Begin Again novel Chapter 100

The sun was still high up in the sky when Eden left the office and walked to her car in the staff parking lot.

She unlocked her doors but couldn't bring herself to jump in behind the wheel because she was still racking her brain for an excuse, a reason, a plausible lie for the mark on her cheek.

Brenda would fret as soon as she saw it, and Eden was not ready for the coddling, however, well-intentioned.

She didn't want all the inevitable questions and a few minutes in the sun was what she needed, she decided, as she turned up her face to the sky and soaked in the warm rays.

It was a perfect Indian summer afternoon, and for a minute, everything was as it should be as she released the long breath she had been holding in the whole day, leaving her lungs empty.

She felt as light as a feather while she imagined herself drifting away, like a balloon floating in the sky. But then her phone rang, shattering her moment of bliss.

Sienna wanted to know if they were still on for some gossip at the playground.

Eden didn't want to see anyone. She wanted to go home and hide under the covers and cry herself sick, and maybe when she was all emptied, she would start sorting through the messy feelings that came as a package deal with her parents' divorce announcement. If she was not too drained and still had room for more heart bashing, she would then wade through her ugly confrontation with Lucy.

"Edie, are you still there?" Sienna fought for her attention on her end of the line, and Eden forced herself to sound cheerful and excited about an outing she knew was as unavoidable as Brenda's fifty thousand questions.

"Sure, I'm here," she smiled—or at least she tried to—but winced instead. The sharp, stabbing pain left behind by Lucy's hot claps was now a dull throbbing ache. It still hurt a little when she spoke or smiled or frowned, but it wasn't bad as her shattered pride.

Eden still smarted from embarrassment every time she recalled the moment of impact when Lucy's palm had made contact with the thin flesh on her cheekbone. She wanted to bow her head in shame and hide when she remembered her own violent reaction.

The satisfaction she felt when she hit Lucy back was long gone, and all that remained was her anger at herself. She'd allowed Matthew's assistant to reduce her into a crass fishwife who used hands instead of words.

Her parents would be so disappointed with her. After all, they had spent most of their fake marriage trying to instil some sense of class and grace and poise in her, and a few slaps and some hair pulling was all it took to disintegrate their life's work.

How utterly horrifying and humiliating. Surely, her folks would die if they knew.

"—Edie, you seem distracted." Sienna's worry-laden voice broke through again. "Are you okay?"

"Sorry, it's been a long day," she said. This was probably the first truth she spoke today.

When Clara stopped by to return Liam's unwanted gifts, a pharmacy bag, and a sandwich Eden had vowed not to eat but had ended up eating anyway because she was so hungry, she lied and said she was okay.

When Gibby popped in to check on her, she insisted she was fine.

Matthew and Julian had gotten the same response as well.

Okay. Fine. Alright.