Eden walked into her mother's apartment and tossed the house keys onto the center table. She fiddled with her hair feeling exhausted and nostalgic at the same time. She breathed out deeply and thought of what had happened while she was at the hospital. She held her face with one hand and shooked badly. She recalled almost rushing to his arms when she saw him in pain not thinking about the other woman that was present in the room as well. The woman who was none other than his wife.
She needed to control her feelings and it was now she had realized she hadn't totally forgotten about Lionel completely which was very bad on her part. She supposed to have moved on and remembered Julian's words about her still clinging unto her ex-husband.
She rubbed her face in the sink in the kitchen and let out a loud gulp of air before wiping her face dry. She needed to stop all this and what even got her on edge was the fact that now he wanted her again. He was even willing to divorce Monique in order to prove his love for her but she wasn't supposed to act like a fool or a woman who was madly in love in order not to think straight. There was no way she could trust him again after everything he had done to her. It was just too impossible and her mind darted to Monique.
She couldn't be selfish and steal away someone's husband away. Sure she did that to her but she wasn't like her. She wasn't like Monique to steal a married man especially now when Monique was going through a lot with the loss of their child and her health.
She didn't bother to walk into Mia's room nor stop by her mom's room and just simply walked into her own room shutting the door behind her. She wanted to take a quick shower and only noticed how her right sleeve had torn from her shoulder. It dawned on her that it was that drunken thief who almost had his way with her if not for Lionel coming to her rescue. She made a mental note not to walk on the streets that late at night.
She was glad she was safe and took off her clothes before entering the shower. Allowing the cold droplets of water rain down on her whole body, his words came to echo in her mind. I want you back Eden. Believe me I will make things right again. I will set things right. She shooked her head time and time again refusing to allow his words affect her. She needed to stop whatever illusions he was having of getting her back. She wasn't going to go back to him just because he said he wanted her now. He was obviously doing the same thing to Monique like he did with her. He was still being selfish in this case and Eden wandered if Monique was even strong enough to handle such news after what she had been through.
She wrapped a towel around her body and stepped out of the bathroom. Wiping her hair with a clean towel before picking up her hair dryer, her phone buzzed in a message alert. She grabbed her phone on the bed and saw it was a message from Julian on Whatsapp.
Can we talk. I want to explain everything.
Paula isn't in my life. Please let me explain.
The last thing I want is for our friendship to end.
Eden sighed and also didn't want that. She didn't want to loose a good friend like Julian who always stood by her side when she had no one. He was the way that lead her to be confident and where she was now. She owed where she was only to him.
She probably got a bit overboard and fought with him just because of his ex in his apartment. She dialed his number and called him. He picked up on the first ring. "Hello Eden," His voice immediately came through and she could also hear how he breathed out a sigh of relief. He was on edge for only a few hours of their fight. He really did care about her a lot and that spoke well of him to her.
"Hi Julian. Am...am so sorry for my outburst..." Julian immediately cut her off. He was always stern with her whenever she tried apologizing to him. "I've told you before. Don't apologize to me. And besides...it wasn't your fault at all." Eden sighed. "Of course it was my fault Julian. I shouldn't have gotten angry just because you allowed your ex into your apartment. That was very wrong of me and was totally uncalled for." Julian smiled and could notice her concern for him even if it was just a tiny bit. She didn't want him to be heartbroken once again by meeting up with Paula but it was far from the truth.
"I just don't want you to be sad once again Julian. Believe me or not but you're extremely precious to me." Julian's heart skipped a beat as soon as her words got registered inside his brain. His smile widened. "Am glad you care about me this much and only wish you could give me a chance," Eden licked her lower lip.
"And with regards to Paula. It was a surprise for me as well to see her in front of my apartment. But I couldn't let her leave because she was completely drenched from the heavy storm." Eden lightly slapped her forehead for being such an ass. No wonder she was in his shirt but still it also got to her attention that Paula showed up out of nowhere after their breakup which was a long time ago. How did she manage to get the address to his apartment.
She had her suspicions but didn't want to say anything nor accuse. "Well...that explains a lot." She answered. She went into thought. She didn't have any appointments tomorrow and knew it was a good time to mend everything. "Let's meet tomorrow over coffee." Julian was surprised she wanted to go for coffee with him. Normally he was the one to always take her on outings and for the first time, she took the initiative to take him out.
