Chapter 364 Devastated
Amy sat in front of her laptop, browsing through every article she could find on glioblastoma. The more she searched, the more hopeless she felt as she knew Miley must have also done this. Miley wasn't one to easily give up without giving something a lot of thought.
She broke into a sob as flashes of Miley at different stages of their life ran through her mind. Images of them as children, playing with Miley's dolls, feeding birds at the parks. Miley running into her little bedroom in the servant's quarter's to announce she had started seeing her menstruation.
Miley prancing around her bedroom in her first bra with a proud smile on her face.
Miley crying and begging Amy's mother to allow Amy to attend the same high school with her, but her mother had refused, insisting that even though the girls were friends, she couldn't accept charity. It was her duty to raise her children herself, and she couldn't afford to send Amy to such an expensive school.
Miley handing a shopping bag to her after every shopping trip with her parents.
Miley holding her and crying with her when the news of her elder sister's suicide came to them.
Miley dolling her up for her first date and dressing up too, claiming they were both attending a school party so that Amy's mother would let them. Miley watching from a discreet distance to be sure that she was okay, and Miley breaking the nose of her so-called boyfriend when he tried to grope her without her consent and had insulted her by calling her a mere servant's daughter.
Miley, her best friend and sister who after the cruelty she had faced at the hands of Rachel, had insisted that her parents create a foundation for bullied children to help them fight against oppression from oppressors like Rachel who because of their parent's status in the society might get away with their crimes.
It was Miley who had sent her a ticket and everything she needed to go to school with her in the same college abroad and had funded it all from the pocket money she had been saving, making it seem like it was a scholarship to Amy's unsuspecting mother.
Miley polished, beautiful, and confident, who she had talked to almost every day of her life since she was a kid. Even the distance between them when Miley left the country had not stopped their communication or friendship.
Miley, who had sent down a half bottle of wine wrapped in a white towel to celebrate her job at I-Global, laughing as she told her over the phone that they needed to drink from the same bottle for it to be a celebration.
Miley teaching her how to apply makeup and play tennis, saying it was a classy game. Miley who was always willing to lend a helping hand to those in need. Miley who always tried to find the best in people and found humor in every situation.
Amy sobbed as she thought of the Miley who was dying. Why? Why Miley? This was not fair. Miley didn't deserve that. She didn't deserve to lose her best friend in this manner.
She had hoped that Miley would deny it and tell her it was nonsense or maybe a prank or misunderstanding. She hadn't wanted to hear that it was true.
How could she live knowing that she wouldn't be able to talk to Miley anymore? She wouldn't be able to spend her leave traveling around with her?
She sat up when it suddenly occurred to her that she was thinking of herself, not Miley. If she was feeling this way, how must Miley be feeling? Miley had so many dreams and aspirations, and now she was going to die?
It must be difficult, seeing as she had not been able to bring herself to tell her parents about it. She needed to pull herself together and be strong for Miley. Crying wasn't going to help either her or Miley.
Amy stood up and walked to the bathroom to run some water over her face. Standing by the mirror, she took a deep breath to calm herself as she looked back at her puffy face, her eyes red and swollen.
With a sigh, she returned to her living room and paced the entire length of her little apartment as she thought about what she could do to help Miley. One thing was sure, regardless of whatever Miley said, she couldn't let Miley be alone at a time like this.
If Miley had just six months left, then by God, she would spend that time with her doing whatever she wanted to do and making their remaining time together memorable for her.
Having made up her mind on that, she returned to her laptop, and this time she had a determined expression on her face as she typed her resignation letter. She loved her job and was very proud of it, but she wasn't going to let it get in her way of being there for Miley.
Even though it was sudden, she was going to beg Lucy to let her resign, and if Lucy refused, she was just going to have to provoke Lucy into firing her.
After typing the letter and going through it, she sent it as a mail to her computer in the office, and then she picked up her car key and walked out of her apartment without bothering to fix her appearance.
Once she got to the company, she didn't care about the weird looks she received from other staff as she walked past them and headed for her department office.
Immediately she got there, she ignored her colleagues who were looking at her curiously as she headed straight to her desk. She printed out her resignation letter quickly and went to Lucy's office.
