Chapter Four:
Sealed Lips
The night consisted of a lot of talking. Norah felt she knew Greg inside and out. And then they sat there-er, laid there, rather, on his couch. He kissed her neck as he unbuttoned her pink shirt and his warm hand crept up her tank top. She took off his shirt. He suddenly stopped and sat up.
Questions rushed into her head. "Did I do something wrong?" Norah sat up too.
"No.no.but I did."
"What? Are you saying this was a mistake? Or.or." Norah demanded.
"No way," Greg smiled with satisfaction. "It's just that the guys-Warrick and Nick-they've been on my case all day saying that if I touched you that they would kill me."
Norah's eyes questioned him with fury. "What makes you think I would tell them what we did? I wouldn't let them hurt you anyway."
"I-I just thought you told Nick everything and I just didn't want to do anything wrong." Greg looked at her and then reached down to the royal blue carpeted floor and picked up her shirt he had thrown there carelessly. "I can take you home now.I mean.I would want to go to-I mean-"
Norah cut off his stammering with a smile, "I don't want to leave-unless you want me to."
"No, definitely not," Greg said quickly.
"I think you did everything right," Norah said pulling him on top of her, kissing his lips gently, as if the fairytale hadn't just been abruptly interrupted.
-------
Nick looked at his watch for the fortieth time since Warrick had gotten there. Warrick glanced up from the taped football game that was playing on Nick's television. "Why are you in such a rush for her to get home?" Warrick questioned Nick.
"I'm just worried about her," Nick said in a fatherly tone.
Warrick rolled his eyes. "She'll be home when she gets home-I mean, it hasn't really been that long anyway."
"Three hours!"
"So?" Warrick asked. "She's just having a good time."
"I'm calling her," Nick warned, phone in hand. Warrick shrugged and turned his attention back at the TV.
The phone rang nearly ten times before Greg had stopped kissing Norah long enough for her to answer. "Hello?" She answered, obviously annoyed.
"Where are you?"
"With Greg, Smart One."
"Don't get smart with me, young lady."
Norah rolled her eyes. "Can I go?"
"Why did it you take so long to answer?"
"We were playing Parcheesi."
Nick winced at the sarcasm. It made him ask himself why he'd bother her for a second, but then remembered the reason. Greg. "When are you coming home?" He heard Greg let out an impatient sigh.
"Can I go, please?" She asked Nick again.
Nick covered the bottom half of the receiver with his palm and told Warrick to make up an excuse for her to come home.
"I'm not going to ruin her fun."
"I'm not worried about her fun, what about Greg's fun?" Nick said.
Warrick's eyes were still glued to the television. "Greg maybe horny but Norah's sensible and responsible."
"Does this sound responsible to you?" He held up the phone to Warrick's ear.
Greg must have got impatient and Norah set down the phone. The sounds of kissing and giggles and moans made Warrick cringe. "Fine. Give me the phone." He shouted Norah's name into the phone, hoping he was loud enough to break up the lovemaking going on at the opposite end of the line.
Greg gave another impatient sigh as Norah picked up the phone, "Yeah?"
Nick listened to Warrick talk to Norah, "Yeah.hey.how's it going.yeah, I kind of heard.umm.Nick's sick.yeah.major sick.I'm talking on his death bed.football? You can hear it? Well.a sick man's got to have some form of entertainment.me? A sick man's got to have someone around, which leads me to why I called. I'm working a double shift tomorrow and I need to get some sleep.I hope you don't mind.I know he is but he's honestly sick.his temperature? It's um.103°.okay.okay.okay, bye." He hung up.
"So?"
"She's on her way over." Warrick said. "You know.you're pathetic."
"Me? You're the one who made up the story."
"You're the one who wanted her home."
"What the hell was that 'death bed' bull?"
"Can you say acting? You wish you had those skills."
"I know the real reason why you made it up-you're jealous of Greg!" Nick shouted at Warrick.
Warrick glared at his so-called friend. "I just helped you and you're calling me jealous? I was just thinking about the well being of my home girl. You know how Greg gets."
"What about you? You don't? So the Holy Spirit got Norah preg-" Nick stopped when he saw Norah and Greg walk through the door. He knew that Greg lived only 3 blocks away but how did they get there so fast?
Norah looked at Nick. "You don't look too sick."
