Forget All You Know

"Never let the odds keep you from doing what you know in your heart you were meant to do."
-H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

Lila's P.O.V.

You know what really bothers me? People who try to hold a conversation when you're clearly not interested. Those people annoy the hell out of me. They can never just leave me in peace. No, they have to try and continue to talk to me. It's just bothersome. For example, I was sitting down at my little desk, eating my lunch, minding my own business, when Jeff (a co-worker of mine) came over and started talking to me. And it wasn't even an interesting conversation, either! It was just about how his cat is going in for surgery on Thursday. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not a heartless bitch, I just don't want to hear about cats. Well, I guess I have turned into a heartless bitch. But, it's all Tom's fault! If he didn't let me go, then I would still be happy.

"So," Jeff began as he sat down on my desk. "Snowflake has got some weird infection. The vet says that she'll be fine, but still... I mean, she's my only cat!"

"Relax, Jeff," I muttered as I poked at my salad with a fork. "It's not like it's your kid or anything."

"But, Snowflake is so important to me. And this is a pretty serious procedure," Jeff said as I sighed and stared down at my salad. I glanced over at Sam and mouthed for him to come help me. Thankfully, Jeff didn't notice. He was still worrying about his cat.

"Hey, Lielz," he said as he strutted over to my desk. "Can you help me with something in the break room really quickly?"

"Sure," I said before turning back to Jeff. "Sorry, this'll be really quick. You can finish telling me about Snowflake later."

Jeff muttered something that I didn't pay attention to before I scurried into the break room behind Sam. I began pouring myself a coup of coffee as I sat down at a table and let my feet slip out of my uncomfortable heels. Sam sat across from me at the round table and folded his hands together in a very business-like manner.

"Lila?" Sam asked as I peered up at him from over my coffee mug. "How long have we been living together?"

"I dunno," I said with a shrug, wondering why he was asking such a pointless question. "About five and a half months, I think."

"That's a pretty long time, wouldn't you say?" he said as I nodded, confused out of my mind. "So, why the hell did you not tell me about Tom!?"

"What?!" I asked as I spilled my coffee on the table, shocked that he knew about Tom. "How do you know about him?"

"Well, I've picked up on your depressed mood and after I got a very strange call about two weeks ago, I decided to call one of your friends and get the whole scoop on your past," Sam said as I glared at him and began cleaning up the spilled coffee. "Jazzie's very nice, by the way."

"Jazzie told you about him?!" I asked. "I'm going to kill her one of these days."

"Not before I kill you! How could you have not told me about your famous rockstar ex-boyfriend?! I mean, we were watching him on TV and everything!"

"Sorry," I mumbled. "What did she say?"

"She told me the whole story. You know, how you guys were, like, childhood friends then you reconnected. He practically saved you from your shitty ex-boyfriend and then swept you off your feet in a drunken state. She told me about how you two were engaged and everything, but then you left because you're a dumbass," Sam said dreamily. "It's so romantic."

"Yeah, and it's in the past," I said as I stared down at my half-empty cup of coffee.

"Not necessarily," Sam said as I looked up at him with hopeful eyes. "Lielz, I need to know this. Do you still love him?"

"Yes," I answered quickly. "Why?"

"He called a couple of weeks ago," Sam said as my heart began racing quickly. "I got the names mixed up. I told you that it was Don, so you called some other guy. It was really Tom who called."

"What did he say?" I asked in a nervous voice, my eyes glued to my coffee. Alright, I'll admit, I was thinking that he would just call to tell me off or something. I know that you're probably thinking that Tom would never do something like that, and honestly, he wouldn't. I was just feeling so insecure at the time, that I didn't think Tom would ever even think of considering me a friend anymore, let alone a girlfriend.

"He said that he misses you and that he still loves you," he said as a wide smile broke out on my face. "And he said something about three coins meaning marriage or some weird shit like that."

"Are you joking?" I asked skeptically as Sam shook his head and Sheila came walking into the break room. She sauntered over to the table that Sam and I were sitting at and looked at me with dislike.

"Leah, aren't you supposed to be working?" she asked in a dark voice, making me mentally roll my eyes. Hey, I didn't want to piss her off any more!

"I'm on my lunch break," I said quietly. "And, my name's Lila."

"Right," she said, not bothering to apologize.

"Um, Sheila," I started hesitantly. "Something just came up and I'm gonna need to take some time off and go to England."

"I think this break is over," Sheila said as I glared at her. "Also, some of your co-workers would like some coffee."

Boy, that bitch really pissed me off. It's like she couldn't have emotions! God forbid she actually let her employee go and fix a ruined relationship! Because, we all know that that would be far too nice! Jesus, I really hated her.

"Will you give me time off to go to England?" I asked hopefully, disregarding her last comment. "I really need to sort some things out with my ex-boyfriend. It won't take long, I swear."

"Lila, I don't think you understand how lucky you are to have this job! There were plenty of other people who applied, but I offered the job to you, and now you're asking me if you can not work!" she screeched as I played with my hands, not really knowing what else to do.

"It would only be for a few days," I said nervously as her cold eyes pierced me. "Four at the most. I could even leave on Friday night and be back in work on Tuesday. Please, Sheila, I'm begging you."

"No, and that's my final answer," she said quickly. "Now, get back to work!"

"Then I quit."