Archive of Our Own

You guys, this is driving me absolutely insane.

(This is going to be long and detailed because I’m a yapper so buckle up.)

So, I (21F) work part-time at a bridal shop. My job is basically to help the brides put their dresses on, compliment them, suggest necklines, fabrics – the whole deal. You get it.

On this fine day, three people came in for an appointment; a man (let’s call him F) and two women I assumed were sisters. Let’s call them M and B. It was the middle of the week, so the shop was nearly dead quiet. I was the only person that had come in for work.

When they came in, M immediately greeted me really warmly, saying she was sorry they were late (they were only about 15 mins late btw, I’ve had bridezillas come in hours late to their appointments). She said they didn’t want to take up too much of my time. (Just gonna take a sec to say she was just sososo nice you guys. It was like a talking to the sun.)

I was about to say it was no problem at all when the man butted in and said, “That’s nonsense! It’s your wedding dress! We’re gonna take our time and find you the perfect one,” and something else about “the kids being so wild in the mornings before school” as the reason for being late, which made the woman smile up at him. I assumed they were talking about their kids and smiled back. (Like I have any clue what that’s like lol.)

Anyway, I ushered them in and M’s eyes immediately widened. She sort of latched onto F’s hand like she was uncomfortable? At first, I panicked that maybe she didn’t like the collection, and I was already thinking about getting out some florals and pastels for her to try. But F just pulled her closer and said something like “It’s okay sweetheart, your sister and I are here to make this easier,” adding that they could leave any time and order something online and get it tailored.

That seemed to put her at ease, and she told me she was ready to get looking. B, her sister, seemed to be buzzing with excitement as she began rattling off a certain list of requirements for the dress, so I did my best to match her enthusiasm as I asked them what sort of design they were looking for.

When M told me she didn’t have anything specific in mind, I began bringing out some dresses that I thought would suit her best, but before she could even touch them, F would get up and feel the fabric first, before he deemed it proper enough for her to try.

I felt a bit weird about it at first? Because he kept grunting and going “too scratchy” or “too lacey” for every other dress. I was, like, fighting the urge to roll my eyes at this guy because, dude, YOU don’t even have to wear the dress?? Your fiancée does??

(I feel like laughing as I type this, you’ll see why.)

Finally, I gave in and asked M, “Don’t you want to try touching them yourself?”

She looked almost surprised that I asked her. She looked at me like I was stupid to not just defer to F. But she did get up and feel the fabric between her fingers, and then immediately dropped it with an expression of distaste almost mirroring the man’s.

Her sister laughed. (At ME!! I felt kind of embarrassed. The couple definitely had some sort of telepathic thing going on.)

The guy seemed pretty pleased with himself (which, I HATE when guys get smug but this isn’t about me) as M scrunched her nose at him. And, like. Okay. I remember thinking they were really, really cute together.

But we did eventually shortlist a few dresses that would apparently be comfortable enough for her.

What surprised me, was the fact that AFTER she began to try them on, F didn’t really offer much of an opinion. While her sister animatedly explained everything that was right and wrong about each piece, F mostly sat in silence (though I did see him catch his breath a couple of times if he stared too long.) When M did catch his eye, he simply smiled back at her, almost like he was holding himself back from saying anything. I didn’t really think much of it, like maybe he was just giving her space to decide first, yknow?

I also felt like M was feeling a bit awkward, maybe? Like she wasn’t exactly enjoying herself, even though I tried my best to keep her preferences in mind. That wasn’t exactly new, a lot of women feel uncomfortable when they start trying out dresses at first, but they usually ease into it after the first couple of times.

But M, she kept getting more and more anxious as she tried the dresses on, just rubbing her fingers together, bunching her shoulders, looking like this was getting really overstimulating for her. By the fourth dress, she cried, “I don’t think this is working!”

When I say F shot up like a Jack-in-a-box, it is NOT an exaggeration. The man literally sprung up on his feet like a dog and grabbed her shoulders, looking directly into her eyes. It felt like a really private moment that I was intruding on, so I did the best thing I could and grabbed her a glass of water. He was whispering something when I handed it to her, only breaking eye contact to tell me to turn the lights off.

I did as I was told, mostly because I was terrified they’d complain or something and I would lose my job. I was also worried about the woman. Obviously.

So she sat down for a bit, still in the dress, and her sister quietly handed her a pair of noise-cancelling headphones. She wordlessly grabbed her sister’s hand, and began squeezing it rhythmically.

I had NO IDEA WHAT TO DO. I was so so scared that I'd done something to cause this that I could burst into tears. The guy seemed to understand this and held up a hand in front of my face like he was gonna shush me, but just said, “She’s just overwhelmed. Give her a few minutes.” Happy to, sir.

Anyway, I just stood there in silence for a few minutes while the guy wandered somewhere round the back. I didn’t even care if he stole anything anymore. I’d like to see him fit a whole ass dress in his pocket.

M finally took the headphones off and gave them back to her sister and F just magically appeared next to her as soon as she stood up?? (How do you even explain this shit except telepathy??)

He was carrying a dress from the pastels section, something I hadn’t gotten to yet, and laid it on the settee before gently talking to her again. She nodded to whatever he was saying.

I remember thinking they were probably plotting my murder rn. Dark room, no witnesses…

Just kidding (but no i was actually terrified). The guy asked me to turn the lights on again after checking with M. Again, happy to, sir.

Then, he explained that he’d chosen one last dress that she could try on, but if she didn’t like it, they were going to leave and that they were sorry for wasting my time. (I told them they weren’t, obviously.)

Anyway I turned the lights on and led her inside, helping her put this dress on. This one was much different from the ones she’d worn before (all white and ivory). It was a light purple, off-shoulder gown with a slit and some beautiful embroidery around the neckline.

