Grace arrived at the cafe in 10 minutes. She looked shaken up and stressed about something, but when she saw Eden, Sophia, and Natalie waiting for her at the table, the creases on her forehead quickly softened. She waved at them and sat next to Eden. She embraced Eden in a hug and kissed both Sophia and Natalie on their cheeks. Eden looked at Grace excitedly. Her gaze kept moving from Sophia and Natalia to Grace.Grace scrunched her eyebrows and looked at Eden with confusion. “Why are you looking at me like that?” She asked. Eden stayed silent and kept looking at Sophia as if asking permission for something.Sophia rolled her eyes and said, “Yeah, fine, go ahead.”Eden squealed with excitement and said in one breath, “Person with two best friends in a relationship say what?”“What?” asked Grace.“Haha, got you,” Eden clapped and said. “Who’s in a relationship with whom?” Grace asked, still confused.“Sophia and Natalia!” Eden yelled.Grace didn’t look surprised at all. She looked at
Eden smiled as she gulped another big sip from the bottle. She smiled at the fact that she could have come to the bar ages ago and gotten wasted to forget everything. She thought that her only friend was the bottle in her hand because it made her feel good. As Eden sat in the sketchy bar, she failed to notice the eyes falling on her. She was the only woman in the whole place, and didn't realise what danger she could be in. She felt relieved that no one knew she was there. No one needed to worry about her anymore because they didn't know where she was, and she didn't intend to go back anytime soon. As she downed the last drop of alcohol, she slammed the bottle down and wiped her lips. She asked the bartender for the direction of the bathroom, and left to get relieved. There was no separate bathroom for women but Eden had to desperately go. When she walked in, there was no one inside. She walked in one of the stalls and saw that the lock was missing. She was too drunk to care and sat d
Eden woke up to someone shaking her shoulder aggressively. Her ears ranged for a long time, but they adjusted to the atmosphere quickly and she opened her eyes to see someone hovering over her. Her vision was blurred and she couldn't recognise the face, but the voice was something she could never forget. "B-Bennett?" Eden's drawly voice managed to ask. Her body felt limp and every movement felt like a difficult task. When she lifted her arm, it felt like lifting a very big rock boulder. She put her arm back down, giving up on trying to move. Her head was spinning fast and all she wanted was to go back to the comfortable sleep she was woken up from. "Eden. I'm right here, don't close your eyes. Eden, please, look at me," Bennett's voice cracked as he tried to wake her up. His eyes were filled with tears and his heartbeat racing. Eden smiled in her heavily drunken state and said, "Aw jeez, I'm done brought another problem in your life." She wasn't paying much attention to grammar but
Eden's face drenched in sweat as she tried to fix the shower pipe. She stood in the bathroom naked as the shower made unnatural sounds and gave her no water. She gave up and looked at the bidet next to the toilet seat. She sighed and picked it up, washing herself off with the small spray of water. It took her about 20 minutes to finish bathing. She walked out of the tiny bathroom into her bedroom and looked at it wistfully. She knew it was small but it was her own. It had been 3 months since the divorce and Eden had found a cozy apartment to live in. She had the divorce alimony money that she got from Bennett, but it wasn't enough to last three years, so she was saving every penny she could until she got a part time job. She could have gotten the job of a barista or a cashier at any store, but she knew she could do better and kept mailing applications to firms for a paid internship opportunity, but there were no replies yet. Eden walked to her closet and pulled out her Nirvana t-shi
Eden looked at Grace, surprised to see her. When Grace saw Eden, she nervously stood straight and gave her a weak smile. Eden didn't know how to react so she just stood there looking at her. Grace did an awkward wave at Eden and smiled bigger, waiting for a reaction. Eden turned around and started walking in the direction of her college. She didn't know how to feel about meeting her after so long. She knew through Sophia that she went to Italy for her internship a couple of weeks after the last time she saw her. Though it was killing her to not ask about it and know everything that happened, she couldn't get herself to look at her without feeling sad.Grace followed Eden and said, "Eden, wait." Eden stopped in her path but kept looking ahead, waiting for Grace to say something. "Can we talk?"Eden turned around to see Grace standing there looking like a lost kid. Eden felt a pang in her heart when she saw how broken Grace looked. She didn't know what happened to her and Professor Co
Grace hung up the phone and picked up her purse to leave the house after Eden called her to come to the mom and pop cafe. The day before she had gone to meet Professor Cooper at a bar. It all happened after he hung up on her saying that he was married and had kids. The next day he called again. Grace had just come back from Eden and Bennett's penthouse. She picked up the phone and said, "Hello? Why are you calling me?" "I would like to apologise for my behaviour yesterday. Can we meet? Possibly at a bar. It's not a date, just to talk," he said.."Professor, I don't know-""You can call me Richard," he cut her off."Um, okay. Richard, I don't think it's right for us to meet," Grace tried to reason. She knew both of them were clearly attracted to each other but then thought of his wife and kids. "Like I said, it's not a date. I just want to talk," said Richard. He sounded genuine so Grace thought it wouldn't hurt to meet once."I don't really understand what's there to talk about, bu
Grace woke up with a blinding headache as the sun rays hit her eyes. When her eyes finally adjusted from her blurred vision, she saw a low grey ceiling. Confused, she got up and looked around. She was in the backseat of a car. She saw that she was completely naked, wearing nothing but an oversized black coat that didn't hide much. She turned her face to see a man lying next to her, a familiar face sound asleep "Oh my God!" Grace yelled loudly, waking Richard up abruptly."What? What? What's wrong?" He asked with a groggy voice as he rubbed his eyes. "Did..did we..," Grace couldn't complete her sentence. When she saw that he was also wearing nothing but his boxers, her suspicion was confirmed. She was also feeling sore in her southern regions and that horrified her. "Oh my God, se had sex.""It's okay, it's okay. Calm down. It's nothing wrong, I really enjoyed it," said Richard as he smiled and extended his hand to touch Grace's cheek.Grace jerked away and looked at him, still shock
“Eden, you’re going to be really angry at me for this but…” Grace’s words trailed off as she tried to think of words to say.Eden squeezed her shoulder and said, “There’s nothing that can make me mad at you right now.”Grace felt reassured and smiled at Eden. She took a deep sigh and said, “I slept with a married man.”“WHAT?!” Eden shouted. “DON’T TELL ME IT'S PROFESSOR COOPER, OH GOD PLEASE!”“Yeah… it’s Professor Cooper.”“OH MY GOD, GRACE WHAT HAVE YOU DONE,” Eden kept yelling at Grace as Sophia and Natalia watched them with shock and confusion.“You just said you won’t get angry at me,” Grace pouted and looked at her feet, feeling embarrassed.“Well, I am now!” Eden lowered her voice but she was still angry. “Do you know what this can mean for me? If things go south between you I am sure he will not think twice to fail me. Grace, why don’t you EVER think?”Grace looked at Eden with pain in her eyes, before she knew what she was saying, the words left her mouth. “Why don’t I think