The Eden project

Four

"Hey Lock we have a delivery coming tomorrow morning at 6!" Cole informed his friend whilst scrolling though the business email.
"Is Amelia going to take care of that?" Lockie asked, looking through a file.
"Uh, no. She's off sick mate." He spun around in his chair looking at Lockie.
"You don't reckon the girl's would help us out do you?" Lockie suggested, putting the file back and closing the drawer with a loud thud that disguised Cole's laugh.
"Seriously? You think they'd get up to help us carry boxes at six in the morning?"
"No you're probably right, oh speak of the devils!" He motioned towards the door as Frankie came into his line of vision.
"We were just talking about y- where's Eden?" The question made Cole's head snap up almost instantly, scanning Anna and Frankie's flustered faces.
"Something's happened..." Frankie admitted, sighing heavily.
"What are you talking about is Eden okay?" Lockie rushed, getting to his feet.
"Woah slow down, she's at the apartment she couldn't face you right now." Anna spoke.
Cole knew that it wasn't Lockie she didn't want to face, it was him.
"She's not pregnant is she?" He asked warily causing Frankie to laugh so hard she snorted.
"Oh god no she hasn't had sex in months, probably years." Frankie blurted, unaware that Lockie really didn't want to know about his sister's sex life.
The mention of Eden and sex in the space of one minute caused thoughts to invade Cole's mind, bad thoughts.
"What Frankie means to tell you is that we may have lost our jobs." Anna stated bluntly. For the first time everyone was silent, all that could be heard were the many customers chatting away in the front of the restaurant.
"What are you talking about?" Lockie probed, wanting answers sooner rather than later.
"June died, Bill can't run the place without her, we're jobless. Frankie spent most of her time travelling here crying and Eden is trying to put on a brave face but I know she's hurting and I can't deal with all of these emotions I just want food." Anna managed to say without taking a breath once.
"So let me get this straight," Cole finally spoke, looking at the girls "you knew Eden was upset and you left her on her own?" He asked, trying his best not to let his temper get the better of him.
"Don't get mad at us! You know what she's like, she can be so stubborn when she wants to be and there's no talking her round!" Anna snapped, taking Cole by surprise "I'm sorry," She sighed, sitting on the desk behind her rubbing her tired face with her hands "this is just so much to take in and I'm really not in the mood to be scolded like a five year old." She warned.
Cole just nodded, images of Eden sobbing on the floor of her apartment filling his head, he shouldn't even care so much but he can't help himself.
"Maybe one of us should go and sit with her..." Frankie thought out loud, feeling guilty after Cole's words sunk in.
"I'll go." Cole offered, shocking himself as well as everybody else at how quickly he spoke.
"You sure? She can be a bit of a handful when she wants to be." Lockie admitted,  Cole shrugged smiling.
"I'm use to dealing with handfuls." He smirked, getting to his feet and grabbing his car keys from the hook on the wall.
"My sister is not that type of handful Cole." Lockie warned sternly.
"Hey I know, I know trust me she's like a sister to me." The words felt dirty coming from his mouth, all the times he'd had filthy thoughts of her and he was lying through his teeth.
"Alright but we won't be long anyway, James is coming in to take over in about forty five minutes so as soon as I've fed the girl's up we'll meet you there."
"See you then." Cole gave a small wave turning on his heel as he headed for Eden's apartment.

Eden washed the last of the conditioner out of her hair before climbing out of the shower and wrapping her body in a soft towel.
She sighed deeply, she'd had two glasses of wine, a nap and a shower but she still didn't feel any better. She was grateful to be alone though, she found it exhausting constantly staying positive for the benefit of her friends.
All she needed was a good cry, that'd make her feel ten times better.
A gentle knock on the door brought Eden back to her senses, she rolled her eyes as she got to her feet heading to the door.
"I told you to take a key with you" She muttered in a 'I told you so' tone, but to her despair it wasn't Anna or Frankie's eyes she was looking at, they were Cole's.
"What are you doing here, where are the others? I'm naked." She fumbled, gaining a tight grip on the top of her towel as Cole strolled in right past her.
"Anna told us what happened." Cole cut to the chase, turning around to face her completely ignoring all of her questions.
