Any semblance of a relationship existing between Heather and Jake now seemed a figment of their imaginations.
The space now vast and obvious to anyone around them. They spoke when dropping Juliet off and that was it. No texts, no calls, no coffee runs and absolutely no out of office talk. She was contemplating leaving CNN soon.
It hurt her to see him with Lucia in the office, or even just talking to others. His smile and his laugh, two of her favourite things about Jake. She was in so much pain, it hurt her to get out of bed most mornings, never mind walk into the same office as him.
Heather had found herself realising it would've been easier to never have loved Jake before.
"Heather," a voice called, pulling the brunette out of her thoughts. She looked to Abby and Kaitlin, both looking at her with worried faces.
She had been zoned out through much of their lunch and while both of them were aware of what was happening with Jake, neither brought it up.
Heather's mind was already in turmoil, facing the reality that any hope for her and Jake was really gone. The fact that he'd be marrying Lucia in four months was weighing on her chest and Lucia had asked her to go.
That had been a hard no.
"Lucia that's... I'm sorry," Jake said, looking to Heather who had a tight smile on her face as she tried to find a getaway.
They were outside her office, all she could do was turn around and head inside but Lucia being pushy, she would probably follow her too.
"What Jake? I'm just asking if she'd like to come? You two are good friends," Heather refrained from rolling her eyes. How stupid could someone be?
Heather cleared her throat, pushing herself off of the door frame and pulling that very fake tight lipped smile back on her face.
"Thank you Lucia, but watching the man I used to love marry someone else isn't exactly on my bucket list," Heather said before turning around and walking into her office, closing the door behind her.
She had almost said 'the man I love', but stopped herself.
That was the last time she had spoken to Jake outside their overlap on TV or Juliet's drop off days. That was almost three weeks ago.
"Heather you know you can talk to us," Kaitlin said, reaching forward and resting her hand on top of Heather's.
The anchor smiled, turning her hand over and holding Kaitlin's in hers, Abby did the same with the other.
"I appreciate it really, but I'm okay. I promise," Heather said smiling at her friends who didn't believe her for a second, "or, well I will be,"
Kaitlin and Abby nodded, moving over to hug her quickly. It didn't last long because they didn't want her to start crying.
"How about drinks tonight?" Kaitlin proposed smiling at both of her friends. They were ready to do just about anything to get Heather's mind off of what was happening.
Heather smiled, she knew what they were doing and she was grateful for it but she was a big girl, she'd brush this off eventually.
"I have Juliet tonight, but go ahead, I'll go another night," Heather grinned, both of the other women's faces changing at that. The whole point was to cheer her up.
Abby and Kaitlin shared a look when Heather went back to eating the sandwich she had ordered.
"No don't be silly, we'll come over to yours! We can order some food and just have some wine," Kaitlin said, no stranger to inviting herself over to Heather's apartment whenever she wanted to.
