The Difference

Chapter 8

"The streamers are this way- wait a second. Did you say Brad sent you here?" I ask Troy, pausing.

"Yeah. For streamers for the ball," He repeats himself.

"Streamers. For a ball. For your Grandma who has nothing less than exquisite taste.. or so I've heard from Ava, anyways," I say, wondering if he will catch on.

"Wait. What the hell? Streamers? This is a set up!" He says, looking around as if to find cameras or an explanation. "But how would Brad even know you were here?"

"Well, this morning he asked me about you and then asked where I worked, so I'm guessing he figured he just had to put us in the same place and see if we could handle the rest," I presumed.

"I just don't get it. You don't want to come to the ball with me, then you tell that guy you do. You're very confusing," he says, running his hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry for being confusing," I say.

He meets my eyes and smiles at me, "It's okay. But can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"Do you fight with all of your coworkers like that?" he says, grinning.

"Just the ones I call my best friend. We have history," I answer honestly. 

"History? Like what?" 

"Not like that. Well, I don't know, it's complicated. I can't really talk about it here. He's been my best friend for so long, I just need time to figure some stuff out," I barely get out the explanation before I start to tear up.

"Hey, hey, hey, you're okay. Look at me. You're just fine," Troy reassures me, before pulling me into a hug.

"Thank you."

He lets go of me and gives me another smile. "I think the best way to sort out something complicated is to focus on something else and let the universe handle it until you really know what the right choice is." I smile, realizing how similar we are. 

"You're right. I need to throw myself into something else while I'm getting over this mess."

"You could plan the ball!" Troy says, excitedly.

"Uh, that's Ava's job," I say, confused.

"I know, but knowing may Grandma, she is going to ask for far too much for just one person to handle. Plus, Ava is your best friend, so you probably were going to get roped into planning it anyways. Maybe you could take some time off work, too?" He suggests.

"I do have a lot of vacation days to use considering I never take any off being I'm in school and all," I say, contemplating. "I don't know. I'll have to talk to Ava about it." I look over and notice Eric watching Troy and I from a few aisles over. "You know what, vacation sounds amazing right now. I'll ask Ava tonight. Thanks for the idea," I tell him.

"Absolutely. I guess if I don't need streamers, I should be getting back to the mansion. They're trying to clean today and I got volunteered to help. Anyways, put your number in my phone so we can coordinate colors for the ball," he says, handing me his phone. I add my number and name quickly and hand it back to him.

"I'll see you around then," I let out a smile.

"How a guy could do anything BUT make you smile is beyond me," he says, walking past me toward the exit. I start to smile to myself and notice Eric still watching. I turn and walk the other way toward a customer in the next aisle, offering help. Time stands still all day, but finally, I get to leave at 4:00. Eric waits for me to walk out with him, and I give a small smile as I go out the door with him.

"So, who's that guy?" He asks me. 

"His name is Troy. Ava is working for his family."

"And he's taking you to a.. ball?" He asks, seriously.

"Yep."

"Interesting," he notes.

"Why?" 

"He just doesn't seem like your type. At all."

"Are you serious, Eric? He's like a carbon copy of you." We both stop in our tracks. "Forget I said that," I say, shaking my head and walking away.

"Rosemary, come on," he calls after me and I stop for a second as a car approaches us. Hannah jumps out, the girl he went on a date with not too long ago. 

"By the way, I'm not returning to work for a while after today. I'm not sure when I'll be back. Maybe a week or two. Don't come looking for me," I hop into my car, roll my window up, and hit the gas, not stopping until he's out of sight. I drive straight home and find Ava getting her binders together to leave to meet the Marigolds again. When she looks up at me, as it goes only with best friends, she gives me a look that says, "What did he do now? and I instantly lose it. 

I tell Ava about the fight that happened between us at work, Eric taking digs at Troy, Troy comforting me and Eric watching, Eric asking about Troy, and finally, Hannah being at work once the store closed. I cry over my best friend and the boy who hurt me being the same person. Ava cries because she feels bad, which makes both of us laugh a little bit. 

Once I calm down, I explain that I can't go back to work any time soon and Ava offers me a job as her personal assistant for as long as I need to bounce back from this. I give her a grateful hug and she tells me to take a bath because we have a long day of party planning tomorrow, starting with brunch with the Marigolds, including the guest of honor, Lily. 

Ava heads off to the mansion, binders in hand, while I start to clean the apartment. I blast music throughout the kitchen and deep clean every single room, including Ava's which is already pretty spotless, for two straight hours. Once I finish, I decide to take a bath to unwind after all. After a few minutes, my phone goes off next to me.

"Hi, it's Troy! Welcome to the party planning committee. Fully expecting those crab legs for Grandma now ;)"

"Hey! Thanks for today. Consider the crab legs done!"

"Did your day get better?"

"Not really, but I'm okay."

":( Want to talk about it tomorrow? Over a very formal brunch where we are supposed to do more planning?"

"Is this considered a conflict of interest?"

"I won't tell if you won't :)" 

I smile at his last text. Obviously, Ellen was more than happy at the thought of Brad hanging out with us, so there wasn't any bad blood with Troy and me talking. However, it was still fun to joke about. I took a deep breath and sunk further into my bath, letting the warmth of the water consume me. Though everything seemed to be going wrong in my life, I decided to let it go and let the universe handle this one for now. I was beyond excited about the stress that would come with planning the ball. 

After all, Shakespeare said it best, "Heavy is the head that wears the crown."