18 It's A Curse

Troy didn't actually talk about his music all that much considering he was trying to make a career out of it. He preferred talking about random things of less importance.

Maybe it was because he and Eden weren't all that close. They were work friends. Nothing more. The thought stung somehow considering he had barely told her that talking to her was the highlight of his day.

"Is Jonah supportive of your music?" she blurted.

Troy didn't respond for a moment but when he did, his tone held a strange sense of irony. "Yeah. I'd say he's probably the most supportive of it out of everyone. He's helped me out more than once."

That was a good thing so why did he sound almost like he was grimacing? Something had felt off for the last few minutes. Did she say something that offended him?

Eden didn't get the chance to ask or apologize because her break was over. He still had a couple of minutes left so he didn't follow her out of the break room. She felt oddly dispirited at the end of that conversation.

Why was that? Because she realized she didn't actually know him that well despite how much she enjoyed talking to him? Because she was more open about her life than he seemed to be about his? Or because she was worried about offending him and making it so he didn't want to talk to her anymore?

She was unsettled for the rest of her shift. It didn't help that Saturdays were possibly the busiest days of the entire week so she had to force herself to focus despite her wandering thoughts about Troy.

Eden was exhausted by the time she got home and, to make things worse, she wouldn't even get to see him tomorrow to try and apologize or clear things up between them. What exactly had she said wrong that bothered him?

Did he not like talking about his cousin? Their relationship seemed good during his brief mentions of the guy before. And they probably wouldn't be living together if they didn't get along…

Wondering what she did wrong continued to bother her on and off throughout her shift on Sunday but when she saw Troy again on Monday, he acted like nothing happened. He was as friendly and happy to see her as ever.

"Hey, Eden! How was work yesterday?" he asked cheerfully.

She sighed. She might have been imagining things and torturing herself for nothing. Why were men so confusing?

"Long. It was long. At least I only have to work one more weekend here and then I'll be able to do whatever I want on Saturdays and Sundays again. Did you do anything fun on your day off?"

Troy shrugged. "Not really. I spent most of the day cleaning."

"That's a fun way to spend a day off," Eden snorted. "The chores never seem to stop when you're an adult, do they? I always have to do laundry on one of my days off because I never have time otherwise. Aside from that, I try to do a little bit of cleaning every day so it doesn't pile up on me."

There were few things she hated more than having to spend her entire days off running errands or doing chores. She had to do things to rejuvenate herself too or she would go insane, especially at this dead-end job.

She and Kayla had a rule that they each rinsed their dishes and put them in the dishwasher immediately. Whoever filled it up all the way turned it on and the other person would unload it.

They also switched off on who vacuumed or swept the main areas of the house and who cleaned the bathroom. Other than that, they took care of their own messes.

"That's smart. I let things pile up on me this time," Troy said with a dramatic sigh. "And all I wanted to do was sleep. At least I managed to get a decent nap in between my chores."

Eden raised an eyebrow. "You can actually have restful naps? I'm so jealous. Every time I fall asleep during the day, I wake up with a headache wondering what year it is. That's why I'm always super careful not to fall asleep while the sun is out."

"You're missing out! Naps are one of the best things in the world. I can't fall asleep on command during the day unless I'm really tired though. I think I was only able to do it this time because my exhaustion from Saturday rolled over to Sunday."

Was he only acting strange toward the end of their conversation last time because he was tired? Goodness knows Aubrey got cranky when she didn't get enough sleep. Eden felt like an idiot for not thinking of it sooner.

"That's what you get for staying up so late to read on a work night," she said lightly.

"Yeah, I know it was my own fault. Next time, I'll have to read on my days off only so it doesn't matter if I stay up too late. That's the problem with suspense novels; once you pick them up, you don't want to put them down," Troy complained.

Eden let out an empathetic laugh. "Been there. It's a curse. At least I'm a pretty fast reader so I can finish a book in about half the time most of my friends do."

"How long does it take you to read a five-hundred-page book?"

"About five and a half hours. You?"

"Ugh, it takes me more like ten. Which is why I was up until 3 AM last time. I wish I could read as fast as you. That's a real talent. It probably helped you a lot in school too, huh?" he speculated.

He was right. She had always been able to get her homework done pretty fast when it involved reading assignments. Aubrey used to get so jealous when they were studying together because she had dyslexia and it took her forever to read the same passage in a textbook.

"Yeah. Cut my studying time down a lot," Eden admitted. "It was especially helpful for when I had to get all of my lab hours. If I read any slower, I never would have been able to get all of my assignments done."