Authors: Alexa Sinclaire
Her phone was vibrating incessantly and she grabbed it to turn it off but saw it was Mara calling her. She picked up, still heaving. Mara launched into conversation straight away, telling her some random story about brunch. After a few moments, she
finally
stopped.
“Eden, what the hell are you doing? You sound really strange? Why are you breathing like that?”
“I was running. I...God, Mara…I…” Her voice was cracking and she knew she was going to cry.
“Jesus, what? Eden, you don’t sound good!”
“The bastard’s married. He’s married, Mara!”
Saying it out loud was too much for her and she burst into tears and slid down onto the sidewalk, not caring who saw her now.
Chapter Nineteen
“What?” Mara screeched into the phone. “Where are you? I’m coming to get you.”
“I don’t know.” Eden looked up, trying to
recognize
where she was. “I don’t know, I’m on twenty-fifth, I think. I can see The Gap in front of me.”
“Okay, I’ll be there in ten minutes, I’m only a few blocks away. Stay put, chica, okay?”
Eden hung up. She saw that she had 15 missed calls from Sebastian and four texts.
Let me explain, Eden, it’s not what it looks like.
Where are you? Please answer the phone.
Answer the phone! I need to speak to you,
Eden.
I’m coming over now. Answer the door when I get there. I can explain.
The phone jumped to life in her hands—Sebastian. She ignored the call, putting it back in her arm strap. She pulled her knees up to her chest, rested her head against them, and closed her eyes. After what felt like an eternity, she heard Mara’s voice.
“Eden, I’m here.” Mara opened the door to the town car, gesturing for her to get in. Eden scrambled into the car, her eyes now puffy from crying. Mara wrapped her arms around her as she burst into tears again, as if she hadn’t been crying solidly for ten minutes on the sidewalk. Mara started talking in Spanish and Eden looked up to see Enzo sitting opposite her.
“Oh God, I’ve totally ruined your day together. You shouldn’t have come get me, Mara.”
Enzo spoke up before Mara had a chance. His voice was sweet and gentle. “Don’t be silly, Eden, you’re Mara’s best friend. What else were we going to do? Leave you crying at The Gap?”
“Thank you. I just didn’t know what to do.”
“Well, first of all, we have to swing by your place and get you out of that ridiculous outfit.”
“No!” Eden sat up quickly. “I can’t go home. He texted and said he’s on his way there now. I can’t go home and see him.”
“Of course, in that case we’ll go to ours. You can borrow something and then we are going out
dancing
tonight. You can spend the night. No questions, Eden. It’s happening. I know you American girls like to sit around and eat
ice cream
in gross flannel
pajamas
when a guy breaks your heart, but where I’m from, we dance, so deal with it.”
Eden leaned her head in her hands, ignoring whatever Mara was talking about. There was no way she was going
dancing
. She could hardly stand up she was so upset.
“Men are pigs, Eden,” Mara
finally
said, her voice calm again. “Not you, baby, you’re my angel, but the rest—all pigs,” she said to Enzo.
“How could I not know he’s married?” Eden
finally
asked, to no one in particular. “I’ve seen him every day for two weeks, I’ve been in his
apartment
. God, I think I’ve left clothes there. How could I not know?”
“Oh chica, really? It’s not that hard. My father’s been doing it for twenty-five years of marriage.” It was Enzo’s turn console her now.
“What do you mean? You think he does this all the time?”
“Well, if I know anything about philanderers, and with my father’s track record, I like to think I do, yes, Eden, I imagine he does this all the time. And I imagine his wife is very aware of it.”
“Simona Stone. The woman we saw in the photos. You were right, Mara, I should have done my research. I can’t believe I was so stupid.” Eden slumped back against the seat, closing her eyes, trying to stem the flow of tears that seemed to be never-ending. Mara was right, he had broken her heart.
****
After a very long shower and being plied with coffee and hugs from Mara and Enzo, they convinced her to go
dancing
.
“I refuse to let you sit here and wallow in this. I know it hurts, Eden, but you need a distraction now. I’m not saying get back out there and find a new man. I’m saying live, dance, and laugh. Yes, some idiot trampled on you, but you have to fight back now. Don’t let him defeat you like this. Come, I’ll pick out a dress for you to borrow.”
Eden couldn’t fight with Mara. She looked at Enzo for support. “Can’t you help me out, Enzo? Get your girl to give me break?” she joked.
Enzo shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry, Eden, I agree with her. This guy’s scum. To treat a girl like this...” He sucked in his breath, shaking his head. “No, he’s really bad news, no way you can let him get you down. I’ll make sure you’re okay tonight. I know the clubs make you nervous. Go on, let my fiancée dress you up.”
Eden sniffed and followed Mara into her enormous closet where she found her pulling out dresses and shoes.
“Tonight’s not about guys, Eden. It’s about being alive! Remember—like the lingerie? It’s not just for the men, it’s for us.”
“Mara, it’s so much worse than you think. I didn’t just fall for this guy, he was…” Eden covered her face with her hands. She felt so humiliated. She could barely bring herself to tell Mara.
“He’s an ass, is what he is!”
“No, Mara, I thought it was something different. I trusted him. I slept with him!”
Mara stared at her, but not with the look of surprise that Eden expected. “Yeah, I figured as much. Eden, you’ve been smitten with this guy since you met him. I’d be surprised if you hadn’t slept with him.” Mara clearly didn’t understand what she meant and Eden
realized
that there was no reason she would know she had been a virgin. She had never explicitly told her that she never slept with Joachim.
