Escaping Eden

by Yolanda Olson

  I took a deep breath and wiped away the tears that started to fall. Clearing my throat, I dialed Liora’s phone number.

  “Hello?”

  “Keep your fucking friend away from me,” I said angrily.

  “What? Eden, what’s wrong?”

  “I had Finley over and we were having sex and I yelled out Simon’s name. And if you say one thing about the fact that I was having sex with him, I’ll freak out on you,” I warned.

  She stayed quiet for a moment, before she spoke.

  “It’s not by business. You’re right about that. I just don’t want to see you get hurt again when it comes to Fin. Maybe he’s changed, maybe he hasn’t but I don’t want you to go through that again. I almost lost my best friend from the heartbreak, Eden,” she said softly.

  “Well, I’m older now and I can take care of myself,” I scoffed.

  “I know,” she replied with a heavy sigh. “So have you tried to call him?”

  “Yeah, and he told me that I must’ve dialed the wrong number because his name isn’t Simon,” I reported, unhappily.

  “Alright, let me call him, I’ll call you back,” she said.

  “Liora. Do you seriously think that Fin is going to talk to you? The two of you can’t even breathe the same air without wanting to murder each other,” I said.

  “All the better reason for me to call him,” she replied slyly. “I’ll call you back soon.”

  When we hung up, I lit my cigarette and leaned my head back. How could I have made such a fuck up? I didn’t think of Simon when I was with Fin. I don’t recall myself wanting to have sex with Simon ... except for that one slip up in the bathroom. But I had a stern talk with my vagina about it and I thought we agreed.

  I closed my eyes and sat there waiting for Liora’s call. The incessant vibrating of my phone woke me up forty five minutes later and I realized I had fallen asleep in my window.

  “Yeah?” I said groggily.

  “Okay, so after about ten phone calls in a row I got Stripper Fucker to answer.”

  “Liora!” I groaned.

  “Sorry. Anyway, FINLEY, being a man, currently has a fragile male ego that is shattered into pieces.”

  “Awesome,” I replied, reaching for another cigarette.

  “Eden, if he still wanted to be with you three years of you constantly ignoring him, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Especially since he sounded like he was crying.”

  “What?”

  “Either he was crying or he has a bad cold. And he looked fine to me earlier today. I hate to break it to you kid, but I’ve think you’ve got a golden vagina,” she said.

  I laughed, despite my mood.

  No matter how angry or sad or blah I felt, Liora was the one person who could make me laugh and feel better almost immediately.

  “So what did he say?” I asked.

  “He’s just hurt is all; he’s still in love with you. He thought this would be a new start. You know the usual. I told him that if he really meant it, then you’re yelling out for Simon in the middle of him hammering you should make the two of you somewhat even for Stripper Gate.”

  “But I didn’t have sex with Simon,” I protested.

  “Which is why I stressed somewhat,” she replied with a laugh.

  “Can I ask you an honest question, Eden?”

  “Sure.”

  “IF you had the chance to ride Simon into the sunset, would you?”

  “Liora, I swear you are the queen of wording,” I started with a laugh. “Truthfully, I don’t know. Those thoughts haven’t crossed my mind. I mean the man is gorgeous. I don’t understand why he has such a hard trouble meeting girls. Well besides the whole steel faced get-away-from-me look, he gives them. Have you kissed him? Oh my GOD. Lips to die for and he knows how to use that tongue. I swear I almost melted in his arms when we kissed,” I replied dreamily.

  “Mhm,” she said slyly.

  “What?”

  “Sounds like you’d give him a go if you had the chance.”

  “I wish there was some way to smash him and Fin together. Then I would have the perfect man,” I grumbled.

  “But if Simon—”

  “I’m going to bed,” I replied cutting her off. “Thanks for calling Fin and trying to help me out. I’ll call you in the morning.”

  “But Eden—”

  I hung up the phone and left it on the kitchen counter as I made my way back to the bedroom and lay down. I took a deep breath and smiled. I could still smell Fin in the room and that small luxury helped me fall into a deep sleep.

