Page 48 of Begin Again, Part 1

"So, what are we celebrating? Your new makeover?" Sienna teased her when they were alone again.

"Yeah, Edie, it looks amazing!" Lydia gave her two thumbs up.

Cassandra bobbed her head in agreement. "I told you Franco works miracles, but I doubt that's why we're here."

"Yeah, enough with the suspense!" Sienna was practically shouting, and Eden turned to hush her up.

"Gosh, you are so classless. You can't be so loud up here." She smiled as she glanced around their VIP booth. This was a first for them, sitting in the lap of luxury. The rest of the club looked very different from up here.

"Fine, but can you share already?"

"You'd better not be pregnant again!" Lydia warned.

"Am I the virgin Mary or something?" Eden asked, glaring at her.

"Not anymore!" Lydia shot back.

José returned with their tray of colourful cocktails and placed them on one of the neon cubes, stopping a huge argument in the works that would have led to Eden storming off. She loved Lydia, but sometimes her friend never knew when to shut up.

She pulled out the new contract from her bag with a huff and passed it to Cassandra, since she was the least excitable and wouldn't cause too much drama.

"What the heck?" She whistled, her eyes almost popping out of their sockets as she scanned the contract.

Eden leaned back on the sectional couch and sipped her virgin, relishing the refreshing minty taste almost as much as she enjoyed seeing her friends' bewilderment as they each took a turn to look at the document.

"Oh my God!" Sienna was the first to recover from her shock. She fanned herself with the pages, her face beaming with awe. "You are fucking rich!"

"Yeah, baby, half-a-millionaire status!" Cassandra high-fived her.

Pretty chuffed with herself, Eden laughed. It might not be her dream job, but she was now the most financially secure. No more poop looks, sad frowns, and the constant badgering about her life plans from everyone. Her life was starting to come together nicely.

"Come here, you!" Lydia pulled her in her arms and squeezed Eden until she thought she'd crush her bones. "I'm super proud of you. From now on, I'm Aiden's big sister, so you have to take care of me."

"Yeah, me too. I'll need a monthly allowance." Sienna embraced her, too.

"And I'll need an investor," Cassandra added as she scooped her up in a bear hug.

"Whatever you all need... I'm your sugar mommy!" Eden placed the contract on the cube, away from all their drinks. She wanted no spills on her shiny document. Returning it to her bag made better sense, but she wanted it within view to remind herself that she wasn't dreaming, and she and Aiden would be okay.

Lydia called José back to their booth and ordered more cocktails, even though they hadn't done much damage to their first round of drinks.

"Are you sure about this, though?" Cassandra was concerned for her, especially after her near-fatal encounter with Liam.

Eden wasn't sure, of course. But, if she was as important to Liam's recovery as Gibby said, she didn't think he'd do anything to push her over the cliff. Unless, of course, he had a screw loose upstairs.

Lydia jumped on the worry wagon. "Yeah, you were a mess last night, and now you want to hop back into bed with Liam."

"I am not hopping into bed with him. I'm doing this for Aiden. We need the money," Eden said, hoping to shut everyone up. She didn't want to get into her real reasons for taking the job, but she genuinely wanted Liam to be okay. He may hate her, but he was still Aiden's father. If she was responsible—though, she still failed to see how—she had to do her part to help him with his recovery.

"So, how will you spend all the bazillions in your bank account?" Sienna asked, changing the subject. "What are you getting first?"

"My clawfoot tub!" Eden screeched with joy. Soon she'd have a bathroom worthy of a Homemaker Magazine cover.

"Eh?" All three turned to her with puzzled looks, and she spent a few minutes convincing them why a bathtub had to be her first big-ticket item.

"What about new clothes?" Ever the fashionista, Lydia couldn't hide her disappointment. "I mean, it's been a while since you switched up your look."

Eden immediately went into defensive mode, shattering their fragile truce. "What exactly is wrong with my clothes?"

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