
I pull out my earphones. I realize I am crying and quickly wipe my
face.

“Everything
okay?” he asks.

“Oh
yeah, just being silly,” I answer and wipe my face again. He
sits on the grass beside me and holds out his hand. I’m not too
sure what he wants, but I put my phone in his hand. He smiles at the
picture and hands it back.

“Why
are you crying?”

“His
surgery is Friday and I have a choice to make.”

“What’s
the choice?” he asks, sounding concerned.

“Like
I told the Dean, I want to be there for him, but I have my last test.
What if he doesn’t make it and I’m here taking a stupid
test? I’ll never forgive myself.”

We
sit in silence for a few minutes before he tells me to leave it with
him. He helps me up and I walk towards the room of my last test.
After the exam, I make my way home finding Knox making dinner.

“Hey
beautiful,” I call out and smile when he turns.

“That’s
my line darlin’.”

I
kiss him hello and shrug, snaking my arms around his waist.

“How
did it go?”

“Okay,
I’m done,” I answer, resting my head on his shoulder.

“No,
you have one more on Friday, Bailey,” he kisses my head and
moves me back. He gives me his stern face and I roll my eyes at him.

“I’m
not arguing babe, it’s you over a test any day.”

Taking
a seat, I kick my feet up onto the chair and rest my head against the
wall. “It will be weird packing up this place.”

“Yeah,
it will. Remember when I got it?” he asks.

“Yes
I do,” I smile at him. Do I ever. “We had so much crap
going on, how did we ever get through it all?”

“Love
darlin’, that’s all it takes.”

Moving
my feet, he sits down to eat with me and we don’t mention
Friday again. I don’t want to argue with him, especially now.
“What are you doing tomorrow?” he asks.

“I’m
going to work with my fiancé.”

“Yeah?
Cool, I like it when we can spend our lunch break together,” he
teases.

“I
think I have a lunch meeting with Dad actually.”

He
groans at me and I laugh, “You’re a big baby Knox
Porter.”