East Of Eden

Chapter 8

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Three Weeks Later

"And you're still living at a hotel?" Eric sounds shocked through the line. "Yeah." I chuckle. "It's not a crumby old motel, okay? It's nice. I just haven't been exactly wanting to go look for an apartment or house since I haven't checked in my lottery." I explain. "When are you going to Austin?" He asks me. "Do you want a refill on your soda?" the flight attendant asks. I quickly cover the mic on the phone to block her question from Eric's ears. "Um, no thank you." I smile at her. She pushes the cart forward to ask the person in front of me. "Who was that, Holly?" he has a curios tone. "Um just the maid asking if I need house keeping." I lie and laugh to cover it up. "Oh, okay." He doesn't ask questions and I sigh in relief. "Call me at the end of week?" "Yeah, of course." I smile even though he can't see me.

"Bye." He says ending the call. I place my phone on my lap and collect my thoughts. I didn't want to lie to Eric about me flying out to Austin today, but if he knew exactly when I was going to Austin and where I would be, I wouldn't know if he would call my parents and tell them my whereabouts. Who knows if the police would have been waiting for me as soon as I got off the plane. My excitement has faded over this month. I have been homeless and I haven't gotten to know my town that I have been staying at. Jen's absence has crept in slowly ever since she left that note in my hotel. The minute I got to Hamdem, I called Eric and told him that I was there and to also delay the part where he tells my family that he's heard from me. He knows that Jen left. When Jen got back to Chicago, Eric called me that second. He kept asking me a bunch of questions about why she left and if I was coming back with her or if I would be okay without her. I am going to be fine. I am going to do exactly what I wanted to do before I told him.  As soon as I get this money I need to find somewhere other than a motel. Somewhere permanent. I need to find the perfect place. The perfect place that Nathan and I had always dreamed of...

FLASHBACK

"With a huge porch!" I tell him. "And a breakfast table to drink you latest obesssion." He adds. I laugh, "Coffee is amazing, Nathan. You just have to love the flavor." He grabs my face and smooths my unruly hair. "You know what flavor I really love?" He says with light and humor dancing in his eyes. "What?" I ask clueless. Until I realize that he made a perverted joke my eyes go wide and my lips part. Before I can get a word out a scold him for his dirty mouth he pushes his lips against mine. I smile into the kiss and he does the same. "Mmmm.." I mumble through the kiss. His mouth tastes of fresh mint and honey from the pancakes we just devoured. When we hear his dad enter the kitchen we break the kiss. "Morning, Will." I say in a cheery voice. "Morning, Holls!" he returns the greet as he pours more coffee into his cup. "You're father loves coffee, too." I tell him smugly. He rolls his eyes playfully and chuckles. "I didn't realize you spent the night." Will says. "Oh, I didn't plan on it." I hold a guilty expression on my face. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, Dad." Nathan apologizes. His father beckons his hands in a 'don't be silly' kind of way. "I love Holly! You guys don't need to feel bad..." He eyes me, "And I don't need you to be apologizing." He looks at Nathan. "So what are you guys talking about this early in the morning?" Will asks. "Me and Holly were just talking about our dream house together." Nathan answers his father, but is looking at me. I can see it. In every square inch of his eye, I can see the love he has for me. I can feel it pouring out from his pupils. "Hmm, you guys are at that stage in your relationship?" "Dad, we've been going out for a year and a day exactly." He chuckles. "Wow. That's long. Congrats guys!" He says as he pats Nathan on the shoulders and walks out of the kitchen. Nathan looks at me and stands up holding his plate, he inches closer to me. "In our house, we're going to have a huge bedroom with big bay windows where the morning sun will shine in." He whispers to me and plants a soft kiss on my lips.

"Well what about when we want to sleep in?" I ask him. "We'll buy big curtains." He smiles. "And we're going to have a huge bed." He smirks. I roll my eyes and laugh. "I can't wait to live my perfect life with you, Holly." He whispers as he sits the dirty plates in the sink. I don't know if he wanted me to hear that, so I just smile at my empty plate.