Page 3 of Cutthroat

“Edy, our children will be perfect because we will raise them in a healthy household, filled with love. Throw those pills away. I got something big for you when I get home,”

Eden giggled.

“I’ll throw them in the trash. I’m about to call Eve over here to drink with me. You know how we get. So, if I’m passed out drunk when you get here; Fuck me anyway.”

Jermaine laughed.

“I love you,”

“I love you,”

She wasn’t an ‘I love you, too’ kind of woman. She loved her husband genuinely. Even if he hadn’t said it, she would have.

As soon as she dialed Eve’s number, the phone was instantly answered.

“Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged in. Hey stranger,” Eve mocked. It had been over a week since she last spoke with Eden. They normally spoke every day.

“Damn, did the phone even ring? I missed you, Eve Marie!” Eden sang jovially. Eve and Eden were two years apart, but they acted as if they shared the womb together.

“I can’t tell that you missed me. It’s been nine days since our last text. Anyway, I’m hungry what did you cook?” Eve asked.

“I didn’t cook anything. I was making Jermaine a vegetarian lasagna, but he’s working late. So, I was going to eat leftovers and invite you over to get drunk with me,”

“Vegetarian lasagna? I definitely wouldn’t eat no shit like that, and I don’t want any leftovers. I want some freshly prepared food before I have my drinks,” Eve said as she pulled on a pair of ripped skinny jeans and Baby Tee.

Eden sucked her teeth.

“I should’ve known a shake down was coming with your bougee ass. Let’s go to Ribeye’s,”

“Ribeye’s! Now you’re talking my bougee ass language. I’m already dressed. Come pick me up!”

“I’m on the way,” Eden said before ending the call.

The drive to Eve’s house was done in complete silence. Though she agreed to throw her birth control away, truthfully, she was apprehensive for more than one reason. Her job was her life. She worked hard to land the position that she had, and she was filled with pride to be one of a few black women to work for such a prestigious bank.

Questions ran through Eden’s head quickly. How would her life change after becoming a mom?Would she have to stop traveling internationally? Could she travel with a newborn?

“I’m not giving up my job?” Eden said though no one was around to hear her.

She recalled her mother saying that quitting her job was the worst thing she’d ever done. By giving her husband complete control of her livelihood, she lost pieces of herself. Her father was old fashioned and didn’t want nannies or maids tending to his children. Yes, Jermaine was a great provider, but she didn’t want to lose her identity to motherhood.

By the time she pulled into Eve’s driveway she was mentally exhausted. The thoughts running through her head had her reeling. She was so deep in thought that she didn’t hear when Eve opened the car door.

“Girl, I’m starving,” Eve said as she slid in the passenger seat and closed the door.

Out of nowhere, Eden burst into tears.

CHAPTER 2

Eve jumped at the sound of her sister’s primal war cry. They had been joking and laughing roughly twenty minutes ago, now Eden was wailing like a banshee. Confused was an understatement as to how she now felt.

“What the hell? What’s going on?”

Eden continued to sob. She wanted to speak, but she was filled with so many emotions that tears were all she had to offer.

“Edy-”

“I’m fine Eve. I just…it’s just a lot going on in my head and I’m just trying to make sense of it all. Believe it or not, these are tears of joy,” Eden admitted.

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