Weekly Drabble #325: Say Yes (Patreon)

This week's prompt is 'i deserve it all' from EBB, which got me thinking about entitlement and, inspired by some comments elsewhere on the ol' series of tubes, I was inspired to create a story about what could happen when entitlement crashes headlong into revenge.

Enjoy!

~

Say Yes:

The bell on the door to Dress Your Best jingled and Courtney looked up as a pair of new customers entered the shop. It was a slow day on the sales floor and what customers did come in got were often up by the other staff, especially that bastard Eduardo. More than once, he’d slid into her pitch like an oily little eel and made off with her client. Fortunately, he wasn’t working today.

Patrice was already assisting one bridal party, so that left Courtney to handle the new arrivals. The man was over six feet tall, full-bearded and looked like someone had managed to clean up a lumberjack and get him into a nice suit. He wore it well, though. The woman on his arm was a tiny thing, almost three inches shorter than Courtney herself, and the saleswoman knew she wasn’t exactly a giant. The man looked confident. The woman looked a little embarrassed, like if he wasn’t there, she might have ducked out of the store at the first chance.

Pre-wedding jitters, Courtney decided. She’d seen lots of brides to be, maids of honour and bridesmaids with the same look, but she remembered the store’s mantra. Make your customer comfortable.

“Welcome to Dress Your Best,” she said cheerily. “My name is Courtney. Can I assist you?”

The woman looked up at her beau and gave him a nod.

“We got married about eight months ago,” the big man said. “It was a lovely affair, at least at first.” He drummed his fingers on the front desk, looking over at his wife. “Gillian only set two rules for the attendees. One of them was don’t wear white.” He let out a heavy, angry breath. “Her sister Lucille showed up in a fancy white dress, and I mean fancy. Not a bridal gown per se, but...” he trailed off.

Courtney couldn’t stop herself from wincing. “But near enough,” she guessed.

Stu nodded. “Near enough.” He put his arm around his wife, though Courtney wondered if it was for her sake, or his. There was a distinct rumble of anger in the man’s deep baritone. “That’s not the end of it, though. After the ceremony, but before we’d had a chance to make speeches, have a dance or even cut the cake, Gillian’s mother gets up on stage and tells everyone to pay attention to Lucille. Her boyfriend gets down on one knee...”

The young woman was aghast. “He didn’t.”

Stu nodded. “He did. Proposed on the spot. Lucille is going nuts, Gillian’s mom is screaming about how happy she is that her ‘baby’,” he looked like he was trying not to spit, “is getting married. Everyone’s taking pictures. Rest of the night was all about the happy couple. Gillian was...” he looked sorrowfully at his wife. “It wasn’t her best night, let’s just say that. I got her out of there and told some friends and the venue staff to shut the place down. You’d think that’d be the end of it, but we’ve been getting calls and texts from my in-laws telling us how spiteful it was to ruin ‘Lucille’s special day’, and how could we do that to her and so forth.” The rumble got deeper and more intense.

“I am so sorry to hear that,” Courtney told him. Her sympathy was genuine. She could imagine few things as devastating for a bride on her wedding day as something like this. That Gillian’s sister and mother had clearly colluded behind her back to upstage her had to be unimaginatively painful. “Although I’m not certain what we can do about that.”

“Well you, see,” Stu continued, his mood starting to lighten. “That’s the thing. Our one-year anniversary is in four months. Lucille and her beau have arranged their wedding for the day after.”

It just gets worse and worse. A light went off in Courtney’s head and she suddenly realized why Stuart and Gillian had come to Dress Your Best. “And you’re looking for something for such a... special occasion?”

“Yes,” Gillian said, speaking up for the first time and digging her fingers into her husband’s bicep. “He talked me into it.” She turned a little red, but there was a small grin on her face. “It shouldn’t be anything too expensive,” she told the saleswoman. “And not toot raditional-”

“-but fancy and white,” Stu added.

Gillian nodded. “It should be gaudy,” she continued. “and very eye-catching.”

“Of course,” Courtney said with a nod, looking Gillian up and down again. She’d be a petite. “We have a full range of dresses in your size. Why don’t you follow me and we’ll get started?”

“I think you misunderstand,” Stu replied. “The dress won’t be for my wife.” His beard curled around a smug, vengeful and very wide smile. “It will be for me.”

Courtney froze for a second, but soon after a devilish grin spread across her face, matching the one Stuart wore. “Well, then,” she told her customer. “Come with me and let’s see what we can do to make you as eye-catching as possible for your sister-in-law’s special day.”