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
"And then I worked for him for three months, modeled for him and he taught me about design. I did learn a lot from him, he's truly a legend. I talked to Theo a lot over these days, mostly on call or text. I know he said that he might want to get with me again, but I don't know if I want to be with someone who had so many unstable feelings. I think we're okay being just friends. Bottom line is, I missed you like crazy. And I came here straight from the airport," said Grace. She held Eden's hand and smiled. "Now I want to know everything about you."Eden looked at her and said, "I'm so sorry I Didn't see your texts. I changed my phone number after the divorce. I lost my old one the day I left the cafe. God I wish I had never gone to that pub and drank so much.""Wait, what?" Grace asked."Yeah, remember that bar Alex used to take me to? I went there and got wasted. Bennett came to save me again," said Eden."You did that again, Eden?" Grace asked, sounding angered."You don't know what