Greg stood there, Nick could tell he hadn't heard anything. He exhaled; relieved that Greg didn't learn Warrick and Norah's secret, the true reason they knew each other. What Warrick had told Greg previously was true; they did meet when Nick came home from Christmas a few years ago with his best friend from the lab. Nick generously gave Warrick a place to stay for a week while he visited with his family. Norah was happy to see Nick again; she'd been in France, Nick in Vegas. The reunion led to an introduction, which led to dinner and a movie, which led to.well, more. Warrick and Norah had become more than just good friends in that short time. They tried to keep it a secret, afraid that things between Norah and Nick or Warrick and Nick would get weird. Norah finally told Nick when Warrick and her had a bit of an accident and she got pregnant on a rendezvous they had in France, weeks after they met. Warrick lied and told everyone at work he was going to Cancun for a vacation so he could met her there secretly. Nick was outraged that his friend would go for his niece, accusing him of manipulating Norah, figuring he had more experience in his 28 years to her 18. Norah got an abortion and all three patched it up in those four years following. But neither Norah nor Warrick got sour toward each other afterward. In fact, they had kept in touch, calling each other about every two weeks to update and be updated.
The room was silent for a moment.the three knowledgeable of the pregnancy glancing back and forth until Greg broke the silence, "I guess I'll be seeing you guys tomorrow," He told the two grown men. "I'll call you when I get home," he said in almost a whisper into Norah's ear. He gave Nick and Warrick another look and then told Norah something else as her mouth curled up into a smile, Nick and Warrick had matching grimaces when he was done.
Norah smiled again and bit her lip as if her bottom jaw would fall off because of the grinning if she didn't. She gave Greg a peck on the mouth that left Greg craving for more, but Norah felt like she was kissing him in front of her parents, when in reality it was just as bad-her uncle and her ex-lover.
A dissatisfied Greg gave a weak 'good-bye' as he left.
Norah didn't know what to do, she knew what Nick did and she was mad, but she also felt sympathy for Warrick. She let out a faint sigh and headed to the bathroom. She couldn't think of anything else to do. She didn't know what to say.
Nick and Warrick sat on the couch; the living room was silent except for the football game that was still playing on the 32" television. Nick opened his mouth to say something and then closed it, as if he was gathering the courage to spill some big life-altering secret.
"Sorry," Nick mumbled.
"Don't say it to me. Norah's the one you should be telling it to; you almost let it out to her date," Warrick said, hiding his anger with false interest in the game.
Norah walked out of the bathroom and slumped into a chair that was a mere two feet away from where Nick was sitting on the couch.
Warrick looked up, "How was your date?"
"It was great," She tried to sound mad but when she kept thinking about it, she had to smile.
"What did you do?" Nick's eyebrows rose as he asked.
"We had dinner at this nice restaurant and just walked down the strip talking." By now she had forgotten she was mad and dug into all the details but wouldn't go past what had happened after they went to Greg's apartment, but don't think it stopped them from trying to get it out of her. "All I'm saying is he's one damn good kisser." She started again to smile thinking about it when the phone rang. Nick and Warrick started making kissing noises as she picked up the phone. "Hello?" She burst out excitedly. He smile faded into a frown.
"Who is it?" Nick asked although he already had an idea of who it was.
Norah listened to the familiar male voice talk. "I swear that girl this morning-she doesn't mean anything.only you do. You're the only one for me."
"Then what was she doing at your house, Owen?"
"Again?" Warrick asked loudly.
"Who the hell is that?"
"None of your business," Norah said calmly. "You didn't answer my question.what was she doing at your house-answering your phone?" Her voice got louder and more furious by the millisecond.
"She was just there giving me sympathy.I needed someone here for me." Owen said.
Norah could see through his fakeness. She clenched her hand tighter around the phone. "So when I leave for good I imagine you'll throw yourself a pity- party complete with an orgy? Better send out the invitations now so they get there in time because it's over Owen. Actually-I'm not even sure it was ever started, you only dated me to get your appearance out. So you'd be 'The Guy Who's Dating The Ex-girlfriend of Actor Craig Johnson.' You just wanted fame, people to notice you. Well screw you, it's over." She hung up.
The guys just looked at her, they swore they could see smoke coming from her ears.
She grabbed a pillow from next to Nick and screamed into it. The tears that formed into her eyes broke the seal her tightly shut eyelids formed. When she was done screaming she felt relieved until the phone rang again. Her eyes looked at Nick and begged him to tell whoever was on the other end that she wasn't here.
"Hello?"
"It's Greg-can I talk to Norah?"
