About 2 weeks had gone by and Nora still wasn't talking to Linnie. She felt he had no right to listen in on her conversation, even if it wasn't intentional. During work, she would occasionally leave the daycare for lunch, and would glare at him until he was gone. Nora had also found it funny that the few instances they had made contact with each other, Linnie almost immediately looked away, as if she had a large zit on her face.
He also didn't know a damn thing about teaching probation 14 either. The morning after they had gotten coffee, Nora had decided to try Linnie's more gentle and patient approach, only for her to be completely disrespected that morning. Paper planes flying around the classroom, spitballs, and the occasional smacked gum noise. It was enough to drive Nora over the edge and assign everyone an extra 20 pages worth of reading notes for Friday's quiz.
As she made her way to the Fairy academy to start her afternoon class, her headache grew more intense as she sat down her desk, contemplating a change in her career. But as she sat down, she noticed a large manilla folder on her desk.
Weird. Jorgen never said anything about a new student
She opened up the folder to look at the student's profile, only for her headache to get even worse and for her to let out a loud groan. The picture had the bubblegum haired fairy on it, and her name showed up as Willow Peachcreek, getting probation for failing the inspection that Jorgen had hosted over the week. Nora couldn't help but smirk a little bit at the reasoning. Of course, she wouldn't take this job seriously. She couldn't even keep her googly eyes away from Arthur for two seconds.
Nora's haughty smirk stayed in place as the class filed in, with Willow choosing to sit in the back of the class as soon as she saw Nora.
"Well Miss Peachcreek, it's nice of you to join us for class. Will you sit up front? I'd like to get you caught up with the rest of the class.", Nora asked, looking directly at Willow, who glared at her. Willow rolled her eyes in response but lazily grabbed her books off the desk, and moved to the desk in the center of the classroom, "Better. Now then, I was going to give out our weekly quiz, but since we have a new student, I think we should let her introduce herself first."
"Yeah, you wish old lady."
"Now Miss Peachcreek. I have half a mind to fail you right now for that little attitude of yours."
Another groan was heard from her girl as she finally went up and faced the rest of the class, none of whom who looked like they wanted to be there.
"Hey. I'm Willow. I'm here because I failed inspection.", she said with a rather monotone voice. The class mumbled apathetic Hi Willows before Nora allowed her to return to her seat. Oh, this was gonna be fun. It was high time someone taught her some responsibility.
"Now then, since Willow decided to grace us with her prescence, I think we can hold off the quiz until Monday, but I want each of you to pay extra attention because this lesson is fair game.", Nora said, turning towards the chalkboard, "Today we'll be covering Section 5 of Da Rule Book. Open your copies to page 400."
After a while, the class was finally dismissed and Willow zoomed out of there before Nora could have any more words with her. Nora laughed to herself quietly as she packed her things up to go home, excited to fail Willow on her first quiz Monday. As she began to float out of the building though, she heard a crying sound coming from the training dorms that some of the fairies lived in.
"Oh come on now. She'll get over it eventually. You'll be ok", Nora heard Arthur's soothing voice call out.
"I-I know. It was just awful! She kept asking me questions I didn't know, and made me look like an idiot!"
Yeah, probably cause you are one
"She's just upset right now. I promise, once she gets over it, she'll be easier to deal with and you'll be ok.", Artur sighed, "There now. It'll get better soon."
"How do you know?"
"I was married to her, babe. She's the type to hold grudges, yes, but she doesn't like much of anyone anyways. She's just taking it all out on you. I don't think it's personal."
"Yes it is! You left her for me! Of course it's personal!", Willow sobbed, "How could you love someone like me anyways? She has it all together! She has a job and a house! I live in a apartment and don't think I'll even pass this class."
"You'll get it thought it. Nora might be financially well off, yes, but you mean everything to me. You're fun and free spirited, and really know how to let loose. I want to be with someone who I could be comfortable and free with. Not to mention, you're way too beautiful to be questioning yourself right now."
The last comment nearly made Nora vomit. Even when they were together, Arthur would never call Nora beautiful. At first, she didn't mind it because she thought he loved how she knew how to take control of situations and had no patience for failure, but now that Willow was in the picture, she almost wanted to but in and ask Arthur if he thought she was ugly. It wasn't even just that. Nora felt herself getting more and more hurt every time Arthur compared her to that slut. Fun. Free spirited. What does Arthur know? What about all their bar visits together? Didn't he enjoy listening to her rants or did he just pretend to be interested?
