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
Theo leaned back on the chair as if thinking deeply about something. Grace noticed that he looked upset."Theo, you don't have to answer it. I really liked you a lot and I guess it's just an itch to know why we couldn't work it out," said Grace.Theo looked at Grace and gave her a guilty smile. "You're right, I owe you an explanation. I can't deny that I like you a lot too. You're the first girl who made me feel something real for the first time in a while, and it scared me. I was so used to getting drunk, having meaningless sex, partying, and whatnot that I got too numb to the sensation of actually falling for someone. I was happy the entire time I spent with you, but when things started getting too real, I got scared and ruined something that gave me true happiness."Grace was speechless. She looked at Theo with wide eyes. Before she could say something, he got a call, and he excused himself to pick it up. When he came back, he said, "I have to go. I'm so tired of Bennett calling m
Eden let out a monstrous scream as Bennett held her hand. He could feel her nails digging into his skin but he knew he couldn't let go. "PUSH!" the doctor screamed at Eden. "PUSH! IT'S ALMOST OUT! PUSH HARDER!" Eden let out one last loud scream before it was over and she could finally take a breath. Her grip loosened on Bennett's hand and she fell limp on the bed. She heard the sound of crying and suddenly all her energy was back. Three years after their wedding, Bennett and Eden's daughter was born. The baby was wrapped into a clean towel and handed to Eden. There was still some blood on her body but Eden wanted to hold her before the nurses took her for a bath. "Emily," Eden whispered. "Her name is Emily." Bennett leaned in next to Eden with his eyes full of tears. He looked at his little baby girl like he had never seen something so delicate and precious. Eden's heart raced faster than ever when she saw Bennett pick Emily up in his arms. When she saw his tears and the smile
Three years later: Grace woke up and noticed something weighing down on her stomach. She turned her head around to see Theo sleeping peacefully next to her. The droof falling from his mouth and onto the pillow made her smile. She quietly reached for her phone on the nightstand and clicked a picture of him before kissing his forehead. She was up 10 minutes before her alarm went off so she turned it off and walked to the bathroom to get fresh, hoping Theo would get a few minutes more to sleep. When Grace walked out of the bathroom she saw Theo sitting up on the bed with his phone in his hands and his eyes wide open with shock. "Woah, that drooling picture isn't that good," said Grace. Theo didn't look away from the phone and kept staring at it. Grace got concerned and asked, "What's wrong?" "Nothing's wrong. I'm going to be an uncle," said Theo, his voice monotonous. "Wait. Wait. Wait. What are you talking about?" Grace walked over to him and sat next to him on the bed. "Theo." "E
Theo's PoV Theo looked at Eden and Bennett suspiciously as he stared at the ticket they handed him. "This doesn't make sense. You want me to come to your honeymoon?" "Yeah, of course. It's so much more fun when you're there too," said Eden. "I mean, yeah sure, I'll go. But are you sure you're okay with this?" Theo asked. "Theo, it's not like we're asking you to stay in the same hotel suite as us too," Bennett reasoned. "Alright. I could use a vacation after the last few days happened," said Theo and put the ticket in his pocket. "But promise me you're not going to make me feel like a third-wheel?" "Yes, yes we promise. Also, your ticket was a last minute idea so we couldn't get it in the same flight as us, but the landing time is only two hours apart so we'll see you there when we land," said Eden. "I know we're all thinking it but I'm gonna say it, this is all sounding very suspicious and weird but I've heard some good things about the nightclubs in Paris so I'm not going to co
Grace didn't regret her decision of sleeping with Theo, and after all he said to her she didn't think that it didn't mean anything to him. She just felt embarrassed that even after trying to show Theo her resolve, it only took one kiss for her to give in. "I didn't think you'd want to avoid me after what happened this morning," said Theo. He came closer to Grace and whispered in her ear, "I want you more than ever now." A chill ran down Grace's spine. She stopped herself from shuddering and looked away, trying to ignore the feeling. She didn't want Theo to think that she would fall for him again so easily, he needed to know that she can't forgive him this fast after everything that happened. "Yes, I guess too much stress can make people do or say certain things they wouldn't do under normal circumstances," Grace replied with a cold voice. Theo seemed to have taken offense to that. He shifted away from Grace and looked out the window, not saying a single word to her again througho
