= Sarah POV =
After a hearty meal, Heather sent Ms. Jun back with Amber, explaining that she still had work-related things to discuss with me.
Heather walked Ms. Jun and Amber to the door while I piled up the finished dishes on the side of the table. A waitress came in and cleared the empty plates, and I asked for two more cups of water while she nodded and left with the empty dishes.
When Heather returned moments later, she had a tired look on her face and sat down with a sigh.
"Ok, I have to admit, I'm keeping you back for non-company related issues. I need someone to talk to and… I hope you'll hear me out for a bit," Heather said, looking for the first time, nervous.
"Well, if you're also going to confess to me, I will quit. I've already had more than enough confessions," I said, scooting closer to the tablet to order a parfait.
"Confessions? Hmm…I know Ruby just confessed to you, so who else confessed to you recently?" Heather asked, taking a sip from her cup of Ocha.
"Do you want one?" I asked, holding up the tablet to show her the selection of parfaits available.
"The strawberry parfait," Heather said without a beat and I added it to the order, "It was Chris wasn't it?" Heather added and took another sip of Ocha.
I felt my face go red, and I groaned, burying my face in my hands.
"Yesterday in the morning, and it has been so awkward. I don't know how to handle her," I replied.
"Well it was inevitable. She's been into you since our college days. I'm surprised it took her this long to get it out," Heather said with a snort, "I'm guessing you rejected her" Heather asked, topping up her Ocha from a kettle of Ocha that was provided.
"Well no. I mean, the thing is I like her, I really do, I just don't think I like her the way she likes me," I explained, leaning back on my hands and looking at the ceiling.
"Sarah, Sarah, look at me," Heather said.
I sighed, sat up, folded my hand in my lap, and looked up at Heather.
"Yes, are you going to scold me for getting involved with two of your friends?" I sighed, bracing myself for it.
"No, Sarah, I have something to confess," Heather said, taking another sip of Ocha, her eyes looking at me intensely over the rim of the teacup.
My eyes went wide, "What is it?" I asked softly, my hands in my lap tensing up.
"I love you," Heather said, her expression completely unreadable.
I stared at her, and she stared at me over the rim of her ocha.
"What?" I replied, my eyes growing wide, completely horridied.
"There! You've finally completed your set. You officially have gotten a confession from every partner of Ms. Jun's Café," Heather said as she put down her cup of ocha as she laughed, wiping tears from her eyes.
I groaned and rubbed my forehead with my hands "Oh my God, Heather, you almost gave me a heart attack. I cannot have another friend confessing their love for me; my heart cannot take losing another person to this thing called love," I lamented, running a hand nervously through my hair.
"Oh Sarah, but you seem so good at it! I should give you some kind of trophy, like a Heartbreaker Trophy or something. By the way, your reaction game to being confessed to is soul-crushin'; what's with that blank stare and look of horror? That would crush a regular person's heart. I wonder how Chris and Ruby are still holding on?" Heather snorted.
"Heather, this is not something to joke about! I am seriously having a problem with trying to manage their expectations. I'm not some sick collector going around trying to get people to confess to me!" I sulked as Heather giggled at my situation.
"Ah! Well maybe that's your problem, you aren't able to accept that friends can also be lovers," Heather said and smiled as the sliding doors opened and a waitress came in carrying our parfaits.
I had ordered a vanilla parfait so as it was placed onto the table, I pulled it over to my side eagerly.
The waitress placed the strawberry parfait in front of Heather, and placed the cutlery on a plate in the middle of the table before bowing and leaving, closing the door as she left.
"Of course, friends can't be lovers. A lover is someone you have a crush on. Someone you think fondly of from a distance, and then when said someone confesses, you start dating. A friend, on the other hand, is someone you have known for years. What friends have is trust, fun, and happiness. Lovers are…intense, dreamy and sexy. Those two worlds don't mix!" I exclaimed, picking up a long dessert spoon and stabbing the parfait.
"Well, that's where you're wrong. Not only can they mix, but it is also actually healthy if it is all of the above. You're just used to being approached and confessed to, so that is what you know to be the case, but there are many incidents of two people starting off as friends and slowly progressing towards lovers. Just because this is your first experience of it doesn't mean it doesn't happen," Heather pointed out.
"Well, I don't want things to happen that way. I…." I started and bit my lip, "I already have someone I love. I made a promise to them years ago, and until I find her, I can't fall for someone else," I said quietly, gazing down at my parfait.
Heather sat up a little straighter, "Woah…really? Is this some kind of childhood promise to be together forever sort of thing?" She asked, curious.
I looked up and smiled, nodding "Yeah, exactly that. I literally moved to the city to find her, but it's been so hard. I'm starting to wonder whether it really was meant to be…"
Heather shook her head as she helped herself to a bit of the parfait.
"Sarah, that's no way to live your life. People come and go, and it's ok to have love for a misconnection, but you can't live your whole life hoping that you will be able to reconnect. What if that person has already moved on and fallen for someone new?" Heather asked softly, "Maybe it's time to move on?"
