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

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

“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

"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

Eden paced around the room, waiting for Grace to call with information about how the talk went with Theo. Finally, her phone rang and she got excited and fell from her hand and below the bed. She groaned and cursed out loudly, but quickly shut her mouth remembering that a family with young kids lived right next door. She got on her knees and bent down to fish out her phone. Fortunately, it was still ringing and Eden picked it up before it got hung up.Grace was on the other line. She said, "Okay, so Theo agreed to do it. He said he'll get you the number before 12 AM tonight."Eden felt relieved but for some reason, her heart was pounding loudly. I am finally going to see her. I can't believe it. It had been more than 12 years since she last saw her mother. Eden paced around the house, thinking about what she was going to say to her mother. This was a big step for her and it may be the biggest thing she has ever had to deal with in her life. Even after the alcohol problems, abusive fa