"So before I hit the runway, I take a moment," Eden clasped her fingers into a crab pose, reached up, and brought it down slowly whilst taking a deep breath. "Others like to say a little prayer or cross themselves. I just take a deep calming breath, close my eyes, and then," she opened them, giving the camera a steely gaze. "I'm focused, I'm ready to go."

She moved towards the start of the runway and then proceeded to strut down. "Most important thing, keep your head up and your confidence high. The crowd can tell if you're nervous and that energy seeps into your body language."

As she neared the end of the aisle she continued chatting to the camera as if it wasn't there. "I know this sounds silly because you're literally moving but remember to move your body. You don't want to look like a walking stiff statue."

Eden stood at the end of the runway. "Now, this is where you can add your own little flair. But remember, it has to be in keeping with the brand you're representing. For example, when I do Victoria's Secret I'm sexy, I'm confident."

She put her hand on one hip and jutted it out. "I might give a saucy wink to the camera or blow a kiss. But if I'm doing streetwear, I give a little attitude while I walk, and then bam!" She gave a cursory glance at the empty space in front of her before turning to walk back down. "I'm too cool for you, not gonna give you more than a second glance before I'm strutting away."

Eden was in her element.

Fashion Week had come at her in full force. Her days started at the ass crack of dawn and ended late at night. Most days she had back-to-back shows so was constantly rushing from one venue to the next.

Her face had been touched twenty plus times a day and her hair had been straightened, curled, pulled back, or slathered with gel. On top of the shows were the after-parties that Eden's agent heavily implied she had to attend. They were crucial networking opportunities so she didn't mind them too much. Once she showed her face and worked the room, however, she would sneak out.

So when she was asked to present a Masterclass for the NYFW streaming service she jumped at the chance. She had already done a segment for a popular fashion magazine's YouTube channel, so her agent had passed her name along. This is what she loved to do. Teaching her craft and being a role model.

Her mood had definitely improved from when she had first arrived back from New Haven.

Eden was always a little sad when she left home after a visit. She missed her Mom. The home-cooked meals she devoured. The hours of conversations while binge-watching some trashy Real Housewives show.

She missed wandering the quaint sidewalks with Ryan and Sofia. Having sleepovers and tipsy wine nights while she spilled the tea on certain celebrities she'd seen and hung with at industry parties. The quiet small-town life was always welcome after a long spell spent in the loud madness that was The Big Apple. So Eden would leave each trip with a sad farewell and a heavy heart.

Once she hit the bright lights of New York, however, her yearning for home faded and she happily slotted straight back into her routine. She loved her apartment - her own little place that she bought herself.

It wasn't huge since she didn't need space when she traveled so much. But she was completely house proud - apartment proud, rather. As soon as she opened her front door she felt at peace and all thoughts of missing New Haven vanished as she pottered around, feeding her plants and taking in the sounds of the city on her balcony.

The novelty of living in New York hadn't worn off yet. It had always excited her. The bright lights, the restless energy, how it was always humming with activity; even at three in the morning.

She even enjoyed watching the tourists with their wide-eyed wonder as they took in the city they had seen in movies. She didn't mind how the sidewalks were teeming with people. Everyone in a rush on their morning commute or to get home. She loved people watching - seeing the different cultures and how diverse it was.

Even though Eden was a small-town girl at heart, she got a buzz out of living in the big city. It never failed to revive her low mood after leaving her Mom and friends behind.

This time around, however, something felt a little...off.

When she landed at La Guardia, Eden felt a deep gnawing sensation down in the pit of her stomach. That knot stayed there throughout her shuttle ride home, right up until she arrived at her apartment.

Even still as she entered her home, she felt a little off kilter. Her once home away from home felt quiet. Empty. Sad.