"She's sleeping.she said you guys were going at it so hard that she's exhausted."
Warrick fell off the couch laughing as a mortified Norah shrieked, "Nick." She threw a pillow at him and grabbed the phone. She didn't feel like talking but didn't think she could pull off a story like sleep shouting. "Hello?" A smile formed where a frown was before. "I had a great time tonight, thank you." The guys on the couch started making kissing noises again as the conversation got deeper. She would randomly shoot looks full of dangers at them when they became too loud. "Okay, sounds good.see you then. Bye." She felt like she just got off a roller coaster ride of emotion. The emotions flashed before her until suddenly it stopped and her stomach butterflies felt like they were doing backflips and cartwheels.
"Then?" Nick asked. "Another date?"
"Yeah, is that okay?" Norah didn't really care what he thought.
"Yeah, yeah. Fine." Nick said emotionlessly staring at the TV.
Warrick rolled his eyes, "Well, don't expect me to bail you out again."
"Can you stop worrying about me?" Norah asked.
"No. I don't want to see you get hurt," Nick answered, his fatherly side showing. "Or pregnant." He glances at Warrick out of the corner of his eye and then back at Norah. Warrick didn't hear or was too involved with the last quarter of the game to care what Nick had to say.
"What if I want to get pregnant? You can't stop me." Norah grabbed both of their attentions now.
"What?" They both exclaimed.
"You barely know Greg!"
"I'm not-it was simply hypothetical."
"Do you know how much cuter the kid would be if I were the dad?"
"You can't support a baby. You don't even have a job!"
"I'm going to get one!"
"I can't imagine Greg with a baby."
"When are you getting a job?"
"Soon! Damn-I just got here."
"He can't even act his own age when Grissom makes him."
"Why are you so worried?"
"Because you need money for the kid."
"I'm not having a baby-it was hypothetical!" She shouted, making the men quite.
The jumble of words from all directions topped as they sat again in silence after the tape had stopped and started to rewind itself.
"I'm going to bed." Nick said after about 10 minutes.
"I'll see you later," Warrick said reaching for his coat off the chair next to him.
Tensions were high, Norah could feel it but she knew it would all work out in the morning, although the next day seemed so far away. Warrick gave her a slight hug and gave an almost inaudible 'bye.'
The night consisted of a lot of talking. Norah felt she knew Greg inside and out. And then they sat there-er, laid there, rather, on his couch. He kissed her neck as he unbuttoned her pink shirt and his warm hand crept up her tank top. She took off his shirt. He suddenly stopped and sat up.
Questions rushed into her head. "Did I do something wrong?" Norah sat up too.
"No.no.but I did."
"What? Are you saying this was a mistake? Or.or." Norah demanded.
"No way," Greg smiled with satisfaction. "It's just that the guys-Warrick and Nick-they've been on my case all day saying that if I touched you that they would kill me."
Norah's eyes questioned him with fury. "What makes you think I would tell them what we did? I wouldn't let them hurt you anyway."
"I-I just thought you told Nick everything and I just didn't want to do anything wrong." Greg looked at her and then reached down to the royal blue carpeted floor and picked up her shirt he had thrown there carelessly. "I can take you home now.I mean.I would want to go to-I mean-"
Norah cut off his stammering with a smile, "I don't want to leave-unless you want me to."
"No, definitely not," Greg said quickly.
"I think you did everything right," Norah said pulling him on top of her, kissing his lips gently, as if the fairytale hadn't just been abruptly interrupted.
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Nick looked at his watch for the fortieth time since Warrick had gotten there. Warrick glanced up from the taped football game that was playing on Nick's television. "Why are you in such a rush for her to get home?" Warrick questioned Nick.
"I'm just worried about her," Nick said in a fatherly tone.
Warrick rolled his eyes. "She'll be home when she gets home-I mean, it hasn't really been that long anyway."
"Three hours!"
"So?" Warrick asked. "She's just having a good time."
"I'm calling her," Nick warned, phone in hand. Warrick shrugged and turned his attention back at the TV.
The phone rang nearly ten times before Greg had stopped kissing Norah long enough for her to answer. "Hello?" She answered, obviously annoyed.
"Where are you?"
"With Greg, Smart One."
"Don't get smart with me, young lady."
Norah rolled her eyes. "Can I go?"
"Why did it you take so long to answer?"
"We were playing Parcheesi."
Nick winced at the sarcasm. It made him ask himself why he'd bother her for a second, but then remembered the reason. Greg. "When are you coming home?" He heard Greg let out an impatient sigh.
