Page 75 of A Bossy Roommate
I spin around to face her, but speak quietly. “That’s not the point, dammit. Look me in the eye and tell me you aren’t frustrated with this whole thing. She spent the entire day dragging us around the city, refusing to rest and take it easy. Andnow, unsurprisingly, she’s not feeling well. I’m fucking scared. Ofcourseshe’s not going anywhere. I wouldn’t let her on that damn plane even if the flight attendants were all damn doctors. And on top of all that, I get a call from Huxley that Granger Estates, the client I spent two years working for, suddenly doesn’t want to renew our contract. How am I supposed to focus on work when I’m too busy trying to get my aunt to take her health seriously?”
“You’ll figure it out. It’s not the end of the world, Carter.”
“For fuck’s sake.” I shake my head. “How can you always be so damn optimistic, woman?”
“What, you want me to be grumpy and pissy like you?” she asks, gesturing at me with a glare. “I wish you could hear yourself right now. You have an aunt who loves you and wants nothing but the best. You have a successful career and clearly tons of money. From where I’m standing, you have a hell of a lot to be thankful for, yet all you’ve done today after that phone call, is brood and think negatively. Get over yourself, Carter. Ugh!”
“Your volume, please, keep it down.” I gesture to the room next door where my aunt is resting. “Save your vocal exercises for the shower, or is that asking too much?”
She shoots me an irritated glance. “You really have a knack for ruining the mood, you know that?”
“You have no idea what I’m going through.”
“And whose fault is that? Do you want to know why I try to be so optimistic? Because if I really examined where my life is right now, I’d spiral hardcore. I was left at the damn altar and robbed blind by the man I loved and thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with. I was under the impression that he loved and cared for me deeply, but he shattered my heart by confessing that his feelings were never genuine. All of my friends turned their backs on me, believing his deceitful claim that it was me who robbed him, instead of the other way around. Now I’m leftwith just my sister, who had been warning me about him from the start. Talk about getting a bitter taste of her ‘I told you so’!”
There it is. My instincts had been spot on. What a poor excuse for a man. Eden had mentioned it before and had always more or less played it off like it wasn’t a big deal. I can sense the magnitude of her suffering. Clearly it had been bad enough for her to run away.
“The woman down there is old,” she says, pointing next door. “She’s frail andstillmade the journey across a flippingoceanto see you. All she wanted to do today was have fun, to spend the day active like everyone else. And you want me to feel sorry for you because she wouldn’t listen to you? Yeah, that’s not going to happen. She’s an adult, she’s allowed to make her own choices.” Eden is visibly agitated in a manner that I’ve never witnessed before or deemed possible of her. “If you actually started paying attention and stopped trying to think you know best about everything, you would see what she’sreallytrying to do.”
Yes, I’m frustrated that my aunt is playing loose and hard with her health. But more importantly, I’m frustrated that she won’t take my concerns seriously. After all, I only want what’s best for her.
“Eden, please,” I say, calmly. “You’ve known her for two days—I’ve known her my whole life.”
“Sometimes it takes someone from the outside to see what you’re blinded by. I know you love her. It’s obvious she means a lot to you, but in your haste to take care of her, you’re ignoring what she wants, which is not to be treated any differently than you treated her before. There’s a reason why she’s here. And by the way, I think your aunt has plenty of energy and health left in her, and she’ll be around for many more years to come. That’s what she told me yesterday, and I’m confident that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”
Although I have my doubts, her words have a calming effect on me. Despite the circumstances, I, too, can sense that my aunt still has unfinished business and is far from ready to take her final bow. Still, I won’t take any risks.
“Speaking of being blinded,” I say, not letting Eden off the hook. This is about her as much as it’s about my aunt. “Did you ever stop to think that inyourhaste to stay positive, you’re ignoring what you’re really feeling?”
“Who says I’m ignoring anything?”
“I do.”
Her eyes flare. “I think I know my own thoughts and intentions better than you.”
“Do you? Because in the little time I’ve known you, you’ve been back and forth on your feelings so much it gives me whiplash.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“Your ‘no sex for six months’ rule. How is that going by the way?”
“Ugh! Look in the mirror! How is your rule going about not having close relationships with employees?”
“Quiet. We’re not alone, remember?”
Eden glares at me. “Oh, now you care about that? I’m done here.”
“Wait. Don’t run away. Please don’t.”
She turns abruptly, storms toward the door, and, in her haste, knocks a thick investor’s magazine from a nearby shelf. As she tries to avoid it, she bumps her foot into something. The next thing I hear is her cry of pain.
“Ah. Oh, my God! Ah…ahhh,” she moans in pain.
“Fuck.” I’m by her side in less than a second, holding her. “Does it hurt, baby?”
“Ahh-ha. Yes.”
“Oh, fuck.”