Chapter 4 Despair
“Drop me off at the corner over there, please,” Eden told the driver, pointing at a busy intersection up
ahead.
He turned in his seat, his face laced with concern. “Are you sure?”
Yes, she was. She needed Plan B. She could never go wrong with Plan B.
She came to the obscure pharmacy on Diagonal Alley. To avoid being one of the few women who get pregnant even when using a condom, Eden needs to go to the pharmacy to buy and take emergency contraception.
The girl behind the counter was nice. She didn’t ask too many questions and didn’t give her a judgy look as she discreetly handed her an inconspicuous–looking box.
“You have to take it as a single dose, within twenty–four hours for best results,” The girl said earnestly, her moss–green eyes wide with panic for her.
“Thanks,” Eden mumbled as she flashed her cheque card.
Eden circled back to her apartment and unlocked the fourth–floor unit she shared with her friends. She took off her shoes and snuck inside quietly, careful not to bang the door in case she woke everyone up.
But when she turned around and found three pairs of eyes, shining with anticipation, her plan of making a quiet entrance went up in smoke.
“Hi guys,” Eden grimaced, her face as red as the angry bird’s T–shirt Sienna wore over her grey pyjama pants.
“It smells like a walk of shame in here,” Lydia sniffed the air dramatically, and the other two broke into peals of laughter.
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“Tsk tsk,” Sienna clucked her tongue disapprovingly. “So much for saving yourself for marriage!”
“We’ve revoked your sainthood,” Cassandra chimed in.
“Really, with all the bazillions in his bank accounts, he sent you off with only ten muffins? What happened to diamonds being a girl’s best friend? Who is this guy?” Cassandra threw her hands up dramatically, shoved the box in Sienna’s hands and vanished beyond the entryway.
“You, Missy, have some explaining to do!” Lydia grabbed Eden’s hand and dragged her to the living
room.
“There’s nothing to tell,” Eden shrugged as she crashed into the teal wingback chair they affectionately called the throne.
“I’m here, the tale of the virgin saint ravished by a roguish prince can begin!” Sienna squealed as she rushed in with a tray of steaming yellow mugs and a matching plate, overflowing with muffins and two–days–old hot cross buns.
“There was no ravishing!” Eden said crossly and took her mug.
“Sure, says the stench of sex clinging all over you,” Lydia nodded innocently.
Eden quickly sniffed herself, sending her friends into another round of giggles.
“Stop it, you guys!” She pouted and drank her coffee.
“Just one question,” Cassandra gasped for air, struggling to breathe and laugh all at once. “Arhis pubes just as red?”
“Oh my god, you went there!” Sienna rolled on the couch, tears streaming down her face.
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“No comment!” Eden clenched her teeth, her arms crossed over her chest, and she glared straight ahead. She would never tell her friends this, and she figured they knew the answer anyway, but yes, his habe Was fiery down there too, but a much darker shade and oh how she had loved touching him.
A familiar ache tingled between her thighs as she remembered how full she’d felt when Liam was buried deep inside her. She bit her lower lip, stifling a whimper.
“Eden! Snap out of it, OMG, you are practically drooling.” Lydia screamed, “What were you thinking
about?”
“Nothing.” She lied quickly, her cheeks as hot as the moistness at her centre. She didn’t understand how she could be so wet just thinking about Liam.
“So? How was your first time?” Sienna asked, all the amusement gone from her eyes. “Was he as good as his past lays claim he is?”
Eden thought for a moment; she had no previous experience to compare with. But for her first time, other than the soreness and tenderness she felt every time she moved, she had no complaints. She wouldn’t mind seconds and thirds and maybe tenths and hundreds. Liam knew how to please her, how to touch her and how to make her scream. Just her rotten luck he’s taken.
“So, how was it?” Cassandra asked, and Eden blinked, stunned by the expectation in the six eyes glued
to her.
“Well,” she pushed up her glasses and bit her lower lip shyly. “It was supernatural.”
“Oh my god!” Her friends screamed in unison, jumping and wiggling all over the place.
“Are you seeing him again?” Sienna asked, her eyes hopeful.
Eden shook her head and burst into tears.
“Oh dear, was it that good you have to cry?” Cassandra asked as they all reached for her and held her.
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“He’s getting married, you guys!” She bawled, snot and tears dripping down her face. “He’s getting married, and I want him so bad! I want him to make me feel good again!”
“He’s never been with a girlfriend for more than three months. “Lydia’s eyes were wide with shock.
“He found someone who made him want to break his three–month rule. He loves that girl so much that he’s willing to marry her? Eden wailed some more as she took a Kleenex box from Sienna and blew her
nose.
“That can’t be,” Cassandra said. “There’s no way Rock Castle’s numero uno billionaire playboy will ever get married”
“He is,” Eden insisted and went on to explain how she found out about his impending wedding.
“So that’s why they came to Crush? To celebrate his bachelor party?”
Eden nodded.
“Even though he’s getting married to someone,he still took you home with him?” Sienna fumed. “Unbelievable! What a dick!”
“Well, “It’s my fault. He told me he was getting married, but I still wanted him. I asked him to fuck me, and he just gave me what I wanted.“,Eden admitted.,
“So…Why?” Cassandra asked in a patient tone.
“I wanted to be a little reckless!” Eden yelled, shocking everyone with her misplaced rage. “I was goods girl for twenty–four years, followed all the rules, saved myself for the right guy and what the hell do I fave to show for it? A broken engagement one month before what was supposed to be the happiest day of my life.
“Eden, I’m so sorry,” Cassandra said softly.
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Chapter 4 Despair
“If everyone played fair and stuck to the rules, I’d still be in Greece right now, enjoying my honeymoon with my new husband,” Eden said. “I know it was wrong, and I shouldn’t have, and now I’m as nasty as Olie or sleeping with someone else’s man. But I got tired of playing fair, and I was hurting. And you know what for at least seven hours I was happy in Liam’s arms. God, I was so happy, and now all 1 feel is the same hollowness I’ve felt for the past six weeks,”
“Oh, dear!” Sienna said and glared at the princess–cut diamond ring dazzling on Eden’s finger, “it looks like your ex isn’t the one affecting your mood anymore. Maybe it’s time to take off your engagement ring from him.”
But Eden hesitated again. She knew keeping the ring was tacky as fuck, and she should have returned it. But it was the only tangible thing she had to remind her the past four years were real, that their love was real, and she meant something to Simon once upon a time.
If he’d let her keep Snow, the Maltese poodle they jointly adopted from the animal shelter they volunteered at, she would have given him his ring back.
“I’m going to bed,” Edon came into her room. She drew the curtains and buried herself under the heavy, brightly coloured duvet and the millions of scatter cushions on her queen–sized poster bed, and cried herself to sleep.
Before falling asleep, she couldn’t help but wonder if she would see Liam again. Eden didn’t know that not only had she left her soul in last night’s passion, but Liam had also changed dramatically because of it.