"Can I go, please?" She asked Nick again.
Nick covered the bottom half of the receiver with his palm and told Warrick to make up an excuse for her to come home.
"I'm not going to ruin her fun."
"I'm not worried about her fun, what about Greg's fun?" Nick said.
Warrick's eyes were still glued to the television. "Greg maybe horny but Norah's sensible and responsible."
"Does this sound responsible to you?" He held up the phone to Warrick's ear.
Greg must have got impatient and Norah set down the phone. The sounds of kissing and giggles and moans made Warrick cringe. "Fine. Give me the phone." He shouted Norah's name into the phone, hoping he was loud enough to break up the lovemaking going on at the opposite end of the line.
Greg gave another impatient sigh as Norah picked up the phone, "Yeah?"
Nick listened to Warrick talk to Norah, "Yeah.hey.how's it going.yeah, I kind of heard.umm.Nick's sick.yeah.major sick.I'm talking on his death bed.football? You can hear it? Well.a sick man's got to have some form of entertainment.me? A sick man's got to have someone around, which leads me to why I called. I'm working a double shift tomorrow and I need to get some sleep.I hope you don't mind.I know he is but he's honestly sick.his temperature? It's um.103°.okay.okay.okay, bye." He hung up.
"So?"
"She's on her way over." Warrick said. "You know.you're pathetic."
"Me? You're the one who made up the story."
"You're the one who wanted her home."
"What the hell was that 'death bed' bull?"
"Can you say acting? You wish you had those skills."
"I know the real reason why you made it up-you're jealous of Greg!" Nick shouted at Warrick.
Warrick glared at his so-called friend. "I just helped you and you're calling me jealous? I was just thinking about the well being of my home girl. You know how Greg gets."
"What about you? You don't? So the Holy Spirit got Norah preg-" Nick stopped when he saw Norah and Greg walk through the door. He knew that Greg lived only 3 blocks away but how did they get there so fast?
Norah looked at Nick. "You don't look too sick."
Greg stood there, Nick could tell he hadn't heard anything. He exhaled; relieved that Greg didn't learn Warrick and Norah's secret, the true reason they knew each other. What Warrick had told Greg previously was true; they did meet when Nick came home from Christmas a few years ago with his best friend from the lab. Nick generously gave Warrick a place to stay for a week while he visited with his family. Norah was happy to see Nick again; she'd been in France, Nick in Vegas. The reunion led to an introduction, which led to dinner and a movie, which led to.well, more. Warrick and Norah had become more than just good friends in that short time. They tried to keep it a secret, afraid that things between Norah and Nick or Warrick and Nick would get weird. Norah finally told Nick when Warrick and her had a bit of an accident and she got pregnant on a rendezvous they had in France, weeks after they met. Warrick lied and told everyone at work he was going to Cancun for a vacation so he could met her there secretly. Nick was outraged that his friend would go for his niece, accusing him of manipulating Norah, figuring he had more experience in his 28 years to her 18. Norah got an abortion and all three patched it up in those four years following. But neither Norah nor Warrick got sour toward each other afterward. In fact, they had kept in touch, calling each other about every two weeks to update and be updated.
The room was silent for a moment.the three knowledgeable of the pregnancy glancing back and forth until Greg broke the silence, "I guess I'll be seeing you guys tomorrow," He told the two grown men. "I'll call you when I get home," he said in almost a whisper into Norah's ear. He gave Nick and Warrick another look and then told Norah something else as her mouth curled up into a smile, Nick and Warrick had matching grimaces when he was done.
Norah smiled again and bit her lip as if her bottom jaw would fall off because of the grinning if she didn't. She gave Greg a peck on the mouth that left Greg craving for more, but Norah felt like she was kissing him in front of her parents, when in reality it was just as bad-her uncle and her ex-lover.
A dissatisfied Greg gave a weak 'good-bye' as he left.
Norah didn't know what to do, she knew what Nick did and she was mad, but she also felt sympathy for Warrick. She let out a faint sigh and headed to the bathroom. She couldn't think of anything else to do. She didn't know what to say.
Nick and Warrick sat on the couch; the living room was silent except for the football game that was still playing on the 32" television. Nick opened his mouth to say something and then closed it, as if he was gathering the courage to spill some big life-altering secret.
"Sorry," Nick mumbled.