Grace's PoV: "The bride and groom may kiss now," the pastor announced and Bennett and Eden kissed each other. Grace watched them with tears in her eyes, she felt so happy that her best friend was finally happy. Of course she felt guilty for being late for bringing the dress. She remembered why she was late and quickly pushed the thought out of her mind. She looked over to the groom's side at the altar and saw his best man, Theo, standing next to him and smiling at Grace. She quickly averted her gaze and started clapping for Bennett and Eden. Everyone left the chapel to attend the reception ceremony at a different venue. Eden had forgotten her phone and asked Grace to bring it to the reception. When she walked out all the cars were filled up with only one left, but someone was already inside it. Grace thought she had already had a rough day, that person can squeeze one more passenger in the car. Grace opened the door and stepped inside the car, closing the door behind her. "I'm so
Eden paced around the room while her make up artist tried to get her to settle down. Grace was still not done with the dress and Eden was considering getting a readymade dress. It was an hour before Eden had to walk down the aisle with Buddy. He had offered to walk with her since there was no other father figure present. Eden picked up her phone and dialed Grace and it went straight to voicemail. She sat back down on her chair hyperventilating when she suddenly heard the door burst open. It was Grace standing with a dress bag and heavily breathing like she was just running. "Oh my God, Eden I'm so sorry. Something happened and I-" "It's fine, it's all fine. Thank God you're finally here, I was just about to go and buy a last minute resort," Eden said as she stood up and walked quickly towards Grace. "Can I see it now?" "No, close your eyes. We'll put it on you and then you get to see it," Grace smiled with excitement. "That wouldn't be very convenient but okay," said Eden. "Let's
"Okay, so we got the guest list done. Invitations will be sent out tomorrow morning, the venue is booked, flowers are decided and the caterers have been taken care of," said Grace. "Now there's only one thing left to do." "Grace, I really wish you didn't bother yourself, Sophia and Natalie with all these tasks. We have help doing all of those things. You should focus on your store," said Eden as she buried her nose in her laptop, staring at the previous year finance reports. "And I really wish you would stop working for just a couple of days so you could enjoy your wedding preparations," Grace urged. "You've done nothing but work since Bennett announced the date of your wedding." Eden sighed and looked up. "I've been working so hard because I'm going to get off work a day before the wedding, the day of the wedding and the day after. That's three days going without work, and I need to prove to everyone I care about the business too." "Eden, I know this is important to you, but no on
Eden wore a beautiful cream gown that went down all the way to her ankle with a slit that reached up her left knee. It had a heart shaped neckline and thin shoulder straps. Grace was wearing the same dress as her since both of them were bridesmaids at Sophia and Natalie's wedding. They waited at the altar as both their father's walked them down the aisle. Eden couldn't help but get teary as she saw the wedding happen. She didn't remember what happened the night they got wasted at Grace's house and she didn't remember saying anything to Bennett, or even calling him. "The brides may kiss now." Natalie and Sophie kissed each other and the applause erupted from the guests. Eden and Grace hugged them tightly before congratulating them. After the wedding, all the guests made their way over to the reception. Eden saw Grace getting in the car with Theo while holding his hand and smiled at the thought of them finally making up. Eden got in her car with Bennett and smiled at him when she
Eden's PoV Eden got back from a tiring day of work and went through the mail to see if she received any. She saw a purple letter that caught her eye. It said that it was for both Bennett and her. When she opened it, a wave of happiness washed over her. It was an invitation for a wedding. Sophia and Natalie's wedding invitation. Eden almost started jumping around with happiness and squealing with excitement. She picked up the phone and immediately called Grace to ask her if she received the invitation. Grace picked up the phone and started screaming loudly on the phone. Eden couldn't contain her excitement and started screaming too. She heard the door open and the sound of footsteps running towards her. "What's wrong?! Eden?!" Bennett yelled as he ran over to Eden and saw her grinning ear to ear with eyes full of tears. "Wha- what? I don't understand? What's going on?" "NATALIE AND SOPHIA ARE GETTING MARRIED!" Eden yelled. "I can't believe this. Oh my god of my god oh my god." R