City of Eden

Chapter 2

Pick your jaw up off the floor big E, you look like a freak

"I hope you're not bad-mouthing me to my guest Xander." the man says in a deep sing-songy tone.

"Of course not daddy I would never," I dart my attention to a smirking Xander and the term he just used to address his boss.

"Call me that again and you'll be delivering pizzas again for the rest of your life," the man says sternly.

"Sorry da- I mean Mr. Brooks, it won't happen again." Xander adds quickly with a boyish grin plastered on his tan face.

Now, I've seen attractive men in my life before but this man was something else. He's about 6'4, and I could tell he works out just by the way his fitted black dress shirt sits on his chest. He's no body-builder but he could easily throw me around. His floppy well-kept jet black hair sits perfectly on his head and his smokey grey eyes are practically hidden in his long black lashes. Why am I jealous of how he looks? Oh! Oh! I know, because he's gorgeous.

Stop staring, stop staring, stop staring

After what feels like forever I realize that he was staring right back at me.

Wesley's POV:

When my dad asked me to host Jack's daughter in my house so that she could attend Columbia it was a no brainer. He was always so good to me and my family so I felt obligated to do him this favor. I might not be as close to Jack as my parents are but he was always willing to babysit me when my parents were on business. At one point he was like a second father to me. When my father was too focused on building up the family business rather than taking care of my brother and I, Jack and Margarite were always there for us.

The last time I saw Eden she was just a newborn and I was only five. I guess I didn't picture her as a nineteen year old because looking at her now, I never would have tempted myself with her presence. She's relatively tall but still short compared to me. Her slim build and long legs compliment her height very well. Her waist-length dark chocolate colored hair hangs in loose waves, half of it held in a clip, her cute freckles sit on her nose and cheeks scattered sparsely on her pale yet rosy skin.

Her beautiful piercing green eyes are scanning me diligently. I can't tell if she's checking me out or just making herself aware of my presence, however, I think she can tell that I'm in fact checking her out.

She quickly averts her eyes once she realises we're making eye contact. She then slowly walks towards me and says with a faint French accent, "Hello Wesley! I'm Eden Laurent, nice to finally meet you!" and at that moment I knew I was screwed.

Eden's POV:

I feel like I'm too close to him. I'm literally standing like one foot away from him and I can clearly smell his expensive cologne that was obviously masking the scent of burnt tobacco. He smells too good for my own liking.

He reaches for my hand and grasps it firmly and says "Hello Ms. Laurent, it's a pleasure to meet you as well, and I'd prefer it if you called me Mr. Brooks," he says monotony.

Immediately embarrassed, I feel my cheeks begin to heat up and I quickly add "Oh gosh, you're right I'm so sorry I didn't me-" he cuts me off.

"It's alright Ms. Laurent, you couldn't have known any better." I'm not sure at this point if he's trying to seem rude. Xander looks at him with a smirk on his face. Why is that boy always amused. I just slipped up severely in front of my new host and he thinks it's funny! Why I oughta-

"Your bedroom is up the stairs and to the right, two doors down, Laura will help you settle in, I have more important things to deal with," Mr. Brooks says sternly. Yep, he definitely hates my guts... already.

"Oh, ok, thank you Mr. Br-" and he's already walking away from me. Great. I bet he's just having a bad day. I mean a stranger is literally just waltzing into his life interrupting his home and routine, who wouldn't be a little annoyed, right? Also, who the heck is Laura? About ten seconds after wondering who Laura is, Ed Sheer- I mean, a short, middle aged, female ginger enters the darkly colored foyer. Is everyone in New York this pretty?

"Guess that's my sign to leave, bye Eden, can't wait to drive you around some more. Hi Laura, Bye Laura!"

Laura laughs and rolls her eyes at Xander, while I quickly say "Bye Xander, wish me luck." Xander waves to both of us and exits through the elevator.
"Hello Ms. Laurent! I'm Laura, Mr. Brooks' home assistant! I help around the house with cleaning, cooking, and all that boring stuff," she says sweetly and begins to gather my luggage. After picking up two of my suitcases she looks at me and says "Don't worry about Mr. Brooks' attitude, he's just nervous to have you in his company, that's all." She smiles.
I responded "Oh, I wasn't too worried about that! I was just scared I made a wrong first impression and all."

"I think you made a fine first impression." Laura adds.

"I hope so!" I say quickly while helping Laura carry the rest of my things. I follow Laura up the huge stairway and down a long hallway. We finally get to my room and I'm absolutely floored. The high ceilings and king size bed were just some of the perks to this princess-esc themed room. The artwork surrounding the room was breathtaking. A mixture of modern art and romanticism covered the walls and ceiling. The gold bed frame with fat baby-pink duvet covers is really calling my attention after that long flight. "This is really gonna be my room?"

Laura responds "Yup, It's pretty amazing, don't ya think?"

"That's a mild term," Let me shut my mouth before I start drooling all over these marble floors.
"I'm going to leave you to unpack, buzz this intercom if you need anything and I'll be right up!"

"Thank you Laura, for everything. Especially for cheering me up after I definitely blew it with my new roomie." I say quickly as she heads towards the door.
"Any time sweetie," she smiles and leaves.

I start unpacking my things, I haven't brought nearly enough stuff to fill all these drawers (which is a good excuse to go shopping soon). After unpacking for about an hour I have to use the bathroom and most importantly shower off this airport stink I've got going on. I enter my very own personal bathroom which by the way is bigger than my entire bedroom back home and I notice there are no towels. I don't want to bother Laura since she had just helped me so I decided to go fend for myself.

I exit my room and walk down this grand hallway. I come to a door that resembles a towel closet since it's close to a bathroom and pretty slim. I knock on it first just to make sure, and since there is no response I open the door slowly. To my surprise I find Mr. Brooks pressing this stunning brunette up against the wall literally sucking on her tonsils. Mr. Brooks looks up while the woman is too focused on eating his neck to pay attention to me. "Oh my gosh I'm so so sorry, I was looking for towels, and and I knocked, and there was no answer, and-"

"Save it Ms. Laurent, can't you see I'm in the middle of something? Leave." He says shortly.
"Well if you would just let me finish apologizing-" I say quickly.

He flashes a forced smile and says "I didn't ask for an apology, I asked you to leave." 

An emotion I can't quite uncover flashes across his grey eyes. For a second I could swear it was guilt. I quickly leave and shut the door softly behind me. I guess I'll just air dry.

Wesley's POV:

I can't believe I just did that. I could literally
see the disappointment in her eyes when I dismissed her like that. It's better this way. The more she hates me, the more she stays away. I can't have her liking me, not even a little bit. If I even show her a little kindness I'm scared she'd want to get closer to me, maybe even be her friend. I can't be her friend. I needed a distraction, and I got that. When I see her again, I know my "distraction" will be the farthest thing from my mind.