025 Goodbyes (1)

"Ugh when did I fall asleep?" Eden asked picking herself off from her tear stained pillow. Her head and neck ached from the position she had fallen asleep in.

Eden moved her neck, testing the stiffness as she tried to get up, forcing her to cradle her head.

"Ow, ow, ow," she hissed in pain and discomfort.

She picked her phone off the bedside table and checked for any new messages from her now Ex.

'Keep the ring,' Daniel had texted back.

"He must be thinking he's such a nice guy, keep the ring," Eden rolled her eyes and sat up, pushing through the discomfort she felt in her stomach.

Eden winced, holding a hand to her abdomen to brace herself as she got up from her bed. She stayed in her room, unwilling to step out and run into members of her family.

She needed to call the people responsible for moving her things to the new apartment so she could move in the next day.

"Ring,"

"Ring,"

"Ring,"

"Ah, hello? Yes this is Eden Marshall, am I speaking to the organizer of Capes moving services?"

"Okay good, I'll need a small truck as covered by Green Acres. Pick up is at the Marshall Estate plot 682, Benwood road, Uptown Meadowlark," Eden explained to the organizer.

"Alright, we'll be there by 3:00 PM this afternoon to pick up your things and move them in Miss Marshall, do await our arrival,"

"Will do," Eden said ending the call once the other person on the line stopped speaking. She sat back down on her bed and stared up at the ceiling that had been hers for the longest time.

"Wow, it's really happening isn't it?" she said to herself. "I have to say goodbye to the rest of the staff," A sad smile graced her features, she would have to thank them for raising her, for being there when her father wasn't.

"Here we go again with the tears," Eden said wiping her eyes as she cried. It was bitter sweet knowing that she would be leaving them behind. But she had outgrown this place.

Even now her own family saw her the same way they always did, as a small person they could bully, even now, when Eden had grown beyond their words and definitions they tried to fit her into a box of expectations.

They thought she would stick around to be their emotional punching bag.

There was little chance of that happening.

Eden checked the time on her phone, it was currently only noon. The sun still shined brightly over the Estate as she looked out the window.

"Well I'll have my chance to call everyone together to say my goodbyes," She said.

Outside her window, Agnes the gardener worked trimming flowers and putting the plants in order. Eden watched her for a moment thinking fondly of the woman who also had a place in her life.

Agnes' care wasn't as extensive as Gertrude's but the woman had always made sure Eden was seen. Agnes was a quiet redhead with striking green eyes that had become a gardener to bring in extra money for her family.

She was one of the members of the staff who did not board within the Marshall Estate, having a retired father and a daughter to take care of.

"You know you remind me a tiny bit of my daughter," Agnes had said to her a long time ago?

"Really?" A young Eden asked hopefully.

Agnes nodded.

"Yeah, you're a sweet girl," Agnes said patting her head.

Eden was snapped out of her memories by a knock on her door. It was a small, polite knock that had her walking quickly to answer the individual who might need her.

She opened it, expecting to find one of the maids or even William at her door but instead she found her father waiting.

"So you do know how to knock," Eden said patronizingly, She folded her arms and stepped out of the way to allow the man into her room.

It was his house and therefore she would need to live by his rules, not for long though.

Eden noticed Frederick glancing around the room with new eyes, for the first time he had noticed the walls stripped bare. Tools were missing from the work bench as well as the supplies Eden regularly used to make her prototypes.

"I see you're done packing," He sounded sad but Eden didn't care. It was all an act act anyway.

Eden had learned only now, that her father sought only to exploit her and did not care if anything happened to her.

"What would your mother think?" Frederick asked.

Eden shrugged.

"I don't know, I didn't know her and you never told me about her. Bet Lily knows all about that though," Eden said.

Frederick sighed, long and tired. It was as if he was dealing with the same stress of running a company just by talking to her.

Eden's heart sank at his expression, why did her own father see her as nothing more than a burden, something he could use when it was convenient.

"If you want to talk about mom, go to Lily," Eden said.

"I came to talk to you and you're already trying to kick me out of your room?"

"What do you want to talk about then?" Eden asked with an expectant stare. "Let me guess, the company again,"

"I didn't think you would try to move out of your family home,"

"It's not my family home, it's you and Lily's home. I'm creating my new home and I'll find people to give me the love you never did," Eden shrugged. It hurt her to admit it but it was finally time to say it.

Her father would never admit it though, he thought he was a good man and a good father, and he was.

Only to Lily.

"I don't have to put up with this anymore and I'm not going to,"

Eden kept her face an impassive mask, she would not cry a single tear until she was out of the house. He did not deserve to see her emotions, he did not deserve to know her.