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Chapter 6

Rossalyn was led down to the den just shy of an hour after Josiah left her bedroom. The man that was stationed outside of her bedroom guided her through the mansion pointing out various rooms as they passed, though she had no hope of remembering them with just one pass. She was feeling overwhelmed by the time she made it to the den and was relieved to find that it was just Josiah in the room for the time being. The door closed behind her once she entered the room, leaving her alone with him.

"Come have a seat. Our first guest is due to arrive in a few minutes." Josiah said.

"I'd rather stand, thank you." She said as she wandered around the room and looked at things. The whole room was decorated with various nicknacks and paintings. There was even a shelf that had books from floor to ceiling. She found herself there, browsing the titles.

Josiah was frustrated, she didn't seem to have the ability to follow even the most general instructions, though he couldn't find any reason to fairly reprimand him. She had to be nervous and if browsing the room let her get some of her nervous energy out in a constructive way, then far be it from him to forbid or criticize.

It was about fifteen minutes when a knock sounded at the door and two smartly dressed women entered the room followed by two young men that were rolling covered carts in front of them. Rossalyn looked over at Josiah, confused.

"I'm Marleen, this is Katie." Marleen held her hand out for Rossalyn to shake, which with a glance to Josiah Rossalyn did uncomfortably. "We're here to get you a new wardrobe started. We will also be fitting wedding dresses."

"Oh, okay?" Rossalyn said, though it sounded more like a question than anything else.

"All you really need to do for your wardrobe is to let us take your measurements and give us a baseline for your tastes. We can send over the clothes and whatever you don't like you can just send back." Katie said, a reassuring smile on her face.

"Oh! Okay." Rossalyn said, clearly relieved.

"Mr. Roja said there wouldn't be very much time between now and the wedding so we brought several dresses for you to go through and we can alter the dress you choose to fit better." Marleen gestured to the carts that were being uncovered by their assistants.

"Right. I guess lets get right into it then. We apparently have a lot to get through today." Rossalyn said, though she glared at Josiah. She didn't really understand the need for such a big fuss, or why there was such a rush on the wedding to take place. It wasn't like she could exactly change her mind.

Marleen and Katie pulled out measuring tape and took measurements and notes. She had never been so thoroughly measured in her entire life that she could remember. She wasn't even sure she'd been so carefully measured at birth.

"The jeweler will be here in a hour. She needs to be finished with you two by the time he arrives. I have some calls I need to make. I will return by that time." Josiah informed Marleen and Katie as he stood from the couch.

There was a bit of nervous chatter between the two at the imposed time limit and as soon as he left the room, they ushered her towards the carts to pick out her wedding dress.

"They will all fit nearly perfect, I assure you. Just pick the one that you like the most and put it on. We will pin it to make the alterations as quickly as possible to have you ready for your next appointment." Marleen said, though she sounded much less confident than she had at the beginning of the meeting.

With a nod, Rossalyn went through the dresses a few times. She couldn't decide between them. They were all beautiful though far more gaudy than her tastes ran. She didn't like any of them. She didn't know if it was because she was against the wedding completely, or if she genuinely didn't like any of the dresses. They were all satin, white, and poofy. They all had beaded bodices with varying cuts at the back. None of them were a style that she ever envisioned getting married in. She gave a defeated sigh and shook her head.

"What is it?" Katie asked nervously.

"I don't like any of them. They're all beautiful, don't get me wrong. But they're all variations of the same dress and none of them are to my taste." Rossalyn said sadly.

"Mr. Roja was very clear on the style he wished us to bring for you to pick from." Marleen said.

"Well, then Mr. Roja can wear whichever he fancies on our wedding day. I will not be wearing any of these dresses." Rossalyn said testily.

"Uh, well... er..." Katie spluttered, unsure of what the correct move was at that point.

"I will write down requirements for the wedding dress and you can get with him for an appointment to return with more suitable dresses for me to choose from." Rossalyn suggested.

"Right." Marleen said handing Rossalyn a notepad for the description of more acceptable dresses.

Josiah returned to the den at the hour mark and found Rossalyn sitting on the couch, quite alone in the room. He looked around and there was not even any evidence the fitting had even occurred. "How did it go?" He asked curiously.

"I sent them away with instructions to return at an appointment set by you with more appropriate dresses." Rossalyn informed him.

"Every one of those dresses were appropriate for our wedding." Josiah said.

"Maybe so, but none of them were the dress I will be married in. If I wanted to spend an undetermined amount of hours trapped in a scratchy, tight, torture device, I certainly would not choose to do so in front of an audience of people that I do not know, marrying a man I do not want, nor know. If I am to marry you, I will marry you in a dress I can at least be comfortable in." Rossalyn said in such a way that begged him to challenge her decision.

"My bride will be in a traditional wedding dress." Josiah said stubbornly, anger starting to creep into his tone.

"I will be, just not one that I can't even find my feet, nor sit in a chair. Did you know in a dress that poofy I have to be attended by at least two people to even pee? Does that sound appealing to you? It doesn't to me. If you want a dress like that in the wedding, fine. But you'll be the one wearing it. I'll be wearing a dress that I can use the restroom alone." She informed him.

"You could change into something between the ceremony and reception. Most women do." Josiah told her.

"Why am I even here, participating in the decisions of the wedding? The first, and arguably most important bride decision to be made you're unhappy with and pushing back against me. I clearly have no say in the wedding whatsoever so why should I even bother being put through all this?" She demanded.

"I gave you a variety of the dresses I prefer for you to choose from!" Josiah said defensively.

"They were all variations of the same dress! This bodice might look slightly different than that one but they're all the same! Thats not a choice!" Rossalyn yelled at him, frustrated.

Josiah ran his hand through his hair in frustation, he could not understand what she was so upset about. Millions of women get married in dresses similar to the ones he had brought for her to choose from. "I had hoped that we could start our relationship off at least working as a team."

"For us to work as a team there has to be compromise. For there to be compromise my feelings have to be taken into consideration. I do not want to wear the type of wedding dress you have picked out. I do not understand why that is such a big deal since that dress will be on my body, not yours. I've agreed to a traditional dress, since you've expressed thats what you want, but there are many more types of traditional wedding dresses that would word towards my wishes as well." Rossalyn said, she toned her voice down in a bid to be reasonable and get him out of being defensive.

"We will revisit this later. It is time for us to pick out the rings." Josiah sighed in frustration and almost on cue there was another knock at the door of the den.

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