Nora waited for a while before Willow's sobs died down, replaced by several kissing noises that made Nora want to vomit even more.
"I love you."
"I love you too babe. Oh, I almost forgot.", Arthur said, forcing Nora to pay attention, "I got you a present. Happy anniversary, darling."
"But our anniversary isn't until tomorrow."
"I know, but I couldn't help myself.", he said, "Our reservation is at 7 tomorrow. said he would be more than willing to babysit Bella if you want."
"No, he's such a sweet little guy but I'm sure he's got other things to do. I'll ask my parents if they can watch her. Oh, I can't wait! You know how much I love Chez Fairee!", Willow cried before more kissing noises commenced. Nora had initially thought they were dating at the bar, but now that they had an anniversary and a child together, she was beginning to think Arthur had already re-married after all.
Why was it that Arthur seemed to forget about her while Nora was still holding on? She knew anything she did to try and win his back was essentially pointless, but she at least thought Arthur still thought of her well. Nora was pissed at how dismissive Arthur seemed to be while talking to Willow.
Well, screw you too Arthur! If you want to keep that stupid little girlfriend of yours, then fine. You're not the only one capable of moving on!
She thought about confronting him and embarrassing the couple at the restaurant but shook her head against it. There was a good chance anything she could plan would backfire and get her arrested while the two lovebirds continued with their lives. But maybe if she just made him feel like he can't change his mind, then he would wonder what he was doing and come crawling back to Nora like a lost puppy.
At last, Nora had heard nothing but silence but had to hide quickly since Arthur and Willow floated out of the cabins in order to pick up Bella and head home. She watched them as they made their way towards the daycare and left with the baby in Arthur's arms and Linnie smiling and waving at her. As soon as they were gone, the green haired man went back inside, the lights still on. Maybe he was picking up the toys those brats left everywhere. Man, he really needed to toughen up.
As much as she hated it, she decided to ask (or rather tell) Linnie about going to Chez Fairee for dinner tomorrow. While she was mostly focused on getting back at Arthur, as she made her way to the daycare, Nora kept thinking about how she acted at the coffee place. She admitted that her stomach pinged a little bit seeing Linnie cry before she left, despite being so mad with him. He was one of the few people that had at least been somewhat nice to her, so she had to give him at least a little credit. Nora hated apologizing almost more than anything in the world, but if it would get Arthur to ask for her forgiveness after seeing her in another supposed relationship, Nora guessed it would be worth it.
When she arrived at the pink door, she knocked on the door, poofing a bouquet of red rosed in her right arm. Linnie opened it and almost immediately closed it, stopped short by Nora shoving her foot inside.
"We need to talk, Linnie.", Nora sighed, allowing herself in, "First off, these are for you. I felt bad about how I treated you when we went to get coffee, even thought what you did wasn't acceptable by any standards."
"O-Oh Nora. I'm still really sorry. You just seemed upset and I-"
"Save it, Linnie. It's ok. I forgive you.", Nora said, hearing a sigh of relief from the male, "That's not why I'm here. I was..uh..wondering something. Are the kids gone?"
"Yes. They all went home for the weekend."
"Alright. I was wondering if you wanted to get dinner tomorrow evening, at Chez Fairee."
"I don't know, Nora. I don't have the money right now."
"Don't worry about that, cupcake. I've got enough money to buy the damn place. Do you want to come or not? I'll take you home right after, how about it?"
"Alright then. I do need something to do anyways since I don't have any babysitting gigs right now.", Linnie said, "Do you want me to pick you up or..?"
"No, send me your address and I'll come get you. Don't you worry your pretty head about anything else. Just be dressed and ready by the time I get you. I don't like it when people run late."
"Oh ok yes. I'll be ready. Thank you for the roses, Nora. They're beautiful."
"Of course.", Nora nodded, before headed through the door, "Remember, 7 tomorrow. I'm not waiting late."
As the sun set for the evening, the clock ticked closer towards 7 while Nora was getting ready. She had just taken a shower and curled her head before she went to her closet and tried to find something to wear. She didn't want to wear a dress on the first date; she didn't want to give off the impression that she was weak, vulnerable, and wanted a man to be dependent on. As she rummaged through her closet, she found a navy pants suit that she was worn at her job interview instead. She threw it on and paired the suit with a black belt around her pants, and black loafers. She also slapped a watch on her left arm so she could keep an eye on the time.
