Residuals (COMPLETED)

Chapter 48: Planted Seeds

Detroit, MI:

Earlier The Same Day...

"Justin I gave that girl a job here because you asked me to and I think it's a good idea to keep the girl close. I don't wanna be friends with her, sorry." Isabella replied not looking up from her case file sitting in front of her.

"And I'm not asking you to do that, her therapist think it'll be good if she tries to at least make things right and all I'm asking is when she tries you hear her out."

"No thank you, she can work down in that office on traffic ticket cases until I feel like she's safe enough to come out and then I will move accordingly, but I'm not ready."

"I understand."

"You're going way too easy on her Justin, and you seem exhausted you are not the same at all. You seem so disconnected, what's going on?" Isabella asked.

"I miss Lilah..." He admitted. 

"Justin, I know things have been rough for you. But you have to take care of yourself too. This situation with Monica and Lilah, it's taking a toll on you." 

"I know," Justin said, rubbing his temples. "It's just... I don't know how to fix this. I thought maybe if I tried to be fair, give Monica another chance, things might get better. But now... I don't even know if that's what I really want."

Isabella leaned back in her chair, studying him thoughtfully. "You've got to be honest with yourself about what you want. I know you, I've known you since the 5th grade, and yes you and Monica seemed great together, but the way Lilah made you light up? Monica could never." 

Justin sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping. "I thought if I could make things work with Monica, it would help me feel whole again. But every time I try, it just reminds me of what's missing. Lilah... she's the one I've been thinking about."

Isabella nodded, understanding dawning on her. "You can't ignore what you're feeling, Justin. If Lilah is who you want to be with, you need to acknowledge that. Running from it or trying to fix things with Monica won't change your feelings. Sometimes history don't matter, change is okay starting over is okay."

"I'm trying to do the right thing," Justin said, frustration evident in his voice. "But it feels like no matter what I do, I'm just making everything worse. Lilah made everything better, I could talk to her and tell her how I'm feeling. Monica don't like shit like that, but Lilah? She loved to hear whatever I had to say, now it feels like I don't get much of a say," right when he'd said that Lilah had walked into the office, she stopped in her tracks seeing Justin. It was like she froze when their eyes connected, she hadn't seen him since that night. Every feeling she thought she'd pushed away came flooding back the moment she saw him. 

"I-I will come back." Lilah said backing out of the office quickly, and Justin's attention went back to Isabella.

"Can I?" He asked Isabella.

"Go talk to her, but Justin figure things out." Isabella said and he nodded getting up going after Lilah, he'd made his way next door to her office and opened the door right as she closed it.