Page 82 of Barron's Second Chance
"So you came to see me today... did something come up?"
"No. I left before you finished." He shifted his eyes away for a brief second before returning to her. Their depths were filled with a fierce emotion that caused her to look away.
"I heard part of your talk."
Her eyes widened in alarm. "What part specifically?" She slowly asked.
"I overheard you talk about your depression. That it led you to make some bad choices -"
"You were eavesdropping?!" She screeched.
Outraged and embarrassed, she immediately tried to wrench her hands free from his. She could feel her cheeks burning, her palms starting to sweat in panic.
"Let me go!" She gritted out when he wouldn't let loose of her hands.
"No. Please just listen to me," he begged.
"You violated my privacy, the privacy of my girls -"
"No!" He firmly said, finally letting her go.
She whirled away from him, running her hands through her hair in agitation.
"Eden, I promise you. I didn't mean to listen in. I was only planning on waiting outside until you finished. The door was half open; I caught a snippet of what you said."
"Yeah," she turned on him, eyes flashing in anger, "enough to know that I suffered from depression and made terrible choices," she sneered.
He spread his hands in a calming gesture. "That's all I heard. As soon as one of the girls started talking, I walked away. I already felt bad invading your privacy; I didn't want to do it to the girls."
Some of the fight left her body at his admission. As angry as she was at his intrusion, she was glad he had the good sense not to stay eavesdropping at the door.
"Will you please tell me about it?" He quietly pleaded.
"You mean you didn't overhear enough?" She arched her brow, her arms crossed in a defensive pose.
"Please," he whispered, coming up to her slowly as if she would pounce away at any moment. "I-I need to know."
She hunched her shoulders, rubbing her arms with cold fingers, gaze averted in embarrassment.
"Not much to say," she mumbled. "I went a little wild when I left for New York."
She could feel him watching her intently.
"Is that all?" He softly asked.
Annoyed, she glanced at him, angry at his little therapist attitude. "No, that's not all. I fucked a lot of men, drank a lot, and did drugs. Is that what you wanted to hear?"
He flinched at her coarse words but pushed on. "Because of me?" He asked. "Because of what I did to you?"
She gave a hollow laugh. "Don't flatter yourself."
Barron only stood there, regarding her with suspiciously damp eyes.
She threw her hands in the air. "Fine!" She sank down on the couch, hands gripping her thighs. "When I left for New York, I put you to the back of my mind." She gave a small, humorless laugh. "Or so I thought."
She felt, rather than see him sit next to her, his silence encouraging her to continue.
"There were a lot of people,men,"she amended painfully, "who paid me attention. They told me how beautiful I was, how special." She shrugged. "After what happened with you, with Lissa, it felt nice to be wanted, desired."