"I'll have to take you up on that offer my dear sweet friend," Eden chuckled and felt lighter from within once again. She always calmed down whenever she talked with Julian and he always seemed to lift up her mood whenever she felt low.
"I love seeing you smile and all happy like this Eden." Eden seized her chuckle and processed his words. Her mind went back to Lionel and his quest to get her back. But the question was, did she want him back as well? She cleared her throat and smiled over the phone. "It's late now. But don't forget I owe you that coffee tomorrow," She giggled afterwards. Julian laughed and smiled, "I would love that." She hanged up and sighed heavily as she hopped onto her bed. There was no way she was going to allow Monique suffer just because of Lionel's selfishness.
Monique didn't deserve her sympathy at all. After all she was the one who stole her husband from her. But at the same time she couldn't help but feel sympathy towards the poor woman for loosing her pregnancy and also having to battle with her illness all at the same time. It was probably too much for her to bear and she would definitely need the support of her husband.
She held a pillow close to her chest and snuggled her chin deep into her pillow. Red flags were seen around Lionel in front of her and she wasn't going to ignore them. She had to forget him completely and move on by focusing on her job in Souqeline's fashion company. Right now only her and Mia's well-being should matter to her alone. No time for any romance nor any relationships but again, she couldn't spend the rest of her life alone. She knew she would one day crave to feel loved and have a partner by her side and her mother's words came to mind.
She tried to fall asleep but couldn't grab unto sleep for a whole two hours before finally giving in to sleep.
Eden spent all morning and afternoon taking Mia around the city. The good thing about her job was she had free time when she didn't have any appointments scheduled. It was a good offer for her to spend lots of time with Mia. Mia was also happy and giggling while walking on the streets with her mother. "mama...look." Eden followed Mia's little hand pointing towards an ice cream stand in the middle of the park.
"Does my princess want some ice-cream?" Eden bent down a bit and asked. Mia nodded with so much excitement. She had a lot of time to spend with her daughter before she was to start school. But she was beginning to save up before that time arrived. "Let's go then." Eden held her hand and they crossed the street and entered the park that had many children playing together.
They got to the ice-cream stand and Eden got Mia her favorite ice cream flavor. Oreo cookies flavor. Surprisingly it was also her father's favorite ice-cream flavor. They both had things in common apart from their facial features. They got to a bench and Mia licked her ice-cream while she watched kids play together. Some of them were a bit older than her while some were her age. Eden didn't come out often with her and hence she didn't have any friends except for her toys and an imaginary friend.
Soon it was getting towards the clock hitting four pm. Her phone rang and she smiled seeing Julian's name flashing on her screen. "Hey. You're done with work for the day?" She asked before taking a glance at Mia who continued to lick her ice-cream while watching the other kids play together.
"Yep. I didn't have much work today. Our server had some issues and we just fixed it. And I got my salary bonus today." Julian replied and Eden could hear the sound of cars honking which meant he was already on the road. "Wow congratulations Julian," Eden said truthfully.
"Where are you right now so I can pick you up." Eden smiled remembering their coffee date. It wasn't a date but it did look like one. "We're at Central Park right now. Mia's with me as well." Eden smiled stroking her daughter's black silky hair. "Am on my way then." He hanged up and Eden waited for him. Her phone rang and she smiled thinking Julian forgot to inform her about something but got her elevated mood down seeing the name of the caller on her screen.
She wander whether to answer his call or not. She chose to answer him. "H..hello." She said lowly. "Hey. How are you? I was expecting for you to call me when you got home but...you didn't." His voice got a bit low during the last part of his sentence. "Anyway am glad you're okay."
"Why did you call me Lionel?" Eden quickly cut him off and getting straight to the point of his call. She heard Lionel sigh on the phone. "Why do you talk to me like this Eden. I called because I want to talk about our conversation last night." He replied. Eden wasn't ready to dive into that discussion but needed to clear things up with him right now. "Don't get the wrong idea Lionel. You're only my daughter's father and nothing else. About last night, you were the one to think there could be anything between us but I have to tell you this. Nothing can happen between us. Absolutely nothing. I won't stop you from seeing Mia but that's it. Nothing..."