  I woke up the next morning and rolled onto my back. I was sober now and fully aware of the mistake I had made the night before.

  How could you be so dumb, Eden?

  Secretly, I wasn’t sure what I was more upset about. The fact that I had called Finley “Simon” on the way back to O town or the fact that I was having sex with Finley to begin with.

  Sighing, I got up and went into the kitchen stuck a k-cup into my coffee maker. French Vanilla would make feel better.

  I glanced down at my phone, and pushed the button to bring the screen to life.

  I saw the little message man sitting in the top bar with a smile on his face.

  I hesitated.

  Who was sending me this message? Fin or Li?

  Only one way to find out.

  I touched the message icon and read the message with a small smile on my face.

  Good morning Mate!

  There was a picture of a coffee mug full of delicious warm coffee and vapors rising out of it.

  I reached over and grabbed my coffee and held the cup to my lips, before I took a picture to send back.

  And a fine good morning to you as well, Simon :)

  A few seconds later my phone vibrated and I looked down. I opened the attachment and laughed. There was the hot nerd king looking making a faux shocked face. The message attached is what made me laugh though.

  Someone needs to do their laundry!

  Instead of answering him by text, I hit the little call icon next to his name.

  “Very sexy, if I do say so myself,” he said.

  “Yeah yeah yeah. Listen if you think I need to do laundry so bad, maybe you should come over and help me with it.”

  “I’ll be right over,” he replied with a laugh.

  I threw on some pop rock music and went into the bedroom to get dressed. I wasn’t feeling very stylish so I just tossed my hair into a loose ponytail and pulled on a jersey and loose shorts. Then I went back to the kitchen and sat in the window while I waited for Simon.

  I was on my second k-cup of French Vanilla and third cigarette, when I saw Simon’s sleek black, Mustang pull into the parking lot. I waved at him from the window and he laughed, shaking his head.

  “It’s open,” I yelled out to him when he got out of his car.

  Simon entered the apartment, still grinning. He came over to where I was sitting and leaned down and kissed me on the cheek before he grabbed a cup out of the cupboard and rifled through my k-cup box.

  “Do you ever sit anywhere else?” he asked, turning to face me while the machine brewed his coffee.

  “Years ago, I went hiking with Liora. I mean I’m sure you’ve noticed the height difference between us, right? Anyway, once we got to the castle at the top, I sat in one of the windows. Once we realized I both was small enough to fit in windows, I kind of made a habit of it. It reminds me of that fun day of hiking with my best friend,” I explained.

  He nodded thoughtfully and grabbed some creamer out of the refrigerator. Once his coffee was to his liking, he sat at one of the stools in the kitchen and glanced at me curiously.

  “Can I ask you a question, Eden?”

  “Sure.”

  I sipped my coffee.

  “Did you really call out my name last night while having sex?”

  I choked on my coffee.

  “I’m going to murder Liora Ann. I cannot believe she told you,” I replied, grabbing some paper
towels to clean up the mess I made on the floor.

  “Well, did you?” he asked.

  I finished cleaning up the mess. I made a show of concentrating on putting the paper towels into the garbage bin. I cleared my throat as I grabbed a wash cloth and soaked it so that I could make sure that the floor wouldn’t be sticky. I grabbed another wash cloth and dried the small spot on the floor and took them to the bathroom.

  I felt Simon’s eyes on me the whole time. I was truly one of those people who believed that actions spoke louder than words and my silence was more telling than anything I could say.

  I went back to the safety of my window and sat down. I grabbed another cigarette, lit it, inhaled, and then turned to face Simon.

  “Yep.”

  He smiled. It wasn’t a mocking smile or a taunting smile. It was the Simon Smile. The smile that somehow made me feel as good as Liora’s words when I needed it.

  “How’d he take it?” he asked me.

