A Flight's Desire

Chapter 27: Catching Up

Trying on a wedding dress. But not their own. Having no choice, Ben and Robin made their way to the wedding dress shop on Fifth Avenue. Ben was lost inside unlike Robin at Mr. Tanaka's shop. He hadn't accompanied his sister when she got married and he was curious as to why the shop was so white! "Are all wedding shops like this?"

"Unfortunately yes." Robin answered. "Keep your eyes safe. The sun might reflect off of all this white." She joked, making him feel better about the same joke that he had thought of.

Ben lingered in the waiting room when Robin approached the woman sitting at the reception. "Good evening." The receptionist wished her.

"Good evening. I'm here for a trial of-"

"Oh congratulations! When is the wedding?"

"Oh, I'm not the bride."

The face of the receptionist went small at that misunderstanding. She shouldn't have assumed that the woman in front of her was here for her own wedding, not when she was accompanied by a handsome man and both of them were carrying shopping bags, unless they weren't followers of traditions. "Will you be trying the dress for the bride then?"

"Exactly." She nodded. "The order is under the name of Karen Miller."

"I will get the dress ready. Would you like to look around?"

Robin wondered what it was about such shops that made everyone assume that it was the person in front of them that was getting married or that they had any intention of getting married in the first place. "Actually we are in a hurry."

"No problem." She gave her a genuine smile. "Do you have the receipt?"

Robin handed the bill to the woman, who then went to the room in the back to talk to get the dress from its holding. At that time, it was Robin's turn to roll her eyes while looking at Ben. He pursed his lips as he sat down on a lustrous sofa. "This is...." He pointed to the empty store and the packed up dresses. He was definitely in uncharted territory, and Candice would have loved to see him this way.

"Spacious?"

He scoffed. "Way too much."

"Miss Hale?" The woman called her name a few minutes later. "We're ready for you."

Robin was made to stand on a pedestal after she wore the underskirt and the slip. She thanked her Saints that she had gotten privacy to do that, wondering how brides actually dealt with so much attention and got to walk down the aisle without so much pressure. She tried the dress on with the help of two of the assistants present that day. The dress wasn't too long or too much. It was just perfect. It had a short train in the back and had a manageable tulle skirt. She was once again asked when her wedding was and she had to answer that she wasn't the bride. "Oh, I'm sorry." The woman answered. "Not that this isn't your wedding or that I'm sorry that you aren't the bride but-"

"I get it. Don't worry." Robin smiled thinking about how exaggerated people could get when things came to a wedding. So much for a designer dress, she thought.

"It's perfect!" The tailor exclaimed after the assistants moved away.

"We have the pantsuits ready for the after party. They are in the exact measurements that you gave us. The correction for the dress being a darker colour has also been taken into account with no further charges." The receptionist informed her.

"Would you like to see the dress?" The tailor offered.

"Sure. Why not?" Robin wanted to see the dress for herself before she could give Karen a thumbs-up. She walked into the waiting room to look at herself in the mirror and to show Ben the dress. It couldn't hurt to show it to him since he wasn't the groom after all. "So?" She looked at him for the first time since she entered the room, turning around after seeing the dress completely in the mirror with the help of broad daylight.

Ben was sure that he was looking at someone that was not of this world. "Wow, it's....I mean, it's beautiful. The dress is beautiful. You look really good." He started rambling. "I mean, you always look good. No, I mean, not that way, I-" He was taken aback, finally understanding what people meant by the groom going speechless when they first saw the bride walking down the altar. He also understood why seeing the bride before the wedding was considered bad luck, because seeing such a beauty was not something everyone could afford.

"The dress is a go?" She suggested to keep him from talking any further and feeling guilty later on.

He sighed in relief. "The dresses are a go."

Robin looked at herself in the mirror as she heard whispers about whether Ben was the groom and how some people believed that it was unlucky for the groom to see the bride before the wedding. "Oh, I'm not getting married. We aren't." Ben answered them. "Our best friends are."

Robin quickly made it back to the trial room. She couldn't wait to get out of there. All the staring had her anxiety levels up. "How do you do it?" She asked Ben as they started walking around the perimeter of a park nearby. Both of them needed the fresh air after the long day of getting work done. It was also the end of the day where they would talk about anything but planning.

"How do I do what?"

"Take in all the staring and the....glamour part of the cine world."

"Well," He thought about his answer. "I know that I'm blessed to be where I am right now. The staring is just one part of the downsides. Meeting wonderful people like yourself is worth it, that's all." He smiled and Robin hoped that she wasn't blushing. "Okay, so." He clapped his hands together in a trial to change the topic. "How prepared should I be for the second book?"

"Well...." She smiled as she realised what he was doing.

"Uh oh. I don't like the sound of that."

Robin smirked. She had the advantage then. She could scare Ben by feeding him false lies about what the second book was about and could also spoil the wrong bits if she wanted to. She could tell that she would be killing off her characters to see the reaction. Besides, she was too tired to pull his leg. "How do I answer?"

"Okay, so." He stopped her walking by stopping himself. "Just tell me one thing. Does anything happen to Delphie?" He closed his eyes because of the impact that he could receive from the answer.

"Maybe," she answered. "But nothing major. So don't worry about her safety. I mean, I may be cruel but I'm not that cruel. I won't hurt a baby."

"Oh, thank God! I wouldn't want to see your 'that cruel' side. Hopefully I don't have to." He joked. "And what about Cassie?"

"Well...." When Ben held his hand over his heart for a dramatic effect, she realised that she shouldn't tease his interest. "They're safe."

Ben sighed out in relief. "Phew! That's a huge weight off my chest."

"You're welcome."

"Thank you."

They started walking again under the stars, only caring about each other's company. The city lights reflected their souls and the sound of traffic was the only part of reality that had them escape their own little world.

It was the perfect night.