A Little Bit Of Joy | ✔

Chapter Forty Three : The Boy On A Date

Third Person's POV [Logan's POV]

Logan shoved his hands deep in his pockets and quietly followed Rosemary to the park. He wasn't wringing his hands, cracking his knuckles or tugging at his sleeves- he wasn't nervous around Rosemary. Mostly because he wasn't in love with her and she was talking incessantly, allowing Logan to think of other things. Other things like Joy.

"---and the manager finally stopped staring at my ass when I wore this huge, puffy adult diapers and let it peek from my pants," Rosemary finished her sentence. Logan having gathered a few words and understanding the airy tone of her voice simply smiled at her. Rosemary was quirky like that- a good friend and a clever employee. But she wasn't the girl he was in love with. "Oh God Logan, the department store is ever so busy right now with the summer sale going on. Clothes, shoes, puddings, table fans and even falsies got this twenty percent discount and people are going mad! Like really, really mad. There are less people to handle the crazy crowd. They're all crazy like I said earlier. Now old uncle Brady decided to retire because his wife won a lottery at this festival- I thought it was a big scam and all but turns out- they actually won! Anyway, with him gone and our Gladys- the thin girl with pigtails and green coloured braces, remember her? Well, she's going to the summer camp. I know she's not really going to learn anything- well, she's alright at art and stuff but the actual reason she's going there is because she hopes to catch the eye of the smoking hot Daniel. Remember Daniel Collins? Oh, he's this---"

Logan tuned out again. No, he didn't know Brady, Gladys or Daniel, he didn't even want to know. He didn't mean to be apathetic, but he wanted to be with Joy right now- not with Rosemary.

"---I miss working with you at the store Logan," Rosemary admitted rather coyly.

"Me too." He didn't. He preferred working at the flower shop instead of the department store. One- because the manager of the department store was a complete asshole. Two- because it was exhausting and three- because he didn't get to see Joy.

"Am I boring you Logan? I know I talk a lot- really really lot and people often get bored. They feel like I'm too self-centred to even allow the other person to speak, but I'm not. Honest to God, I'm not. I usually understand when a person has to say something and at that moment I stop. Believe it or not, I do. But most of the time people don't have anything to say still they want me to remain quiet when I have so much to say. How fair is that, isn't it Logan? Oh God, I'm so dumb. I'm rambling again, aren't I? I'm sorry." Rosemary looked sincere and apologetic and at that very moment, Logan felt guilty- guilty of not listening to her and being a good date.

Rosemary didn't know Logan was in love with Joy. It wasn't her fault that Logan had to be here and not with Joy. Heck, even Joy didn't know Logan loved her. He couldn't ditch Rosemary now, despite of her continuous talks, he liked her. She was a nice friend and was always ready to help. So he had to be a gentleman whether he liked it or not and have a nice day with Rosemary- the kind of day Rosemary deserved.

"No, don't say sorry. I like listening to the things you say, they're interesting." Logan offered a polite smile and Rosemary's face instantly lit up. He felt at ease. Rosemary did look pretty with a goofy smile, but his thoughts were still flickering to Joy.

In Logan's mind, Rosemary's warm chocolate coloured eyes distorted to inquisitive, clear blue eyes. Her glowing skin turned paler. Her small, healthy nose changed into a pinkish, pointed one. Her round eyebrows turned into arched brows. Her crimson gloss coated lips became rosy virgin ones.

It was hard for him to not picture Rosemary's long brown hair with golden streaks as a short blonde almost pixie cut. Rosemary's hair was thick, luscious and wavy, but he still liked- no loved Joy's thin, light and stringy hair. Sometimes he wondered what Joy would look like in long hair- he had never seen her old pictures and it was hard to imagine. Surely she would look more beautiful if that was possible, but he loved her in every way she was now.

Logan shook his thoughts away and softly interrupted Rosemary, "Are you hungry?"

"Oh yes! I'm so glad you finally asked, I'm starving!" She grabbed Logan's arm and almost sprinted towards the food truck. Logan laughed at her energy- her energy sometimes reminded him of Joy. Oh dear, why couldn't he stop thinking about her? Perhaps, he didn't want to stop, but it felt somehow wrong thinking of Joy when he was with Rosemary. "Kebabs or chilli dogs?"

Logan wanted her to choose, so he shrugged.

"Let's get both," she declared and went to the middle eastern truck for the kebabs while Logan ordered the chilli dogs and fries. Although Rosemary insisted to pay for her own food, Logan bought it for her. He owed at least that much to her.

They ate on a park bench with Rosemary describing about the best cheese fries she had in New York. Logan with his wavering thoughts tried his best to listen intently and reply whenever he was expected to. The weather was balmy- a lovely, mild afternoon perfect for a date. The park was a small one with one cobblestone path in the middle for walking, well-maintained grass on either sides with green trees and a water fountain in the centre of the path. There was a couple clicking each other's pictures by the purple ivy rhododendrons, some town folk resting lazily on the grass, four children playing by the fountain, a man eating his lunch on the bench next to theirs and three women with innumerable shopping bags stretched out under an oak tree.

Once they had eaten and fed a stray, scrawny cat, Rosemary received a call. She had to go back to the store for some extra work. Rosemary tied her hair up in a pony tail as it was starting to get hot and Logan collected the empty boxes to throw it in the bin.

"Thank you Logan for all the food and for tolerating me," she said a little apprehensively, fidgeting with her lace cardigan. "I hope you enjoyed and thanks for coming. I had a lot of fun today, I really did. We can do this again later, that is- only-only if you want to."

Logan wanted to say that he loved someone else and that they could continue being just friends, but the hopeful look on Rosemary's face killed him. "Sure."

She grinned and gave him a quick hug. "See you around then, bye!"

And as always, she stormed away like a hurricane leaving Logan's heart heavy and his mind destroyed.

Logan unbuttoned the first two buttons of his shirt and sighed loudly. He started heading towards Joy's house. He didn't know why he was going there, but he just wanted to see her. He wanted to feel better like he was a decent person and wasn't playing with a poor girl's feelings.

As soon he was near Joy's house, the door burst open and Jamal marched towards him looking anxious and distressed.

"What happened?" Logan asked in trepidation. Jamal's face looked grim as he solemnly placed his hand on Logan's shoulder. Logan could feel his own hands trembling as dread and fear settled in the pit of his stomach. "W-What's wrong? Tell me y-you---"

"Yo man, you have to try to calm down. She wouldn't want you to get angry," Jamal intervened, trying to be as gentle as possible.

But Logan couldn't calm down. "Just tell me Goddamn it!"

"It's Joy bro, she's . . ."

Logan didn't hear the next words as he pushed Jamal away and charged towards the door.

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