  “Oh you know. Pulled out, threw on his clothes, told me that he “knew” it and left. Slammed the door on his way out, too,” I shrugged. “I mean I would’ve reacted the same way if he had done that to me.”

  Simon nodded in understanding.

  “Hey, we’re friends right? Because I need to talk about this but I don’t want it to be awkward,” I said, glancing at him.

  “Of course we are.”

  “Okay, then I feel completely comfortable in saying that it sucks. Finley is the only man that’s ever given me an orgasm and I could tell that I was on my way there, when I yelled your name. That’s enough to kill any mood,” I grumbled.

  Simon laughed.

  “Shit. Simon. I didn’t mean it like that. I mean calling out someone else’s name.”

  “I know what you meant. I just think that your choice of words was funny. But to be honest, I feel like a natural mood killer. I haven’t had sex in almost two years,” he replied.

  “I’d say I’m going on three years, but I’m still trying to figure out if last night counted,” I said laughing.

  “Was there penetration?”

  “Briefly.”

  “Hm. I’ll have to think about that then,” he said with mock seriousness.

  I giggled and turned my attention the traffic going by outside the window. It was nice to have a male friend to talk to about these things. The guys at the game store were younger than me, with the exception of Chris, and I just didn’t feel the need to get advice from high school and just enrolled college kids.

  I looked over at Simon who was sipping his coffee and reading something on his phone. I just had the most brilliant idea come to me while looking at him and I hoped he would go along with it.

  “Simon?”

  “Yes?” he asked glancing at me.

  “Think you can help me out?”

  “Have an orgasm? I thought the bedroom was off limits,” he replied with that damn grin returning.

  “No. Not have an orgasm. Besides, I’m pretty sure you’ve probably forgotten how to use it by now,” I said making a face at him.

  “That’s most likely true,” he replied with a tragic sigh.

  “Wait, don’t you at least. You know...” I asked making an obscene gesture.

  “Eden, not having sex is depressing enough. Having sex with myself would be even more depressing, as it would solidify that I’m the only person that wants to touch me,” he replied dryly. “By the way, that was some good form there,” he added.

  “Huh?”

  He made the same gesture I did and a smirk crossed his lips. My face turned bright red and I groaned inwardly.

  “Oh I’m just messing with you, Eden,” he replied laughing.

  I rolled my eyes and glanced out the window when I heard a car pulling into the driveway.

  Oh no.

  “Hide. Now!” I said to Simon frantically.

  “What?” he asked in confusion, as I started to shove him toward the bedroom.

  “Finley’s here,” I hissed closing the door firmly behind him.

  I had just grabbed Simon’s cup and started to wash it when Fin pushed the front door open. I looked over at him and felt terrible. He looked like he never went to sleep last night. I dried off the cup and set in the dish rack and went into the living room, where he was standing with his hands in his pockets.

  I sat on the couch and tucked my legs underneath myself. Finley still hadn’t looked at me and he looked like he was trying to choose his words carefully before speaking.

  “Liora called me last night,” he said finally.

  “I know.”

  “She told me that I should be able to forgive and forget what happened,” he replied raising his eyes to mine.

  I didn’t say anything. There was nothing for me to say. I reached up and adjusted my ponytail.

  “Have you forgiven me yet, Eden? Have you forgotten?” he asked quietly.

  I heard the bedroom door creak open slightly.

  Nosy ass, I thought to myself.

  “I don’t know, Fin. Honestly what you did was put your dick into another woman’s vagina. I’m not saying what I did hurts any less, but it’s not like he’s put his dick inside of me.”

  “It’s been three years!” he shouted in frustration. “When do you let it go? I still love you Eden! Why are you being so difficult?”

  “Because you’re not the man that I fell in love with,” I replied quietly. “That Finley never would’ve done what you did. You can’t blame being drunk and you can’t blame it on the moment. You’ve never taken responsibility for what you did, Fin. You’ve always found one thing or another to blame it on.”

