she took in the familiar coloured ribbons on the back of Kate’s bodice. She had assumed something so expensive and intricate could only be a one-off, but no, there was a sample in a large size too, goddamnit. Diana could barely contain her annoyance. First Rat Face and now this. Was it really too much to ask for something unique?
All the same, Diana allowed Melanie to help her step up onto another upturned crate to better show off the skirt. She stood with a dancer’s poise as Melanie pulled the ribbons at the back of the bodice as tight as they would go.
Diana asked her mother for a hair clip from her handbag. With it, she gathered her chestnut hair up into a loose chignon that showed off her well-toned shoulders. Thank you, Pilates. She turned this way and that, checking her reflection from all angles. Susie and Nicole cooed their approval.
‘It’s beautiful with your skin tone,’ said Nicole.
Melanie stood on another crate in order to be able to fasten the cathedral-length veil, the perfect accessory.
‘Ben isn’t going to know what hit him,’ said Susie.
‘Especially if I can get those Swarovski Louboutins to go with it,’ Diana agreed. ‘They cost well over a grand.’
‘Your dad will be delighted to get you those shoes, I’m sure.’
‘How much is this dress again?’ Diana asked Melanie.
Diana didn’t even blink when Melanie answered, ‘Two thousand pounds . . . It’s more expensive than the others you’ve just tried on because of the flowers on the bodice. Each one of those roses has to be stitched together by hand.’
‘So you’re telling me that even though that other girl is wearing the same dress, they’re not exactly identical.’
‘That’s right.’
‘OK.’
Satisfied that she was wearing a dress better than the older bride, Diana told her mother, ‘This is the one for me.’ While Melanie scuttled off to gather the paperwork, Diana posed for a while longer on her crate, basking in what she perceived to be the envious looks of the other women in the salon. Rat Face, skinny from years of worrying and smoking, could come nowhere near this sort of perfection. Meanwhile, the older bride slunk back into her changing room and emerged in a pair of ill-fitting jeans that showed her big arse in all its glory. Round one of Bride Wars to Diana Ashcroft.
Chapter Eleven
30 October 2010
Back in London, Kate wondered what on earth had possessed her to put down a deposit for a dress Richard Branson might have filled with hot air and taken to the moon. She didn’t dare tell Ian what had happened. Though both of them made good money – great money, in fact – she had a feeling that he would be unimpressed by the idea that she had spent the cost of a damn good holiday on a dress she would wear for at best half a day. They were supposed to be getting married at a register office in March and following that with lunch at one of their favourite restaurants. If she told Ian about the dress, he would think she had gone mad. Ian’s theory, casually aired to Kate’s brother-in-law, that inside every girl was a Bridezilla just waiting to come out would be proved to be true.
In any case, there was more to think about than a dress. Kate had just a month left in her current job. There were an awful lot of loose ends to be tied up before she could go on gardening leave. And now there was her mother’s biopsy to think about too. If the news turned out to be as bad as Elaine seemed certain it would be, Kate had a feeling she would be spending much of her gardening leave in Washam. All that seemed far more real than planning a wedding.
It still hadn’t quite sunk into Kate’s brain that she was going to get married. Perhaps it was simply that work and her mother’s health were much more pressing, but perhaps it was that Kate was finding it hard to shake years of not even daring to dream that she would one day find herself engaged. After she and Dan broke up for the last time, Kate had rather
All the same, Diana allowed Melanie to help her step up onto another upturned crate to better show off the skirt. She stood with a dancer’s poise as Melanie pulled the ribbons at the back of the bodice as tight as they would go.
Diana asked her mother for a hair clip from her handbag. With it, she gathered her chestnut hair up into a loose chignon that showed off her well-toned shoulders. Thank you, Pilates. She turned this way and that, checking her reflection from all angles. Susie and Nicole cooed their approval.
‘It’s beautiful with your skin tone,’ said Nicole.
Melanie stood on another crate in order to be able to fasten the cathedral-length veil, the perfect accessory.
‘Ben isn’t going to know what hit him,’ said Susie.
‘Especially if I can get those Swarovski Louboutins to go with it,’ Diana agreed. ‘They cost well over a grand.’
‘Your dad will be delighted to get you those shoes, I’m sure.’
‘How much is this dress again?’ Diana asked Melanie.
Diana didn’t even blink when Melanie answered, ‘Two thousand pounds . . . It’s more expensive than the others you’ve just tried on because of the flowers on the bodice. Each one of those roses has to be stitched together by hand.’
‘So you’re telling me that even though that other girl is wearing the same dress, they’re not exactly identical.’
‘That’s right.’
‘OK.’
Satisfied that she was wearing a dress better than the older bride, Diana told her mother, ‘This is the one for me.’ While Melanie scuttled off to gather the paperwork, Diana posed for a while longer on her crate, basking in what she perceived to be the envious looks of the other women in the salon. Rat Face, skinny from years of worrying and smoking, could come nowhere near this sort of perfection. Meanwhile, the older bride slunk back into her changing room and emerged in a pair of ill-fitting jeans that showed her big arse in all its glory. Round one of Bride Wars to Diana Ashcroft.
Chapter Eleven
30 October 2010
Back in London, Kate wondered what on earth had possessed her to put down a deposit for a dress Richard Branson might have filled with hot air and taken to the moon. She didn’t dare tell Ian what had happened. Though both of them made good money – great money, in fact – she had a feeling that he would be unimpressed by the idea that she had spent the cost of a damn good holiday on a dress she would wear for at best half a day. They were supposed to be getting married at a register office in March and following that with lunch at one of their favourite restaurants. If she told Ian about the dress, he would think she had gone mad. Ian’s theory, casually aired to Kate’s brother-in-law, that inside every girl was a Bridezilla just waiting to come out would be proved to be true.
In any case, there was more to think about than a dress. Kate had just a month left in her current job. There were an awful lot of loose ends to be tied up before she could go on gardening leave. And now there was her mother’s biopsy to think about too. If the news turned out to be as bad as Elaine seemed certain it would be, Kate had a feeling she would be spending much of her gardening leave in Washam. All that seemed far more real than planning a wedding.
It still hadn’t quite sunk into Kate’s brain that she was going to get married. Perhaps it was simply that work and her mother’s health were much more pressing, but perhaps it was that Kate was finding it hard to shake years of not even daring to dream that she would one day find herself engaged. After she and Dan broke up for the last time, Kate had rather
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