Faithful Eden

I had to stew in my fear for a few minutes. So out of it, I didn’t think to go for my phone--she might’ve sent a text, I realize. Hindsight is twenty twenty. It was also true that phones were a scarier thing at the moment than normal. I didn’t know what I would find if I turned on my screen. Let’s be real, the battery could be dead too.

None of these lines of thought ended up mattering. Sitting in the rickety metal chair next to the table in my underwear, I phased out of existence. Not literally. I mean I was day dreaming. Evening dreaming. And a few minutes later, the door cracked open. I literally jumped up, knocking over the chair, and pushed myself up against Eden’s counter.

“Sorry!” I heard from the entrance. Eden’s voice. My heartrate settled. “I went out to get us some coffee and snacks. Are you okay?” You didn’t break any of my things, did you? she meant. No, I was being unfair. Nothing in here was super valuable and she was super invested in my wellbeing. Jumping at shadows would make everything worse.

“I’m okay,” I barked back.

She came into the living room. Coffee cups were stacked in one hand and the other had a pair of grocery bags with chips, chocolate, and a rotisserie chicken. “You’re a fucking lifesaver,” I breathed, rushing over to her, ready to tear apart the meat with my bare hands and stuff it into my mouth. The rumbling in my stomach was beyond aggressive. I would call it a threat. The last time I ate was… you dumb bitch, did you even have dinner before you went out? Girl dinner, sure, real nutrition, I don’t think so.

Eden could tell. No surprise there, I must’ve looked feral. She pointed to the table in front of her couch, and I loyally sat in front of it. First she set out the coffee cups and a bag of chips. “I’ll be back in a second with plates. And cutlery,” she added, giving me a look. I wasn’t actually going to eat it like that, I thought, dishonestly. You know what they say about desperate times. She returned, putting them and the chicken down in front of me, and started serving out each of our portions. Hers was more modest, and she sat on the floor across the table from me. I would feel bad about that shortly. For now I needed protein.

While I ate, she talked. “The first thing we need to do is get in touch with whoever we can from last night.”

“Luke,” I said between bites.

She squinted. “Which one is Luke again?”

As far as answers to that question could go, this one wasn’t too embarrassing. “He works for a company that works with my company,” I said. “There was a big quorum, meeting, summit, thing, and we were both there. He bought me some drinks. We kept in touch.”

“Did you fuck him?”

From most people it would be a reasonable question. With Eden, I would’ve led with that information. In my weakened state, I still blushed a little. “No, but we exchanged nudes a few times.”

Eden pulled a face. I knew her policy on nudes from men. And shared it, to be honest, but if they offered I just grinned and bore it. “So you have his number,” she said.

I realized I did. The thought left a deep impression on me. It was like my body was being pulled, magnetically, toward my phone in the other room. I got up and wobbled. Eden nudged me back onto the couch. “I’ll get it,” she said.