Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad-Chapter 813 : The Dress

*Two Weeks Later*

*Cat*

I nibbled on my bottom lip as I nervously stared out the tinted windows of the car. The driver, Tony, was one of my new guards, and despite my attempts to be friendly, he was not a great conversationalist.

So the silence as we drove through the LA streets was not helping my anxiety.

I flipped my phone in my hands, fidgeting with it like a toy as my leg bounced up and down involuntarily. I wasn’t overeager to stop as it was somewhat helpful. I hated being a passenger and much preferred to drive myself but with Junior still out there, well, Elio thought it might be a good idea.

It didn’t mean I had to like it, though.

I sighed, glancing at my phone as it pinged with a new text.

‘Are you slow or what?’ Anna had said, using an over-abundant amount of emojis.

I laughed, quickly texting back that we were almost there. As soon as I sent it, we were pulling into her driveway, so it was kind of useless anyway.

But I didn’t have to get out of the car, only opening the door before Anna came running down her driveway, a huge grin on her face.

“Cat!” She gave me a side hug as she scooted into the seat next to me, shutting the door with a thump.

It was loud enough that Tony sent her a glare from the front seat but she only childishly stuck her tongue out at him, not caring one bit.

He grumbled, pulling out of the driveway as I called out the next address to him. He nodded but didn’t give much more of a response.

“Not much of a talker, is he?” Anna huffed, giving him a scrutinizing look. “Oh, well. I talk plenty enough for all three of us. Are you excited to finally see your dress? I can’t believe she got it done so quickly.”

I grinned, happy but also nervous as I showed her the texts and multiple hand-drawn designs she had shown me. It had only taken a few reiterations before we decided on one that I absolutely loved, and Anna was just as in awe of it as I was.

“Oh, it’s going to be so gorgeous,” Anna sighed dreamily. “You have to hook me up with her number when I get married.”

“If you get married,” I snorted teasingly. “You’ll have to get a guy to stick with if you want that.”

“Hey!” Anna cried, not really offended but crossing her arms playfully. “Not all of us can get a dreamy romance with our childhood protector. Like jeez, cut us normies a break, will ya? Besides, I’ll have you know that I’m bringing a plus one to your wedding.”

“Really?” I glanced at her with a confused look. “I thought you–and what was the last guy’s name? Cole?–were going out.”

“As if!” Anna huffed, sighing as she leaned back in her seat. “We never even got to that part. He was a great guy but was too nervous to make a move, so I did and apparently, that scared him off cause he was looking for someone more ‘casual.’ Dating fucking sucks at this time. I wish a man could just sweep me off my feet and court me properly.”

“Oh, yes, the good old days.” I grinned. “So Johnny from next door can offer up his best cow for your hand in marriage. True romance.”

“Hey! I’m worth at least ten cows,” Anna joked. “But you have no idea how lucky you are, Cat. Catching a big one on your first–well, second try. Though I don’t really count your first relationship, to be honest.”

“Neither do I,” I said solemnly, remembering what it had been like to be with ‘Paul.’

He had been a nasty piece of work even before I found out he’d been using me just to get close to me. Even worse, he’d been the son of my father’s killer. There was no coming back from that one.

Though I’d moved past the trauma of that time with Elio’s help, I still couldn’t help but be nervous to have him around again. Paul or Junior or whatever he was calling himself now was the last person I wanted to see.

“Anyway–” Anna grinned. “I’m seeing this new guy, Bradley Wharton. I don’t wanna jinx it, so I won’t say much, but I really like him and I think you will too.”

“I’m sure I will,” I laughed. “As long as he treats you right.”

“Oh, you know I won’t settle for anything less.” Anna winked, leaning her head on my shoulder. “I learned from the best.”

When we arrived, Tony stayed in the car to wait for us as we headed in. Much like with our last visit, Simona’s assistant Rory greeted us with a huge beaming smile. He wasted no time directing us to the back, ranting about how amazing the dress looked, and with that kind of praise, I couldn’t help but get my expectations up.

But even after all the hype, none of it prepared me for what I really saw when I walked in.

Fitted onto a mannequin, it was the most gorgeous thing I’d ever seen, and my breath caught in my throat.

It was white but almost with a silvery sheen to it with gorgeous, almost imperceptible rose gold highlights along the delicate lace details of the bodice, which had swirls with hand-stitched flowers, each with a unique and beautiful look to them.

It was a fit bodice with a sweetheart neckline and loose lace off-the-shoulder sleeves that came only to the collarbone and then fell gracefully all the way to the skirt length. They were crafted with the same delicate lace and intricate patterns as the bodice, with the same rose-gold highlights.

