“Jesus…that was awkward, to say the very least,” thought Ashleigh as she stepped out into the hallway, “Now…which room am I staying in?”

Ashleigh made her way to the sitting room, opening the door and peering inside to see Vivian and the rest of the ladies gathered around and chatting by the fire. Ashleigh made her way inside to wear Vivian was standing with Bridget.

“Oh hello, Ashleigh darling,” stated Vivian as Ashleigh approached.

“Hey…erm…Vivan…which room am I staying in?” asked Ashleigh timidly.

“Why Wesley’s room of course,” started Vivian.

“Oh yay…because that sentence alone doesn’t make me feel…a little…odd…” thought Ashleigh.

“You mean he hasn’t even shown you where you’ll be staying…tut-tut…shame on that boy,” continued Vivian, shaking her head as she looked at Bridget.

“That might be because you and Bridget hijacked the tour he was giving me,” Ashleigh thought to herself.

“Now, remember where I said the upstairs bedrooms were my dear…Wesley’s is the second door on the right-hand side of the hallway,” instructed Vivan with a smile.

“Second door on the right…got it, thank you,” stated Ashleigh.

“You are most welcome my dear,” replied Vivian, turning back to Bridget to continue their conversation.

Ashleigh promptly headed back out into the main hall and closed the door behind her before making her way across the marble floor and up the stairway, turning right and heading up the second, short set of stairs.

“I’ve never seen Wes’ room from when he lived at home,” thought Ashleigh as she made her way through the door that led to a rather dimly lit, red-carpeted corridor, the walls of which, had the same dark wood panelled style that seemed to run throughout the house.

“This must be it,” thought Ashleigh, stopping outside of the second door on the right-hand side as instructed by Vivian.

Ashleigh placed her hand on the handle and slowly opened the door before stepping inside.

She slowly made her way inside the room that was in complete darkness but for the smallest amount of light that made its way in from the corridor. She searched to the right of her before coming across a switch for the light, turning it on before she proceeded and closed the door behind her and began to look around the room.

“Wow,”  thought Ashleigh, “It’s way bigger than I thought it would be… it’s almost the size of both mine and Wesley’s bedroom combined.”

The room looked rather bright in comparison to the rest of the house, its décor was rather fresh and modern, with its cream-painted walls and its beige-coloured carpet. It was clear that the room had been well prepared for their arrival, the soft scent of lavender filled the air along with a hint of lemon.

On the right-hand side of the room stood two, rather large, oak, wardrobes between which was a set of drawers that also looked to be made of solid oak. Hanging on the outside of the wardrobe doors was Wesley’s suit on one wardrobe and Ashleigh’s dress on the other.

At the far end of the room were two glass-panelled doors that looked to lead out onto a balcony. To the left of the room was a large bed standing in the centre of the wall, upon which were the two holdalls, both of which were open. On either side of the bed was a small bedside cabinet. On the far side, beyond the bed was a white door that was slightly open.

“That must be the bathroom Vivian was talking about,” thought Ashleigh walking over to the bed and sitting down. She placed her handbag down beside her and picked up her holdall, only to notice that not only was it open, but it was also now almost completely empty, apart from the small bag that contained a few makeup essentials.

Just then there was a gentle tap at the door,

“Come in…” stated Ashleigh before the door slowly opened.

“Hey, I just thought I’d come to help you get sorted for tonight,” said Pippa, closing the door behind her before sitting on the bed beside Ashleigh.

“Why’s my bag empty Pip?” asked Ashleigh somewhat anxiously.

“Oh, that will have just been Rose, my parent's housekeeper. After James dropped your bags in the room she will have unpacked them for you, no doubt you will find your clothes hung up neatly in your wardrobe, it’s nothing to worry about I assure you,” replied Pippa with a smile.

 “See that basket over there?” stated Pippa, pointing to a small, white basket, nestled to the right of Ashleigh’s wardrobe. “You put your laundry in that basket and Rose, bless her, has it washed, pressed and returned to you the next day at the very latest.”

“Oh…okay,” replied Ashleigh as she looked towards the wardrobe, more specifically the navy blue dress that hung upon there, covering almost three-quarters of the length of the solid oak door on which it hung.

“Wow…things must be easy living here,” thought Ashleigh, “If you’re a member of the Ashton-Burns family that is…”

 

 “Well I suppose we better get you ready for tonight…don’t you agree,” stated Pippa with a smile.

“I…I…I guess so,” replied Ashleigh, her tone still sounding rather anxious.

“Why do you sound so nervous Ash?” asked Pippa, getting to her feet and walking over to Ashleigh’s wardrobe, opening the door to peer inside at the selection of clothing she’d packed on Ashleigh’s behalf.

