Eden
No. 8 Upper Park Hill was a dream come true. I stared at the luxurious space, as the management company rep showed me the complicated lock on the door. I’d signed the papers for renting with the rep, Estie hadn’t been present. In fact, she didn’t actually own the apartment, but some investment company. Whatever the admin loops were, it was worth it. I so owed her a fruit basket.
After the rep left, I wandered to the floor-length windows and stared down at the park, a huge green rectangle cut from the grey city streets, directly before my eyes. This was a park view apartment, with a doorman, crazy security, and incredible perks.
Fancy cars wove their way through the exclusive postcode below. My mind went immediately to Khan.
Was he in one of them? Had he already forgotten about me?
Get a grip, Eden. I had to pull it together. Mooning over an enigmatic billionaire whose life should never have come into contact with mine was just a path to feeling like shit. I turned my attention to the unpacking I had to do. My derisive snort filled the empty space.
Unpacking was a grand statement for three cardboard boxes and a suitcase. Packing up my old apartment had taken approximately two hours, and most of that had been cleaning. I had no stuff, nor roots. I felt more than ever like a reed blowing in the wind, bent this way and that by the world. Never finding my place.
Shit, I was melancholy today. It was bloody Khan Aslan, and the way he made me want things I had no business wanting. My elation soured. I went to the kitchen and opened the fridge. Like a gift from heaven, there on the top shelf sat a bottle of champagne with a tag around the neck.
‘Welcome to the building. Make yourself at home, Miss Davis.”
I hefted the heavy bottle and eyed the brand. I didn’t know much about champagne brands, but this one seemed pricey. The bottle was heavy enough to fell someone, that much was certain. I put the tag on the counter. Something about the wording reminded me of Khan again. I was seriously fucked in the head. I couldn’t get my mind off the man. There was only one reason, and even if I denied it, my denials rang empty.
I had a raging crush on my ex-boss. Crush? Right. I’d practically fallen in love with him at first glance, and that had only intensified in our short, but dramatic, time together.
I popped the cork on the champagne and swigged it straight from the bottle, then sat down and leaned against the kitchen counter and stared at the park. I had a place to live, and enough money for this month’s rent. By next month, I’d have another temp job as I tried to work out how I was going to pull my life together. For now, getting good and pity drunk sounded like a plan. I was going to go ahead and do that.
* * *
Since it’s practicallya crime to drink an entire bottle of champagne, and have no greasy food to go with it, I shoved my shoes on and staggered out the new apartment later. The sun had sunk behind the tall buildings that lined the park and I had dozed off, watching the shadows grow longer and longer. I was starving, and more than half-drunk, and waking from dreams of my off-limits boss, made reality more than a little crushing to wake up to.
In my champagne fuelled dreams, we were in his office, and he was kissing me again, hard and needy, as his hands pulled at my clothes, and his thick thighs forced me back against the desk. I woke empty and desperate with longing.
Khan Aslan had ruined me for other men, without even going all the way. No matter who I finally slept with, it was already a disappointment, because it wasn’t him.
I made it downstairs, and past the doorman, no doubt doing a very sloppy and unconvincing impression of a sober person. Outside, the air was full of the rush of traffic and smells of food and people. The city was a crush of humanity, and I loved it. The air went to my head a little. I realised after wandering for one block that I had no idea where I was headed. I didn’t know this neighbourhood at all, and it was too upscale for there to be a kebab place on every corner. I was just considering my options, my head getting increasingly swampy, when I slammed hard into a broad chest. I dropped my purse and rubbed my temple, as I frowned up at the person who was stopped dead still on the sidewalk.
I blinked up at him, my drunken mind not connecting the dots very easily.
“You look just like my boss. I mean, my ex-boss,” I accused the man, who really did look very like Khan. He smiled just like him.
“Is that right? Must be a hell of a guy,” the mystery man said, bending down to pluck my wallet off the sidewalk.
“He’s the worst,” I muttered, and blinked back a sudden and strange wetness behind my eyes. Jesus, was I going to drunkenly weep over my crush now?
“Is he?” the stranger murmured, tucking my wallet into his pocket. I found my head shaking at his soft question.
“No. he’s not.” A sudden wave of dizziness passed over me. After it came lucid thought, just a sliver, but even then, a sliver was enough to clear the fog and realise that this man wasn’t Khan Aslan’s lookalike, but the man himself. He steadied me when I swayed. “What are you doing here?”
“What are you doing here? This is my neighbourhood, buttercup,” he said, turning back in the direction I’d come.
“It is? I knew it was too rich for my blood,” I muttered. “I don’t belong here,” I continued, leaning into his chest as he wrapped an arm under my shoulder and started to walk toward my new apartment.
“I beg to differ. You do belong here, Eden. You fit perfectly, right here, where you are,” Khan was saying, and then looked down and met my bleary gaze. “With me.”
“Ha! Right. I don’t know if you’ve met you, but we, my friend, are from different worlds,” I told him, confident in my assessment. Khan shook his head, still leading me slowly down the street.
“No, that’s where you are mistaken. I’m not from this world either. I pulled myself here, with blood, sweat and a whole lot of luck. I created my place in this world,” he said.
“Yeah, that’s you though. You can do anything you set your mind to. I’m just me,” I mumbled, as we reached my apartment building. “Hey, how do you know where I live?” I asked him, suddenly suspicious, though my thoughts were getting increasingly jumbled. It felt like more than time to pass out. Passing out would be great right now. I felt my feet stumble, and then, suddenly, I was in Khan’s arms. “Hey! Don’t you have an injury?”
“It’s nothing,” he said. I found my eyes feasting on the stubbled underside of his jaw. Man, that looked good enough to lick. Wait, did I say that out loud?
“Yes, you did, and it’s taking gentlemanliness I don’t possess, not to let you do just that,” Khan said, his voice tight. We had reached my door when I realised I hadn’t given him my apartment number. “Door code,” he said shortly, and I thought for a long moment, and then shrugged. He typed something in, and the lock beeped loudly, denying him entry.
“I already changed it. That’s safety 101,” I told him.
“I wouldn’t say it was safety 101 to forget it right after,” he muttered, and turned back to the lift. It zoomed upwards.
“Are you taking me to heaven?” I asked and cackled at my own genius.
“Did you drink the entire bottle?” Khan muttered, shifting me against him, his strength never wavering.
“Sure did. It would’ve been rude not to. Why do you smell so good?” I muttered in his direction, as he pushed into another apartment and kicked the door shut behind him. But I never heard the answer. In his arms, I felt peace and the feeling of complete safety wash over me. I was home, in this apartment, or in Khan’s arms. I wasn’t sure, but either way, I could finally rest.
“All the better to tempt you with, my dear,” Khan said, making me giggle.
“Are you the big bad wolf?” I teased him.
“Maybe to some, but not you,” he said, leading the way through the apartment toward the bedroom.
“This isn’t my apartment,” I announced, finally noticing. “There’s too much furniture in here. I don’t have any.”
“Tomorrow, we’ll get you some furniture.”