The next day, all Leila could think about was how soft Mia's hair felt in her fingers the evening prior. Though they had spent many sleepovers staying up late and braiding each other's hair as children, Leila had forgotten what the texture of Mia's hair had felt like. It had been soft to the touch and smelled faintly of lemon. She longed to feel it again.

Leila stared forward at her computer screen, trying to refocus herself. She knew she should be focusing on work rather than fantasizing about Mia's hair. Besides, as Leila thought more deeply about the whole encounter, she grew more concerned for Mia. Though she had been elated that Mia had opened up to her, Leila's heart was pained to know that Mia was still struggling from the grief of her mother's death.

Leila's thoughts suddenly broke from the sound of an email arriving in her inbox.

"Leila," someone said behind her.

Leila turned around, noticing her supervisor, Helen, standing at her cubicle. Helen was a few decades older than Leila with dark brown hair, round blue glasses, and a kind smile. She had taken Leila under her wing at the PR firm in the past year and had helped Leila improve tremendously in her professional career. After hearing stories from her friends about bad upper management was at their own places of employment, Leila felt blessed to have such a kind and understanding supervisor.

"Bad timing?" Helen asked, noticing Leila's attention on her inbox.

"No. Just corresponding with a client. Is everything okay?" Leila asked.

"Have you taken your lunch break?" Helen asked.

"No."

"Let's eat together in the breakroom," she suggested.

Leila nodded. She'd been so lost in her thoughts about Mia that she'd neglected to recognize how hungry she was.

The breakroom was perfectly standard. It was a small square room with a few small round tables, an old fridge, a microwave that desperately needed to be cleaned, and several spare plastic utensils scattered throughout. It smelled faintly of tomato sauce and whatever else the other employees had been heating up moments earlier. Leila grabbed her lunchbox from the fridge and watched as Helen stood in front of the microwave.

"Just a sandwich for you today?" Helen asked.

Leila nodded. "What are you having?"

"Microwaveable burrito," she replied. "Busy today?" she asked as the microwave plate continued to spin.

"Yeah. I'm wrapping up work on a few projects. Plus I have an early evening meeting, so I'll be staying a little later today," Leila explained.

"Don't work yourself too hard. You always put out fantastic work," Helen said. She took a seat across from Leila and stretched her arms out. "Ugh, my back hurts sitting all day. Savor your youth while you can."

"I'm trying," Leila said, giggling some. She began to dig into her lunch, happy to have some company. Oftentimes she went out for lunch or ate alone in the breakroom. She got along with her coworkers well enough, but their lunches never aligned that often. She was happy to have Helen to eat with this afternoon.

"This may be a strange question," Helen said, "but have you ever considered advancing your career elsewhere?"

Leila blinked. "Well, I'd always be happy taking a higher position—"

"I mean moving to another city," Helen explained.

Leila shifted in her seat. "Oh. I mean, I don't know. I like it here," Leila said. "Maine has always been my home. It would feel weird to leave."

"Just something to consider," Helen said. "I don't know of any open positions anywhere, but I've seen a lot of potential in you already just from working here for a short period of time. I think you could easily land a higher corporate position in a larger city."

"Oh. I'm really flattered, but I don't know if that's something I'm looking for right now," Leila said quietly.

"No pressure," Helen said. "Though, if I hear of any open positions, I'll let you know."

"Okay. Thank you," Leila said.

While the rest of their lunch conversation was calm and lighthearted, Leila thought deeply on what Helen had said the rest of the afternoon. It was still ruminating in the back of her mind when she returned to her apartment that evening. Leila opened the door, expecting to see Mia, but upon seeing an empty couch, she suddenly remembered Mia was working a later shift.

Sighing, Leila headed to her room. As she changed out of her work clothes, she felt a chill run down her body. Leaving Maine frightened her. It was all she had ever known. Her friends, her family, Mia...they were all here. Living comfortably was something she had always desired, nothing more, but there was a voice nagging her in the back of her head that she couldn't avoid taking risks in life forever.

While eating some leftovers for dinner calmed these thoughts, once Leila was ready for bed, she had found something else to obsess over. Her feelings for Mia...

Leila pulled an old photo album from her bookshelf. Most of her belongings were at home, but she'd wanted to take some photos with her to have in her apartment. She'd been meaning to frame some old photos to decorate the place but had failed to get around to it, especially with all the chaos of Mia moving in.

Leila wiped the thin layer of dust from the photobook and began flipping through. While most of the photos were of her and her family, every once in a while, a picture of her and Mia would appear. Leila glanced at the photos and smiled. The feelings she held for Mia were coming back to her in large strides now.

Just glimpsing over the photographs, she remembered feeling butterflies as a kid when Mia would hold her hand to guide her somewhere. She remembered the joy of sitting on the back of Mia's bike as Mia rode them both by the beach. Braiding Mia's hair had been one of Leila's favorite past times at their sleepovers, even if Mia was often annoyed at having to undo all the small braids Leila had put in her hair the next morning. That love was young and naïve, Leila realized. At the time, she hadn't understood what she was feeling.

Now, however, Leila knew. She'd always loved Mia. Her heart had broken in two the day Mia left, so it was no wonder she was feeling overjoyed now that Mia had entered back into her life.

But she has a boyfriend, Leila thought disappointingly again. A stupid boyfriend who I...

She glanced up, noticing Fuji staring at her from his bed.

"Sorry. I was thinking some bad thoughts again," Leila murmured to him. Another chill ran through her body again. "Jeez, the fall weather is really kicking in," she said. She stood up briefly to turn the heater up, then sat back down to continue looking through the photobook.

Leila's heart ached as she turned each page. It was wrong of her to want something with Mia. Mia was too busy lost in her own grief, and she was in a committed relationship. Telling Mia how she felt would only add flame to the fire.

Tears began to roll down her cheeks as she sat on the floor. Leila gripped the carpet fibers and sobbed quietly. Never before had her mind been so torn. Only a few months ago, she'd been happy to welcome Mia as her roommate. They had grown closer in that time, and Leila finally felt their friendship was strengthening.

But now I feel like I'm going to ruin it all, she thought.

Fuji meowed quietly and walked up to Leila. He crawled into her lap and began to purr, soothing Leila. She ran her fingers through his fur and felt comforted by the vibrations of his purrs against her body.

"Sorry. I'm a mess, aren't I, Fuji?" she asked. She scratched behind his ear, listening to his purrs increase.

Leila sighed. For now, she would simply have to deal with these feelings. They were impossible to avoid so long as she and Mia lived with each other, and Leila was not going to kick Mia out for the sake of her own feelings. Still, Leila worried the longer they remained roommates, the more hopelessly she would fall for her.

Once again, a chill ran through Leila's body despite the heater running at full blast in her bedroom. Leila's limbs suddenly ached and hung heavily from her body. She supposed the exhaustion from a long week had finally taken over. What she was in need of was a good night's sleep.

After planting a few kisses to Fuji's head as a thank you for his comfort, she crawled into bed and found herself drifting off in a matter of moments.