“I…I don’t know…I guess…I guess I’m not used to all this,” replied Ashleigh, glancing down at her dark red nails.

“Yes…I suppose it must feel a little strange,” said Pippa. “Spending your entire life on the other side of it all, going out with the guys on a bachelor party and god knows what else I mean. Not giving a fleeting thought to ‘being one of the girls’ and ending up at a bachelorette party instead… must be pretty jarring for anyone to say the very least,” she added, glancing around and smiling at Ashleigh who remained seated on the bed.

“Exactly…” replied Ashleigh, “Things like makeup…and hair…and dresses…it all feels like I’ve been thrown into this distant land, where everyone there speaks a completely different language to me and I don’t really have a translator.”

“Well…” stated Pippa as she pulled out a black and white, check patterned dress with a rather thick black belt around the waist, “From now on I’ll try my best to be your translator…how about that,” she added, laying the dress on the bed beside Ashleigh.

“I guess that would work…thank you,” stated Ashleigh with a slight smile.

“Lovely,” replied Pippa, “now come on and I’ll help you into this dress,” she added with a smile whilst gesturing for Ashleigh to get to her feet.

Ashleigh got to her feet following Pippa’s instructions, took the dress from Pippa’s hands and began to make her way to the bathroom.

“Shout me if you need any help,” stated Pippa as Ashleigh closed the bathroom door.

As she closed the door behind her, Ashleigh was shocked by the lights in the bathroom turning on automatically the second she stepped through the door.

“Wow…” she thought as she hung the black and white dress on the rail behind the door, “these en-suite bathrooms are bigger than the bathroom at home.”

Ashleigh stood for a few minutes, looking in the mirror and admiring her reflection.

“I still can’t get over the fact that…that’s me… that’s my reflection… I…I look so…so pretty…” she thought before she glanced at the dress and suddenly remembered that was in there to get changed and began to unbutton her blouse.

A short while later, Ashleigh stood in the bathroom, wearing nothing but her underwear.

“Here goes,” she thought, removing the dress from its hanger, placing her arms inside and carefully sliding it over her head, being sure not to smudge her makeup against the fabric. As she began to smooth out the dress against her body, there was a gentle tap at the door.

“Is everything okay darling?” asked Pippa.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine I’ll be out in just a second,” replied Ashleigh somewhat hastily as she freed her hair which had become snagged in the high neckline of the dress.

“Wow, this dress clings to your body,” thought Ashleigh as she loosely fastened the belt around her waist before gathering the clothes she had just removed and opening the bathroom door, where Pippa stood, eagerly awaiting her return.

“Oh Ashleigh, you look stunning,” shrieked Pippa upon seeing Ashleigh in her new dress.

“Why, that you Pippa,” replied Ashleigh with a smile on her face before giving an almost compulsory twirl.

“That dress looks amazing on you… it really compliments your figure rather nicely…there is just one minor thing though,” stated Pippa before she stepped toward Ashleigh and began to undo her belt. “There,” she added as she pulled the belt tight and refastened the buckle. “Belts like that should be worn rather tightly…it brings in your waist even further and really accentuates your curvy hips and bust,” stated Pippa with a grin.

“Holy shit Pip…could it be any tighter…what am I supposed to do about breathing,” gasped Ashleigh.

“You will be fine darling, I assure you,” replied Pippa, her smile not waning, even a little. “Now…I have taken the liberty of getting your shoes out ready, here you go,” she asserted, picking up a pair of black shoes with a one-inch heel. “I thought these would be easier to walk in with a small heel, but we must teach you to walk in others,” stated Pippa rather excitedly.

“Hmm…I won’t need to…come Monday, I’ll be back to normal and I think I’d look pretty weird walking around in heels,” declared Ashleigh with a giggle, slipping her feet into the shoes whilst warranting a glare from Pippa.

“What’s wrong?” asked Ashleigh, regretting the words almost the instant they left her mouth as she was almost certain of what the response was to be.

“I…I’m not sure really…” replied Pippa, “I guess…” she started before coming to a pause, “never mind… why don’t you head on down to the sitting room with the others whilst I go and quickly change.”

“Not quite the response I was expecting,” thought Ashleigh.

“You guess….what exactly?” asked Ashleigh.

“Never mind that right now… come darling, everyone will be waiting for us to return,” stated Pippa as she took Ashleigh by the hand and began to lead her toward the door.

“Hey, let me grab my handbag,” stated Ashleigh, promptly making her way to the bed, picking up her handbag and placing it over her shoulder.

“That sounded sooooo weird coming from my mouth…did I really just say I need to grab MY handbag,” thought Ashleigh before quickly following Pippa out of the bedroom and into the hallway.