  Fin took a deep steadying breath and I saw him ball his fists at his side. He let his breath out and opened his hands and sat next to me on the couch. I raised an eyebrow as he took my hands in his and looked at me.

  “I’m sorry. I fucked up. And you’re right; it’s no one’s fault but my own. I could’ve said no; regardless of how drunk I was. But I didn’t and I lost the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I don’t know what to do without you in my life Eden. You give me a reason to smile and be happy. When I saw you at TAO and we talked for a bit and danced, I thought that there might be a chance of us getting past it. Is there a chance? For us?”

  I brought Finley’s hands up to my lips and kissed them softly. He had finally apologized and poured his heart out to me.

  But I was very suspicious and I had one major question of my own.

  “Would you be here apologizing if you hadn’t seen me with Simon at TAO?”

  “Wow, Eden,” he replied looking at me in disbelief.

  “Answer the question, Fin. Honestly. Was it seeing me with another man that made you decide you wanted me again? If you really wanted this to work you would’ve come to the Game Cave and talked to me. You would’ve come up to me any other night you saw me at TAO. Why did you do it the night I was there with my friend?” I asked seriously.

  “I’ve never seen you at TAO before that! Or the Game Cave!”

  “Let’s not start this off by lying,” I snapped, dropping his hands. “The reason I stopped going to TAO was because we had seen each other there more than once. And the Game Cave is in the mall. I’ve seen you walk past it plenty of times and look inside.”

  Fin hung his head and didn’t say anything. I glanced at the cracked bedroom door and saw Simon peeking out at us.

  “So you want to give this another try then?” I asked, drumming my fingers along the top of the couch.

  “Yes,” he said.

  I looked at him for a moment. I knew how to test how real this was. I was going to find out once and for all if he really wanted to be with me or just wanted me to be alone.

  I turned toward the bedroom door and smiled, “Come out here, nosy.”

  Simon laughed and opened the door. He walked over to the couch and stood behind me.

  “How’d you know?” he asked.

  “Because the wind has never been strong enough to creak the
doors,” I replied, sticking my tongue out at him.

  The front door slammed.

  I ran to the window and glanced out. Fin was getting into his car and backing out of the driveway with fury written all over his face. He saw me looking out the window and shook his head in anger, as he sped out of the parking lot and down the street.

  “That’s what I thought,” I said to myself, shaking my head.

  “I’m sorry, Eden,” Simon said quietly.

  I shrugged, “I’m not. Fin has had plenty of chances over the past three years to really atone for what he did. We’ve seen each other plenty of times, but he waits for the one night that he sees me with another guy to want to ‘make up’. I never bought it to be honest with you.”

  I walked over to the entertainment center and turned up the song that came on. I smiled at Simon and pushed the coffee table out of the way.

  “Let’s see what you’ve got, Aussie! Come dance with me!”

  A wide smile spread across his face and he came over and put an arm around my waist as we danced around to one of my favorite pop rock songs. We had our silly moments where we would do The Swim and we had our silly moments, where he would unnecessarily spin me in a circle and dip me. The best part of our dancing along was when he pulled me close and started to sing the song to me. I looked up at him and laughed as he belted out the words to The Great Escape with feeling. When the song started to wind down and we had stopped bouncing back and forth, we were overcome with laughter. Simon still had his arm around my waist and I had my arms around his neck.

  Suddenly I felt hot.

  Simon looked at my lips and then back up into my eyes.

  He lowered his face slowly.

  When he was an inch away from my lips, I pushed him away and started to dance to the next song that came on.

  I hopped up onto the couch and started to do a one woman show. I grabbed a pillow and began to do a little seductive dance while I sang Brokenhearted to him.

  He recovered from my stopping our kiss and laughed as I moved across the couch cushions, dancing and singing as I went.

  The music got louder as Simon raised the volume and sat down in the recliner to watch me. That motivated me to sing louder and dance a little more enthusiastically than before.

  When the song ended, I fell over onto the couch trying to catch my breath. Simon laughed and got up from the recliner and came over to sit next to me.