Novaletti Factor

Chapter 16~

**In no way are my linguistic depictions of (this) mental health (disorder) factual in this writing. It is solely based on what I have seen and researched.** 

Just a heads-up about a small time-gap!  

But nevertheless, I hope you enjoy! 

Happy reading! 

-Lu

~

Moving on...

Micah~

"You're a fucking idiot. Have I said that yet this morning?" I looked up from an email I was reading on my phone and met Coraline's irritated stare. As a matter of fact, she had. Several times too many. Three times in the last ten minutes. Hundreds since Elise had left the car and gotten into her own last night after a disastrous dinner. And like all of those times, I was fully prepared to ignore her. "I'm going to keep saying it until you respond to it." 

The thing was, Coraline would keep saying it until I responded. We could-and had-spent months apart but Coraline never changed and neither would how well I knew her. She was my best friend-and I often used that term loosely in other situations. So, I responded. "It was a mistake. We are incompatible." And always would be. I was never going to bend Elise the right way so that she fit into my life. 

That caused her to frown. "Really? Did you come to that conclusion when you were taking your medication or just in the last couple of weeks? I bet it's the latter. Don't forget, I know you. This is a cycle. This depression that has you basically emotionless and saying mean shit to everyone is going to end. Then what's going to happen? A full blown fucking manic episode. When that's over maybe you'll have a few weeks of euphoria but then what? Depression...again..." 

I didn't need Cora to explain something I had dealt with all of my life-so I refused to feed into her and stood up. My fucking appetite was gone. Unfortunately for me, she wasn't done and also stood up. "Grow the fuck up and get your shit together, Micah. The only person you're going to hurt is yourself. I really hope she doesn't sit around and wait for you forever-Elise."

Not exactly emotionless-I was getting pissed off. "You're giving me a headache, Coraline." I turned away from her and walked out of the kitchen, passed the stairs, and further towards the office. Thankfully for me and unfortunately for her, I slammed and locked the door before she could get in. 

Elise~ 

Four weeks later~ 

It would be a complete lie if I said I hadn't missed Micah. I did...with every fiber of my being. But the words that he had spoken to me that night at dinner in the restroom wouldn't leave my brain and I didn't know if they ever would. Those words and his actions had also been a looming realization of who he really was and what he really needed.

So, no matter how many times I foolishly drove through his neighborhood in the last month, hoping to get the courage to go see him, I didn't. Ever. I couldn't...

So, I'd forced myself to get back into the same mindset I'd had when first meeting him and that was focusing on my work. It was almost to the point where Gabby and everyone closest to me was getting worried. I overbooked myself so that I stayed busy. The thought of thinking about Micah was too much.