Page 2 of Fear of Love (Falling #3)
“But?” I supplied. The way her brows furrowed and pinched, I could tell she wasn’t fully in love like she was supposed to be.
“I think I want something a bit more… flowy and less silky.”
“That’s perfectly fine!” Tasha said without hesitation. “You have tons of options.” She helped guide Josie back to her dressing room.
“You’re coming over for the house warming party on Sunday, right?” Mila asked a few minutes later. Part of me wanted to say no and come up with an excuse that I couldn’t, but I already bailed on the last two get-togethers. Plus, it was at Mila and Bryton’s new house they just moved into.
I nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be there.”
“Good. Bry bought enough food to feed the whole neighborhood so everyone needs to come,” Mila said with an eye roll.
“The amount of food these men eat is beyond me.”
Watching them scarf down endless amounts of food, you’d think they hadn’t eaten in years, but with how many calories they burn a day, practicing and playing in games, it made sense. It was unfair they could eat so much without gaining a single pound.
Mila and I sat there talking for another few minutes before Tasha came back out, followed by Josie in another gown. Filling my champagne glass up again, I settled in for what would be a long morning.
For the next half hour, Josie went back and forth trying on dresses, each one beautiful but not the one.
I could tell Jo was getting frustrated, but we all kept reminding her that she wouldn’t find her dream dress in one try.
If she didn’t find any here, there were plenty of other bridal stores we could go to.
When Josie went back to try on a different dress, my phone buzzed in my purse. I told my employees I was taking the morning off, but as I fished it out and saw my editor’s name, I knew it must be important.
Cursing under my breath, I excused myself and rose from the couch.
“Hello?” I brought my phone to my ear and answered, moving off to the corner where no one could hear me.
“Sorry, Lydia. I know you took the morning off,” my editor, Susie, immediately apologized.
“It’s okay. What’s up?” I glanced over to make sure Josie hadn’t come back out yet.
“So, you know how Zoe was supposed to go interview that little mom-and-pop flower store?” Susie asked hesitantly.
“Yeah?” I had a feeling I already knew what she was going to say.
“They are now having second thoughts about it.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose as I closed my eyes. Interviewing the shop was a last minute addition to the magazine, and we needed the article, or we’d have an empty page. This month’s issue needed to be done and fully edited by the end of next week, so there was no time for any mishaps.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time someone we were scheduled to interview wanted to back out, but it was still annoying when it happened. My mind was going a million miles a minute trying to come up with an idea to fix it.
“Okay,” I paced a few steps, “hold off on final edits for today. Tell Zoe to meet me at the flower shop later this afternoon so we can talk to them,” I rattled off. Maybe if I showed up and explained everything again, they’d be more keen to do it. It’s worked before.
“Sounds good. I’ll let her know,” Susie said.
With a quick goodbye, I tried not to groan. I swear something always happened right before our publishing date.
Turning back around in time to find Josie stepping back onto the platform in a new dress, she caught my eye in the mirror and raised a questioning eyebrow.
“Everything okay?”
“Yeah, all good. Nothing I can’t handle.” I waved her off. Today was her day. She didn’t need to deal with work. “That dress is gorgeous,” I told her, easily flipping the conversation as I took a seat on the couch once again.
As Josie talked about how much she loved the style of the dress, I was mentally at work, trying to come up with a way to convince the flower shop to continue with the interview.
They were a cute little shop that needed the publicity.
This one article alone would boost their business.
I’d seen it countless times—places becoming popular again all because of an article added into a popular magazine.
One of the main reasons I started my own magazine was to give spotlights to businesses that needed it. These small privately-owned shops whose business had slowed because of bigger, brand new ones opening down the street.
People who read Fusion Weekly got a wide range of recommendations—from cool places to take pictures for social media, to local concerts happening that month. We catered to everyone, which was why it did so well the last few years.
My hands itched to grab my phone and work, my mind going over everything I needed to get done. It wasn’t lost on me that I was a workaholic. I couldn’t help it. I threw myself into the daily grind years ago and had yet to resurface.
If it wasn’t for Josie, I probably would have worked everyday of my life.
She’s the one that pushed me to go and hang out with everyone.
Between her, Tasha, and Mila, I’ve become less of a recluse and overachiever—though, I would beg to differ on this one.
Put simply, I had them to thank for not cooping myself up in my office day in and day out.
Because of that, I put my phone on silent and slid it into my purse. Work could wait.
Josie sniffled. “This is the one.”
“It’s beautiful,” Mila added, a grin splitting her face.
“I love it.” Tasha had her hands up by her mouth as she nodded at Josie.
“Perfection,” I said teary eyed.
Close to fifty dresses later, we found the one.
It was absolutely breathtaking. The moment Josie stepped through the archway, we stared with open mouths.
The dress was pearl-white with gorgeous stitched flowers on the bust. Thin straps held up the gown with a dip to show off some cleavage.
The way the lacey fabric cascaded to the floor was stunning.
“Wyatt is going to die when he sees you,” Tasha joked with a watery smile.
“Good,” Josie hiccuped, wiping under her eyes.
“If this is the one, we can have it ready within the month,” the owner of the shop, Lucy said. We’ve kept the poor lady busy today going back and forth with dresses.
“That will be perfect.” Josie gave her a grateful smile. She looked at her reflection one more time and sighed, smoothing her hands down the pearl white material. “Can’t believe I found it.”
“You look beautiful.” I shot her a smile through the mirror. There was no doubt in my mind that her and Wyatt’s wedding was going to be spectacular.
“Thanks for coming today. I know it isn’t really your thing,” Josie started to say, but I shook my head.
“I enjoyed it.” Surprisingly—but I did. It wasn’t as dreadful as I thought it would be.
“Good.” She beamed before stepping down and headed to get changed.
“You know what we should do?” Tasha spoke from her spot beside me, her eyes sparkling.
“What?” I asked, although I had a feeling she was going to say something crazy.
“You know that scene in Friends when they’re all sitting in wedding dresses? We should do that. Spend a whole day getting dressed up,” Tasha said.
Mila laughed. “Just sit around in wedding gowns?”
“Why not? We can even scare the guys.” Tasha wiggled her eyebrows.
“We could make it a second bachelorette party,” Mila said almost excitedly.
A hard lump formed in the back of my throat, and I tried to swallow it down, but it lingered, going nowhere.
Anxiety pricked at my skin. I prayed they weren’t actually serious.
Just the thought of wearing a wedding dress made me break out in hives.
Josie came out from the dressing room moments later, back in her regular clothes. “Okay, you guys ready for lunch?”
“Yes, please, I’m starving.” Tasha grabbed her purse. “Rick’s?”
The mention of the best food truck in Toronto had my mouth watering. I would kill for one of their burgers right now, but unfortunately, I had work to do.
“Sorry, guys, I can’t,” I apologized, feeling bad for bailing. “But you go and have fun.”
“You sure?” Josie asked.
“Yeah, sadly work doesn’t stop. But I’ll see you all on Sunday,” I explained.
Grabbing my belongings, I quickly exited before they could talk me into going with them. It was time to convince a flower shop to be interviewed so this month’s issue could be done in time.