Page 37 of Begin Again, Part 2

Eden knew it wasn't that simple. They didn't want the same things, and they had very different views about everything. She'd have to make a decision soon about their relationship. But she was happy to put it off for now.

The meeting with Liam's parents turned out to be a casual, light lunch on the terrace overlooking the Mediterranean swimming pool. Eden knew she liked them within the first ten minutes of sitting down with them. Despite all their wealth and power, they'd remained humble and down to earth.

Clarke couldn't stop raving about his son's achievements since taking over as CEO. Lois brought out a scrapbook, eerily similar to the one Eden kept for Aiden, with newspaper clippings of Liam's tournament wins and interviews with various sports magazines. It was obvious they both adored Liam and were proud of him for various reasons. She wished her parents were just as proud of her. But then again, she hadn't achieved much to make them proud.

Soon the conversation turned to Aiden, and they asked her all sorts of questions, from the challenges of being a single parent to her son's favourite food. Eden answered them all with a smile and a laugh here and there as she recounted some of her son's antics.

Aiden was her light, so she was happy to talk about him until Lois asked to see his photos. Liam jumped on the bandwagon. "Yeah, I've been meaning to ask to see pictures of the little guy."

"I don't have any photos of him," Eden blurted out, convinced she looked like a deer caught in headlights. There was no way she'd show them Aiden's photos. Not today, at least. Not before she'd had a chance to talk to Liam. One look at the snaps, and her jig would be up.

"Huh?" Three sets of eyes turned to her, puzzled by her announcement

"I mean, not on this phone. I'm between phones right now, so I haven't transferred everything over," she explained feebly, wishing she could kick herself. She'd heard of people being between jobs and relationships. But between phones? What was she thinking? If she was going to lie, she should have come up with a better fib.

"There's always a next time," Lois said sweetly, happy to let it go for now. Liam, though, had an unreadable look in his eyes as he held her gaze. "I can't wait to see Aiden's photos when your new phone's set up."

Eden ignored his comment, picked up her fork and shoved a ton of lettuce in her mouth.

When the helpers came to clear their plates away, Liam excused himself. He had tons of reports and proposals to get through.

"Did you like them?" he asked as they made their way to the car.

"They adore you," she replied, glad the lunch had come to a close without any more lies on her part.

"That's not what I asked."

"It doesn't matter if I like them or not. I'm your assistant. My feelings don't matter."

Liam looked ready to go off on her, but seemed to think twice as he pushed her in the car and slipped in beside her. Since he didn't need her for the rest of the day, Eden headed straight to Hayes & Jones as soon as they returned to the office.

"Is everything okay?" Isaac asked as he shut his office door. Eden shook her head and crashed into one of the chairs in front of his desk, explaining that things with Liam were getting complicated, and she needed the custody agreement urgently. Isaac sat back in his seat, his face expressionless as he laced his hands behind his head.

"Did you hear what I said?" she asked, waving her hand in front of him. Before he could reply, his assistant knocked once and waltzed in with a smile and a tray of refreshments.

For two minutes, she made a show of serving them their coffees. As soon as she shut the door behind her, Isaac sparked to life and looked through his desk drawers.

"The agreement," he said, pushing a scary-looking envelope across the surface. Eden took it, her heart almost giving out on her when a ten-page document held together by a flimsy metal staple fluttered in her hands. She scanned it, but she didn't understand a word of it. Perplexed, she asked Isaac, "Can you explain it to me in English, please?"

"Sure," he smiled and sipped his coffee, and for half an hour, they went through the document.

"It's all simple, standard stuff," he said as he summarised the document for her. "The important thing here is that you'll have equal access to Aiden. Two weeks each in a month and special holidays will be split equally. There's no reason Anderson won't agree to this, especially when you were so modest with your child support demands."

"Thanks, Isaac," Eden nodded as she stuffed the envelope in her bag, praying he was right about Liam and wouldn't kick up a fuss over the custody agreement.

Chapter

Fourteen

MAKE THIS RIGHT

Hard as Liam tried to settle down for the afternoon and trudge through numerous proposals and reports crying for his attention, he couldn't. He left his seat and headed to Matthew's office, crashing on the couch with a heavy thud. His cousin pried his eyes away from his laptop long enough to ask, "King Liam, twice in one day? To what do I owe your visit this time?"

"Eden's old office. Don't you think there's something wrong with it?"

"You mean apart from its size?"

Liam bobbed his head. "Look at all the other offices; they're all cluttered with shit from their homes, family photos, travel boards, birthday cards."

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