Heartstrings

After Jake had been unsuccessful in getting Laila back during the first three weeks of their breakup, he decided to change his tactics once more by using the affection she once felt for him and attacking her sense of guilt with it. Just like most self-centred people with their selfish form of love, he too convinced himself that his actions weren't wrong because he 'loved' her. His friends were very willing to help him in his plan of guilting Laila in taking him back, by telling her whatever they felt that she needed to hear. They would corner her in school, by the lockers, as she was trying to go home. No opportunity was wasted.

"I know it looked bad Laila and that you are mad. You have every right to be mad. But can you stop ignoring Jake. Can you give him a chance to explain and earn your forgiveness. If not, we will blame ourselves forever for being the ones to make you misunderstand in the first place and cause our friend to lose the love of his life."

"Yeah. Do you know how bad he feels. He isn't even able to sleep knowing that you are mad at him. That you are hurting because of a misunderstanding he caused. He is going out every night and drinking until he blacks out, just so he can get a night's sleep."

"You have to know, you have to believe that he is extremely sorry. He really, really loves you and he would never intentionally do anything to hurt you."

Jake added to the image of the self torturing mess of an ex, the martyr act, by becoming absent from school for multiple days. When he would come to school, it was only to show Laila that he was hurting. He would show up around her with reddened eyes, showing his clear lack of sleep. Though his sleep loss was more because of him staying up all night gaming than him not being able to sleep from heartache and regret, it did give him the pale, sickly complexion he needed to further tug at Laila's heartstrings. With her not knowing what was truly causing these physical changes, she could only point at herself and their breakup as the reason.

At a certain point, after weeks of all kinds of 'attacks', by Jake and his friends, Laila's guilt had wore her down. In her mind she slowly started believing Jake was genuine in his actions and promises. She began telling herself that maybe back then he had really been sorry for what he had done. Once that thought had entered her mind, it was the beginning of the end of their longest breakup ever. It began with her unblocking Jake's number in order to check up on him and see if he was alright and from there their conversations started back up. Animosity slowly made way for jokes and things started to feel like when they had first started dating.

But where the first time had been all about butterflies and giddy feelings, allowing her to rush in, head first, the second time contained more reserve. She was older now and had been through a heartbreak because of that feeling of love that was calling her so loudly. She was less naïve, no longer undamaged, so now there was the added feeling of fear. She had been crushed by their first break and was only now slowly getting over Jake and returning to the cheerful person she used to be. Was she really ready to jump into another relationship with him and risk going through all of that again?

Another reason that was making her question if getting back together with Jake was the right move, a more important reason, was that there was another possible love interest in her life. One she had never imagined as a possibility, with a person she never expected to fill that role in her life but someone that had pulled her through these hard times and someone that had always made her feel like the most important person in his life. But going along with that possibility brought a fear along as well, a different kind of fear. Because although a breakup is devastating on its own, breaking up with that person would mean not only losing her boyfriend but also a very dear friend. It was at that time, because of those fears, that Laila had possibly made the worst decision of her life. One that she had now come to regret.

- Back to the present day, 4 hours before an important decision -

Before she could go back in time and change the decision that was on her mind, she needed to have the talk she didn't want to have, with the man she was no longer sure she loved.

As that thought entered and left her mind, she snapped out of her thoughts and returned to reality by blinking a few times. When she finally able to take in her surroundings again, she saw that Jake hadn't even noticed her silence and was still talking to her. While she had been lost in her own thoughts, Jake had unknowingly held an entire conversation on his own. He was just finishing up telling her about what had happened at the office, while she, the oblivious participant, had missed it all.

"I'm telling you dear, one of these days I am going to have to fire that boy."

Laila let out a forced chuckle as she walked towards the bed. When she noticed Jake was about to head into the bathroom, she stopped him in his tracks and said, "Oh, before you go in for a shower, we need to talk."