Page 30 of Fixed Up Ever After
One would have thought there was a death in the family with how distraught and erratic her mother and sister were being. No one had died, apart from many of her brain cells and her patience, but dealing with the stress of a funeral would be preferred over dealing with the unnecessary chaos of finding the perfect bridesmaid dress.
More than once, Lola had burst into angry tears after a grueling phone call with her mother and her sister’s hysterical voice in the background. “Tell her she needs to find a dress that will fit her before she gets here! I need to see pictures!” It was the same lines from her sister each phone call since her mother had informed Marisol that Lola would be a bridesmaid.
Her mother and sister had no idea how Lola was going to dress her size eighteen body. They insisted she needed someone to make her a dress because“no boutiques would carry her size.”And therein lay the problem. They only ever stepped foot into high-end boutiques or designer clothing stores, knowing damn well they never carried anything for larger bodies.
So Lola had to have the same damn conversation she had countless times before. Yes she would be able to find a dress, but no she couldn't shop in the same boutiques as them. If her mother didn’t want all this added “stress” Lola was supposedly giving her, she shouldn’t have made her a bridesmaid.
Lola didn’t even bother to mention how hypocritical her family's statement was, considering nobody but her father gave a damn about her unless their image was called into question. She also didn’t remind her that Marisol was marrying her ex because it was not a fight she wanted to have.
Finding a dress wouldn’t have been so hard if she didn’t have a looming cloud over her, ready to rain down and dampen any potential dress she picked. Lola had lived in a curvier body most of her life; she knew which places carried her size and where to find the cutest clothes for her body type.
She started off at multiple bridal stores that carried plus-sizes and tried on an armful of dresses. She video called her mom because her sister was far too bogged down with important wedding matters to pay her any mind. The reactions were much the same, all far too critical and finding something minor wrong with the dress.
The dress hugged her tummy too tightly. This dress was too short. That dress's neckline was too low and her boobs were going to pop out. The list went on and on.
It was on day three when Lola lost her composure with her mother, scaring the poor fitting room attendant in the process. “I have tried on every goddamn navy-colored dress in a thirty-mile radius from my house and not one of them is good enough for you. You get this dress or you don’t get anything. Make your choice, right now, because I’m so tired of hearing you belittle me and my body.”
As soon as the words left her mouth, she wanted to take them back and apologize. She didn’t speak to her mother like this—ever. It didn’t matter how snide her mother’s comments were, she held the aggression deep inside herself, letting it fester until, apparently, this moment. The screen was a big reason for her newfound courage, but she still found herself clamping her mouth shut with invisible nails to keep herself from taking it all back.
Her mother’s stunned expression stilled on the screen with her brows raised high to her hairline and lips pressed in a tight line. Lola thought she was frozen and went to tap the screen as if that would somehow make her mother move.
“The dress is fine,” her mother’s demure voice said after a moment, shocking the hell out of her. “Get the white heels you showed me earlier. I'll see you at the hotel in a few days.” After a curt goodbye, her mother hung up the phone.
Not an hour later, Lola was back at her house, packing two suitcases for her weeklong Colorado trip. Her mother would have thrown a fit if she saw the folded bridesmaid dress at the bottom of the suitcase, so she made a mental note to take it out as soon as she got to the hotel.
The contents of her closet were strewn across her bedroom floor and her bathroom was in complete disarray as she began to pack toiletries and makeup. Sometime throughout the night, she managed to send Javi a text asking if he received the plane ticket she printed out for him.
He replied almost instantly with a thumbs-up emoji.
Make sure to be at the airport two hours before takeoff. You never know what the crowds will be like.
See you then, preciosa.
Preciosa. Every time he called her that, her heart did a somersault and she thought back to their first night together and the way he dominated her in bed. No man should have this much power over her and yet, if he asked her to slide into his bed naked, she wouldn’t fucking hesitate.
And that was just sad.
Not for the first or second time since Javi unexpectedly came back into her life did she have to remind herself that everything between them was just an illusion and despite the fact that it felt so right, it had an expiration date. Did that mean she couldn’t enjoy him while they were together?
Yes. That was exactly what that meant—she needed to push all horny thoughts away and finish packing. She mentally packaged up all thoughts of Javi and filed them away in her mind so she could go back to getting her things into suitcases.
It was nearly midnight by the time she finally crawled into her unmade bed and fell fast asleep. What felt like only seconds later her four a.m. alarm roared to life, bringing her out of the midst of REM sleep.
Her clothes were already laid out from the night before and she mentally thanked her last-night self for the preparation. Lola rolled out of bed, hair wild and matted to her head and last night’s leftover eyeliner smeared across her eyes. She relieved herself before washing her face and brushing her teeth. She placed those items into her toiletry bag and gently tossed them into her suitcase.
Lola discarded her clothes into the hamper and put on cheeky panties and a white lace bra that made her boobs look great. The gray sweatpants she chose for comfort and slipped them up her legs and over her ass. The white crop top she made from a vintage band shirt she found at the thrift shop. She completed the look with a black tracksuit jacket in case it got cold on the plane.
Although she was no stranger to flying and airports, she still felt a tremendous amount of anxiety. Flying made no sense to her. How did a giant ass metal bird remain in the sky when all she could picture is plummeting to her death at the slightest bit of turbulence?
The alarm on her phone beeped again, letting her know she needed to get her ass in her car. Mona had offered to drive her but she was barely functional in the mornings, so Lola opted just to leave her car at the airport. Now that she was thinking about it, she probably should have offered to pick Javi up, but she trusted he would meet her there.
Loading up her big suitcase and carry-on, Lola checked once more to make sure she had her phone, chargers, and AirPods. She did. Which wasn’t surprising because she checked ten times and each time they were at the bottom of her purse and didn’t magically jump out like her brain kept telling her they did.
Her brain was extra nervous today because in a matter of hours, she would be face-to-face with her family. Once again she would have to see Marisol with Archie looking perfect and beautiful together. Marisol was the type of woman who would make any rich entrepreneur happy. Looking back now, she would never have fit into Archie's lifestyle, but she would have tried until it consumed her and spat her back out.
All of her feelings for Archie had faded long ago, so seeing him would no longer feel like a knife wound to the heart; however, being around her family while they flocked around Marisol and silently compared the sisters was enough to bring on the panic attack bubbling near the surface.
She had to remember that she wasn’t going to face them alone. Javi would be there and despite the fact that she was paying him to be at her side, Javi liked her. He calmed her in ways she had never experienced before and Lola was hoping that would continue during their week together.
