Charlie's Wife's Dress

I sold Charlie's first wife
Her wedding dress

I have to say
She was very nervous

I know it's natural
For a bride to be a little jumpy
Before her big day
But usually a young woman is thrilled
To pick out her wedding dress

Charlie's fiance kept biting her nails
Shuffling her feet
And pacing back and forth
Every time she'd try on a new dress

Meanwhile, Charlie sat in one of our couches the entire time
Smiling and being supportive

Finally, the poor girl burst into tears
And ran into one of our changing rooms
With Charlie running in after her

I tried to make myself scarce
And not eavesdrop
But it's a small boutique
And it's not like those changing rooms
Are sound-proof

His fiance was saying something
About how there was no point in even having a wedding
Because they weren't going to be able
To afford anything nice

Well, Charlie came out of that dressing room
Walked right up to the counter
And pointed to one of our designer gowns
In the window

'We'll take that one,' he said

I mentioned to him
That he had chosen
One of the more expensive gowns
And he said something about
Doing less writing
And taking a teaching job that had been offered to him

'A teacher wouldn't exactly have an easy time affording it either,' I said

He looked back at the changing room
Where we could both still hear his soon-to-be-wife crying
And he put a credit card down on the counter

'I'll make it work,' he said

I've seen a lot of couples
Come and go from my shops
Sometimes the same people
With new engagement rings
One, two, three times even

And I don't like to pass judgment
Or make any sort of assumptions
About a couple

But when Charlie and his soon-to-be wife
Left my shop that day
I had a feeling
I'd be seeing
At least one of them
Again