Begin Again novel Chapter 77

The minute she was alone again on the rooftop, Eden burst into tears and cried harder than she has in a while, the howling wind and the constant stream of cars ten stories below drowning out her loud, heart-wrenching sobs.

She'd told Liam she wanted to be alone, but the truth is she would gladly take his company any day over this feeling of aloneness gnawing at her heart.

"Pull yourself together," Eden told herself over and over. But she couldn't. She didn't know how to.

She's twenty-six, with a baby of her own, and her parents' divorce shouldn't affect her so much. But it did, and in ways she'd never have imagined or would ever wish on anyone.

Maybe it was the suddenness of it all or the complete randomness, but her parents' announcement had devastated her world beyond measure and shattered all the illusions she'd had about love and relationships and family.

Yes, her family was dysfunctional at the very least. But, there was a sense of safety, of home, of trust in that dysfunction. And now that her parents had ripped it from her, what did she have left?

Eden forced herself to stop crying long enough to call her friends. She couldn't go home yet, not when she was still such a mess. Aiden was already frightened enough from all the shouting and screaming earlier with her folks. She didn't want to traumatise him further with her depressing mood. She had to get it together before she saw him again.

Sienna's phone rang a couple of times and went to voicemail.

Lydia was also unreachable.

Cassandra was on a date with Skye, but she cut it short when she heard her desperate cries.

"Edie? Where are you?" She asked in a panic-stricken voice.

"I'm at La Famiglia. On the rooftop," she managed to say through her sobs.

"Oh Edie, please wait for me, whatever it is we can talk about it."

"I'm okay."

"Of course, you are okay! Hang on, alright? I'm on my way."

Eden smiled, relieved she doesn't have to be alone tonight.

Help was on the way. An adult was on the way to fix this.

Ten minutes after she hung up from Cassie, Eden's phone buzzed in her hand.

It was Lydia. "Bitch, you'd better not jump, you hear me? We're on our way! Hang tight!"

"I'm okay," Eden sobbed and laughed all at once as she brushed away her tears quickly.

"You'd better not die!" Sienna yelled into the phone. "Not when I gave up some hot dick for you."

"I won't."

"Good!" Cassandra came on as well. "We love you, kid, now stop crying. ETA is five minutes."

In exactly ten minutes, the emergency exit door burst open, and her friends spilt onto the rooftop.

Did she have to wash it?

Is it even machine washable?

No, Eden shook herself mentally. She'll take it for dry cleaning. It's the right thing to do. Plus it looked so damn expensive, and she's scared she'll ruin it somehow if she tried washing it herself.

"Edie?" Cassandra waved her hands in front of her face. "Where did you go?"

"Dry cleaner’s," she replied.

"Huh?" Her friends turned to her with puzzled frowns on their faces.

"I'll have to dry clean this. Christ, why the hell didn't he leave me alone when I asked him to? Now I have to spend my weekend washing his blazer."

"You!" Lydia was outraged. She pointed a stern finger at her. "You don't deserve Liam!"

Sienna was in complete agreement. "Yeah, I'll gladly take him if he'll have me."

"He will," Eden said crossly. "He's not above a little infidelity."

"I feel like I'm caught in a time skip, time jump, weird reality shit," Cassandra said. "Nothing you've said so far makes any sense!"

"He kissed me. I kissed him. We made out, and if he wanted to, he could have easily fucked me one more time because I want him so bad, you guys. And well, we're not supposed to for obvious reasons. Anyway, I found a photo of his wife. She's pretty, just like her name!" Eden said and proceeded to fill her friends in on all her hot encounters with Liam and her internet hunt for the truth about his marital status and her subsequent decision to let him go after she came across Laura Stones' photos.