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“Send her up.” My curiosity gets the better of me, and I take a second to check my hair and makeup. It’s stupid, I know, but if she reports back to Derek, I want him to know that I look good, that I’m not some slobbery mess without him. Of course, if she could see my freezer full of ice cream and the bowls in my sink, she would know the truth, but thankfully I can hide it at work.
There’s a knock on my door, and then a woman who looks like she’s stepped out of a fifties movie pops her head in. “I’m Edith. Do you have a minute?”
“Sure, come on in.” I wave her in and notice she closes the door softly behind her.
“You don’t know me, but I’m Derek’s friend.”
“Yeah, I remember him mentioning you. You’re the one who got him the audition, right?”
Her eyes light up. “I am.”
She doesn’t say any more, so I try to move the conversation along. “Derek doesn’t work here anymore, so I’m not sure what I can do for you.”
“Oh, it’s not what you can do for me. I’m actually just the distraction, the Trojan Horse if you will.”
“The what?” I’m very confused. The Trojan horse was a bad thing if memory serves me correctly.
“Hold on, I’ll explain.” She steps out of the office and then the door opens again and Derek steps in, his hands conspicuously behind his back. At least he has the decency to look contrite.
“What are you doing here?” I can’t decide if I’m angry, confused, or happy.
“I came to talk to you. Sorry about Edith. She thought you might not let me up.”
“She might have been right, but since you’re here,” I motion with my hand to the folding chair against the wall, “sit.”
“I have something for you first.” He brings his hands forward and places a box on my desk. Then he grabs the folding chair and sits. “Open it.”
“What is it?” I know I shouldn’t be scared of a gift, but the man hasn’t spoken to me in nearly two weeks, so when he shows up with a neatly wrapped box, my first thought is that it’s some ruse to poison me or something. Maybe it’s finally payback for the food poisoning incident.
“Open it,” he says with a laugh, “it’s not going to bite you.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Of course I’m sure. Do you think I would get you something living that would require cleaning up after?” He has a point there. “Just open it.”
I’m still wary as I undo the bow and lift the lid off the box slowly. I don’t know what I expect to be in the small box - a tiny cobra or maybe a spider - he knows I hate them - but I am not expecting the white circle with the black number eight that stares up at me. I look up at him. “Is this some kind of joke?”
He shrugs. “I figured you probably threw the last one out after the challenge ended, so I got you a new one.”
“But you hated the eight ball,” I say, pulling it from the box. I didn’t actually throw the other one away, though I wanted to. Somehow, I couldn’t because it reminded me of my time with Derek, so like a stupid high school note, I shoved it in a box in my closet wanting it out of sight but not out of my life.
“This one is special, and I have a question to go with it.”
“What makes it special?” I turn it over in my hands. It looks exactly like the other one.
“I’ll tell you in a minute. First, will you forgive me for being stupid? I was wrong and scared and I should have believed you.” The apology is short and simple, but I can see the sincerity in his eyes. Also a little worry as if I might not only say no but kick him out of the office. It’s so endearing that I find my anger at him subsiding. After all, the misunderstanding was partly my fault too.
“Yeah, you were, but I should have been more forceful with Adam, so yes, I forgive you.”
Relief floods his face and he smiles. “Good, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way. Will you come to my play when it opens?”
This time I hesitate. Forgiveness is one thing, but attending his play? “I don’t know, Derek. I mean, I’m sure you’re a good actor, but you haven’t spoken to me in weeks.”
He shakes his head. “Sorry, I forgot to add that I dare you to use the ball to answer.”
My forehead furrows. I don’t know where he’s going with this, but he knows I can’t resist a dare. I wait for him to elaborate, but when he says nothing more, I sigh and ask the ball if I should attend his performance. I turn the ball over and ‘Undoubtedly so’ pops into the screen. “Undoubtedly so? I don’t remember that being one of the options.”
His smile widens. “Fantastic, I’m glad you’ll be attending.” He pulls something from his pocket. “Here’s a ticket for you and one for each of your friends. That’s five, right? I didn’t include a ticket for dates though if they have someone, let me know and I’ll get you more.”