Once her watch said it was about 6:40, she scrummaged to find her wand and the sticky note that Linnie had given her. She grabbed her wallet and stuffed it in her pants pocket, before finding her wand and his address, making her way towards his place. About a second later, she found herself staring at an apartment door to a place much smaller than Nora's comfy home. The building itself was thin and pink, much like Nora's home, but saw multiple people in the different windows. She went through the door and found herself not in a living room, but rather a lobby room with a secretary typing at his computer. Nora ignored him and walked down the hall and took the stairs towards the 3rd floor where Linnie's apartment, Apt. 300, rested. She knocked on the door, putting her wand away and straightening her suit jacket.
"Be right there. Just need to clean my glasses really fast", his soft, sweet little voice called out. After a few minutes, he finally came out and looked up and down at Nora with a slight look in awe. His posture was a bit timid, and he wore a lime green turtleneck sweater and tight black pants with a belt across his waist. He also wore black boots that seemed to have a slight heel at the bottom, making him even taller than he normally was.
"I'm sorry I took so long to get ready. I was trying to decide between the green and pink, though I thought you might be sick of pink right now, hehe.", he said, looking at her outfit again, "You look really nice, Nora. "
"Yeah I know. It's what I aced my interview it, cupcake.", Nora said, smiling at him, "You don't clean up too bad yourself, even though pink would have looked nice on you."
"Thank you, dear."
"Don't call me dear. I keep telling you this, Linnie.", she sighed, trying to hold her annoyance in. "Alright, if you're ready, let's go. We're a bit early so we might have to wait but I'd rather be early than late."
"Yes d- I mean Nora. Sorry."
"You don't have to apologize all the time. Just relax..", she stretched out the last word as he got closer towards her, getting ready to poof over her. She grabbed his waist and hugged him towards her, almost inhaling the Japanese blossom scent he had. taking her wand a poofing them towards the restaurant.
As they expected, they had to wait 15 minutes since they had arrived before their reservation, so Nora and Linnie decided to sit by the bench and wait for their buzzer to go off. Linnie seemed to be squirming in his black pants a bit.
"What's wrong with you? Do you not know how to relax?", Nora asked, watching Linnie's squirming.
"I'm just a little nervous I guess. It's been a while since I went out for anyone other than to babysit."
"You don't go to the store or get drinks or something?"
"No, I go to the grocery store and the library. Sometimes, I go get a cup of coffee if I'm out and have time to before work. But, I don't drink and I don't have much of a need to go to these restaurants since I can just cook at home."
"It's just a restaurant. Not like there's a monster that's gonna eat you. Why are you so nervous?"
"I-I don't want to ruin this for you. Y-You didn't have to waste your money for me."
"I know I didn't, but I wanted to."
"Why? I thought you didn't like me because I eavesdropped on you."
"No. I was just mad at you, but it's ok no. I guess you didn't mean any actual harm.", Nora sighed, "Everything's just been hard on me since Arthur left and seeing him just made me upset, that's all. I didn't think anyone was listening."
"Oh no. Is there anything I can do?"
"No sweetie. Just relax. That's all I ask.", Nora said, trying to imitate Arthur's soothing, comforting voice, despite feeling so uncomfortable. She was used to getting comforted by his warm embrace, not the other way around. The two sat in silence for a few more minutes until Nora's buzzer went off, allowing the pair to go inside. Nora cheered slightly in victory as the waiter led them towards a table that was somewhat close to the bar, where Arthur and Willow seemed to be seated at, enjoying two large glasses of campaign each. Nora stared at them while Linnie was distracted looking at the menu, wondering if Arthur would even breathe in her direction.
"Hello and welcome to Ches Fairee. I'll be your waiter this evening. Can I get you two started off with some drinks?", a deep female voice said, floating towards Nora's table.
"Oh! Can I please just have some wat-"
"Two glasses of red wine, if you don't mind.", Nora called louder, despite Linnie's protest, "I'm not gonna get you drunk. You need to chill out."
"Excellent choice. Can I get you two an appetizer or are you ready to order now?"
"Uh..I guess I'll have the steak and green beans. Medium rare.", Nora said, looking towards Linnie.
"Could I have some of your salmon, please? And a salad if it's ok."
"Yes sir. I'll bring those out of you two right away.", the waiter said, leaving the two to themselves.
"Nora, why did you tell her I wanted wine. I-I don't drink.", Linnie whimpered, squirming a bit again. Nora rolled her eyes.
"It's fine. Having one drink is not going to get you drunk. It shouldn't anyways. Come on, you can cut loose for once in your life. Besides, you said you wanted to do something to make me feel better, and you stressing out over a drink is the opposite. It's not going to kill you, cupcake. It's just a little wine."
