Page 45 of Time Served in New York
“You’re kidding,” Pandora gasped.
“I know you were all worried about fitting in tonight, and I thought that if we all played dress-up together, you might be a little less nervous.” I waved toward one of the staff members, and she opened the doors so that the racks of clothing that had been delivered could be rolled in by a few of the saleswomen who’d been so helpful in the store the other day. “There are a couple for each of you to choose from and shoes to match each. If they need any alterations, there are people waiting to do that too.”
“Oh, Frankie,” Jenn whispered. “This is too much.”
“I know that you put your lives on hold to travel here and stay for a week while you jump through hoops with me. I wanted to thank you by giving you a glamorous fairy tale for at least one night. We still have to go hang out with all the stuffy people, but we’ll be together and look fantastic while we do it.”
“I was so worried that I didn’t have anything fancy enough, and I hated the thought of embarrassing you,” Blue admitted. “I was so out of my element when I found out there was going to be a formal event.”
“You could show up in a pillow case, and I’d still be proud to tell everyone you are one of my girls,” I said honestly. “And I know that the clothes don’t make the woman, but they do a lot for her self-esteem, so I thought I’d give everyone a helping hand. Sis and August went with the girls and picked out their dresses this morning. They’ll be with us in just a bit.”
“This is all so sweet,” Pandora said as she hopped up from the couch and rushed toward me. She gave me a tight hug and then pulled away and smiled with tears in her eyes.
“I’m getting my fairy-tale prince, and I wanted to make sure everyone else got their own time to shine too.”
“Woman, you’re gonna make me cry,” Blue said with a sniff as she got up and walked my way. “I want to hate you because I’m about to have to wear a dress and heels, but I can’t muster anything up other than happy tears right now.”
“As you can see, we’ve got a hair and makeup team. By the time we leave this room, we’re gonna be dolled up like superstars,” Bernadette explained. “The guys' suits were delivered, and they’ll be getting ready in the rooms while we get ready down here.”
“This is so freakin’ cool,” Brea said as she walked towards me, Blue, and Pandora.
“Paula,” I said with mock concern. “Is something going on? You’re awfully quiet, and that’s not like you at all.”
Paula was sitting on the couch by herself almost vibrating with excitement as the women all turned to look at her.
“I’m not sure I’ll be able to make it tonight. I mean, it’s been kind of hard to walk around all by myself.”
“You’ve always been a tad clumsy, so how does that make today any different than yesterday?” Blue teased.
“Yesterday, I didn’t have this fucking boulder on my hand,” Paula screeched as she lifted her left hand up and showed off her ring.
The women went wild and swarmed Paula to get a glimpse of the ring. Paula explained that she’d been upset when she first ran into her father, but then she’d felt relieved knowing there wasn’t anything he could do to her now. When she told us about Hook’s proposal on the corner of a busy street, I saw that more than one of our friends had tears in their eyes just like I did.
“So we have another huge wedding to brace ourselves for, huh?” Blue asked.
“Hell no,” Paula scoffed. “When we get a chance, we’re going to disappear for a weekend and come back married. I’m not doinganyof this shit again.”
“Thank God,” I heard Brea mutter, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“But this week is about Frankie’s circus, and we’re her monkeys here to dance on command. So let’s look at our beautiful gowns and get all dolled up so we can perform tonight.”
We laughed at Paula, and I pulled her to my side for a hug. “You deserve the spotlight, too, Picolla. I think I’m going to talk to our brothers and see about getting them to throw a big wedding just like this for you.”
“Don’t threaten me, Romano, or youwillwalk down the aisle with a broken nose,” Paula said with a scowl. She stared deep into my eyes as she yelled, “Blue! Frankie said that she thinks Spencer Reid looks like a mole rat and your dogs are ugly.”
“What the fuck did you do that for?” I snapped.
Paula looked down at the engagement ring on her finger and smiled. “I don’t want to get blood on my beautiful ring by punching you in the face myself, so I did the next best thing.”
“You’re a psychopath.”
“I know, right?” Paula winked at me and walked toward the rest of the women.
“Why the fuck are you talking about my dogs, and what did Spence ever do to you, hag?”
Paula laughed and then stoked the fire when she said, “And she asked me if I want to go in halfsies on renting a clown to chase you around on your birthday.”
“What the fuck did I ever do to you, Frankie?” Blue yelled as she spun around with a dress in each hand. “That’s not even funny.”