“Okay, but he was my…first.”
Now Mara’s face held the appropriate amount of shock. Eden felt like a fool calling him her first and she blushed even deeper.
“I’m such an idiot, Mara, what was I thinking?”
Mara dropped the pile of dresses she held in her arms and leaned up against the closet
wall
so her shoulder was touching Eden’s.
“You’re not an idiot, Eden, you just trusted the wrong guy at the wrong time.”
“That’s the story of my life, Mara.”
“Oh, chica, tell me about it!”
“No, Mara, it really is the story of my life—wrong place, wrong guy, wrong impressions. I’ve trusted the wrong men my whole life and it’s gotten me in serious trouble. Trouble I didn’t think I could survive. And then I met Sebastian and all that seemed to disappear. He made me feel like trusting him was the most natural thing in the world. I let him in without hardly giving it a second thought.”
“Is it that bad, Eden? You only knew him two weeks. I mean, I know you gave him your virginity, but I don’t understand what the rest of all this is.”
Eden
realized
the irony of the situation. Here she was blubbering in the closet of her closest friend who knew less about her past than Sebastian. And yet it was Sebastian who had betrayed her. She started talking, beginning with growing up with Joachim as her one of her closest friends and the platonic feelings she had around him, the attack in the frat house and all that came after it, including her parents’ disbelief of her role in it, and ending with the breakfast picnic that Sebastian had arranged, Eden’s confession to him, and their discussion about birth control. Eden shuddered as she
realized
that if Sebastian was married and cheating was a regular thing for him, she would have to get tested. The bastard had convinced her he was clean and exclusive. But now she knew she couldn’t rely on his word. She needed be responsible.
“Jesus, Eden, when you said you had a habit of trusting the wrong men, I had no idea what you were talking about. No wonder you’re this upset about Sebastian.”
Eden shrugged her shoulders. She felt better having told Mara. In a strange way, getting it out in the open made the whole thing feel less dramatic.
“But I’m still taking you
dancing
. I mean, you make a whole lot more sense to me now about why you were so shut down and didn’t want to hang out with guys or go clubbing. And as much as I want to ask Enzo to go call some hired thugs to pound on Sebastian, I also know that since you met him, you’ve come alive again. And you’ve done so well. You keep trying to convince yourself that you’re no longer the same girl before you left for Edinburgh, but I don’t think you really believe it. But I believe it, Eden. I’m your best friend and it’s made me so happy to see you
finally
come out of your shell. I wish you’d told me earlier why you were so uptight, because, Jesus, you were uptight, and now you’re whole. You’re not cut off and shut down from life. So yes, we agree that Sebastian is a total shit, but there is no way in hell I’m going to let what he did make you turn back in on yourself. We are going out
dancing
. You don’t have to stay long, but if I show up at your house tomorrow and you are wearing anything flannel, I will freak out at you. And you haven’t seen me freak out properly. It’s not pretty, you should ask Enzo about it. Okay?”
Eden couldn’t help but giggle at the thought of poor Enzo dealing with Mara’s whirlwind personality.
“Let’s go
dancing
. I’ll hold off on the flannel
pajamas
for a few more days.”
After a flurry of dressing and makeup, Eden found herself sitting at a table in Granada with Mara, Enzo, and a few friends of theirs they had invited along. Including Michael. Eden winced when she saw him walk in. She glanced at Mara, but her friend seemed oblivious as to why Eden was
suddenly
fidgeting in her seat. To make matters worse, Michael took a seat next to her and gave her a big smile.
“No jealous boyfriend tonight?”
“No…we aren’t together anymore.”
Michael’s smile grew. He was clearly pleased with this bit of information. “I would say I’m sorry, but that would be a lie. I can’t say that I wasn’t disappointed when he interrupted us the last time we met. I wanted to get to know you better.”
Eden cringed. This was not what she needed tonight, despite Mara’s protest that she needed to continue living life to the fullest. A rebound hook-up was not in the cards. “Look, Michael, I should be honest with you. I just found out that he was cheating on me, or something like that, so I’m not really in the best place right now to be dating. I think you’re a great guy, but I don’t want to lead you on.” If nothing else, no one could accuse Eden of being a tease.
“Relax, Eden, I’m not planning on making a move on you…right now. I would just like to get to know you, as friends. You’re Mara’s best friend and I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other in the future. So what do you say? To friends?” He lifted one of the flutes of champagne that had been delivered to the table, courtesy of Mara and her love of all things expensive.
Eden gave him a quizzical look. Part of her knew this was just another
pick-up
line in the guise of friendship, but at that moment, she didn’t care. Part of her also wanted to be around people who she didn’t think were constantly going to be betraying her, and Michael seemed like safe, neutral territory. At least for one evening.
“Oh, what the hell! To friends!” Eden downed her own flute and gave Michael a glowing smile, refusing to think of Sebastian.
****
Two hours later and several empty champagne flutes, Eden found herself on the dance floor with Michael. This in itself wasn’t all that surprising. She had been
dancing
on and off all evening with Mara, but this time around, she was so hot, tipsy, and heartbroken that she didn’t care so much when Michael slid her around and started
dancing
behind her, pulling her body close to his in a move that felt more sexy than friendly.
“I may have lied earlier, Eden.” Michael’s voice was low and gravelly in her ear, and she shivered at his words. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to resist making a move on you tonight, not with your sexy hips moving the way they are.” He pulled her even closer to his body, grinding his
groin
into her ass.