Eden's Eve

Chapter 7

It was three in the morning.

A time where other cities were still in a silent slumber, New York was revved up.

Eden arrived at the GMM studio with Audrey and Asher by her side.

While Asher was usually desperately annoying, he was just as fiercely loyal to Eden. While they walked into the studio, Asher aggressively negotiated a rate for some new product a company wanted to promote.

"Are you kidding me? $250,000? $250,000?! My client does not leave the house for anything less than $300,000! That's not even including transportation, toots, are you kidding me!?" Asher covered the mouthpiece of his phone and whispered, "Baby, don't you worry, Big Daddy Asher will get you that deal even if I die trying, you hear me?"

He gave her a solid thumbs up and excused him to carry on with his yelling outside the dressing room. Inside, Audrey and Eden saw Felipe setting up his makeup station, he nearly squealed when he saw Eden.

The two tightly embraced.

Felipe may have been petite, but he had a whole lot of personality stocked up.

He had a colorful personality and undeniable talent. He moved to the United States from the Philippines around the same time Eden's career began to take off. He quickly became a rising star in the beauty industry, dually becoming Eden's go-to-artist. More than a makeup artist, he had been turning into a trusted friend.

"My bulaklak!" Felipe air-kissed Eden, "Mwah! Mwah!"

"My baby!" Eden hugged him once more, "I have so much to catch you up on! I was so upset that you could not meet me out in LA last week!"

"Don't remind me, girl. I had to go visit my Lola."

"Oh my gosh, is she okay?"

Felipe blew out a big breath of air while he shook a foundation bottle. "For now. It's like every day is something different."

"I'm so sorry, I know how much you love your grandma." Eden reached out to Felipe's hand. "Do you need help with anything?"

Felipe tsked. "I could never take m– No. No, Eden."

"Then will you let me know if you need anything...please?"

A smile began to form on Felipe's face. "My bulaklak. Enough about my sad story, girl. What do you have in mind for today?"

"Hmm, I am wearing a flower print dress, I was thinking something soft and feminine. Don't shy away from the pinks."

"Pinky pinks it is!"

"Oh! Don't cement it in how you like, I have plans this evening. I want a different look."

"Oop! Girl, what plans? With a man?" Felipe then looked at Audrey.

Audrey was ready to spill the tea, but first she needed the coffee to have her energy.

"Audrey, my love, would you please get me a grande vanilla latte, oat milk?"

Audrey searched for words.

On one hand she recognized that she was being asked to do her job.

On the other hand, she desperately wanted to hear what Eden had to share. Audrey had always been silently curious about her boss's romantic life.

"Audrey?"

"Oh! Yes! Grande vanilla latte coming up."

"With oat milk."

"With oat milk."

Felipe's face scrunched. "You want all those carbs?"

Eden considered his statement, "You're right. Almond milk please, thank you so much Audrey."