004 Preparations Begin

The Marshall Toys Company was started over a hundred years ago by Earnest Marshall a visionary who settled in Meadowlark and desired to bring joy to all who encountered him. 

He started small, wooden toys and odd little trinkets people had never seen before. His inventive and whimsical personality allowed him to start his company off strong in the good graces of his neighbors and those who surrounded him.

Eden admired her great grandfather's work ethic, as she stared up at the large, wooden framed portrait. 

"I promise to make you proud, even if I can't make dad proud I'll work hard to make sure the company doesn't fall," Eden said. 

"Ahem," A feminine voice said behind her.

Eden jumped, spinning around to find Lily looking at her with crossed arms. Immaculate as always Lily's green eyes stared in boredom at her, her make up as pristine as when she'd first left the house.

Little did Eden know, the girl had not stayed out for long.

Now the sisters stood in the alcove in front of the portrait of their great grandfather holding a wooden toy horse to his chest. His features reminded Eden a lot of Lily. Earnest's brunette hair fell around his face in soft curls and the same striking green eyes shone out of the portrait.

Eden had to admit the only resemblance they had to each other was her skin tone and lips and even then her pudginess made it hard to recognize, she liked to think she resembled him somewhat in nature.

"Oh," Eden said raising a hand to her chest in relief. "It's just you Lily, what are you doing here I thought you went to the country club?"

Lily said nothing, wordlessly moving past her with a brush of her her silken hair. She walked to stand by the side of the portrait, inspecting it with a disgusted expression on her face that showed her contempt for the man in the picture.

"I'll have Dad get rid of that thing, it's so ugly and ruins the aesthetic of the main hall," Lily said with an eye roll.

"I don't know about that Lily, that's his ancestor, we have this house because of him," Eden said raising an eyebrow.

Lily made sure to scoff at her elder sister's words.

"Why do you even care about this old man? He's dead? Long gone, you always care about the dumbest shit," Lily said.

"I respect his hard work, like I said we have all we have because of him. All the money you spend, clothes, and jewelry you buy is because of the work our great grandfather put in. You should show some respect," Eden said lecturing the younger girl.

Lily's face flushed red with indignation. That her elder sister would lecture her about something so stupid pissed her off to no end.

Eden noticed the subtle clenching of Lily's hands, the manicured nails digging crescents into her palm. Eden knew this was usually the sign that her sister would lash out.

That didn't matter, she could take it. Lily's brattiness couldn't afford to affect her anymore, she would deal with worse as the head of her father's company, harsher words could not be the end of her.

But Lily was still her father's favorite little angel and Eden had to make her peace with that no matter what. A stab of pain bloomed in Eden's heart, it stung that her father would never treasure her but it was alright since he cared enough about her to give her the toy company.

"Hmph, whatever, he'll always be some dead guy, and you've got to be challenged upstairs to even give a damn," Lily said.

"Sure Lily," Eden said shaking her head. She looked up once more at the portrait, paying her respects to Earnest Marshall, the toy godfather of Meadowlark.

'Lend me your wisdom,' Eden thought.

----------

The next day came with Eden working overtime to make sure the house was ready for her father's event. 

The retirement party would commence that evening and Eden had to make sure everything was perfect so the Marshall family would not end up a laughing stock among the other wealthy families at Meadowlark.

All around her were decorations hung by the maids and the finest crystal glasses set out for the guests. As she passed the dining room, the silver cutlery was being shined to perfection.

Pots bubbled as she walked past them, and vegetables were being sliced on every open counter to ensure the dinner was full of variety.

Frederick Marshall had insisted there be no caterers so all the food had to be made in-house by the staff there, and of course, it was all left to Eden to coordinate it with the head maid and butler.

"All the glasses have been shined Miss Marshall," The maid said panting as she ran to tell Eden.

"Great, has the wine been prepared? we'll need refreshments and starters too," Eden said. The maid rushed off again to tell the others what would be needed for the dinner.

Eden walked into the great hall where the dance would be held, it was a large room devoid of any furniture where the guests would dance as they were served champagne and wine. Eden felt sweat build up on her forehead.

How many times had she been embarrassed by Lily in this very room?

It made her hesitant to even attend the party but it was her father's retirement party and it would be strange of her to not show up to such an occasion.

Her mother would want her to be there.

"I guess I have no choice but at least I get to see Daniel," Eden said, a smile crossed her lips at the thought of her fiancee gracing the dinner.

"This place looks amazing Gertrude," Eden said stepping into the wide hall where the maids and butler were decorating.

"Thank you, my girl, you know in another life I would love to be an event planner of some sort, I've always felt I would be really good at that,"

"You would, why didn't you ever pursue that?" Eden asked.

"Wrong place and wrong time my dear," Gertrude replied.