Can You Hear the Ocean?

Chapter 34

Mia held her resolve for as long as she could. With her arms crossed, she kept her gaze on the wall, listening as Leila slammed the front door. For one, two, three seconds, Mia kept a straight face in case Leila opened the door again. However, when Mia heard Leila's footsteps retreating, it was then that she broke down. Slowly, Mia slid down from the couch and onto the floor holding her knees to her body. Sobs began to wrack through her body, except this time, Leila wasn't around to comfort her.

She loves me? Since when? Why would she love me? Mia thought. All the work she had done to push Leila away had meant nothing in the end. Somehow or other, she had stupidly managed to make Leila fall in love with her instead.

I have to go after her, Mia thought, slowly rising to her feet. She made it only a few steps before she sunk down once more.

I'm so foolish, Mia thought. All this time, I've been trying to distance myself from Leila...from Maine...when in actuality, I've been attached nearly as soon as I stepped foot back here.

Now, she had nearly severed her relationship with Leila. Even if they managed to make up, Mia knew it would never be the same, not after Leila's confession. 

Mia stared at her palms, thinking briefly of Leila's confession. She was too lost in a swirl of emotions to consider anything about it in the moment. What Mia had said in response was true. She didn't cheat. She certainly wasn't going to return Leila's feelings as long as she was together with Julian.

A knock at the door made Mia rise to her feet. She paused for a moment, frightened. Was it Leila? No. She would've had the key. Julian? He had to be driving home by now.

Trembling, Mia approached the door and opened it, finding an employee from the leasing office standing at her doorstep.

"Good evening, ma'am. How are you?"

Mia wiped some spare tears from her eyes and sniffed some. "Fine," she said. "Is there an issue?"

"We've gotten some noise complaints. A neighbor claimed he heard two women yelling. Is everything all right?"

"Fine," Mia lied.

"Do you need me to call the police?" the man asked.

"I'm fine," Mia insisted. "My roommate and I were having an argument. No one was hurt. She's left for a bit."

"If you change your mind, we can call someone—"

"I'm fine," Mia repeated again, shutting the door. Once she heard his footsteps slowly dissipate, she began crying once more.

That night, Mia barely slept, her argument with Leila keeping her awake for hours on end. She didn't move to grab her phone when Julian tried calling and texting her, and as the days slowly passed, she began to ignore everything around her. 

Mia didn't go to work, deciding to call out of her shifts. She kept the blinds drawn and the lights off. When she did manage to eat, it was nothing more than some leftovers or delivery. Sometimes, Mia would turn on the television for a distraction, but it never worked long. She'd quickly scan her phone when she got a new notification, but it was always just Julian, and each time, Mia ignored him.

I'm stupid for thinking Leila would want to talk to me, Mia thought as the disappointment flooded through her body every time a new text message failed to be Leila.

During those few days, Mia never felt more alone. The pain and sadness that had invaded her life strongly resembled the first few days after her mother died. With a blanket wrapped tightly around her shoulders, Mia would gaze into Leila's bedroom, thinking she might be there, or look longingly into the kitchen, expecting that Leila would be making a dinner for the two of them, but the apartment was empty and silent. Although she hated to admit it, Mia even missed the annoying meows of Leila's cat.