"Don't say that Eden! How can you say there's nothing left between us? I still believe we can be together and if it is about my marriage to Monique that's stopping you from coming back to me, am going to file for a divorce as soon as possible and there will be nothing stopping us from being together." Lionel cut her off with his voice a bit stern.
Eden didn't react. "I couldn't care if you decide to divorce your wife but that wouldn't make me come back to you Lionel. Nothing will make me come back to you after all you had put me through. You never considered my own choices and opinions not once. Everything was about you and even now you're still thinking of yourself and not what I think regarding all of this." She spat out her feelings but kept her tone soft as not to scare Mia.
"Sweetie. Why don't you go and play with those kids?" Eden smiled at Mia who had finished licking her ice-cream and was now shoving the cone into her little mouth. Mia beamed with happiness, "Really mama?" She asked and Eden nodded. Mia sprinted from the bench and went to join the kids her age. It didn't take long for her to mingle with them and were playing hide and seek.
"Call me selfish or dementia or whatever Eden. I can't erase the past Eden. Am terribly sorry for how I treated you in our marriage but am ready to fix things between us Eden." Eden was getting angry right now by his insistence. "Do you think everything can work out between us just like that. Why do you wish to resolve all this without hurting anyone in the process. Because Monique is going to be hurt by all this and I don't want to be the reason for that. No way Lionel!" Eden said sternly as well.
"And what will you prefer, huh? To allow Monique live inside a loveless marriage for the rest of her life?" Lionel asked rubbing his temples slightly pissed she wasn't getting him at all. Eden didn't have an answer for this one. Being in a loveless marriage was worse than being alone.
"Why are we having this discussion anyways. Am not coming back to you Lionel. Deal with it." She didn't wait for his answer and hanged up the call before she yelled out in frustration. She didn't want to be part of all this and then she heard a car honk making her turn to the road. Julian packed his car at the other side of the road.
She smiled and called out for Mia. Mia whined a little having to leave her new friends. Eden grabbed her arm and they both crossed the road to enter Julian's car. "Are you ready to take me to that coffee?" Julian asked with a smile before he turned his neck to the backseat to smile widely at Mia who was also happy to see him as well.
"How's my princess?" He asked stretching his hand to caress her fluffy cheeks. Mia giggled and replied she was fine. "Let's go then. I'll guide you to the cafe." Eden smiled and Julian kick started the car and they were off.
They got to a cafe that was very modest and very affordable. They got in and Eden told the waiter to escort Mia to the playing area with other kids. Julian drew out a seat for her. Eden smiled seeing him act like a true gentleman and took her seat mouthing a thank you. Julian took his seat opposite her and made their order.
"Okay. So I called you here to make peace. Us having an argument over some silly issues isn't worth it. And am sorry again for blowing off like that." Eden started the conversation and Julian smiled reaching out his hand to place on top hers. "I also want the same thing. You're very special to me Eden. And Paula left as soon as the rain stopped. I called an uber for her. Believe me there's nothing between us."
"You don't have to explain yourself to me Julian. It's totally fine for you to be with whoever you feel like being with but I only don't want you to be hurt in the process." Eden clarified with tender eyes.
Julian squeezed her hands and looked deep into her eyes. "I don't want to be with anyone other than you Eden. I don't know what the future holds for us but I can say that my love for you won't stop anytime soon. I will always love you and wish you would give me a chance to prove it to you." He said with a straight face indicating he was damn serious with his words towards her right now.
Eden was at a loss for words by his words and just then her mother's words echoed inside her head. She had known Julian for a good period of time and surprisingly could trust him. She gave it a deep thought. Maybe it was time she followed her mom's advice and give herself another chance at love. This also was a way to make Lionel see reality that there was nothing between them anymore.
"And...do you think we can make this...this work?" Eden looked away from his eyes while asking. She wanted love but she was also scared of being left alone once again. But it was Julian right? He was the complete opposite to Lionel. And she believed in him. Julian's eyes narrowed and his heart was picking his pace wandering if he understood what she was implying. "Are you saying you want to give us a try?" He asked leaning his face forward. Eden bit her cheeks and closed her eyes for a few seconds.
"I...i think I want to." She replied.
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