"Don't say it to me. Norah's the one you should be telling it to; you almost let it out to her date," Warrick said, hiding his anger with false interest in the game.
Norah walked out of the bathroom and slumped into a chair that was a mere two feet away from where Nick was sitting on the couch.
Warrick looked up, "How was your date?"
"It was great," She tried to sound mad but when she kept thinking about it, she had to smile.
"What did you do?" Nick's eyebrows rose as he asked.
"We had dinner at this nice restaurant and just walked down the strip talking." By now she had forgotten she was mad and dug into all the details but wouldn't go past what had happened after they went to Greg's apartment, but don't think it stopped them from trying to get it out of her. "All I'm saying is he's one damn good kisser." She started again to smile thinking about it when the phone rang. Nick and Warrick started making kissing noises as she picked up the phone. "Hello?" She burst out excitedly. He smile faded into a frown.
"Who is it?" Nick asked although he already had an idea of who it was.
Norah listened to the familiar male voice talk. "I swear that girl this morning-she doesn't mean anything.only you do. You're the only one for me."
"Then what was she doing at your house, Owen?"
"Again?" Warrick asked loudly.
"Who the hell is that?"
"None of your business," Norah said calmly. "You didn't answer my question.what was she doing at your house-answering your phone?" Her voice got louder and more furious by the millisecond.
"She was just there giving me sympathy.I needed someone here for me." Owen said.
Norah could see through his fakeness. She clenched her hand tighter around the phone. "So when I leave for good I imagine you'll throw yourself a pity- party complete with an orgy? Better send out the invitations now so they get there in time because it's over Owen. Actually-I'm not even sure it was ever started, you only dated me to get your appearance out. So you'd be 'The Guy Who's Dating The Ex-girlfriend of Actor Craig Johnson.' You just wanted fame, people to notice you. Well screw you, it's over." She hung up.
The guys just looked at her, they swore they could see smoke coming from her ears.
She grabbed a pillow from next to Nick and screamed into it. The tears that formed into her eyes broke the seal her tightly shut eyelids formed. When she was done screaming she felt relieved until the phone rang again. Her eyes looked at Nick and begged him to tell whoever was on the other end that she wasn't here.
"Hello?"
"It's Greg-can I talk to Norah?"
"She's sleeping.she said you guys were going at it so hard that she's exhausted."
Warrick fell off the couch laughing as a mortified Norah shrieked, "Nick." She threw a pillow at him and grabbed the phone. She didn't feel like talking but didn't think she could pull off a story like sleep shouting. "Hello?" A smile formed where a frown was before. "I had a great time tonight, thank you." The guys on the couch started making kissing noises again as the conversation got deeper. She would randomly shoot looks full of dangers at them when they became too loud. "Okay, sounds good.see you then. Bye." She felt like she just got off a roller coaster ride of emotion. The emotions flashed before her until suddenly it stopped and her stomach butterflies felt like they were doing backflips and cartwheels.
"Then?" Nick asked. "Another date?"
"Yeah, is that okay?" Norah didn't really care what he thought.
"Yeah, yeah. Fine." Nick said emotionlessly staring at the TV.
Warrick rolled his eyes, "Well, don't expect me to bail you out again."
"Can you stop worrying about me?" Norah asked.
"No. I don't want to see you get hurt," Nick answered, his fatherly side showing. "Or pregnant." He glances at Warrick out of the corner of his eye and then back at Norah. Warrick didn't hear or was too involved with the last quarter of the game to care what Nick had to say.
"What if I want to get pregnant? You can't stop me." Norah grabbed both of their attentions now.
"What?" They both exclaimed.
"You barely know Greg!"
"I'm not-it was simply hypothetical."
"Do you know how much cuter the kid would be if I were the dad?"
"You can't support a baby. You don't even have a job!"
"I'm going to get one!"
"I can't imagine Greg with a baby."
"When are you getting a job?"
"Soon! Damn-I just got here."
"He can't even act his own age when Grissom makes him."
"Why are you so worried?"
"Because you need money for the kid."
"I'm not having a baby-it was hypothetical!" She shouted, making the men quite.
The jumble of words from all directions topped as they sat again in silence after the tape had stopped and started to rewind itself.
"I'm going to bed." Nick said after about 10 minutes.
"I'll see you later," Warrick said reaching for his coat off the chair next to him.
Tensions were high, Norah could feel it but she knew it would all work out in the morning, although the next day seemed so far away. Warrick gave her a slight hug and gave an almost inaudible 'bye.'