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Serena's Point Of View

I watched her intently as she felt the dress with her hands. Admiring every fiber, every thread there was. It was as black as the night sky and strapless to elongate her neck. The silver band above the breast part of the dress shimmered in the light of the vacant store, almost as if it was under a spotlight. Her eyes longed to try it on, but she knew there was no place she would be able to wear it to. A lot was going through her mind as she stroked the silver band across midsection of the dress repeatedly.

I could see her imagine him in a perfect tuxedo with straight-leg pants and all black Chuck Taylor’s™. His hair coming across his left eyebrow swiftly as both of his green eyes were present. I could see her imagining the ring he would slip on her finger. A medium sized sapphire sat in the middle as small sapphires sprawled out like the legs of a spider. I saw a tear run down her eye. I saw her ignore it.

My back sat up against the cold marble wall of a coffee shop as I watched him watch her. They were like the couples that sit on the top of the wedding cake-

perfect for each other.


I walked over to her as she mesmerized her whole wedding day. The one she dreamed of since she was six years old. The one she thought she’d never have. I walked slowly to her not wanting to interrupt this immaculate day dream she was having. I placed my arm around her as her eyes escaped to her world. She leaned into my shoulder sobbing quietly. I looked across expecting to see him. He had vanished.

“I can’t believe this! I worked so hard to avoid being stuck in shit like this!” She took a deep breath. I could tell she had been waiting days to get this out. “Now look at me! I’m stuck in this mall and there are flesh eating zombies outside just waiting to eat us alive!” She had grabbed my wrists by this time. She began to sob again but this time a little louder.

I grabbed her by the cheeks, looking her in the eye.

“Listen to me! You have to think about all the positive things about this experience! You’re here with your best friends and,” My tone became softer. “you and Gerard are back together. We gotta take this for granted! If we don’t then we’re stupid for even living. Things like this happen for a reason. We may not know now what that reason is but events like these happen so they can trigger certain events in the future.” She shook her head gaining her self-confidence again. I looked up to the dress as she wiped her face of any tears. It was beautiful. I could definitely see her in it. Walking down a wide aisle as it trained behind her. “It’s beautiful!”

“I know! But I just feel like I’d be stupid for even trying it on.”

“Why?”

“Do you really think I can find a priest who isn’t dead? It’d be hard enough to find one who isn’t already bitten.” I sighed.

“C’mon, Debbie Downer! Frank could marry you guys!” She cracked a small smile.

“Who said I wanted to get married to him. I just wanna do it before I get eaten!”

“Whatever.”

“I mean, I could marry Matt for all I care. It’s just one of those things I planned to do before I die.”

“Matt’s too short! Plus, I know someone who wouldn’t mind having you on a platter!” Her cheeks flushed blood red. Hope shined in her eyes as she looked for her size in the dress.

“Rena, what size do I wear?”

“How do you not know that? You wear a size six!” She plucked the first size six she saw out from the rack.

“I found one!” She squealed. I followed her to the door of the dressing room. She turned to me holding the dress to her chest.

“I want it to be a surprise!” I sighed, waiting outside the door for her. I heard her jeans clunk to the floor as she discarded her top. I heard her hopping around the dressing room trying to pull it on. She struggled with her zipper.

“Need any help?”

“No. I think I got it!” A few seconds passed. “Fuck it. I give up.” She swung the door open as she turned around so I could fix her zipper. I zipped it up but stopped her before she could turn around. I put her hair up into a high pony tail so her shoulders and neck could show.

“There! Look in the mirror!” She walked slowly seeing her reflection.

“It’s perfect!” She smoothed it down where her hips were.

“Does it have one of those sensors on it?” I asked innocently. She checked carefully.

“No,” She paused, knowing that I had a devious plot in my head. “Why?”

“What would be the point of paying for this?”

“Rena, it’s still wrong.” She resisted.

“C’mon, Shanie, what about taking this experience for granted?” She smiled.

“Okay fine. But can we find some shoes to match?” Before I answered her, I looked to the jewelry store across the way. There he was.

“You work on finding shoes; I’m…gonna go see what Frank’s up to. And don’t worry; you won’t have to marry Matt.”

“Yes!” She celebrated in relief. I laughed as I saw him having trouble.

I walked up to the doors of the store, seeing his hands press up against the glass case which contained the perfect gift for her. But it was much more than a gift. It was a commitment that they both had to be willing to make; and he was ready to commit. He imagined her, in the dress she desired, placing it softly on her finger. While he was dressed similarly to how he appeared in her dreams. But he had no hope whatsoever. He, like her, wasn’t enjoying anything that had happened in the last few days. They both needed each other more than they knew.

“It’s beautiful…” I gasped. He stood in the same place startled. His manner softened up and he became more enterprising.

“You think she’d like it?” He still hadn’t made eye contact but he moved away from the case slowly just so I could see. It was in fact beautiful. The sapphires were gleaming in the dull light inside of the case. It was just the way she imagined it.

“She’d love it.” I said mesmerized by the gleam of the silver band. I felt another presence in the room.

“Very Nice.” He murmured as he joined the two of us. Gerard turned around almost aware of what he was going to say.

“Look, we were just looking.” He reassured. Surprisingly, CJ had acted against what we predicted him to do.

“No, no it’s fine. I was just…complimenting as all…” He replied smiling innocently. Silence draped over the room like a thick black blanket. “It’s all I can ever seem to do. I guess commitment just wasn’t my thing.”

“It’s not as hard as people make it out to be…at least I don’t think…” Gerard added.

“You see, it’s different for you. You’re not a 32 year-old security guard who lives alone and watches Will and Grace in secret.” Gerard and I just looked at each other knowing he was going to vent.

“Are you faithful?” I asked.

Silence.

“Well, being faithful goes hand-in-hand with commitment.” He nodded shamefully.

“Were you trustworthy?” I asked wanting to hear an answer this time.

Silence…yet again.

“I was reading this article in one of those…teeny magazines. By the way, you were in it and so were those other guys downstairs.”

“Not surprised.” He said simply.

“But anyway, it was talking about healthy relationships and-get this! Trust is the number one key to a healthy relationship!”

“So I’m guessing you didn’t have too many of those, huh?” We laughed until he almost went stark raving mad to tell us what the second one was.

“And you’ll never guess what number two was!”

“What? Breathing?” He teased.

“No! Listening! Listening was number two!” Gerard turned away from the case again looking CJ into the eyes. His face read utter confusion.

“How do you fail at listening? Of all things that go in a relationship-listening is the easiest thing! And you failed at it! You, you baffle me.”

“All she wanted to talk about was her job and it was just so dry. I just…blocked her out.”

“What did she do?”

“She was a stripper at Club Legs over there between Broad and Huntington Road.”

“Well at least he knew where it was.” I remarked quietly. Gerard’s loud laugh rang through the mall. It was nice seeing a sincere laugh come out of him.