Begin Again novel Chapter 80

"So, who's it for?" Matthew asked as Liam returned the vase inside the box and reached for the painting.

It was an impressionist print and nothing to write home about, at least not for the price he'd paid. The only reason he'd shelled out a small fortune for it was the artist had recently died in a car crash following a drug-fuelled joy ride on the N1 highway. For some warped reason, the art world thought his works were worth far more now that he's dead than when he was still alive.

"Yeah, you're bringing out the big guns. I'm guessing it's for a woman!" Julian got straight to the point.

"Please tell me it's not for Laura!" Matthew said and chugged his beer. "You just escaped with your life. I beg you, don't go back there."

"It's for Eden!"

"The same Eden you hate?" Julian's eyes sparkled with amusement.

"Shut up! I didn't say I hate her," Liam scoffed. "It's my apology."

"For what?"

"The cookie incident," Liam replied and returned the painting inside the box. He grabbed a beer and popped it open. "I overreacted, and it hasn't sat well with me since. I have to fix this."

"By spending R750K on a painting and a vase?"

Suddenly worried that he's underspent, Liam asked. "Is it not enough? I also have tickets to Fashion Week."

"Dude! A simple sorry would have done the trick," Matthew patted him on the shoulder as he plopped beside him on the couch. "Return all these shiny things and get your money back. Eden won't like any of it."

"How do you know she won't like it?" Liam demanded, irritated at his cousin and his know-it-all attitude. Sure, he's close with Eden, but it didn't make him an expert on her.

"Look at her, is there anything fancy or showy about her? She wears department store clothes, drives an old Toyota Prius, lives in a simple bungalow. If that doesn't scream modesty, I don't know what does. This fancy painting and your imperial vase will make her uncomfortable."

"Modest people deserve nice things, too! I say give it to her. You've already bought the stuff. Besides, returning any piece of art is in poor taste!" Julian's argument came as no surprise; he's all for over the top, grand romantic gestures.

Matthew tried yet again to be the steady voice of reason. "She has a toddler who probably runs everywhere! That vase will be smashed to pieces in a day, three at most."

Liam didn't need all this negativity in his life, so he waved his cousin's words off with a careless shrug of his shoulders. "Eden's an artist; this is art. She'll love this. And she can keep the vase in her office away from her running toddler."

"You mean the broom closet you shoved her in?"

"What the hell do you want me to do?" Liam grumbled. "Can't you see that I'm trying here?"

"Try harder and talk to Eden. Sometimes words mean more!" Matthew fired back and grabbed his stuff as he prepared to leave. "You can't sugarcoat an apology with excessive gifts. You wounded her. You have to fix it."

"I did not; she could have killed me!" Liam crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly. "And if we have to bring up past deeds, she ruined me first and left me broken, and it's her fucking job to fix me!"

"Goodness, Liam, would it kill you to stop being so hard-assed? Everyone can see you're in love with her. Just tell her and stop pussyfooting around your feelings for her!" Matthew lost his cool at last.

"I am not in love with Eden. Yes, I'm insanely attracted to her, and of course, I want to bang her. But let's not confuse it with love!" Liam snapped at his cousin and dumped his half-finished beer on the coffee table, annoyed even more his feelings for Eden had come up yet again.

Matthew wouldn't back the hell off, though; he had to have the last word. "The lawyer is going after Eden hard and fast with his weekly flowers and playdates. If you keep up with your shit, you're going to push her straight into his arms, and when you end up alone and miserable, you'll only have yourself to blame."

"Maybe move her to a bigger office?" Julian suggested in the way of compromise.

"But I thought she's taking over my office?"

"She is. But that's still weeks away." He reminded her.

Gibby was supposed to wrap up her duties soon, but after assessing the amount of work involved in handing over, she'd asked for another month or two, and he was happy to keep her on for a little while longer on a contract basis. Hell, if he could, he would keep her permanently.

"But Mr Anderson—"

"I know it's at short notice, Gibby, but I need that office comfortable and livable."

"Sir, is everything okay? Did Ms McBride complain about her office?"

Liam assured her everything was perfect, and Eden hadn't complained. This was just standard company protocol. The spare office needed a makeover anyway.

"Right, I'll get on it, Sir. It might be a little while as the Project Management team will have to be involved!"

"Handle it!" He grunted irritably and hung up.

Wide awake and restless as fuck, Liam roamed the rooms of his house, haunted by the unnerving silence. The place was too big for one person. It needed people and laughter and joy, and maybe a toddler who ran everywhere and broke things.

It needed love.

And the thought of ending up alone and miserable, like Matthew was so convinced he would, terrified Liam as much as his conflicting feelings for the woman whose hurt and tears he could still taste at the back of his throat even long after he left her on the rooftop.