The skirt itself was layers of soft-to-the-touch lace, tulle, and cotton, each one having a unique pattern that created a look of depth that I doubted anyone else could replicate. The back was open, dipped to just where the skirt started.

I couldn’t help but be in awe with how gorgeous it looked.

Along the natural waistline was a line of beautiful rose gold diamonds and looking closer at the fabric, I could see natural silver and rose diamonds embedded in the center of the flowers embroidered on the skirt, giving it a natural glow and shine like a dress that would be worn by a fairy.

“It’s beautiful,” I breathed in awe.

“One of my best works,” a voice said gently behind me.

I turned to see Simona standing there with a proud smile on her face, staring lovingly at the dress.

Her eyes flickered over to me with a tired but happy expression. “At least I think so.”

“And you want me to wear this?” I asked incredulously, suddenly intimated by the thought of putting such a gorgeous piece of artwork on my body. “It’s too much, Simona. It’s–”

“Yours.”

Simona grasped my hands together, and I could see the bags under her eyes from what must’ve been a long number of nights spent working on it. My eyes watered, touched that she had put so much effort into my wedding dress.

“I designed it with you in mind, my mizik. It would bring me no greater honor than for you to wear my dress at your wedding. So don’t think about it. Just go put it on.”

“I’ll help you.” Anna smiled.

Before I could say another word about how unworthy I was, I was rushed into one of the changing rooms by Anna and Simona. The process was easier than I imagined but also so intricate.

The dress was heavy and the clasps on the back were difficult for me to reach by myself, so Anna had to help. Simona made a few last-minute adjustments, murmuring about the height of the skirt being tailored or a few more additions to make it shine before they finally let me step in front of the mirror.

If I thought it was beautiful on the mannequin, then I was blown away by how utterly breathtaking it was on me.

I looked like a fairy or a princess who’d come to life and stepped out of a painting, a real fairytale come true. It was everything I had ever imagined and more.

Tears streamed down my face without me even noticing as I twirled around in the dress, beaming as I truly felt like a blushing bride for the first time.

This was a moment I would never forget and I glowed in my wedding dress, hating the wait for our wedding that I used to think was so short.

The moment Elio saw me in this dress, our forever would finally begin.

After thanking Simona over and over again until Anna had forcefully covered my mouth, we left the dress shop for Simona to do some final touches. She claimed it “needed more shine,” though I didn’t quite know what else she could do to make it shinier.

But I was eager to find out.

Anna and I were hungry, so I asked Tony to take us for lunch, a place not too far from Simona’s studio. Anna showed me the photos she took, making sure to hide them in a file on her phone so nobody else would see them until the wedding.

We were so deep in our conversation that I almost missed when we drove right past the place we’d picked for lunch. I frowned, glancing over at Tony.

“Hey, Tony, I think we missed–” My complaint died as I noticed the tight grip Tony had on the wheel and the way his jaw was clenched as he kept glancing in the rearview mirror.

I immediately paled, glancing behind us. Sure enough, a few cars behind us was a dark SUV. There were no plates on the front of the car, I noticed, and I was pretty sure there would be blanks on the back.

We were being followed.

I stayed silent, pretending I hadn’t noticed as we circled around the block, taking turns and rounding corners a little too fast. Luckily, Anna was too focused on her phone and the photos to notice, but I did.

It took thirty minutes of rounding before the car vanished and I let out a sigh of relief, Tony relaxed as well, and Anna finally noticed something was up.

“Shouldn’t we have been there by now?” she asked, confused, looking out the window.

“Bad traffic,” I lied easily as Tony pulled into the lunch place. I met Tony’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “We’ll eat fast.”

He nodded, still tense as Anna and I got out, rushing inside. Anna was confused but didn’t question it as we took one of the back booths away from the front door and window. The back door was easily accessible if we had to run, so I tried to relax as we ate.

Luckily, nothing happened and as we left, I was beginning to think that everything was fine right as we were about to cross the parking lot to where Tony was waiting for us.

The moment I stepped off the sidewalk, the same SUV came screeching out of nowhere, stopping right across from us. My heart thudded loudly in my chest as Anna had a tight strangling grip on my arm and the window rolled down slowly, giving way to a face I had never wanted to see again.

Junior was in the passenger seat, and he looked me up and down before his lips pulled into a sadistic grin, one that sent horrible memories straight to the surface of my mind.

But he didn’t do a thing, simply rolled the window back up and the car sped off, disappearing into traffic. I had just enough wits left in me to snap a picture of the car before it was gone.

“Was that–” Anna sent me a shocked look and I nodded jerkily.

I had to call Elio.