“This is tradition!” Christine’s mother said harshly. They were on their way to the dressmaker’s shop, “You will be kind and cooperative. The Waltzes thought this was a splendid idea!”

“Which of the Waltzes thought that?” Christine muttered.

The tradition her mother was speaking of had been in her family for generations. Both the groom and the bride would go to the dress shop to pick the bride’s dress together.

“I don’t see why I can’t just pick one,” Christine said, “It is my dress after all”

“You're not the one who will be looking at yourself in it for hours on end,” Lady Octania objected.

“James will pick something stupid,” Christine muttered again.

Her mother heard this time, she only laughed.

When they arrived, James whispered to Christine as they walked into the dress shop.

“I don’t care what you wear,” he said, “but let’s just play along, hmm? For all our sakes”

Christine only sighed.

James was slightly annoyed by her attitude…..he made it a point to show her.

When Christine would pick a dress, he would simply say ‘hmm’. Every once in a while, he would add a comment or two, but it was always negative. After trying on countless dresses, Christine was getting annoyed.

‘Why can’t he just choose one’ she thought to herself, ‘he is only being spiteful’

There was one dress she’s been putting off trying on. It was plain as can be, chosen by her mother. It was solid white and had no detail. Only a single red rose on the side of the waist line, small but fully bloomed. When she walked out to the group in the dress, delighted gasps and smiles were heard just like every other time. But James didn’t say ‘hmm’. In fact, he said nothing at all. After an awkwardly long period of silence, he said, “I like that one….it’s good”

“Very good,” he muttered.

“Well that settles it!” Christine’s mother exclaimed, “Perfect! We’ll place an order”

Christine nodded absentmindedly and stared at James, surprised by his sudden liaison. She hadn't noticed how tense he was before. As they left, Christine couldn't force her comment down.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Glad you finally cooperated,” she muttered.

“None of the other dresses suited you,” James muttered back, “so you’re welcome”

Christine just rolled her eyes as James offered his arm.

“Good day Mr.Waltz,” Christine turned her nose up and walked to her carriage.

********************************************************************************

Mrs.Octania was sitting on the couch in the sitting room, Christine in a chair near her writing poetry.

“Address the letter to the seamstress,” Lady Octania spoke to a servant, Anne, writing on a desk in the room, “Dress #145, just as it looked when we were there three days ago. 30 inch waist, 35 inch bust, ankle length…..how tall are you Christine?”

“Hmm?” Christine snapped out of her focus.

“I am sending your measurements to the dressmaker,” her mother said, “How tall are you?”

“Oh,” Christine looked at Anne’s desk, “65 inches”

“I will be sending wedding invites soon,” Lady Octania said, adjusting a lamp on her way out. Christine followed her but whispered to Anne, “Please, the dress…..make it red”

Anne gave her a look but then smiled slightly and changed the form.

Christine’s eyes went wide as her mother showed her the large basket of invitations in the next room.

“I would kindly advise that you start signing these,” she handed Christine a quill and motioned to the sofa near the basket, where a table had been set in front of it. A very large jar of ink on the table had another quill resting in it, “James will be here shortly, leave room for his name….and please don’t make any of this wedding business a struggle anymore”

Christine sat down and didn't waste her breath on a reply she knew wouldn't be listened to.

She wouldn’t make it a struggle; she had accepted her fate. Once James arrived, he sat down next to her without a word of acknowledgment. They signed invitations for an hour. Pick up a card, take it out of its envelope, sign it, and pass it to James. It was like clockwork at this point, Christine laser focused.

“We’re going to have to kiss you know,” James said quietly.

Christine didn’t slow her routine, but her mind glitched. Startled a bit by the suddenness and content of the statement, she chuckled, a little louder than she wanted to. Afraid of the undeniable fact that he was right, Christine only added to the statement, “In front of all our friends and family”

“Well,” James muttered, “I don’t have any family”

“I don’t have any friends,” Christine replied, “so I suppose we’re saved”

James laughed softly. Christine looked at him.

“Sorry,” he shook his head and stopped signing the invites

“Oh don’t be sorry, it is quite silly,” Christine smiled, a strong smile this time.

“I’m not sorry for laughing,” he went back to signing, “Just sorry that it’s true”

Christine’s mouth dropped but her smile stayed, “Look at you! Who’s the uncultivated one now?”

James' laugh turned from jolly to astonished.

“You remember me saying that?” He looked at her.

Christine froze.

“Well,” she stopped smiling and started fidgeting with her quill, “to be quite frank, I do remember….no one has ever called me that before. It was…..shamefully revealing”

“I’m sorry,” James said, “For calling you that”

“Well, it was kind of true, mostly in a bad-”

“No,” he looked at her with sincerity, “it certainly was not”