Be a Doll(8)
“It’s better to end up with a nice old man than a young asshole,’’ I mumbled and took the last sip in my tea cup. Mrs. Stein was probably close by and if she wasn’t, one of the maids probably had her eyes on me to report to the despicable woman to get me back to my duty of utmost importance: finding the perfect wedding dress. That was the only thing I had to do for this wedding, but it was daunting all the same.
“You told me yourself you only spent ten minutes with him. I’m sure he’s great once you get to know him. For all you know, you could very well fall in love with him.’’
I wanted to burst her bubble and shake her to wake her up to this reality, but I was starting to wonder if it wasn’t only a fa?ade, something she put on to protect herself and keep going. I knew she went through hell before Mrs. Stein met her and I could only empathize.
“Miss Hodge, you’re expected in the blue salon. The stylist you requested arrived,’’ one of the maids, a new one quite young for such a post here, said softly next to me as she gathered our empty tea cups and the tea pot made of the finest china that was probably as old as the Manor.
“Thank you.’’ I sighed when she turned around and left. I locked eyes with Jane. “I have to go. Good luck with your French lesson this afternoon. Monsieur Albert can be ruthless.’’
She grimaced and nodded, obviously reluctant to go to her first French lesson after hearing from all of us how much we all despised the old French gentleman. I gently patted her shoulder and left the white salon, the biggest of the Manor where many small tables were scattered for us, the dolls, to get together for tea, to socialize and also for the weekly meeting with Mrs. Stein. With my head held high, I ignored some of the ladies who were glaring at me covertly, probably some of them jealous I got to marry a man close to my age instead of some old sick man, but they had no idea how much I’d rather be in their shoes. I walked out of the white salon, my dress inspired by one Pierre Balmain from 1953 moving around me following the same rhythm of my feet clad Yves Saint Laurent black flats. Down the hall, I quickly located the door to the blue salon and pushed it open.
I hadn’t taken more than two steps before the young woman on the blue Louis XV couch sprung to her feet and turned around to face me. The smile on her face showed how nervous she was and it immediately made her sympathetic to me. With her long auburn hair falling freely down her back and her curvy body in trendy black leggings and a cream sweater dress, she seemed out of place from the usual people showing at the Manor. It only endeared her further to me. I guessed, somehow asking her to come for a wedding dress consultation was a tiny rebellious move on my part, mostly against Mrs. Stein as my betrothed probably had no care in the matter of what I was currently doing, as long as it didn’t reflect badly on him. Once I would no longer be Lila Hodge, but Lila Grimes, it would be another story.
“Miss Garber, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Lila Hodge.’’ I extended a hand and she promptly took mine to shake, putting more strength in her grip than necessary, but I said nothing. I didn’t want to sound like a second in command to Mrs. Stein when in reality I didn’t care how she treated my hand or how properly she should or shouldn’t behave with me.
“It’s nice to meet you, Miss Hodge,’’ she quickly said and sat back on the Louis XV couch as I took a seat in one of the matching chairs on the opposite side to the small coffee table. Everything in the blue salon was, as its name described it, blue. The rug under our feet was made of different shades of blue and some white, the couch and chairs had the same blue fabric imported from France and the only other furniture, the small coffee table had a light brown tint I couldn’t place, but it obviously matched to perfection the other pieces of furniture. The room was perfect and the few seaside paintings only completed the summery feel of this small salon.
“I’m aware that your work is mostly formal dresses, but I read somewhere that you used to work for a well-respected wedding dress shop. I hope you don’t mind that I had you come meet me.’’
She smiled brightly at me and quickly shook her head. “I’m happy to be here.’’
She sounded like someone eager to please and I recognized her as pretty desperate to win a new client. In a way, I would like to warn her to not show her cards so easily, but I liked that for once I was meeting someone who didn’t have another agenda than the obvious. It was refreshing and helped me relax. If her designs weren’t already appealing, she made me want to work with her.
“Very well,’’ I said with a soft smile. “Would you like something to drink before we start?’’
“Oh, no, thank you.’’
“Fine. I don’t know if you were made aware, but I’m engaged to Mr. Grimes. He’s…’’
“Rather famous in the business world. I saw the news in the papers.’’ She smiled and grabbed a heavy binder from next to her to put in her lap, her hands gripping it so tightly her knuckles turned white.
“Of course.’’ When the papers were delivered two days ago and the news regarding our engagement was plastered there, it only became all the more real that I was trapped in this mess and I had no way out. The whole country knew of my engagement to him and while very few displayed my picture, of course delivered by Carter Manor, it only made it more of a reality. I cleared my throat and focused back on the task at hand because while I didn’t want to get married to Mathis Grimes, it was happening and I wanted to look my best doing so. That would be the only childhood dream I could incline in; the beautiful wedding dress.