Always a Bridesmaid Pt. 01

"I am positively delighted at your enthusiasm for wanting to help, but we only need two of you. Let's see...you in front.", I said crisply, pointing to a very slim redhead standing directly in my field of view. While she was certainly gorgeous, my true reason for picking her was that she reminded me of one of my very first lovers, so that caught my eye.

Looking towards the back, a blonde head popped up, apparently trying to see over the others blocking her view, which to me showed initiative. Yep, she is cute as hell and a girl after my own heart, so she will do. I pointed at her and crooked my finger in a "come here" gesture without saying anything else, and the two girls stood in front of me, while the others quickly scattered. I usually made a point of using first names, but truthfully the only person I gave a shit about was Paula, and for her to have a fabulous experience.

"Ladies, I'm Carlotta, and this is the bride, Paula," I said, stepping to one side, linking my arm with hers to let her know I would take care of everything she might need.

The perky redhead girl spoke up first. "I'm Anna, I'll be happy to help you--erm--her out however I can," she said nervously.

"Nice to meet you, Anna." Paula giggled, nudging me playfully.

"Karen. Here is some champagne." the blonde said, handing each of us a fancy flute of pale pink liquid.

Paula took a small sip and then a bigger one. "Oh, that is quite yummy. Was not expecting to have this here," she said with a wink.

"Careful, hun, this is the good stuff, it can get you buzzed fast." I teased her but knew it was true nonetheless. Seeing her with fewer inhibitions was always a treat, but when around others I always had her back, and usually kept her from doing anything she would find embarrassing later.

Paula winked at me as she took a big drink from the class and smacked her lips afterward. "Maybe," she said with a giggle. Uh oh, she might be a handful here today, her playful side could be wild when she managed to let it out. It had been a while since she had really let loose, so maybe it was a good thing. After all, she is the bride and what the bride says, goes!

Anna brought a few gaudy and overpriced gowns out first, and when Paula tried them on she made a face. She was right, they were stuffy, and with so much poofiness that it would make even the loveliest bride look like some bad art project gone wrong. The next few were a little better, but even those did not catch her eye, and she refused to even try them on.

Karen showed up a few seconds after telling Anna no for the umpteenth time, leaning in to whisper to us. Her dress dipped a bit in front, giving us a peek at her white satin bra, which hugged her modest breasts adequately but also a little bit sexily. Paula's eyes caught the view for a moment, but she averted her gaze at the girl's pretty face, no surprise since she was straight. I, on the other hand, let my eyes trace every visible inch of her, admiring and even desiring her beauty. Surprisingly, she caught me staring and gave me a knowing wink before talking to Paula.

"Not saying anything bad about her, but Anna kinda tends to show customers things that she likes, not the things you like or ask for. But, I think I found something that sounds at least close to what you were asking for," she uttered in a whisper, standing up straight once she had said her peace.

As Karen walked slowly to the changing area, I watched her ass and hips as she walked, hoping that she had at least some curiosity about women, which might give me a chance with her. I felt a sting on the bare skin of my left arm as Paula slapped me to break my concentration. "Get a grip! Perv on your own time, damnit!" she hissed in a quiet voice. I knew she was mostly kidding, but reasoned that it was indeed bad form to be leering at the help.

Paula got to her feet and wobbled a tiny bit as the numerous glasses of champagne had taken their effect on her. I jumped up immediately and grabbed her arm to steady her, quickly enough that no one would have noticed anything out of the ordinary. The bride-to-be had stayed mostly quiet thus far so her secret was safe, and knowing we would be alone in the fitting room made my anxiety ease a bit.

I heard the door click shut behind us and knew that there would be no intrusions unless we asked for help. The shop's philosophy was to give the bride time to be alone with her dress, try it on, feel how it fits, and get to know it. I found the whole idea a bit contrived and cheesy, but women seemed to love the experience. It gave me the chance to help my best friend directly and be with her as she made that big decision.

"It's huge in here!" Paula said loudly, then putting a hand over her mouth as if to shush herself. She looked so damned cute then, and all I could do was smile and give her a warm, sympathetic look.

"Sure is, you could probably have the wedding inside here, hun," I said, laughing a little bit. Paula never objected when I called her that, just as I didn't mind her calling me Carli; it was just another indication of how incredibly close we were.