Eden quickly flicked her eyes from his head to his feet, he was wearing a white shirt with three buttons undone, a blazer, a pair of trousers which hugged his thighs and black shoes, he looked good.
"I'm naked." She stated again, very aware of her wet hair dripping all over her floor.
Cole raked his eyes over her body, making Eden feel more self consious than ever.
"Oh I know." He smirked, his intense stare focused on her face.
A thick silence floated between the two of them as Cole continued to admire his view.
"Why are you here Cole? Because if you're here to rub it in my face you can leave now because I'm not in the mood." She warned, striding past him into her room but he was right on her trail.
"Why would I do that when you're hurting?" She turned to face him, giving him her best 'what are you talking about' face.
"Who says I'm hurting?" She asked "I'm perfectly fine not that it's any of your business." She asserted coldly.
"You're a terrible liar Eden, you seem to have forgotten that I've known you since you were six years old."
"That doesn't mean anything," She shrugged in denial, reaching for her chest of drawers but instead getting a face full of Cole's chest "Get out of my way."
"You also don't seem to realise that your eyes are red as hell so it's obvious you've been crying."
Her eyes widened in realisation, now she just looked stupid. Naked and stupid.
"It's allergy season." She tried one last pathetic attempt to save herself but Cole was having none of it.
"Eden!" Cole raised his voice, snapping her out of whatever bubble she was trying to protect herself with.
She wanted to yell back but the sudden lump in her throat stopped her, terrified she'd cry if she even breathed, she wouldn't break down in front of him. She couldn't.
"I'm sorry I shouldn't have shouted, that was insensitive of me." He admitted, taking a seat on the edge of Eden's bed rubbing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.
Eden hated that he looked so good so effortlessly, he was just sat crouched over on her bed and she wished he was hers, more than anything in the world.
She took a deep breath and sat down next to him, her hair no longer dripping cold spots of water on her.
"You aren't being insensitive I'm just being a baby," She put her hands in her lap and began fiddling nervously with her fingers "this is karma for being a dick to you last night" She muttered.
Cole looked at her bemused.
"I don't think you deserve to lose your job and be miserable just because you made an attempt to put me in my place." He told her jokingly.
She rolled her eyes, she'd 'attempted' to put him back in his place.
"I need to get changed." She told him, getting to her feet trying to escape his company before she did another dumb thing that she'd regret.
"I'm not stopping you." He shrugged, leaning back to get a good view of her, just a towel between him and that body.
"Wait what?" She asked, not sure what he meant by that.
"I'm not stopping you." He repeated slowly, his deep voice entrancing her.
"I- I'm not sure I'm quite grasping the concept of what you're saying." She stuttered, more nervous than ever. He wasn't seriously suggesting she got changed in front of him...Was he?
He smirked to himself, sitting up so that he was closer to her.
"Okay you're being weird I'm going to get changed in my bathroom." She spoke warily, picking up the pile of clothes she'd chosen to wear, turning her back to Cole as she headed into her ensuite bathroom.
Eden took in a much needed deep breath, what was happening? She wasn't sure if he was flirting or if he was just trying to cheer her up, either way she wanted to ignore him so bad.
He was just trying to get under her skin and annoy her, she thought. That's why he came on his own, so she couldn't escape him.
She got changed as slowly as she could, praying that everybody else would be back by the time she walked out.
She placed her towel on the drying rack before opening the door as quietly as possible.
Her day was looking up as Cole was no longer sat sprawled across her bed, she laughed to herself thinking of all the times that she'd wished he was sprawled across her bed, preferably naked.
She pulled her damp hair into a bun on top of her head, the heat of New York making everything stick to her.
She glanced at her bed, agitated that Cole had messed with the duvet and not rectified it.
She sighed heavily, walking out into her bright living room, it was now 11:30am and the temperature was rising quickly, one thing she disliked about her apartment was that in the summer it was like an oven.
A loud clatter came from her kitchen and she froze instinctively, either Cole was still here or there was an intruder and she was about to have a fight to the death, she grabbed the wine bottle she'd been drinking from just incase it was the second option.
She gripped the bottle tightly as she jumped out from around the corner, coming face to face with an amused Cole.
"It's kind of you to bring a bottle but I already poured you a glass." He laughed, handing her a glass of white wine.
"I've already had two I don't know if I should have another." She mumbled embarrassed that she'd just tried to knock Cole out with a bottle of Rosé.
