Sip by Sip

Chapter Seven: Surreally Blue

That day Mia, a coworker of Noah's, confronted him. It was the same rainy Tuesday, yet it was later on in the afternoon.

She pulled him aside and claimed she had fallen for him.

He didn't say a word. He couldn't say a word. Of all the things that could have happened that day, he was not expecting that. Mia was a lovely young lady, in fact the two had grown quite close and were extremely fond of each other, but never had Noah thought of her like that.

He didn't know what to do. She stared up at him with her round, surreally blue eyes, nervous and scared about what he'd say.

Or what he wouldn't say. He turned around, and walked out.

The guilt was immediate. The anxiety was overwhelming. The regret was overpoweringly pungent.

He went home to Juliana, but he couldn't handle her that night, no, not after what he had just encountered with Mia. He skipped his dinner, said a quick goodnight, and went to sleep.

Mia had become one of the many complicated things in his life, and for once he wished for to see Gemma sooner than the morning. He needed to vent, and he couldn't to Juliana, she'd flip. So sleeping to forget his worries was his choice of action.

But he lay awake, thinking, thinking, thinking too much. His mind was unrestful.

He heard Juliana leave, and this saddened him even more. He worried she may feel neglected.

And he worried he would never fall asleep, he worried his friendship with Mia would become strained under her new feelings for him, and he worried that his relationship with Gemma would turn out the same way. He got up, cracked a window, and listened to the rain to calm himself down.

When he finally slipped into sleep, it was uneasy and the farthest from restful. He tossed and turned for the rest of the night, and well into the early hours of the morning.