"Your bracelet," Linda said. "It's beautiful. May I see it?" Eden didn't want to hand it over, of course, but anything to make the forty-five minutes go quickly. "Sure," she said as she slipped it off and gave it to her. "You're into astronomy?" Linda asked as she held it up, and the tiny star and moon glinted in the sunlight seeping through the window. Eden looked at the clock again. Forty-three minutes. Don't fuck it up. She smiled brightly at the therapist. "I guess. Aiden's obsessed with the moon." "So this represents him?" Linda asked, tapping the moon charm dangling on the gold band. "And you are the star?" Eden nodded, happy to keep this line of enquiry going. "I don't see the sun, though?" "That's his father." Eden blurted without thinking. "Is he not in the picture?" Eden shook her head quickly. "No, he's not." "Maybe someday you'll get to add his charm?" Linda re

Liam had just opened his laptop again, about to tackle his emails, when Eden flew into his office and touched down like a mini-tornado on a path of destruction, bewildered and almost in tears. "You fired Lucy?" She asked, her voice trembling with anger; it could have been from her tears too. Liam wasn't so sure. As much as he was pissed off at her lack of protocol and waltzing into his space uninvited, he was stunned into silence as he took her in. Her eyes were even more mesmerising when they were not hidden behind her glasses. He guessed she was wearing contacts again. He hadn't seen her in three days because he'd stayed away from her like he'd promised himself, avoided seeking her out even when his heart screamed at him to go to her. He was always good at cutting people off. Never needed to think too much about avoiding someone. But with Eden, he'd learned a humbling lesson: avoiding someone took strength, willpower and sheer grit. But avoiding som

Sometime after lunch Friday afternoon, Eden picked up her phone and called Brenda to remind her she would be home late because of the team outing with the other assistants. As usual, the nanny had no issues watching Aiden after hours, and they spent a few more minutes chatting about their plans for the afternoon. Brenda wanted to hit the rooftop market for some fruit and vegetables, and Eden was more than happy for her to take Aiden. She had meant to take him to the flea market, but somehow her home improvements and playdates with Isaac and Zoe always seemed to eat up her weekends. "Thanks, Brenda. Give him a big smooch for me," Eden smiled and hung up. Now that she knew Aiden had an eventful afternoon planned as well, she could at least pretend to be excited about a drinking fest that didn't include Liam. When she left at 04:30 PM, the other ladies were still dolling themselves up in the bathroom. They tried to get her to join in, but Eden de

"Are you drunk?" Liam clutched the phone tightly in his hand and shook his head in disbelief as he checked his watch.  Two hours.  That's how long it's been since he left Eden in the VIP booth, and in that short two hours, she had somehow managed to get shitfaced, even when he told her she shouldn't, even after he had begged her not to be reckless.  Now more than ever, Liam was convinced Eden's sole purpose on earth was to torture and torment him. "Why don't you like me?" She asked again, her sobs drowning out her words, and at that moment, with his heart aching at the sound of her tears, he forgot all his anger. "Where are you? I'm coming there right now." His voice was much gentler as he sighed into the phone.  "Please like me." Eden hiccuped softly on her end. "I like you so much it hurts. So please like me." Her pleas left him stunned for words.  How she could think he doesn't like her when

Eden had just returned from the breakroom with a steaming cup of tea—her last for the day—ready to wind down for the afternoon when her office phone rang. After listening for a moment or two at the voice on the other end of the line, she placed the phone back on its stand. She took several shaky breaths to calm herself before she dashed out of her office. Their meeting was bound to happen at some point; she didn't expect it to be so soon, though. How could she possibly look at Liam now when she couldn't even remember a large part of Friday night? She knew she had drunk-called him at some point during her alcohol-fueled binge. A quick check of her call records, while she sipped on Brenda's hangover cure sometime after midday on Saturday, had confirmed that much. As she weaved through the hallways, Eden tried yet again to access what seemed to be her permanently deleted memories. But the only things her foggy mind came up with were Aleks