When she was forced to leave her apartment to stock up on groceries, all she felt was weariness. A bone-deep tiredness that she knew had nothing to do with a lack of sleep. Walking around her neighborhood usually gave her a feeling of exuberance. Now, she was annoyed at how many people she had to sidestep. The oblivious tourists that just had to stop in the middle of the sidewalk to take selfies. All things that she had previously smiled at, now made her huff in annoyance.

It wasn't until a couple of hours later when her phone lit up halfway through unpacking that her somber mood lifted.

"Hi." She smiled and did an awkward wave when Barron's handsome face filled her screen.

After first hesitating, Eden had gone ahead and messaged him after coming home from her grocery run. She wanted him to know that she had made it to New York safely. A part of her was still finding her feet with this whole 'casual dating' label she had put on them. Was he waiting on tenterhooks for her to message? Or was he already going through his day with her as an afterthought?

Seeing his smiling face put her at ease and her world felt like it had tilted back on its axis.

"Hi baby," his deep voice grumbled, doing things to her. At this rate, she'd have to change her underwear again. "How was your flight?"

They then spent the next hour chatting and laughing. Eden's mood improved and she jumped straight back into unpacking while she showed Barron around her little apartment.

"I would love to visit you," Barron murmured. She had just finished showing him her balcony and pointing out the various landmarks that she could see from her place. Mainly that just consisted of an entry point to Central Park that she liked to run in, her corner bodega, and the food truck that she liked getting her morning bagels from.

"I would like that," she shyly replied. "Maybe one day," she said as she thought in her head of all the upcoming shows and travel she had. She'd be back in New Haven for Thanksgiving, then California with her dad and Stepmom for Christmas. She wasn't sure what Barron's plans in between were. She knew the holidays were busy for him.

"Oh, sure. One day, whenever you're free. I know how busy you are, baby." Barron smiled but it didn't quite reach his eyes. She swore inwardly as she realized that he probably thought she was playing coy and brushing him off.

"No, I would lo-" before she could finish her iPad lit up with an incoming call from her agent. Unfortunately, it was a call she needed to take.

"Shit, sorry Barron. That's my agent. I gotta take this. I have a busy schedule from tomorrow and there's a lot to run through." She hoped that he could see and hear her reluctance and disappointment through the phone.

He waved her off. "Of course, baby. No worries, I understand. I'll check in with you later. I miss you," he added.

The next day she was boots to the ground busy. Her diary was filled with back-to-back meetings with her agent as well as a flurry of fittings and rehearsals.

Eden was a seasoned model in Fashion Week and had worked in all of the top four - New York, Paris, Milan, and London. This was her bread and butter. She was a total workhorse when it came to her career.

This was why she trained her mind and body for a few months leading up to the big event. There was no way she could drag herself out of bed for 5 am fittings or rehearsals and carry on working right up until she collapsed on her bed at some ungodly hour - if she didn't fuel her body with the right foods.

Because of this, she could run herself ragged all day and still be up with the city sanitary workers - all with a skip in her step.

So she had no idea why, after seven years of doing Fashion Week, she was now waking each morning with a lack of enthusiasm that she had never experienced before.

Oh, sure, she was still up at the crack of dawn, always early to her call times. She never stopped being the consummate professional. It's the reason why designers and brands always asked for her; always remembered her. She showed up and did her job with grace and a fucking smile on her face.

Now, her smile felt a little forced. A little dimmer. Her conversations with her peers and designers felt a little stilted. There was also that gnawing emptiness that had entered when she left New Haven and never quite left her stomach.

And the only thing that made her breathe a little easier?

Barron.

She missed him.

After his video call that first day, she had been worried that the real world would interfere and the novelty of re-dating your ex would fade. She didn't have time to dwell on it, though, and for once she was grateful for her packed schedule since it kept her mind busy.

Then the next day, after coming home late in the evening from a long day of meetings, she was greeted by the most beautiful bouquet of flowers. Attached was a simple note from the man she couldn't get out of her head:

Thinking of you always xoxo B

Each morning she was greeted by a text from him wishing her a beautiful day and always signed off with a sweet 'missing you."

