"Gabi!" he called after me waiting until I turned around to continue, "I'll call you," he said with a sad smile before turning to go meet Leslie on the swings.
I walked away from him holding the tears inside thinking about losing him again, before I really even had him. As soon as I got home I called Taylor over and explained everything to her. Just like the last time something like this happened between Troy and I, we had a sleepover that night too.
When I woke up the next morning Taylor was still asleep so I decided to go out for a quick run to wake up. I wasn't out for long, just long enough to clear my mind and wake up and getting myself going. When I got back home I took a quick shower and walked downstairs to begin making pancakes for breakfast. Hearing Taylor walk down the stairs, I greeted her and grabbed the juice from the fridge. We spent the day watching movies and playing board games until I heard my phone buzzing on the table next to us. I picked up and excused myself from the room letting Taylor sit by herself for a few minutes. When I returned I went to tell Taylor my good news.
"Hey guess what?" I said excitedly.
"Um… what?"
"We need to go shopping."
"Sounds fun, but why?" she wondered aloud.
"Because I just got a job and need a nice new wardrobe!"
"That's so great Gabs! Congrats!" she said to me.
We both went upstairs and got ready to go to the mall happy for something else to do. We went to the mall and spent three and a half hours and I spent just under 600 on new clothes for my job. I felt somewhat guilty spending all that money on clothes but I reassured myself that I needed them for work.
Taylor went home after we were done our shopping adventure and I thanked her for her help while I dropped her off at her house. When I got home I put all the shopping bags up in my room and headed downstairs to begin dinner for my parents once again. When my mom got home that night she immediately guessed what my big news was.
"Ella, did you get the job?"
"Yes!" I responded not able to hold in my excitement.
My mom said congratulations to me and helped me finish the dinner I started. When my dad got home I shared the good news with him as well. I didn't start until the following week, so I knew that I had the weekend and the next week before I headed into my career.
The weekend seemed to fly by as I prepared myself for my first full-time job. I spent time doing things that I enjoyed. I ended up going to our beach house for a few days to relax before I began my job. I spent most of the few days I was there lying out on the beach perfecting that summer glow. At times it was somewhat lonely being there by myself but it was also good for me to have some time to myself to reflect on the past few weeks. I thought about Troy a lot while I was away. I tried not to, but it was hard when he still hadn't called me. Of course my cell phone came along with me so I knew that if he tried, Troy could still get in touch with me. I waited for him to call me back, but my hopes began to dwindle by Monday evening when he still hadn't called. I drove back home after I watched the sunset over the ocean again. Upon arriving home, I talked to my parents for a little bit before I headed up to bed. When I woke up Tuesday morning I seemed to have no energy and I just wanted to stay in bed all day. Around 11 in the morning I finally pulled myself out of my bed and took a long shower.
I decided to go out for a walk in the park instead of being stuck inside by myself all day again. While I was walking by myself I began thinking back to my days in University. I missed the girls I had shared an apartment with. We had become close friends and all separated once we graduated from University. I wondered where they were now and what they had accomplished since we all went our own ways. I wanted to see them all again, and yet I knew that would be hard as Taylor and I were here, one was still in Boston and one was out in Seattle. When I got back home I began cooking grilled cheese for myself, lost in my own world until I was snapped back to reality when I heard the phone ring. I walked over the table to grab the cordless phone so I could make sure that my grilled cheese wouldn't burn.
"Hello?" I said in a monotone voice.
"Hi Brie, it me," I heard Troy voice travel through the phone.
"Troy. Hi, what's up?" I asked not knowing what to expect.
"Quite a bit actually. Do you want to meet somewhere?"
"Well actually I just started making grilled cheese here… but you could come over here if you like," I invited.
"Okay great, I'll be there in a few minutes. Bye," he said.
I hung up the phone and wondered what Troy meant by "quite a bit" was going on. I was anxious to find out about what it was but I was dreading the news at the same time. Deciding to make another grilled cheese so that he could have one when he got to my house, I grabbed the cheese from the fridge again. I was just finishing the second sandwich when I heard the doorbell.
I walked over to the door to let Troy in. We went back to the kitchen where I pushed his sandwich over to him.
"Thanks, but I'm not really hungry right now," he said.
Immediately I knew something was really wrong. I stopped eating and looked at him.
"What happened?" I asked gently.
"Well, first off I'm so sorry Gabi. For not calling you sooner, for telling you I wanted to be with you, then throwing Leslie into the picture - for everything," he said.
"I know you are, now just tell me what's bothering you."
"Leslie and I got into a huge fight last night when I told her that I wanted to be with someone else. She knew that when I told her that I wanted to break up and that's why she made up the lie about her being pregnant," he said all in one breath.
"She's not pregnant? She lied to you?"
"Yeah. When she found out that I wanted to break up she was upset. She wanted to do anything to keep me all to herself and the only way she could think of was to tell me that she was pregnant."
"I cannot believe that she would do that. I can't believe anyone would do that."
"I know. I was so mad when I found out, I completely flipped out and pretty much stayed up almost all night just being pissed about it," he said.
"Don't stress about it. I mean anyone who does that is only desperate and selfish."
"I know, it's just the whole situation that sucks. I mean imagine thinking that you're going to be a parent to one woman's baby, while you want to be with another. It's not really an ideal situation, but I've cooled down a bit now. I guess now that I'm over the anger stage I'm more relieved than anything. Plus I know for sure that there will never be any more problems with her again."
"Well that's good. I'm glad that you're doing better with the news now," I replied.
We sat in silence for a few minutes both lost in our own thoughts. I couldn't stop wondering what this meant for us. Finally my thoughts drifted away from that topic and I remembered I hadn't even shared my news about getting my first job with him.
"Oh! I totally forgot that I didn't tell you, I got a job!" I bounced up with excitement over my news once again.
"Really? That's awesome!" he answered, thankful to get his mind onto a different topic.
"Yeah I start on Monday, so it should be exciting."
"I bet. Where is the place? Is it far?" he asked skeptically.
"No, it's just downtown. It seems like a great little place to start out. Hopefully I can save up enough money to get an apartment of my own soon. I'm kind of over living with my parents at this point, you know?"
"Yeah, I truly do know. I applied to a few places last week myself so hopefully I'll be lucky just like you," he said smiling for the first time since he arrived at my house.
"I'm sure you will," I said confidently.
"We'll just have to wait and see. As for you, I think I need to take you out to dinner tonight to celebrate your new job," he stated.
"Sure, where were you thinking?"
"Any place you want. Your choice."
"Well what about that new Mexican place downtown?" I suggested.
"Sounds perfect. I'll pick you up here around 6, is that cool?"
"Okay. Troy is this like… I mean us going to dinner tonight are we…?"
"Yes, I'm considering this a date if that's what you're wondering. But remember the Mexican place isn't that fancy so don't go all out on me now," he laughed.
"Right, I'll keep that in mind," I said with a huge smile.
"Well I'll see you tonight then Brie; don't forget to be ready for 6."
"I won't. We'll see you later then," I replied as we walked to the door. He turned around and I briefly wondered if he was going to kiss me before flashing his million-dollar smile my way and telling me he couldn't wait. Then he swiftly opened the door and headed outside before I could reply. I was still smiling like crazy when I rushed to my phone to call Taylor.