Ashley's Wedding Read Online Free PDF Page A

knock at the door and Ashley's voice. "Suzi, I set your new makeup on the vanity in your bathroom and your dress for the bridal shower is hanging in the closet. I'll see you downstairs when you’re ready. OK?"
    "I'll be down in about 45 minutes," Susan replied emotionlessly. Fleetingly, she realized she hadn’t even reacted to being called “Suzi,” which seemed to have started yesterday with Ashley and the other girls. She really wasn’t Suzi. She was Susan. Right?
    She showered quickly and dressed in the white leather short skirt, halter top and high-heeled white sandals which all of the bridesmaids were to wear to the shower. She used a small amount of mousse on her hair and tousled the curls as she’d been shown. Numbly, she put her makeup on as Ashley's friend Elsa had done it the day before - a line of pencil along her thin brow, heavy eyeliner and mascara, eye shadow and lipstick.
    Her aunt, who hadn't seen Susan at all the day before, thought she looked cute and said so. In fact, her aunt thought that the idea of all the bridesmaids looking the same was a tremendously creative one on Ashley’s part. She was absolutely convinced that the concept would be revolutionary and much admired by their society friends. It would serve to add to the uniqueness of the next two months of showers, parties, and the wedding itself.
    The shower that afternoon was the first of five events over the next two weeks. By the time the two weeks had passed, Susan had fallen into the routine of dressing and looking like her cousin wanted. She had gotten friendly with the other bridesmaids, who all looked just about like her. The parties themselves threatened to be boring at first, but became increasingly more fun for her as time passed. Somehow, she found herself wanting to fit into the social scene in a way that had never interested her before.
    Something was different that at first she couldn't put her finger on. Then, sitting alone in her room after the fourth party, she realized what it was. She had not had a serious conversation with a single person she’d met for the first time at any party. In fact, most of the time she’d been treated like someone who couldn’t possibly have a serious opinion about anything. To Susan, this was in sharp contrast to her previously strong position in any discussion, where people seemed instinctively to look to her for an intelligent viewpoint on the subject at hand. It hit her like a shock. It was the way she looked now that was causing new acquaintances to dismiss her opinion, to think of her as some silly character that could only look cupie-doll surprised. My God, she thought, Ashley has not only changed me physically, but changed everyone's perception of me. And so many of those changes are irreversible! How did I let this happen?
    * * * * *
    The next day started early. A pool party was coming up and Ashley had told Susan that there was more to be done for her to be ready. Elsa arrived with her bag of utensils just after breakfast.
    All of the bridesmaids had been given tiny, thong bikinis that they were to wear to the pool party. The thong bottom was so small that Susan's pubic hair protruded all around it. Elsa was ready with Ashley’s electrolysis wand and went to work on Susan's lovely, soft, private curls. The distant pricking, mostly numbed by an antiseptic/anesthetic astringent, continued until dinner. By then, nothing protruded from the bikini at all, and Susan's once full crop had been reduced to a small mound. The next morning, at Ashley's insistence, Elsa returned and worked on Susan most of the day. By evening, Susan was as clean as a six-year-old. She was also red and sore.
    Of course, the pool party was a big hit. Susan also had a good time. She was able to put aside her jumbled, confused, uncertain thoughts for a while and just have fun. It occurred to her that maybe she’d overrated serious conversations.
    * * * * *
    Jack arrived the day after the fifth party for a weekend