Jennie
The only way to keep Lisa off my mind is to work harder, longer, and faster. I become submersed in my job more than ever before, barely pausing to eat lunch and never taking breaks. My boss is impressed. Some of my co-workers worry about me while others suspect I have something to prove. But I ignore their gossip. I can't get my mind off one person long enough to be concerned with what anyone else thinks of me. I don't care what they have to say.
I don't hear from Lisa the entire weekend. I'm a little disappointed - each day a tiny part of me hopes to find a note or some semblance of her presence. I want some sort of concrete evidence that she does, in fact, care.
But this doesn't happen until Monday afternoon.
On Monday, after returning from my lunch break, I find an enormously fat, stuffed cat sitting on my desk. The thing is so swollen that its short, stumpy arms and legs protrude straight out at its sides, each arm unable to touch the other or even come close, for that matter.
I pick it up. It's black and white, unlike Louis, and has a folded note pined to its hand which reads,
Hello Beautiful.
I know you want some space, but I saw this and it reminded me of you.
Nearly everything reminds me of you, although I know how much you love well-fed animals. Hae-in told me where Louis came from. Thank you for not bringing him to my house.
Is it bad if I admit I think about you constantly?
I'm sorry for everything. I hope you don't hate me forever.
Lisa.
I clutch the cat in my hand and smile. Then I place it in my lap, where it remains for the rest of my work day. All hope of forgetting about Lisa Manoban has officially gone to shit.