Paula let out a long sigh as if letting the weight of the world finally roll off of her back, which might have been partly true as she dropped her heavy purse on the floor. As she took a couple of steps forward, I finally caught sight of the dress, and it took my breath away. I could tell it was supposed to be form-fitting, to accentuate every natural curve a woman had, and hers were quite nice. The train spread outwards, making me wonder what it would look like on her when fitted. My eyes traced the elegant lace to where it formed the bodice, which would clearly reveal her breasts, but the pattern of the edge told me that it would be very sexy and not too much.

I looked up to see Paula giggling at my reflection in the mirror. I was biting my lip and staring at the dress. "Do you two need to be alone?" she said, eyes sparkling. Yep, her repressed playful side had escaped and was out in the open, but I was confident I could keep it from bursting outside the doors and wreaking havoc.

"Smartass."

Paula wiggled her eyebrows, making them dance before breaking out into soft laughter and turning away. I heard the sound of a long zipper quietly bouncing around the room, and her skirt hitting the ground a moment later. Right about then I realized that being this close to her in a disrobed state might test my willpower because aside from being my best friend, she was the most beautiful woman I knew. I had never come on to her or made her uncomfortable, so my record was pretty good. I could do this...I think. Her top was next, and she really did look pretty damn sexy in her Victoria's Secret lace bra and panties. Ugh. My kryptonite

"I swear I am not trying to tease you or anything, but I would have to have different undies to make this look right. For now I would just...kinda....have to..." she said, her voice trailing off.

I cleared my throat. "No worries over here but I think you could get away with leaving your panties on." I pointed out, though my eyes then predictably traveled down to her...thong. Damnit, with the supple flesh of her ass there for me to see, it was all I could do to push the haunting memory down again.

Paula reached around and unhooked her bra, but before letting it fall to the floor crossed her arms, as if suddenly suffering from acute shyness. We had seen each other sans clothes many times without batting an eye, so I was perplexed as to why she was so skittish now. I chalked it up to her champagne buzz and let the issue die right there.

Avoiding any look in her direction in the mirror, I stepped in front of her and reached up for the gorgeous dress, gingerly removing it from the elaborate hanger so as not to snag it. My fingers felt the caress of seeming acres of soft lace, giving me an imperceptible inner shiver up my spine. I pulled the box-like contraption used to elevate a bride's position for fitting and stepped up on it, letting the dress give my beautiful friend a semblance of privacy. "Okay, girlie, arms up, let's try this gown on for size," I said, my composure now fully restored.

I felt movement under the fabric, and a second later I could see her hands emerging from the end of the flaccid sleeves of the dress. I let go of the garment, expecting gravity to do the rest of the work, and stifled a laugh when it stopped and all I could see was the top of her head through the collar area.

"Um...what the hell?" Paula's muffled voice said from under the fabric.

Something about the image of her trapped in her would-be dress, coupled with the irritation in her voice forced a bubble of laughter up out of me that I simply could not suppress. The more I tried to stop it, the louder and more raucous it got. I sometimes brag about my emotional control, but right now it was the biggest myth on the planet.

"Damnit! Stop laughing and help me with this thing." she hissed, as if claustrophobic. A moment or two later, I heard a near-silent giggle from Paula, which erupted into a full-on laughing fit just a second later. We both loved to laugh, but this was like a gold-medal Olympic scale duo of laughter from the both of us.

I wiped a tear from my eye as I regained my composure and returned to the safety of the floor to provide help from a mildly entertaining wardrobe malfunction. I reached up for a place on the dress I could lightly pull and tugged on it a bit, with the dress refusing to surrender. "Ok, the bad news is I think this dress is very tight, but I think if you wriggle around a bit we can scoot it down around you," I told her, deliberately not implying she was too big for the dress. Paula was very self-conscious about her figure, having been teased in middle school for being thicker than the other girls at the time.

Paula let out a deep but frustrated sigh as she began moving around as I suggested. I held my breath hoping that the stubborn gown would comply, and to my utter relief, it moved downwards slowly, and finally dropped and hugged her curves.

"See? All better! I am good for more than just laughs." I said, smiling at her.

