Page 70 of Begin Again, Part 2

"Give me a sec, Mr Anderson. I'm almost done." She smiled and pushed her glasses up her nose. They were too loose on her face now, sliding down every so often, and it wasn't only because of Lucy's hot claps. She'd lost a lot of weight recently and in all the wrong places.

"Eden!" Matthew snapped his fingers, demanding her attention.

She blinked at him, her mouth curling into a small smile. "I'm sorry, I'm trying to finish Lydia's media proposal."

"That's not why I'm here." He leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table, steepling his fingers as he spoke. "There's a charity benefit tomorrow evening at the Convention Centre, and I'd like you to come as my date."

"Me?" Eden asked, hoping she didn't look as shocked as she thought she sounded. But to say she was stunned by the unexpected invitation was an understatement. After all, Lucy always tagged along as his date.

Eden wondered now why the other woman was always his date. With his black hair, piercing blue gaze, and a body of a god, Matthew was easily one of the most sought-after men at Anderson Logistics. He was also the subject of many group chats before Liam shut them down. It made no sense that he was still single—

"Great. So you should be ready around five," he said as he pushed away from her desk and leaned back in his seat.

Eden only got the tail end of his announcement. But it sounded like the date she hadn't agreed to was happening.

"I'll pick you up at 6:00 PM. Sounds good?" he asked.

Not really. But since Liam still hadn't asked her to be his plus-one, she figured it was okay to go with Matthew. She couldn't exactly refuse, since technically, he was also her boss.

"That's okay. I'll meet you at the venue," Eden replied. "You are closer to the Convention Centre, and it doesn't make sense to drive to Forrest Creek just to pick me up."

"Okay, great," Matthew agreed as he scrammed out of his seat, and dropped a black corporate card on her desk, throwing her one of his killer smiles. "It's a black-tie event, so get yourself something fancy to wear. It's going to be an awesome night!"

Eden sighed in defeat as she watched him leave. She didn't share his sentiment. She'd attended a few such benefits with her parents in the past. They were always a bore, with people trying to outshine each other with donations. She had nothing against being charitable. Her issue was when the giving wasn't done from a good place. It was always a show of power, status, and wealth at these events.

"Argh!" She picked up the corporate card and glared at it glumly. "Do I have to go?"

"Yes, you do," Clara chuckled as she knocked on the doorframe. "Matthew asked me to take you shopping."

Eden made a face at her, locked away her laptop anyway, grabbed her handbag, and threw the company card inside.

They spent two hours on the long strip of boutiques on 9th Street, with Eden rejecting every dress the sales reps brought out. Everything she tried on was too much. Too short. Too long. Too revealing. Too tight.

Eventually, Clara lost her patience and scolded her as she snatched her hand, and they walked to the last store on their list. "You are the worst shopper ever! Are you even a woman?"

"I promise I'll find something this time," Eden said quickly before her friend could go off on her.

They wasted another twenty minutes before the store clerk brought out a dress from the back, explaining a client had reserved it months ago but never picked it up.

"What do you think?" she asked as she showed it off.

Eden could only gawk at the one-shoulder split thigh cutout floor-length gown. It was one of the most elegant dresses she'd ever seen. She doubted she could pull it off, though, with her short height. But, as she stood in front of the mirror exactly seven minutes later, Clara made it known she was killing it, unable to contain her excitement as she fanned her face with her hand and shrieked, "Hot, hot, hot! They'd better have fire extinguishers ready because you are smoking hot, baby!"

"You don't think it's too much?" Eden asked, turning a bright pink at the compliment.

Clara scoffed. "Too much? Are you kidding me? Sometimes more is less!"

"You mean less is more?" Eden laughed and walked around the room, trying out the dress. She loved that it was black, and she could pair it with just about anything. The cotton-polyester blend fabric wouldn't irritate her sensitive skin like nylon would.

The clerk disappeared into one of the stockrooms, returning with a pair of silver sparkly studded Louboutins and diamond chandelier earrings to top off the look.

"It's too much," Eden said ten minutes later when the clerk rang them up.

"Stop worrying," Clara told her sternly. "It's not even your money."

Her friend had no issues spending money that wasn't hers. She insisted they have a late lunch at the experimental restaurant on 4th Street.

An unsmiling, unimpressed waitress shoved them into a dark corner near the restrooms because they didn't have a reservation. Clara didn't care. She was just happy to try out the place finally. After all, one had to wait months to get a table.

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