Connected

Chapter 5: I Loved

"What if it's only a moment,

Is that a reason to hate?

Why not be grateful,

For still we had it."

Her head weighed as heavy as her heart was as she stormed through the sidewalk of Redmond. She navigated as fast as she could, wanting to create a great enough distance between her and the one place Hana is connected to in this city.

Leah had heard of whispers before, of Hana being back in town. When she heard the news, she was struck with unparalleled fear. The immediate thought that crossed her mind was Adam. Shame that she had not known before engulfed her.

In the past, she had always struggled with some sort of guilt in her relationship with Adam. When she admitted this to him, he told her that there is nothing to be scared of. He was no longer involved with Hana when they developed feelings for one another. And Hana was out of the picture in both of their lives when they progressed to a romantic relationship. 

Yes, she was her best friend and so what? If anything, she was the one who brought this upon herself when she turned her back from them and cut all ties with them.

Leah waited in agitation for their reunion. Days and then weeks had passed, and yet Hana didn't show up. Maybe the rumors were false. She hadn't come home after all. 

Or she just couldn't be bothered with her.

When unexpectedly Adam got a painful rejection of his first major project proposal as a senior architect in his firm, bringing great devastation to him. Leah tried her best consoling him, however he wasn't letting her in. Instead, he was allowing himself to drown in self-pity.

Desperate to help him, Leah came up with the idea of a vacation. Thinking back, the last one they had had been after their college graduation. They owe it to themselves to have this one now. Leah got excited planning, making sure everything is perfect and was about to launch the plan when Adam came home, and he seemed resurrected. There was a new glow in his face that unknowingly unsettled her.

When Leah asked how he was doing, he just shrugged saying he's fine now, he had managed to pull himself back up. Her instinct nag her by this sudden overnight change, but she chose not to dwell on it. What's important was Adam was happy.

And then a month passed, and Adam all of a sudden started becoming anxious around her.

Leah halted. Tipping her head up she saw the high skyscrapers of the city illuminating the night sky where huge dark clouds are now looming over.

As a soul she found her emotions peculiar. She experienced it magnified to a whole new level that she was caught in this wave of intense and overpowering river of emotions she was clueless she was filled with until now.

She isn't a crybaby. No. Living her life over the years made her a master of hiding behind her facade of control. So how come that on this night alone she had already cried twice, and the worst was she let someone watch her.

Lowering her head, she was made keenly aware of the normal routine of the city being carried. Like jobs to be done and parties to attend. Her heart unexpectedly contracted in sadness when it instantly hit her how no one cares that just a few blocks from here a life stopped. At least she wanted someone to cry for her. But didn't she have that already, the tears of Adam and Hana?

No! She quickly pulverized the idea in her head.

Then a memory slipped into her mind, it was of a scene from her favorite movie the Notebook that oddly and in a weird kind of way haunted her. It was when Noah lied down on the street and Allie calling him crazy joined him anyways. Then they just lied there looking at the traffic signal while conversing.