Essie had been on Tom's mind for weeks. He had one of the best nights of his life with her and then she just..disappeared. Lukas had called him only two days after they had slept together, drunk and telling him all about how he had hooked up with Essie's sister and she had caught them. It didn't take him three seconds to put two and two together and soon he knew he was the revenge rebound. As much as he was pissed at her for that, he didn't say anything to his best friend.
Now weeks had gone by and yet he still found himself thinking about her, even as a girl he had been talking to invited him to be her plus one to a wedding she was going to. Tom wasn't really the type to do weddings, but she had begged him, and so here he was, walking into a wedding apparel shop to try on a tux. If he had the choice, he would have probably just stuck with a nice pair of pants and a button-down shirt, but he had been strictly told to go for a suit. And so he complied.
He hadn't expected to see anyone he knew at the shop, and so even as he walked in, he didn't notice Essie right away.
Essie didn't notice Tom at first, too busy arguing with Tori over the colors of the dresses Tori had been suggesting to her. Despite having near everything chosen and planned out, her friend still hadn't decided on a color for bridesmaid dresses, telling Essie she 'would go with whatever you choose'.
"You have a color scheme, Tor. You can't just randomly decide on a color that doesn't fit. Well, you could, but with how important the aesthetic of your wedding is to you, it's a no." Essie told her, flipping through dresses on racks. She pulled out a couple different ones, slipping into a dressing room as they continued to talk. "It's fall, and we already picked a fall palette. So, we're picking from fall colors. Oranges, reds, browns. Though, I recommend something everyone's going to feel good wearing. Otherwise, you're going to end up with photos featuring women who look like they'd rather be anywhere else. And that's not good for the photos, or them."
Stepping back out wearing a burnt orange dress, she arched an eyebrow. Tori, a woman with dark brown hair and a curvy physique, nodded. "That makes sense. Still, though. I have no clue what to pick. All I know right now is that burnt orange doesn't look good on like, anyo-hey, Essie, isn't that the bastard's best friend?"
"Hi, I'm here for getting a tux fitted?" Tom said, making his way up to a counter and leaning against it as the employee he was talking to nodded.
"I'll be with you in about ten minutes if that works? I'm finishing up with another client at the moment." The employee replied, tapping something into one of the computers before motioning around the shop, "Feel free to look around as you wait."
Thomas nodded, taking the employee's advice and starting to wander around the store. He still didn't realize Essie was here, or at least until he heard her voice coming from the directions of the dressing rooms. Most likely, he told himself, it would be some random girl who sounded like her, but he decided it wouldn't hurt to check as he wandered over in that direction and pretended to be looking at some of the different dress and suit combinations on display nearby. Slowly he glanced over, seeing Essie in a burnt orange dress as well as a dark-haired woman he didn't know sitting nearby.
As soon as Tori said something, Essie's demeanor changed, her face closing off just enough to be noticeable as she turned back into the dressing room. "Who? You mean Tom? I don't see him. Can you not think of any more colors?" She was changing the subject, and badly. But there was something about the way she did it that made Tori pause, brow furrowed as she looked over at Tom, who'd moved closer.
"Hm…what about a more yellow? That could be a pretty good one, honestly." Tori said, as her friend stepped out in the clothes she'd worn there. A cropped tank top with a floral design, and black shorts. Both things that Lukas hadn't liked her wearing too much.
Tori's color suggestion, of course, was based entirely on the fact that Tom was near where the yellow dresses had been sorted into a space. Whatever she picked up from her friend, it as going to be dealt with through forced interaction. Essie sighed, nodding as she made her way over to the dresses her friend pointed out. Still ignoring Tom hard enough that she had her head bowed a bit too low to be looking at the dresses.
Just her luck, though. Because that brought her to bumping into him suddenly, as they both moved in the same direction.
It was hard not to overhear their conversations as Tom continued to browse, the look on his face a perfect replica of someone who was just shopping and didn't know anyone. He ran his hand over a soft yellow dress, perking up ever so slightly when he heard Essie's friend suggest yellow. She seemed to be wanting them to run into each other, or at least acknowledge the other's presence. He could easily do that. So as his best friend's former fiancee rounded the rack, he made a strategic move and 'accidentally' move where she was about to, making them bump into each other enough to stop for a moment.
