The Difference

Chapter 16

But what does she mean by, "Some people don't always tell the full story?" I ask Troy. We are sitting in the corner of the ballroom at a table deemed for Ava and I to work. Ava and Brad ran out to get curtain samples and left Troy and I here to design the invitations for the event which must be sent out no later than tomorrow. Troy is invested on my laptop as he clicks through the different color options on the screen.

"Do you think mint green is nice?" He questions, ignoring me.

"Mint will clash with sage," I offer.

"Oh. Right. What were you saying?"

I look down was my phone starts to ring. It's Eric. Troy lets out a laugh as I hesitate to answer.

"It's okay, Rosemary. Just friends," he says and I pick up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey Rosemary, are you busy?"

"I'm currently working right now, what's up?"

"Oh, never mind. I'll let you go-"

"What's wrong?" I cut him off.

"I tried to talk to my Dad and he flipped out, I just don't want to be home right now," he says and I go silent.

Troy nudges me, "See if he wants to come here for dinner," he whispers.

"No!" I whisper back.

"Uh, hello?" Eric chimes in.

"Sorry, Troy was saying something."

"It's fine, I'll talk to you later," he says, preparing to hang up. Troy snatches my phone out of my hand and says into the phone, "Hey man."

"Oh, hey. How are you?" Eric asks politely.

"Listen, I hate to be a jerk, but I heard that conversation. No one deserves to be alone around the time of the holidays. Why don't you join us for dinner tonight?"

"Oh no, I couldn't-"

"Alright buddy, we'll send you the address, bye!" Troy says, hanging up.

I shake my head as he hands me my phone back.

"What?" he asks innocently.

"You didn't need to do that," I comment.

"I know," he admits, leaning back in his chair.

"You're a good guy, Troy Aspen Thomas," I say, leaning in. He kisses me and we get back to work on the invitations. I snap a photo to Eric so he can see the address. He sends back a thumbs up. We decide on an emerald green border to go along with the sage accents on the invitation. Grandma Marigold thanks us for the hard work, as if we did them by hand or something. She then tells us we must get them printed immediately, so we can spray each invite with her signature scent, add a bow on the top, and include a preview of the menu for our guests. Troy is more enthused about this endeavor than I am, and since Ava took my car out earlier, he offers to drive us. He leads me out of the ballroom, out the main entrance to the mansion, and outside to a garage I've never seen. It's a large 4 car garage, simple and white on the outside. Troy leads me to the side entrance and my jaw nearly drops. First, an exact replica of Eric's Audi, except in a hunter green color.
"This is Brad's," he comments, as I nearly have to wipe the drool off my face.

"Holy shit," I comment, looking at the interior, which is custom done to match the outside of the car. Troy takes my hand and leads me over to the next car, which I quickly snap a photo to send to my dad later. A Ford Torino Cobra.

"1970?" I question.

"Impressive!" Troy says, as he lets me touch the side of it.

"My dad is a car enthusiast," I explain, giddy at the site of a muscle car.