The Difference Between Getting and Needing

t w e n t y - t h r e e

'cause we are good for each other
and this will pass like the w e a t h e r . . .

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Ever since Koa popped the question and Sutton went from devoted girlfriend to possessed fiancé, I never thought I'd see the light at the end of the tunnel. My sister sucked up any and all luminosity in my life and suddenly, I became a blind servant. Lost and stumbling around in the dark, obeying echoed commands, reaching for a sense of freedom I wasn't even sure existed anymore.

After the phone call that promoted me to Maid of Honor, the next two and a half weeks went by faster than any other time I had experienced before. Now, the wedding was staring me in the face and it was like looking into the sun. Blinding me until I saw nothing but crystal blue water, a smiling couple, scripted vows on a sheet of paper, and a four-tiered cake.

I couldn't have gotten out of work fast enough on my last day before my vacation started. That was a stretch of a description, but I had to keep up the charade until my sister said "I do".

On that Friday, I'd had enough. I was at the point where I couldn't really care about anything other than landing in Hawaii in one piece. I'd be out of the office for a week, away from fashion traumas and wrinkled fabrics and unannounced phone calls from my boss who was still in Milan.

"Okay, listen." I stepped up to Nadia's desk, which was currently occupied by a nineteen-year-old intern that was hired to take her place while she was with Donatella in Italy.

Her name was Chelsea. She had silky ombré hair that was always in loose waves like she actually woke up early enough to use a curling iron, and her hand was never seen without clenching a reusable Starbucks cup filled with something hazelnut flavored. She went to my alma mater, Drexel University, had the same major as myself, and was in the same sorority as one of my good friend's from college. This didn't necessarily mean I liked her, but she was probably one of the more tolerable interns Donatella had chosen.

Chelsea looked up at me from her computer screen, brown doe-eyes blinking in anticipation.

"I know I said all of this to you before, but I'm relaying the message because I need you to remember it," I started off, resting my hands on the edge of the desk and bending down so our faces were at the same height. "I will be away starting tomorrow for the next nine days. You can text or call me if you have an emergency, but hopefully that won't happen. Angeline is taking my spot while I'm gone so you can go to her with any questions. Got it?"

She nodded. "Yup."

"Don't answer any calls from Donatella. Just transfer them over to Angeline. There's never really been a time where Donatella, Nadia, and myself have all been out of the office at once, so try to hold the fort down as best you can. If we come back to a mess, it's my head on the chopping block," I explained, to which she nodded her head vigorously again. I wasn't trying to intimidate her, but I wanted to ensure she understood how important this was that DiNardo Designs was still up and running by the time all three of us came back from our trips. "If you need anything, let me know. But no offense, try not to need me."

"None taken."

I made sure to answer any other questions she may have had for the time being, then I gathered up my things and booked it out of there only to sit in traffic for forty minutes. It gave me an agonizing preview of what the following morning would be like with a dozen of us all traveling to the airport at the same time to board our eight o'clock flight. The idea alone gave me a headache.