"Sorry, my fault," Tom started, very well aware of exactly who it was even as he pretended not to until he glanced up at her and a tiny smile flashed on his face, "Essie, nice seeing you again. Got tired of trying to ignore me?"
Essie had let out a small squeak as she'd run into Tom, her cheeks flushing a pink that grew deeper as he spoke to her. All of her attempts at avoiding him, foiled by her best friend. Oh, was she going to get back at Tori for this.
"Ignore you? Is there a particular way I'm supposed to act with my ex-fiance's best friend otherwise?" She asked, straightening her back and crossing her arms. Even visibly embarrassed, she met his eyes, far from willing to back down in the face of someone else's mockery. "The point of a breakup is to leave behind the person you left behind, including the people surrounding them. My apologies, for not actively seeking you out. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to work."
"Ah, good to know that showing up to my home looking for distraction wasn't actively seeking me out," He replied, somehow flashing a tiny smile, even if it was a more mocking than anything, "Good to know I wasn't anything more than that." Thomas watched Essie for a minute, then simply tapped the yellow dress he had been long at before. "Try this one, it looks like a good choice."
There was so much more that Tom wanted to say, but he kept his mouth shut, just watching his best friend's former fiancee. Nothing he would say would do him any good based on what she had already said about her opinion of him.
With a huff, she grabbed the dress he pointed out, then a shimmery looking gold dress off the rack near it. "It's a fall wedding. Not summer. This is a summer yellow." Despite Essie's words, she had to admit, it was a pretty looking dress. If it looked nice on her, she might just end up buying it anyway. There was always an occasion to wear a nice dress, even if it was just out grocery shopping.
"I was drunk. I was drunk, and had just found my fiance in bed with my little sister." She muttered, eyes lowered to the dresses in her arms as she spoke. "I don't regret it. But it's not going to happen again, and nothing else is going to come out of it. Have fun shopping, And…I'd go with a modern tailored cut. Stick to slim notch lapels if you can. And don't match with your date, it's weird. Wear a tie or bow in a color that enhances."
With that, she was gone, back to the dressing rooms. In any normal situation, that would have been the end of it, as she had every intention of spending as much time as possible in there, to clear her mind of the encounter. But Tori had other ideas. The brunette waved to Tom, then gestured for him to come sit with her, smiling invitingly.
"So I was just a way to get back at Lukas? Nice to know that I'm not worth regretting at least." His words were calm but held a hint of hurt if she had bothered to listen. As she turned away though, Tom knew she hadn't bothered to either reply or listen. Normally he would've just walked away when she had, taking her information and opinion with him, but as the brunette that was with Essie waved him over, he decided staying couldn't hurt. He smiled back at the girl, walking over and taking a seat near her. "So, I take it you're a friend of Essie's? What's your name?"
"Call me Tori." Tori said, holding out a bag of some sort of dried fruit. "Saladito? They're dried apricots. My current obsession, for whatever reason." Looking back at the dressing room door, she shook her head, a fond but exasperated smile on her face. "You're Tom, aren't you? It was her mother, who told her to sleep with a guy's best friend when he broke her heart. I hope you know she never actually thought she'd do it." Settling into her seat, she made a face.
"Wedding planning is an absolute pain in the ass. Are you married? If you ever do get married, I'm warning you now, it's hell to get to the actual wedding. So much about stationary and food. Though, I don't mind the food bit. Anyway, I've never actually gotten to meet you, so tell me a bit about yourself." She talked quickly, words falling from her mouth like she couldn't keep up with them, and was afraid she wouldn't get all her thoughts out.
Tom smiled but shook his head at her offer of fruit, listening to what she had to say without interrupting. "I am Tom, you guessed right. Nice to meet you Tori," He started, chuckling as he watched the dressing room door, "I'm not married, to answer your other question. And I agree with you that planning it has to be hell, besides food." For a minute he was silent, though still held his smile from earlier even as he finally answered, "Well, about myself. I'm an electrician by day and bartender by night, I love mountain biking and I absolutely hate spiderwebs. I also hold the record for most alcohol consumed within an hour without throwing up, between me and a few other friends. What about you, Tori?"