"Worried you won't be able to control yourself?" He asked, taking a seat on her counter like he owned the place.
"What are you talking about?" She asked, panic in her voice, had he realised she had a crush on him?
"I'm talking about the stuff you say when you're drunk Eden," He sounded calm and collected, the complete opposite of her "Why are you so tense, it's only me." He continued.
"Oh I don't know? Maybe because I just lost my job and my future is ruined and I won't be able to afford to stay in this place." She snapped, picking up the glass of wine and taking a large sip.
"So you are upset about it." Cole remarked smugly, was he seriously turning this situation into one of humor? This is exactly why she didn't want to tell him.
"If you're going to be an ass about it just leave." She closed her eyes breathing deeply, her emotions had only just stabilised she didn't want to cry again.
"Fine if you want me to change the subject, what did I do to make you stop liking me then Eden?" He asked, swirling his wine around in the glass. She rolled her eyes at how predictable he was.
"I don't dislike you, we're just completely different people now." She admitted whilst her eyes wandered his face, the right corner of his mouth lifted slightly and she watched as he took a drink from his glass.
"I'd say we're alot more alike than you think." He said, his green eyes locked on hers making her swallow hard.
Before she could reply the front door opened and Frankie rushed up to her wrapping her in a tight hug.
"I missed you." She mumbled making Eden laugh.
"Frank we've been apart for an hour."
"That's a long time when you have to sit with Anna and Lockie having a sarcasm competition." She huffed, her eyes landing in Cole's direction. "Why are you sat on the counter? Germs!" She yelled, running over to pull him off.
"It's a little early isn't it?" Lockie asked referring to the alcohol as he strode towards them.
"I needed it."
"You need a job." Lockie challenged, Eden looked up at him and if looks could kill he'd be dead.
"You're really going to do this right now? I lost my job two hours ago Lockie!" She raged making Frankie jump.
"Hey, calm down Eden I wasn't being horrible." Lockie said, pulling his sister into a much needed hug.
"Sorry." She mumbled into his chest making him laugh.
"Don't worry about it, I was talking to the girls and we came up with an idea." He declared, leaning over onto the counter in front of Eden.
"I'm listening."
"Okay well, since you guys are so talented in floristry it'd be a waste if you didn't get to use that talent, right?"
"Get to the point Lock." Eden said, becoming impatient.
"Obviously Cole they'd need your go ahead but I thought maybe you could merge a floristry business with a photography business? The girls could make displays for weddings and birthdays as an extra little something to make your business differ from everyone else's." Lockie suggested cautiously.
Cole frowned, thinking about his idea and how it would work.
"You might be on to something you know Lock." He agreed getting to his feet.
"People could book us to take photos at their ceremonies and as our gift to them we make them a design of their choice, it's genius." Anna agreed, already game.
"It sounds perfect." Frankie said dreamily.
"I don't know." Eden muttered quietly, unsure she could deal with Cole every minute of everyday.
Sure it was generous of him to agree and it would be incredible to continue doing what she loved with her friends but she just couldn't take that risk.
"You guys go for it, I'll look elsewhere for employment." Eden encouraged faking a giant smile that was too happy for the situation.
"Are you joking?" Anna asked, Eden looked up from her glass of wine suddenly very aware of everyone's eyes on her, gawping at her as if she'd just shouted "vote for trump".
"No Ann I'm not, I just don't think it's good for me."
"How is it not good for you Eden? Please enlighten me." Cole remarked as he walked towards her to take the vacant stool next to her, his suspicious eyes locked on hers.
Eden shrugged looking away, taking four big gulps of wine, how was she going to get out of this? She was turning down her dream job.
"I just want to try something new." She spoke calmly.
"We've been worrying ourselves sick for the past two hours, we find a perfect replacement for the job we had and you don't want it?" Anna asked again, not believing what she was hearing.
"Correct."
Lockie shook his head, completely stumped by what his sister had just announced.
"You love floristry, you'd be crazy to turn this down Eden just think about it, please?" He asked warily trying not to make her mad again.
"I guess." She mumbled, picking at the sleeve of her shirt.
But deep down she knew that no matter how much she wanted the job she had to turn it down, she wouldn't fall for Cole the way she did years ago, not again.