Zara Ellison never planned on causing so much trouble. First, there's her tragic one-night stand living next door, who Zara loves to taunt. Then, there's his roommate, where the two catch feelings during a series of flings.
In other words: Zara was...
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THE ONE WITH TWO BROKEN HEARTS.
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No matter how hard Zara tried, she could not avoid Chandler. Even if her ex-boyfriend was not personally there, Chandler was still very much in her heart and memories.
For the majority of the time, Zara had hidden in her bedroom with the excuse of writing to avoid any confrontations. All Zara needed was some time to master her poker face before she saw Chandler again.
Though, Zara had not been ready to bump into Chandler in the hallway a few days later. Of course, living opposite Chandler, it had a high chance of happening.
Meeting Chandler's sad gaze, Zara paused, lost for words. A thousand emotions had erupted in her heart.
"Zara..."
"Please don't," Zara pleaded. "I just need time."
"Time for?" Chandler asked.
"For things to go back to normal," said Zara. "Back to us being friends again."
Chandler pressed his lips together, hands shoving deep into the pockets of his coat as his eyes diverted from Zara, clearly upset. It caused another crack to take root deep inside Zara's heart, but she was terrified.
"What if I don't want to be friends?" Chandler questioned.
"Oh," Zara tried to keep her face expressionless. "I thought we started this relationship agreeing that we'd always be friends."
"That was before..."
"Before what?" Zara pressed.
"Please let me fix this," Chandler said instead. "Please don't run."
Zara wanted to try, but there was that suffocating feeling that if she let this carry on, then the next time the heartbreak would be unbearable. Right now, this felt like an escape — a painful, heartbreaking escape, but one Zara could survive.
"I'm leaving," Zara told him instead.
"Leaving?" Chandler questioned, frowning.
"For the holidays," explained Zara, shoving her hands in her pockets too, unknowing how to act. "A friend from work has a cabin upstate that's empty, so I'm gonna go there to work on my book."
"Alone?" Chandler realised. "At Christmas?"
"I've never been bothered about the holidays," Zara reminded him. "You know that."
"I know you, Zara," Chandler told her softly.
Zara shrugged, hating that Chandler saw straight through her. Maybe Zara hated being alone, and the holidays were a reminder of that, but some time away would perhaps smooth things over without ruining anything further.
