The Mom Next Door; The Sequel

4-My Leah

*Jen's pov*

Its been two days. Two days since I've been here, and my skin is crawling.

For two days I've been pacing all around the house, twiddling with my fingers, biting my cheeks and bouncing my leg everytime I sit down. I feel like I'm going insane. I can't relax knowing that she's right next door. It's like the universe is teasing me, entertained by wondering what I'll do next.

Today I decided that I have got to get out of this house before I go crazy. So I borrowed my mom's car and drove into town.

For a while I just drive in silence, taking in everything I've partially forgotten about. Then I decide to stop and get a coffee at the Starbucks I used to stop by everyday before class.

I walk inside and notice all the slightly different things. It's weird not having to worry about having my ordermemorized in French. In France I'd always run my order through my head, just in case if I messed up. Especially since French people can be kind of mean sometimes.

I stand in line until I get to the front and order. I love that my moms been cooking us breakfast every morning since I got here, but today I needed something different, and I'm sure I'm doing my mom a favor since she gets to sleep in.

I order a latte, a muffin and a hot mocha for my mom, then I wait for my name to be called.

When I came here all the time, I used to recognize peoples faces that always came in at the same time as me. But now I recognize no one.

Suddenly I hear my name being called, so I grab my order and step to the side to get napkins. I get one of those green little stopper things and put it in my mom's drink to keep it hot.

Right when I pick up my stuff to leave, I hear the name 'Leah' get called out. My heart kind of skips a beat and I think to myself 'How crazy would it be if that was actually Leah?' My Leah, not some random lady who also has the name Leah.

I turn slightly as I start to walk out, but I stop.

I stop when I see her. My Leah.

Not a random lady named Leah, but my Leah. The Leah that broke my heart, and the Leah who's heart I broke.

My eyes widen and my mouth drops slightly. This isn't like seeing her in her front yard, this is almost face to face, inches away. So I start walking away again, slowly but surely.

Unfortunately, she turns as all these thoughts are gathering in my head, and we make eye contact. Not just a glimpse of eachother like last time, but full on contact.

Before I even get a chance to see her facial expression change, I turn completely and walk out of the door followed by her saying 'Jen..?' just loud enough for me to hear before the door shuts behind me.

That damn nickname, the one Leah brought back after people stopped calling me that in highschool. 'Jen.' God I thought I'd never hear her voice say that again, but now I have. And yes, I want to hear her say it a million more times but I just walk away.

I immediately pick up my feet once I get outside and start walking faster. But I hear the door open behind me and I know it's her. I hear her heels click on the concrete as she says "Jennifer! Wait!". And I do. I stop walking.

I'm not really sure why I started walking away in the first place, but it seemed like the best choice. I did it to not bring attention to myself, but I guess I didn't think it through since she obviously saw me.

The clicks of her heels stop too, and I slowly turn around, moving my eyes from the ground, to her eyes.

Finally, a clear image. Meeting those dark brown eyes for the first time again. Up close. Finally I know what she looks like. Which is almost exactly the same. That same structured jawline, defined cheekbones and those piercing eyes.

In my head I can see all the moments we shared coming back to me. Every smile, everytime she'd blush, every kiss.

She blinks twice with disbelief, her mouth open slightly, trying to think of what to say.

"Jennifer...you're back?" She asks almost like she's out of breath, but she's just in shock. I blink slowly and think of my first words to say to her. "I am." I nod with the weakest amount of confidence.

In a case like this, I'd usually try everything to avoid eye contact to make things less awkward, but I never could look away from those eyes. They always put a lock on me.

"Wow.." She shakes her head, literally speechless. She looks like she's just seen a ghost. "I um, I thought I saw you outside. A-are you staying with your mom?" She asks curiously. I've never seen Leah weak in the knees like this before.

She genuinely looks confused, like she thinks she's hallucinating. "Oh- yeah I am." I nod. It gets quiet and she shuts her mouth before forcing a chuckle. "I'm sorry you're just-." She stops and shakes her head.

"I'm what?" I tilt my head with worry. "You're so grown up." She says and takes another look at me, admiring every detail of my face.

I sigh and look down at my own body. "I can't believe you're here. W-why are you here? Are you moving back-?" I cut her off. "Oh- no. I'm just visiting my mom." I say.

She nods and looks down. "Look I should really get-" I stop when she looks back up at me. That same vulnerable look I saw five years ago when she was struggling with Angelo.

That look she'd give me before I'd go down on her, and try to make her forget her worries. "Going.." I finish my sentence and she tucks her hair behind her ear.

"Jennifer." She says and my heart flutters. My name falling out of her mouth makes me want to melt. I guess we know now that not much has changed, including the way she made me feel.

"Sofia would really love to see you..." She tilts her head and I adjust my posture. "You think so?" I ask with my voice slightly softer.

"Yes.. She was devastated when you stopped sending packages. Two years later and she still checked the mail everyday, hoping for something." She says and I can feel my heart ache.

My eyes sting slightly as I tear up. Not enough for Leah to notice though.

"She gave up last year." She shrugs. "I was busy y'know? I didn't mean for her to get upset, I was just-." I start to ramble from the guilt forming a knot in my stomach, but Leah takes my hand and I stop.

Shivers shoot through my body and I look at her. "Look I know that you might not want to see me, but please...just- stop by before you go back." She says with a hopeful tone.

"Angelo left again Jennifer..." She builds up the courage to say. "For good. And- Sofia hasn't really been processing it well-." I cut her off. "I'll come by." I nod and take my hand away from hers.

Suddenly this just gets to be too much. Her hand on mine just reminded me of all the terrible ways things ended. "I'll stop by." I assure her. "I just really-.." I pause and look up to stop the tears from falling. "I just really think that I need to be away from you right now." I say shakily.

She looks at me with hurt and I immediately feel bad. "It's not y-...I just- I'm sorry. I just don't want you to see me cry right now." I say and look at her. She presses her lips and nods.

The longer I look at her the harder it gets to fight back the tears. Leah has even more reason to cry since I'm the one who left, but she's always been better at controlling her emotions. And I certainly don't want to make a fool of myself. I'm supposed to be grown up now, like she said.

I'm not going to make this new first impression look just like the girl from five years ago. That's not me.

"I understand." She forces a smile. And just like that, I turn around and walk away. Holding my pride tightly, trying not to break down in tears.

It's like everything I've boxed up and pushed into the corner of my mind, that I worked so hard to forget and get over, is just exploding and all coming back right in front of me.

I take one more glance at her over my shoulder, and she's just standing there, watching me walk away. Her pretty face flustered.

Once I got home I sat down and had a very much needed glass of wine with my mom.

I guess the part I was dreading is finally over. Me and Leah meeting again.

I knew it was bound to happen, but not this suddenly. Now what I can't stop thinking about is Sofia.