Chapter 9: Losing Everything

Eden's POV:

It takes everything I have to last out the rest of the day and when that ignorant pig tells me I can go, I can't escape quick enough. Personally, I think I did a great job of being civil but there was definitely a strained atmosphere between us.

I take the tube back to my grandma's house to pick up the key to my new apartment and the entire way there I flit between wanting to give her my resignation letter and wanting to prove Noah Grisham wrong about me.

I'm not really sure where it went wrong or what I did to offend him. I'd been so busy worrying about hiding my identity that I'd barely considered anything else when answering his questions.

Walking the short distance from the station to my grandmother's house, I try to understand his perspective. He clearly thought I was looking down on Clancy's Comforts but that hadn't been my intention. Except, he'd been standoffish before we even got to that part of our conversation. He'd been passive aggressive to say the least from the first moment he saw me.

My grandma's car is on the driveway. I'm a little bit disappointed because I had been hoping for a little longer to pull my thoughts together. If I'd known she would be home early, I'd have taken my time.

"Eden!" She calls out to me happily when I let myself in.

I follow the sound of her voice and find her cooking dinner in the kitchen.

"Hiya grandma," I say, kissing her on the cheek.

"How was your day?"

She looks so excited. I don't want to burst her bubble but I'm not about to lie to her either.

"Utter crap," I say eventually.

"Oh?" she asks, not looking up from the carrot she is slicing.

"I don't think I can work with Noah Grisham." I rush the words out before I can stop myself.

Her smile doesn't falter. It's as if she's completely unaffected by my words.

"Would you pass me the mushrooms, darling?"

I do as she asks, waiting for her to respond but she doesn't. She says absolutely nothing and I grow more frustrated with every minute.

"Grandma?" I ask, placing the mushrooms down in front of her.

"Yes dear?"

"Don't you want to say anything?"

"What would you like me to say?" She asks, glancing up at me.

With a huff, I turn away before turning abruptly back to face her.

"I don't know. How about 'I'm sorry you had a bad day' or 'what did he do?'"

Her eyes are shrewd as she considers me and I hate it. Other people shy away when she looks at them that way but not me. I've grown up with it and I'm perfectly capable of standing my ground against my grandma.

"Will you stay for dinner?"

"Are you serious right now?" I ask irritably.

"I'm making lasagne," she says as if that will influence my decision.

I shake my head, exasperated. I turn to leave. There is no point even trying to talk to her about this. She clearly isn't interested.

"You can't leave yet," she says casually. "Martin is coming with the key to your new place."

"Keep it," I say angrily as I approach the fridge.

I pull down the magnetic shopping list pad that my grandma insists is a kitchen essential. Even though my attention is on the paper, I can feel her eyes on me. The room is silent; she's no longer cutting the carrots. I jot down a handful of words before signing my name.

Tearing the note from the pad, I place it down on the worktop in front of her.

"I quit."

I don't want to meet her gaze. I know she's going to look disappointed and I don't know if I can bear to see that. I'm not used to disappointing her. For the most part, my grandma is usually really proud of my decisions.

But I know I have to, I have to look at her, otherwise she'll never see my resolve.

She's no longer smiling and like I expected she looks more disappointed than I've ever seen her.

"You haven't even tried," she says calmly, placing the knife on the counter next to my resignation letter.

"Haven't tried?" I laugh bitterly. "You're right. I haven't. It's really hard to do anything productive when you spend the whole day with someone treating you like crap."

I notice her jaw twitch. She's holding back.

"I should have known you wouldn't take this seriously," she says.

"I take everything seriously!" My temper is rising.

"Except Clancy's Comforts," she retorts.

"It's your dream. Not mine."

She sucks in a breath of air and I know my words have hurt her.

I don't want to argue with her. The truth is I have a lot of respect for my grandma. She's incredible but I really don't like being schooled on respecting my family's legacy by some pompous piece of…

"I'm leaving," I say, making my way towards the door.

"You don't even have any money," she says to my back. "No car. No credit cards. Nowhere to live."

Her words stop me mid-step. She's completely right. I have practically nothing, except the advance she gave me on my wages. She has everything I own in safe keeping. And not just the money she's given me but everything I've ever earned for myself too.

"I'll get a job," I tell her before walking out without looking back.