Considering that her day started when the sun was inching its way up, meant he had to have sent it while she was sleeping. When she had messaged him back concerned that he was purposely waking up early for her, he had simply said that he wanted to be the first thing she thought of when she woke because she was always his.

And, well, who could react to that statement with anything but butterflies? She didn't tell him that she didn't need a reminder to think about him. He was constantly on her mind.

So each morning she woke to a swoon-worthy message and a good night text. He also sent her sweet little messages during the day. They ranged from little tidbits about his parents or Bailey, updates on his day, or just a simple 'I miss you.'

There were times when she felt guilty that she couldn't always reply back to him. On one particular day when she had come out of a few back-to-back fittings, there were five messages waiting for her. All from Barron. The stress of not being able to reciprocate in kind had gotten to her. But Barron was there to soothe her fears.

"Baby, I told you, you do what you gotta do. I know how busy you are so don't worry about replying back to me. I'll be here waiting and cheering you on."

So she had learned to let go and use his messages as fuel to get her through her day. She was very aware that their relationship was morphing into more than a casual non-relationship. Eden just hadn't anticipated how close their bond was - how the saying of absence making the heart stronger ringing more than true for them.

She had gone on to add him to her personal Instagram page and had laughed when he sent her a giddy voice message about how excited he was to be part of her exclusive friend list. That started his habit of leaving voice messages. Sometimes they were a couple of minutes long and other times they were quick seconds of him saying hi. Whenever she had downtime between shows she'd listen to the deep rumbling of his voice, like a soothing balm over her lonely soul.

The days continued to bleed by in a whirlwind of fashion shows, interviews, and after-show parties.

After she had finished her Masterclass for their streaming channel the producer pulled her aside and complimented her on how natural she was on camera. How clear and concise her words were.

"We'd love to have you on again on our main channel," she enthused. "We'll be in touch with your agent."

Buoyed by that endorsement which got her own creative juices flowing, Eden went through her work with an extra spring in her step.

By the end of the week, Eden was dead on her feet. She only had one day of rest before she was on an eight-hour flight to Milan to do it all over again.

The day after Fashion Week ended, Eden managed to sleep in until almost three in the afternoon. She woke to a few messages from Barron and with a burst of energy she jumped out of bed for a shower. For once, she could be the one to surprise him with a call.

As Eden ran her soaped-up loofah over her body, a tingle ran out along her skin as she recalled Barron's touch on their last day together. She tipped her head back against the warm spray, letting it slide over her heated face as she recalled what she had done with him on her couch that morning.

After their perfect day together, she had gone to bed that night and touched herself to the memory of their shared kiss on the Ferris wheel. His hard thigh beneath her hand. His firm mouth and tongue moving against hers...

She woke that morning feeling sad, grumpy, and horny as fuck. When he came round to say goodbye to her, his mere presence had been getting her hot and bothered again.

So she busied herself packing, even though she had done most of it the night before. All the while covertly shooting glances at him, feeling herself getting hornier.

He had been burning a hole into her luggage, his jaw clenched in thought. But even his brooding stare was turning her on. She had already been feeling a little insecure and a lot sad about leaving so she decided that she wanted a little taste... something to tide her over and to have him remember her. She had only ever meant for it to be a make-out session. But that quickly evolved into the hottest sexual experience that she had in the last seven years.

Eden felt her vaginal muscles clench in raw hunger. Suddenly, it wasn't her loofah that was running over her body but his hands instead.

She moaned as she pictured his hard body enveloping her from behind. His hands grasping her hip bones and running up her stomach until they cupped her heavy breasts. Her pebbled nipples felt sensitive against the coarse material of her loofah so she used her other hand to rub the ache away.

It still wasn't enough.