"I..you're right. I'm sorry. I'll drink it.", he sighed, grabbing his glass and taking a small sip. As he focused on his drink, Nora turned her head to look at Arthur and Willow once more, who didn't even notice Nora was in the same building. "What are you staring at?"
"Oh, uh..nothing. Just keep drinking. I was just wondering where the bathroom was. Just in case.", she said, turning her back towards the couple. At last, the food arrive and the waiter poured the couple another drink of wine. Nora and Linnie dug into their food, while sipping their wine, talking about their current career plans and what they wanted to do with their lives.
"Well..you know I've always wanted kids of my own, but never got the chance.", he said, his face looking a bit red. "You know Nora. I always thought your hair was pretty."
"Really?', Nora said, shocked. Looked at him, Linnie seemed to be a bit more relaxed and his shoulders weren't as tense as they were. There was actually a smile on his face that didn't seem shy or timid.
"Yeah..it looks like a bunch of little swirls! Haha..", he laughed, his body swaying a little bit. "Kinda want to pet it."
"Keep dreaming pal. No one touches the hair.", Nora snapped, half-jokingly half serious. "Not even Arthur got away with it."
"Pssh..Arthur doesn't know what he left behind haha. Oh HIC! Pardon me", he hiccupped, before laughing some more. It was very high pitched and sweet, something Nora liked very much. Even when he was drunk, Arthur's voice was still elegant but boring, but Linnie's sounding like a bird calling. He struggled to keep his reading glasses on his face, as it got redder and redder. Geez, no wonder he didn't drink. He was such a lightweight.
He continued to laugh as Nora felt her body tingle slightly. It was soft and high-pitched, a bit louder than what he normally sounded like, but it still kept that elegant gentleness Nora found incredibly attractive. She continued to talk to him as he spoke back, now much more confident than he normally presented himself. He had even called her beautiful several times, much more than Arthur had in their entire relationship. Nora wasn't even sure if she was still here for a man that was going to ignore her presence anymore.
Despite his confidence and sweet, sweet laugh, Nora did feel some sort of worry as Linnie started to sip the third glass the waiter sent. His body was rather thin, so she worried that he would accidentally drink too much, and drown his body with it if he wasn't careful.
"Uh..Linnie. You should slow down. That's your third glass. I haven't even finished my second yet.", Nora started, as he continued to smile and laugh.
"It's fine! I'll be fine. You told me to relax, and that's what I'm doing. Ha ha..", he said, now barely sitting up straight, his leg starting to poke out a bit. "Oh, you're so pretty in that suit."
"Yeah I think we've establish that, Linnie. Now sit up straight.", Nora commanded, watching Linnie sit up and then fall back down on his left side, nearly falling out of the table, where the waiter stood.
"I..guess I better bring your bill. I'm assuming no more drinks tonight?", she asked. Nora shook her head.
"No. I should probably take him home.", Nora said, grabbing out her card. "Here. I'm paying for our meals."
"Wow Nora. You look so tall from down here!", Linnie said, looking at Nora's mixed amused but serious look on her face. After she had paid, she grabbed Linnie up from the floor, grabbing on to his soft sweater, hugging him so he didn't fall again. Nora made sure he was steady before she got her wand out of her pants pocket, getting ready to poof out of here before Arthur's voice called her.
"Nora? What are you doing here?"
POOF. Oh of course. Now he noticed me! How could he not notice that he was sitting behind him the entire time. Nora groaned slightly to herself. She had allowed Linnie's behavior to distract her from Arthur and Willow. She wanted to feel angry but couldn't. Despite wanting to beat herself up for not paying them any attention, she did like listening to his laugh, and he was so sweet to her. She liked how much more open he was at complimenting her, and how he was willing to let Nora take control without much complaints. Not to mention, how absolutely adorable he can be sometimes.
Nora led Linnie back towards his apartment, grabbing his key out of his pants pocket and unlocking it, leading her towards a rather cutesy looking living room, with rose pink walls and a maroon carpet. The flowers she brought him rested in a glass vase in his small kitchen and there were throw pillows on his couch. She lied him down while he kicked his legs a bit, positioning himself on the couch. She went into his bedroom, and grabbed one of the blankets off his bed, covering Linnie with it before removing his reading glasses for him and getting ready to head home. But before he could get up from her kneeling position, Nora felt a small wet peck on her right cheek.