"Ohhhh my....just wow..." Paula breathed out as she took in her reflection, clearly thrilled with her reflection.

Careful not to step on the train or her gown, I stood just behind my friend, my head a few inches back from hers. I gasped as I looked at the image in the mirror, the dress was lovely before, but on Paula, it was positively magical. The lacy fabric adhered to her body like a second skin, revealing every subtle bit of her body, and accentuating her curves in the sexiest way possible. My deep brown eyes traced her entire form, trying to fully appreciate how amazing she looked, but somehow memorizing every inch of what I saw. I exhaled as slowly as I could to keep from sounding like I was about to pounce on her, which I am sure as a straight girl she would certainly not appreciate.

I was so perfectly entranced that it did not occur to me that my warm breath was landing on the back of her neck, and she probably was oblivious to it as well. My eyes surveyed how her neck appeared in the reflection and then down to the bodice where the curve of her breasts pressed upwards and nearly together, accentuating the abundant valley between them. I was powerless to stop myself from appreciating how drop-dead sexy she looked in the dress, and I felt a twinge of jealousy that a guy would be the recipient of her beauty.

I tore my gaze from Paula's reflection to keep from creating an awkward moment for her, and the way her long black hair lay over her left shoulder exposed the fine hairs on the back of her neck. Each slow exhale I let out made them sway and dance back and forth almost hypnotically, fascinating me so much that I started varying my breaths to watch the different reactions it created. Something about those few seconds felt powerful and intimate and made me feel even closer to her than I already was.

Coming back to my senses, I looked back up at her face. Her eyes were wide, her pupils dilated, and her lips slightly parted. I could see peripherally that her chest was rising and falling from taking deep breaths, and within a moment I felt panic shoot through me like a lightning bolt, making me take a step back.

"Damn, sorry, you just looked so incredible I got distracted." I apologized, hoping I hadn't freaked her out with my staring.

Slowly, Paula turned around towards me, not saying anything, that wide-eyed expression still on her face, cheeks very flushed. "You've always found a way to make me feel special like I matter, and that I am the most fucking gorgeous woman on the planet. Just now you did that again," she said, clearly under the influence of the never-ending glasses of champagne.

"You do matter, in more ways than I can put into words," I replied, hoping to skip over what sounded like her gently calling me out for ogling her.

"That's not what I meant."

I winced. Damn. Maybe I hadn't dodged the bullet as well as I had thought. "I may regret asking it, but what did you mean?"

Paula broke into her signature million-dollar smile that always got to me, even when on my best behavior. "I get lecherous looks from guys constantly, even Jackson, though gets a free pass. That never makes me feel pretty, because it's an I want to fuck you senseless look. It's cheap and fucking meaningless." she answered, keeping her eyes locked with mine.

She lost me at that point because that's what was going through my mind when I was looking at her moments ago. And the feelings I had locked away were surging through me, with the side effect of making me wet. "Ok," I said, confused and having no idea where she was headed with that line of thought.

"Well, you are attracted to girls, I mean damn you love them, get hot for them, and certainly sleep with them," Paula said almost in a chuckle.

My head hurt. What the hell? "Of course, I'm a lesbian," I said, confused.

Paula sighed. "I am not making much sense, I know. I just meant that...shit. Even when you look at me like that, it's a huge compliment and makes me feel so good. Thank you." she said softly, leaning against me, and I just held her. Truthfully, I was feeling plenty of desire, but I vowed not to do anything to make things weird. This was certainly one of the strangest exchanges that had ever happened between us, and I wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

I found it very entertaining that my best friend decided on her wedding dress almost right after arriving at the bridal shop. I had expected the search to last the better part of a day, or even longer, but I did enthusiastically agree with her taste in fashion and the dress that she chose. We parted ways and I headed back to my place, intent on getting a nice long soak in my hot tub; my legs were killing me from wearing heels and walking so much.

I poured a generous amount of my favorite tequila into one of the cobalt blue glasses from the cupboard just to the left of my refrigerator. I had found a complete set of them at an estate sale and fell in love with the style, shape, and color they had, and now they were my absolute favorite. I broke into a smile and let out a satisfied sound, ready to make my way to my hot tub, grabbing the bottle so I would not have to come all the way back in for a refill. Where is the joy in that?