If she were to pick a theme song for Lillian and Sam’s relationship, “The Heart Is Not So Smart” feels like it was written for them. Sam was a heartbreak in disguise, and Lillian knew it, but her heart wanted him. It had wanted him since their first date, when they shared a meal. It was at a pretentious restaurant whose food wasn’t worth the amount on the menu, but everyone hyped it because it made them feel important.

As vain as that was, Lillian and Sam shared that in common. The love for vanity fuelled their ambition. In that regard, they worked as a couple. Lillian had great business acumen, while Sam could sell ice to an Eskimo. They had lots of adventures and ventures together.

Sam’s family and friends loved Lillian. The same couldn’t be said for Lillian’s family and friends. That could be attributed to the numerous times that Sam had cheated on Lillian. The first time was the most dramatic one. Lillian made a surprise visit to his house when she found him with a girl who wasn’t too happy with being told to hide.

She made sure to tell Lillian all the minute details of her affair with Sam. It wasn’t even a year into their relationship. That was the deepest cut yet. Lillian reported Sam to everyone she could think of. It took external intervention from Sam’s family and friends to reunite them.

Sam was reminded of the strengths in their relationship. They worked so well together that their growth, his in particular, was very evident. The advice lasted for a couple of months. He spent those months making Lillian feel like she was the only girl in the world. Frankly, Lillian didn’t need all that to love Sam. She loved him involuntarily. The kind of love Lillian showed Sam wasn’t something you could teach. She naturally considered his well-being, knew his strengths and weaknesses, and thought of how to work with each. She accepted his friends and family as her own.

The next time Sam strayed, he did it with a neighbour. This time, Lillian decided it was best to remain friends.  They had a couple of ventures together, and they liked the income they got, so friendship sounded like a good compromise. Only, Lillian was still in love with him.

Not surprisingly, the faux friendship kept them in touch. After the excitement of the neighbour wore off, Sam wanted to get back with Lillian.

“I was just scared that we were settling too soon,” Sam told Lillian.

Like a reused script, Lillian caught him again. By now, she knew the signs to look for. Lillian was a wonderful woman and had many suitors. Between the breaks with Sam, she tried going on dates, but nothing ever took. Her heart belonged to Sam. She went on some of the dates to hurt Sam. Sometimes it worked. At the time, it looked like he was jealous because he still loved her, but in hindsight, he was only concerned that he was losing his hold on her.

His motives didn’t matter to Lillian because she kept vigil for him. “Men take longer to decide on settling down,” she convinced herself. Then, on one of their breaks, he started seeing Hellen. Interestingly, Lillian was there when Sam met Hellen. She was a friend to one of his boys. None of them expected Sam and Hellen to date. In fact, Lillian and Hellen bonded at that party.

When the rumours of their relationship started, nobody thought it would be anything more than casual. Lillian thought it was just another passing cloud. Then news of her pregnancy spread, and a dowry ceremony was held a few months later. He was officially Hellen’s.

All the reasons Lillian had come up with for keeping Sam in her life crumbled. The income from the ventures, their friendship and shared community were no longer sufficient. It dawned on her that she had wasted her time waiting for him, while it didn’t take long for him to settle down with someone else.

The heart wasn’t so smart after all. For all her killer instinct in business, she misread her situation with Sam. Watching him start a family with Hellen cut the deepest. This time, she accepted that he would never be hers in the way she had hoped for.

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