Lucy, who was on the phone with the head of the design unit at the factory, glanced at the door when Amy knocked, "Please, hold on," she said to the man before calling out to who was at the door to come in.
She was surprised when Amy walked into her office, looking completely unlike herself and in a worse state than she had been that morning, "Please, I will call you back. I have to attend to someone right now," Lucy said apologetically before hanging up.
"What is wrong?" She asked as she walked around her desk to go to Amy.
"I'm here to submit my resignation letter," Amy said, making Lucy's brows draw together in concern.
"Resignation? Why that all of a sudden?"
"It's nothing. I just don't want to work here anymore," Amy said, and her lips quivered as she spoke, shaming her.
"Did something happen? Amy, you know you can talk to me, right? There is no way I'm letting you leave my office without knowing what's wrong with you," Lucy said as she placed a hand around Amy's shoulders and guided her to sit on one of the chairs in the office.
Tears gathered in Amy's eyes as she looked at Lucy, and somehow she believed Lucy would understand. She had a best friend, after all. One who had dropped everything and had even broken up with her boyfriend in public just to run over to her. Lucy would definitely understand.
"I just found out that my best friend is dying. She has cancer," Amy cried, and Lucy teared up immediately.
"Oh, dear!" Lucy murmured as she embraced Amy.
Although she couldn't exactly call Amy her friend yet, Amy wasn't entirely just an employee to her either. Amy had remained by her side and stayed loyal to the point of challenging her colleagues who she had known way longer before her. Amy had given her the pep talk she needed just the previous day to act like the team leader she was rather than looking down on her ability.
Amy's body shook as she cried once again. Saying the words out loud seemed to tear down the dam that had been preventing her tears from falling for the last hour. Admitting that her best friend was dying shattered her heart.
She held on to Lucy as she cried while Lucy patted her back, not knowing anything to say to her. What could she say? She couldn't even imagine how devastated she would be if anything happened to Sonia. No. She didn't even want to imagine it.
Although she didn't know just how close Amy must be to her best friend, but she knew that whatever they had must be very special if Amy was choosing to resign because of it.
As Amy struggled to pull herself together, Lucy handed her the box of tissues on her desk, and Amy drew out a few pieces as she blew her nose into it and wiped the tears from her face.
"I'm sorry I'm a mess," she said apologetically, and Lucy waved off her apology as she wiped her own face.
"I'm sorry about your best friend. I wish I knew what to say to make you feel better, but I don't. I don't think anything would make you feel better. I actually don't think anyone should feel okay after hearing such news," Lucy said, and Amy nodded in agreement.
"What is your plan?" Lucy asked, and Amy shrugged.
"I just want to spend what little time she has left with her doing whatever she wants and taking care of her," Amy said, tearing up again, and she looked up to blink back her tears.
"Do you think you might want to come back to work after? I could get a temporary replacement for you until then," Lucy suggested, and Amy looked at her, surprised that Lucy would make such an offer.
"You will do that? For me?" She asked, and Lucy smiled when she saw the hope in Amy's eyes.
"We are a team, remember? Apart from the fact that I like you, you are good at your job, and I would rather work with you than anyone else. Instead of a resignation letter, you can email me an official letter requesting sick leave. I will print it out myself and put it in your file. I will talk to the CEOs. So feel free to do whatever you need to do for your best friend. Your job will be waiting for you when you get back," Lucy promised, and Amy's heart swelled with gratitude.
"Thank you so much, Director Perry," Amy greeted, deeply touched by Lucy's kindness.
"Please call me Lucy. I will like to believe that you see me as not just your superior in the office. I'll call you from time to time to check on you and know how your best friend is doing," Lucy said as they both stood, and Amy embraced her.
"Thank you," Amy said once again before leaving the office.
It wasn't until she had gotten into her car and was on her way home that she remembered that Miley had said she was with Lucy's twin brother.
How did she know him? She remembered Miley saying she had run into him by coincidence and that she would talk to her after he left. After he leaves where? The Hotel? What were they doing together? Should she have mentioned it to Lucy? She shook her head.
Miley's relationship with Lucy's twin brother wasn't her business. She was just going to go home, type the letter Lucy had asked her to send, and then book the next available flight to go be with Miley.