Her head tipped as she imagined it falling back against Barron's hard chest while his hands continued to roam over her body. She pictured him taking her loofah off her hands before moving it back down her stomach until he reached the apex between her thighs. She pressed down hard which only caused her pussy to weep, begging for release. Her loofah moved back and forth, from her sensitive clit to the delicate thin membrane between her cunt and asshole. Her hand reached out to grab at the shower wall, steadying herself against the burst of pleasurable sensations building low in her belly.

The rhythm of her loofah changed into hard circular motions. Her legs parted further apart as Eden concentrated on the contrast of movements - a hard press against her pussy hole before running that protruding nub around and around. Eden's fingers clenched against the wet shower wall as her breathing turned harsh.

She needed more to get her over the edge so Eden dropped her loofah and shifted position, leaning her back against one wall. She moved her leg up and braced it against the other. She lowered the shower head down and adjusted it so that it hit... Ahhh, right there.

With the water pressure concentrated where she needed it, she rubbed her hand up and down the length of her pussy lips before separating them to rub her fingers against her sensitive clit. She moved her fingers down until they dipped into her dripping cunt. Eden gave a low moan as she moved her forefinger and middle finger in and out of her pussy.

She closed her eyes, breaths coming out in short pants as she moved her fingers faster and faster. She could feel that the crescendo of pleasure would be coming quick and hard so she removed her fingers and rubbed furiously at her clit.

"Oh, fuuuuck...," she gasped as her little nerve endings exploded. Her body jerked as she moaned through her orgasm. Her fingers continued to rub at her clit until she shuddered at the sensitivity.

The warmth of the water started to drift towards lukewarm, causing her to come crashing down from dizzying heights. Especially when she opened her eyes and realized that she was all alone in her small cubicle.

Freshly showered and changed, Eden sat crossed-legged on her bed as she waited for her call to connect.

"Eden?" Barron's voice carried through first before his camera focused and his handsome face came into view. He smiled brightly, true joy lighting up his features as he moved his hand up, bringing his face more clearly into view. "Baby, you look beautiful."

She blushed at his words. How was it that just hearing the deep baritone of his voice was getting her hotter than she had been in the shower? "I had a long lie in. I'm starting to feel more human again." Especially after that shower orgasm.

"You looked so beautiful in your shows." He shook his head ruefully, "I feel like beautiful is such a tame word to describe you. It's not only your looks but your whole presence on the catwalk...you can't look away."

"Barron.." she was used to compliments but coming from the man she was falling deep into...it made her feel like a shy industry newbie all over again.

"And your Masterclass on walking the runway was so good. I knew from Bailey how incredible you are as a speaker but seeing it was another thing."

"You watched that?"

"Of course," he nodded. "I signed up for the streaming service. There's no way I was missing you do your thing."

"That's sweet," she smiled. "But you would've had to put up with a lot of fashion jargon. I hope you weren't too bored."

"No way," he insisted. Before pausing in thought. "Honestly? It was an eye-opener for me."

"What do you mean?" She frowned.

He looked uncomfortable briefly before answering. "I know you fell into this career because of mistakes that I made. I guess I always wondered if you were truly happy doing what you were doing or if it was an escape from me. But I can see that you really enjoy it. It's in your body language and the way you talk.

She nodded, understanding. "Honestly? It did start out that way. Obviously, modeling was never on my radar. At first, it was a way to get out of New Haven. Then the money was good for me, the parties..." she didn't need to repeat what her life was like in those early years. "But once I genuinely decided that this is what I wanted to do, I started to really focus on it. I had a great mentor. I got to travel and work with some awesome models and designers. And I had a good support system. Not only here in New York but back home as well."

Talking about it with Barron reignited the passion she had lacked this week. It reminded her why she had worked so hard in an industry that was tiresome and unforgiving at times. It challenged and inspired her. Sharing that finally with the man she had loved most of her life felt right.

"Anyway, enough about me," she sat back against her headboard. "What's new back home?"