"Interior designer by day, musician by night." Tori said, popping another apricot in her mouth and taking a moment to chew and swallow. That was usually the only time to get her quiet, was when she was eating. "That's how Essie and I met, actually. A bar accidentally booked us for the same set, about two years back, and we decided it was fate. So we rearranged and performed a duet, and that was the start of us being best friends." She grinned, pushing her hair back away from her face with a hand, a shiny engagement ring twinkling from her ring finger.
"She introduced me to Gabriel, actually. That's my Essie, always playing matchmaker for everyone but herself. Oh! You should go drinking with us some time, if you're that good. Trust me, my sorority days left me with one hell of a tolerance." That wasn't the last subject change, though. "So, why are you so interested in her, if I can ask?"
"Going drinking with you guys sounds fun, I would love to," Tom said with a light laugh, nodding as he glanced at her ring, "I originally came here to get a suit fitted, if that's what you mean. Meeting Essie here was just coincidence, though I'm glad I did. I'm mostly interested in her because I want to know why she slept with me and ghosted, without telling me what was going on between her and Lukas. Plus I have to ask her if she knows a girl named Alyse?"
((shit uh. who'se alyse))
(Uhh just some random girl I made up, the one that invited Tom to be her plus one? Lol idk I can change it if you want)
((my b! my motivation slips up from time to time, as i'm sure you've noticed lmao, but i think i'm getting a bit more into the swing again. hopefully, at least))
"Oh, you're Alyse's date!" There might have been a hint of something close to disappointment in her tone, though it seemed to be mixed with a weird sort of emotion that couldn't be quite pinpointed. If one knew Tori, though, they'd know exactly what the problem was. Something had gotten in the way of her matchmaking. "Alyse is a friend of ours, she was a regular at a bar we used to perform at. As for talking to Essie-"
"You might want to actually talk to her, instead of talking to her best friend about her right outside the door to the dressing room she's in." Speak of the devil. Essie, clad in the gold dress she'd grabbed off of the rack in a hurry, stood before them, looking sort of like some sort of ethereal being, with her blonde hair and sharp eyes, accented by the gold. "How about this one, Tor? I think even Mia would like it, if we got the back and front sewn up a bit."
(It's cool! I get it! Being constantly motivated is something no one can do :D)
Tom smiled softly with a nod, listening intently to what Tori said. Until Essie came out of the dressing room that was. He turned when he heard her voice, going to reply with some comment about not wanting to interrupt her until he saw the dress she was in. To say she looked good was an understatement. She looked positively gorgeous, almost otherworldly in a way. It took Thomas an intense amount of control to keep from gawking at her too much, instead motioning to the dress with a smile, "I know you're probably not looking for my input, but that dress has my vote in a heartbeat."
"Then that's the vibe we'll go with. Alright, esse, go change back into your clothes so we can buy the dress. I'm hungry as hell and ready to keep moving." Tori said, clapping her hands together with a bright grin. "Say, Tom, why don't you come with us? We can get to know each other better."
Essie, strangely, didn't look entirely opposed to that, shaking her head with a fond smile aimed at her best friend's antics. Like an entirely different person, really. "Alright. Give me two minutes. Or, maybe a few more, the zipper is a pain in the ass on this thing."
"Sure, I would love to," He replied, smiling back at Tori and glancing around the shop before focusing on Essie, "If you don't mind me coming with that is." Going with them sounded quite fun, and he had nothing better to do with his day. Maybe then he could talk to Essie more, at least make some small talk and try to rebuild their bond of friendship that had been destroyed by Lukas.
"Fine with me. I'm paying for the meals though." With that, Essie slipped back into the dressing room, fumbling with the zipper of the dress. At least when getting ready, we'll be able to help each other with these damn things.
"Anywhere you think would be good for lunch? We were just going to drive around and look or somewhere cheap and decent." Tori said with a laugh, gathering up her things into the purse she had next to her. "I thought I saw a Mexican restaurant about a block away, but I haven't looked it up yet."
"I'll pay for my food," He called before Essie slipped into the dressing room, a hint of a smile on his face as he turned back to talk to Tori, "Anywhere that serves edible food sounds good to me, and if it happens to be Mexican food, that sounds good too." Tom really didn't like or dislike Mexican food, as long as the spice level was under the 'eye-watering' level. He stood casually as he waited for Essie to finish up, slipping his hands into his pockets and glancing around the store at the variety of dresses and suits available.