I bit my lip. "Well I don't want to. You don't…you have no idea how much this person means to me," I said and looked up, my eyes all blurry from unshed tears, "They said they would come back, and I believe them. At the very least I just…I just want to meet her one last time, even if she is with someone, and say goodbye," I confessed, swallowing hard as my lips trembled.
Heather reached across the table and grabbed my hand gently.
"Then why don't you at least, in the meantime, explore something with the people right in front of you?" Heather asked gently, giving my hand a little squeeze.
I let out another groan and leaned back, grabbing my hair in frustration.
"Heather, that's what I've been doing. That's why I have had multiple partners. The only problem is…It just can't be Chris," I explained exasperatedly.
"You don't understand. If things change, if I give Chris a chance, what if we break up? Not only have I not found my one true love, I'll lose Chris forever, and I can't stand the idea of never speaking to her again!" I exclaimed, then covered my mouth, my heart beating so fast.
I couldn't believe I said that out loud.
A look of amusement passed across Heathers face. A knowing smile tugged on the corner of her lips. She picked up her dessert spoon and cooly scooped up some ice cream, "You wanna run that by me again?" Heather said as she thoughtfully ate her ice cream.
"Oh My God," I said, my eyes wide as my heart pounded in my chest. I can't stand the idea of not speaking to her again….I can't stand the idea of not seeing her again….I can't stand the idea of not being near her…not touching her…not kissing her…
"And the penny drops," Heather said, shaking her head " Took you long enough. Based on how you are reacting, it sounds like what you feel for Chris, is pretty…how did you put it…intense, dreamy and sexy?" Heather said and grinned.
"No!" I gasped, covering my mouth with my palm in shock, "I can't, I can't have feelings for her, I don't feel any different, but why am I reacting this way?" I said, feeling panic rising inside me.
"But you said it yourself; you can't stand the idea of not speaking to her. The very idea of never seeing her again caused you pain; I could hear it in your voice. Have you ever felt that way about anyone else?" Heather asked calmly.
I shook my head.
"What about the last person you dated? Have you spoken to them since you broke up?" Heather asked.
"N-No I…I guess I didn't even give it another thought" I replied, stabbing my ice-cream and watching it fall apart in the small glass.
"Well think about I this way. If Ms. Jun was to move to France and take a five-year course on how to cook a banana peel, would you feel the same way you are feeling right now about Chris blocking your number?" Heather asked, folding her hands together and looking at me sternly across the table.
I shook my head "I'd wish her good luck, and I probably wouldn't even text or call her."
"So, it just might be that the reason why you don't believe that a friend can become a lover is because Chris has you wrapped around her finger and you didn't even notice it. She might have been *telling you* she was your friend, and treated you exactly like how a lover does. She's made you so comfortable, you don't even notice just how much you depend on her, perhaps more than any regular person should depend on another person who is not their partner," Heather said, knowingly.
I blush, thinking back on Chris' confession, on how she said she had lied and was never my friend from the start. Base on what Heather explained, I finally was starting to understand what Chris had meant.
"So Chris had ulterior motives when she became friends with me?" I asked, feeling a little uneasy.
"Not necessarily," Heather mused, finishing her parfait and picking up her ocha, "Perhaps it started out as her wanting to be your friend, but with people like Chris, at some point she must have started crushing on you and…well…," Heather sighed and shook her head, "I know Chris. I've been friends with her since college, and she is extremely competitive. If there is a goal to achieve, she has to win, and not just win, but beat out the competition. Why do you think Ruby and Chris are constantly at odds with each other? Those two are on equal terms; I'd even say they are each other's best friends. They are always in it to win it, no matter what," Heather pointed out "Why do you think Ruby is going after you? Between the two of them, sorry, but it seems like you're a prize to be won."
"Gosh, that's awful. I don't want to be anyone's prize!" I said, making a face, but I could see that Heather had a point.
"I guess you're right. Chris has never challenged me to anything. In fact, she's always just given me anything I've ever wanted. I've grown so accustomed to just asking for something and expecting that she'd just give it to me. Not one of my partners has ever been so generous with their time, or their money, or even their home. When I compare Chris and anyone else, Chris always comes out on top, so yeah, I just wrote off any of her odd or touchy requests as part of the friendship of being friends with such a fantastic person," I explained and sighed.
"So…Chris has always been perfect for you. Giving you whatever you desire, like a prince of sorts. Perhaps Chris is just not physically attractive to you?" Heather asked, taking another sip of her tea.
I felt myself grow hot, and I pushed the ice cream aside and buried my face in my arms.
"Oh! Oh…so you do find her attractive. So she's attractive, reliable, always there for you, and literally gave you a place to stay. I bet she cooks for you, too. Seriously, Sarah, think back, when you first met her, what was your real, honest reaction to meeting her, hmm?" Heather asked, "Maybe the problem here is not that you can't fall in love with her, but you have always been in love with her; you just never *defined* it as such," Heather said and shrugged, "It happens. That's why some people only realize how much they love someone when they let them go"
I rubbed my face, trying so hard to see if that was how I really felt. It was so confusing because internally, I felt like I had the same kind of affection for Chris as I did for everyone else…so why was losing her like a death sentence to me?
I thought back to the first time I met Chris. We were at college, and I was just a young country girl, turning up to campus late, trying to find a place to stay for the night.