Whispered Curses

It was weird, and a bit extreme, but I thought it was relatively acceptable. As long as it never went farther than that.

He was right though. He was certainly going above and beyond the call for me right now, so I tried to put it out of my mind.

No matter how much help I had, I really did have to write the essay myself.

~ Chapter 20 ~ Eric ~

* Breakfast *

It was an incredible relief when Eden laughed about my method of tracking her down. Even if the merriment didn't quite reach her eyes.

Yet I couldn't think about that at the moment. Angie was freaking out that I was missing the meeting for the first design drafts of a new tower we were building. Luckily I was a bit anal-retentive about getting things done in advance. I was able to direct her to where Patricia had the blueprints and presentation materials all ready to go.

Angie sent me a text, and I could almost hear how confused she was.

A: Patricia said that you took the jet to Vancouver? What's wrong? Did the Wrenwyck project go sideways?

E: Everything’s fine. A friend’s mother is in the hospital, and she had no way to get there in time to meet her mother after surgery.

A: E, are you being a good Samaritan? Or are you trying to impress that girl? Sometimes I can't tell with you .

E: I'll have you know that the charming lady I am with is swiftly becoming the love of my life. She needs help right now, so I'm helping her.

I saw those three dots hovering for longer than I expected.

A: Wow. You actually used the L-word. I'm rather impressed.

In that case, tell me if there is anything I can do to help. I’ll take care of things here. Stay in touch.

E: Thanks, sis. You are a superstar.

A: Never forget that.

I wanted to mention to Eden how alike she and Angie were, but she seemed completely focused on typing away at her project.

It was interesting watching her work. She would type like crazy for about a minute, then freeze, staring into space. Although her head was tilted slightly toward the window, it was clear that she wasn't watching the scenery below. She was completely zoned out, in a trance while she thought very hard about whatever she was writing. It was amazing to see her in a completely different light.

I realized that I would soon be seeing her with her family, which would be yet another side of her.

Although I didn't believe in the supernatural, I couldn't help politely asking the universe to make sure her mother was all right.

I had been far too pushy already, but I was desperately hoping to meet this mysterious grandmother. It seemed like everyone tiptoed around her unexplainable prophecies. I wanted to ask her flat out. Since I was outside of the circle, perhaps I could do this in a way that seemed charming instead of rude.

Strangers could often ask stupid questions and be forgiven because they didn't know the rules yet. I would have to rely on that train of thought to get through it.

It was incredibly important that her mother and grandmother like me. I needed them to see me as a good partner for Eden. It was inevitable that we would end up married, with kids, and living our own little happily ever after.

The wonderful thing is, I’d never pictured anything specific in my perfect home life. So Eden could make all of the major decisions, like where we should live, and what sort of house we should buy. I wanted to give her absolutely everything.

She didn't seem to care about money, which was certainly a breath of fresh air. She wasn't the type to be greedy, or wasteful. She wasn't the type to put on airs.

After about half an hour, Andrea approached cautiously. "Breakfast?"

Eden looked at me hopefully. "Yes?"

"Absolutely," I said, quickly stowing both of our laptops.

As always, Andrea outdid herself, serving fresh blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs, hash browns, and fresh fruit smoothies.