Begin Again novel Chapter 30

Eden didn't know how she managed to drive home in the emotional state she was in. She couldn't even remember leaving Anderson Logistics. She must have, though, because she only realised she's home when a perturbed Brenda dashed out of the house and ran up to the car.

"Is everything okay? Did you forget something?" The sitter asked as she pried open her door and helped her snap off the seat belt.

Eden heard her questions, saw her lips move, but she couldn't process. Her mind was too tired to compute, let alone form coherent thoughts and translate them into spoken words.

"Did something happen? Are you hurt?" Brenda carried on as she pulled her out of the car and flipped her around a few times, checking for any visible signs of trauma.

She paused and frowned when she couldn't see anything wrong.

"Say something," Brenda asked. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

Eden sighed and touched her chest.

Yes, she was hurt, right there, in that place where her heart used to be.

But she gave Brenda her brightest smile and assured her she was great in a voice that was oddly calm and bubbly.

Everything was okay. Peachy even.

But the minute she stepped inside the house and Aiden looked up from his toys, staring at her with his father's eyes, Eden burst into tears and ran to the bathroom, locking herself in there for the better part of the hour while she cried herself sick.

Brenda correctly assumed things had gone wrong on her first day. She let her cry her eyes out in peace while she took Aiden outside to play.

While Eden was still a blubbering mess on her bathroom floor, Sienna called to check how her first day was going and immediately knew things had gone up in flames at the office when she heard her wobbly voice.

"We'll stop by after work. For now, take a long bath and stuff your face with anything you can find."

Eden took her friend's advise and had a long bubble bath but skipped the face-stuffing. Hungry as she was, she couldn't bring herself to eat anything, not when her heart was so heavy and dark with sadness.

She paid the sitter and promised to call her the next time she needs someone to look after Aiden.

Alone with her son, they played with his toys on the living room floor and read his favourite book over and over until he fell asleep.

Her friends stopped by later that night for a bitch-fest over Chinese takeout and non-alcoholic wine while she gave them a detailed account of her confrontation with Liam.

"He's such a jerk. What an asshole. A total dickhead!" Sienna cussed and fumed and fussed, calling Liam every horrible word she could pull out of her very extensive vocabulary.

"But he's a very hot jerk," Lydia was always the voice of reason, and Eden had to agree she wasn't entirely wrong.

It's been hours since she left Liam in his glass and chrome castle, but the butterflies in her tummy still somersaulted at the memory of being in his arms again. They'd burned so brightly in that meeting room, the sparks between them were so intense they could have lit up a thousand wildfires.

But no matter how delicious his kisses were, and how she wished she could have stayed a little longer in his embrace, Liam's anger and hatred for her were just as palpable.

She couldn't close her eyes without seeing the look of disgust on his face when he saw Simon's ring on her hand.

No matter how hard she tried to banish them, his words, his wild assumptions about Aiden, kept playing in her mind over and over, like a broken record.

Every time Eden recalled his feelings about their night, she had to hold herself tightly because she was so afraid if she let go, she might lose the fragile grasp she still had on her sanity.

She couldn't unravel again.

She'd done enough of that earlier.

"So what are you going to do?" Cassandra asked, playing with the tips of her freshly cropped locks while she shoved fried rice in her mouth straight out of the carton; they'd chosen to forego plates because quite frankly none of them liked doing dishes.

"About what?" Eden asked, staring at the new haircut. She still couldn't believe she'd chopped off her gorgeous long hair.

When Cassandra sent a message in the group chat announcing her plans to go radical, they all thought it's a joke. The ash-blonde pixie cut suited her, though; it made her look years younger.

"About the job of course," Lydia sighed and rolled her eyes.

"I think it's safe to say it's off the table now," Eden replied.

She was back to square one; she had to double down on her freelance work. No corporate would hire her as a personal assistant with her three-months experience. She should have known something was fishy with the interview at Anderson Logistics, but blinded by foolishness and wild ambition, she'd ignored all the warning signs.

"Imagine if he finds out about Aiden," Sienna closed her eyes, shuddering at the thought. "I can see him waging an all-out war. If he's so furious with you over a hookup, he'll surely kill you for keeping such a huge secret from him."

"I don't think he'd care to be honest," Eden shrugged, blinking back her tears, praying she doesn't start weeping again. "He was very clear about how much he regrets our night. He called me a mousey librarian and admitted he would never have touched me if he wasn't drunk!"