And I swear, I haven’t worked this job long, but I know THE ONE when I see it.

You guys.

When she walked out, it was like straight out of a movie! NOT EVEN KIDDING. B was so enamoured she kept repeating “It’s perfect! It’s perfect!”

M seemed so much more confident in this one. She had a genuinely blinding smile on her face, and she twirled around in front of the mirror a couple times, gasping at the swish of the dress train.

And if I wasn’t certain F was in love with this woman before, I would’ve been then, because oh my fucking god you guys, he couldn’t stop staring at her. He was looking at her like she was the answer to everything in his life. There was such a deep fondness in his gaze that I remember thinking how lucky she was to be marrying a man that looked at her like that.

(Guys. I’m a dumbass.)

I could see her looking at him in the mirror and all she asked was, “yeah?” and he replied, “yeah.” (istg there were like. Actual tears in his eyes. Lovestruck mf.)

And then. This woman. She turns to her sister and goes, “give me my phone, i have to show this to Nate.”

And me, like a dumbass, I go, “Who the fuck is Nate?”

Yes, very professional of me. But F, at that moment, looked like he had asked himself that same question hundreds of times before.

M looked a bit taken aback by my sudden outburst (very VERY fair of her btw). She looked at me like I was a bit simple, before saying, "My fiancé .”

It literally felt like my jaw was ON THE FLOOR as I looked at the two of them, because I wanted to figure out whether she was kidding. By the look on F’s face, she was NOT.

“But that’s HIM!” I said, pointing towards F. (Dumbass)

M suddenly looked like she got caught with her hand in a cookie jar.

She sputtered a couple of times, colour blooming on her cheeks before she nearly yelled, “WHAT? NO!” and then slapped both her hands on her mouth.

F immediately rushed to explain, “There’s some misunderstanding,” with M saying “He’s just my best friend, aside from B, of course–” and F speaking over her again with “Her fiance couldn’t be here today, we’re all doctors, you see–”.

And M finished it off with a “He’s like a brother to me!”

That managed to snap F’s jaw shut. Though mine was still hanging wide open. (Because in exactly what universe does a BROTHER look at his sister LIKE THAT?? Good fucking lord.)

I stammered out whatever apology I could, mentally praying that this bullshit wasn’t going to get me fired. Before my eyes, I could see F had visibly deflated, and dude, I would’ve felt so bad for him if I wasn't so pissed at myself. (For being a dumbass, if that wasn’t clear.)

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds, before M grabbed her phone and went to a corner to call her fiancé (a man that WASN’T F. Just to get you used to it.)

Under no circumstance was I going to try to stay in this carnage any longer, so I took off putting all the tried dresses back on the rack, maybe lingering a bit longer than I should’ve. (But could you blame me?)

By the time I wandered back, there was a morose energy in the room. B sat with her headphones over her ears as F whispered-shouted about something being ‘fucking ridiculous’. Before M could reply though, I found myself asking whether everything was alright.

M smiled at me sadly and said that they weren’t going to go ahead with the purple dress. My stomach literally dropped because, girl, what do you MEAN? She looked like a goddamn princess in that dress, and I’d seen the way her face had lit up as she saw herself in the mirror.

(I also saw the way she positively GLOWED when F looked at her in it.)

When I asked her why, F scoffed and said something about Nate (again, the actual FIANCÉ) being a fucking idiot.

M, who did NOT look happy at this interruption, said that her future mother-in-law wanted her to be wearing a classic white since she was a traditional woman, and M wanted to respect her wishes.

I felt a bit brave, so I said, “But it’s YOUR wedding?”

F crossed his arms and looked like I had just proven his point. But M shook her head and asked me to get her out of the dress. (She said “please’ at the end. Because she’s a sweetheart.)

As I helped her out, she looked at it again with such a sad expression that it made me reiterate how truly beautiful she looked when she wore it.

And BECAUSE I can't help but run my mouth, I added, “Your best friend obviously thought so, too.”

I immediately realised I overstepped when her face flickered, and she looked hurt all of a sudden.

“He could’ve said something, if he liked it so much,” she said quietly. “I kept waiting for him to say it, but he didn’t. So now there’s someone else whose opinion has to matter more than his.”

This baffled me for a second because, imo, he made it VERY clear how much he liked the dress and how he really wanted her to keep it?

But then I met her eyes in the small vanity mirror. And I realised that this wasn’t about the dress at all. There was some serious drama there that I wasn't touching with a ten-foot pole.

We went out, and everyone stood. I took the dress from M’s hands and walked away, F’s eyes on it the whole time.

It felt like I almost imagined M saying, “He still won’t say it,” under her breath. (Talk about awkward. -_-)

They thanked me and left, informing me that they would look to book another appointment soon. (They definitely weren’t going to. Whatever.)

I could notice a lot of obvious tension between the two as they walked away, so at odds from when they first came in.

So, AITA for saying what I did and stirring the pot?

EDIT #1: Everyone is asking me why I used the full name for the fiance while using only the initials for everyone else. It's because I'm petty as shit. That man couldn’t stand up to his own mother about getting his future wife the dress that she wanted. I will name and shame :)

EDIT #2: Guys no I can’t just call them and ask them to fuck it out. Not even anonymously. Please stop commenting that.

EDIT #3: You guys!! Thank you for all the really kind responses to this post. I absolutely did not expect it to blow up the way it did.

I know I posted this nearly a year ago, but I got a call yesterday from M asking me if we still had that purple dress, or a similar piece!

YOU GUYS. Apparently they did, in fact, get their shit together, because M and F are GETTING MARRIED. And somehow I was lucky enough to be invited to the wedding!!!!!

LOVE IS SO REAL !!!!!!! :)