A Storm Is Brewing

15 Minutes Early

Despite telling me that she would speak to me when she returned, she continued to text me daily to ensure I was okay. I missed her, and I could tell by the routine messages that she missed me too. Leah and I had a chance at the beginning to build our relationship through the distance, but breaking up until I moved to London stripped us of that opportunity. I knew that was the main problem; we knew how to be together but struggled to be apart. On the days that were really hard, I reminded myself that struggling to be apart meant that we wanted more than anything to be together.

Business had begun to thrive, and word of mouth had spread positive reviews about my ability to secure the best results for my clients, meaning we were able to afford to expand our staffing levels to deal with the demand. Amanda saw the return of her investment, placing half back into the business and taking half for herself. Everything, apart from my relationship, was slowly beginning to fall into place in my life.

The beginning of a new week brought the realisation that Leah would leave camp the following day. This was supposed to be the day that I could text her to say one more sleep, but instead I knew she wouldn't be returning home with her team; she would be travelling to the US. The only part of that thought that made me feel any kind of relief was that she would be miles closer to me than she had been for the last number of weeks.

Amanda arrived at 9:30 a.m. for our quarterly meeting; it was a way of keeping things professional. We ran through the accounts, discussed upcoming cases, and sorted out any pending expenses. Amanda was never one to pry into mine and Leah's home lives; she allowed us to sort out our own problems; she rarely even let on that she knew we were having any, even if I knew that Leah had confided in her. I don't know if this was because she knew I would worry that it may have a detrimental impact on our business relationship or if she simply knew that Leah and I would resolve our own conflicts. I knew that Amanda would only ever speak about these personal issues if she was worried, so when she brought them up, I was more than happy to discuss them with her. She waited until our meeting had ended before offering to take me to a local bistro for lunch. She was careful not to jump straight into it, but I knew that it was coming as we discussed Leah's return.

"I know that the two of you aren't in a good place right now, Sophie. I want you to know that I'm here for both of you." Amanda smiled.
"I know, I appreciate it. I'm not really sure what's happened, but I think we'll be okay when she's back."
"Have you missed her?"
"Of course, every single day." I sighed.
"You should tell her. She needs to hear it."
"I tell her all the time."
"Really tell her." She repeated.
"You don't think she knows?" I questioned.
"I know; we all know. She can't see it, though—not right now. Leah has always been the same: pretend it's nothing and avoid it."
"What do you mean?"
"Speak to her. That's all I'm saying. There's a lot more going on in her head than you think." Amanda placed her hand on top of mine as she spoke.

I promised Amanda that I would speak to Leah, wanting to settle her mind without making her feel uncomfortable by pushing her for more information. I was aware that this was something I had to sort out between Leah and me; her mum couldn't be the go-between, even if that would've been easier right now. Returning to work, I sent Leah a text before continuing my day. Speaking to Amanda made me miss her even more than I already did. If she isn't okay, why hasn't she told me? I questioned this for a while before realising that I was being hypocritical. The original atmosphere between Leah and I had come as a result of me thinking that Leah had no right to be annoyed that I hadn't mentioned the blood tests, so why would she tell me that she wasn't okay when I had done the opposite?

Sophie
Le, can we talk tonight? If you have time.

Leah
Always, Soph. I'll call you at 9pm your time.