When Norma had come downstairs the next morning, Alex had already left for work, over an hour earlier than usual, and the insurance papers were neatly stacked on the table, signed and dated on every page that needed it. There was a fresh pot of coffee ready, the only real indication that despite everything, he didn't actually hate her. The sight made her heart ache and she choked down a cup without tasting it, feeling like she didn't deserve to savour it.
Everything changed after that night. Alex was usually gone before she woke up, and he was rarely home for dinner now. She wasn't sure where he was eating, and even though she was still mad at him, she worried about him eating properly. A tiny part of her wondered if the redhead she had seen at the Winter Festival was the one taking up so much of his time, and convinced herself this worry was only related to whether or not she was making him enough food. What Alex did with the rest of his time was no concern of hers - She had made it painfully clear that their marriage was just for a show, so as long as he was being discreet, she couldn't care less what he was up to in his spare time.
At least, that was what she told herself, but she couldn't stop the ache in her heart when she was gathering up his laundry one day (she still did his laundry. She liked doing laundry so she couldn't even be mad that he hadn't tried to stop her) and caught a whiff of perfume that wasn't hers on the collar of his shirt. Taking a deep inhale, her eyes drifted down to the cuff where a tiny smudge of red lipstick drew her gaze. It wasn't hers. She very rarely wore red lipstick, and even if she did, she'd barely seen Alex in the last week, let alone been close enough to smear her lips or her scent on his clothes.
Taking a deep breath, Norma swallowed the tears that threatened to spring forth, feeling them turn to rage as she let it sink in. It was entirely unreasonable, she knew, and yet, when she heard the slam of the door from downstairs, she was on her feet before she could stop herself. He was home early, much earlier than usual, which was lucky for her, but unlucky for him, as his timing led him right into the path of hurricane Norma.
The stomping of her feet on the stairs alerted him to her oncoming presence, and he turned to face her, his brow furrowed with confusion. They had barely spoken in a week, and now she was storming towards him like she was about to kiss him. He was so distracted by the shock of her charging towards him that he didn't notice the creased ball of fabric in her hand until she hurled it right in his face.
His head jerked back in surprise when the shirt hit him, and Norma smirked, crossing her arms in front of her.
"What the hell-?" He started, glancing down at the garment in confusion.
"What are you thinking?!" She yelled. "What if you got caught?"
"Norma, what are you talki-" He ventured, genuinely confused.
"Don't." She snarled, snatching the garment out of his hand, and flipping it over a few time till she found the offending mark on the sleeve. She held it up accusingly.
"Lipstick on your sleeve? Perfume on your collar? It's all a bit cliché isn't it?"
She tossed the shirt back to him and went to turn away, not expecting the hand that shot out to grasp her arm, pulling her back. He spun her back to face him, his hands planting themselves firmly on the tops of her arms and her hands automatically came to rest on his chest. Neither of them were sure if the movement was defensive or comfortable.
She was still for a moment, confusion rendering her speechless. This wasn't what they did anymore - They didn't touch, they didn't kiss, they didn't share these moments of strangely sexual tension. Not anymore.
Their faces were inches apart, Norma's breaths coming embarrassingly shallow as Romero stared at her coldly, a wry smirk pulling at his lips.
"Why would you care?"
"I don't." She said immediately, too fast to be believable. "I don't." She tried again, more convincingly. "I just don't want you being seen and our cover being blown."
Norma was almost embarrassed at how implausible the words sounded coming out of her mouth, especially as her eyes kept darting to his lips. She rolled her eyes, as if bored by the whole thing, doing a flimsy job of pretending she wasn't flustered by his proximity.
"Look, I don't care about you and the redhead. I really don't." He stiffened slightly at her words, confirming her fears that she had guessed correctly. His face changed before she could read anything from his expression though, and he gazed back at her impassively, his fingers tightening around her arms just a fraction.
"I just think you need to show a little more discretion. You're a married man now." She finished with a triumphant little shake of her head.
"How could I forget?" He said, not unkindly, throwing her off as she had no idea what he was going to say next.
"Don't worry, Norma. What I do in my free time is really none of your business." He dropped his voice almost to a whisper and leaned in, close enough that she thought he was going to kiss her and she lost all will to stop him.
"Besides, you kept up your end of the bargain right?" Her eyes shot open and focused on his, which were boring cruelly into hers. "So I'll keep up mine." And with that, he stepped away from her abruptly, leaving her to stumble slightly when he realised how much he'd been supporting her.
"Hello?" Norma answered the phone brightly, masking how miserable she felt today. Alex had made a point of showing up for breakfast this morning, the day after their fight and things had been tense to say the least.
"Hi! Is this Mrs Romero?" A man's voice from the other end of the line piped up. She paused before answering, casting a glance at Alex who didn't even to bother looking up from his paper. She hadn't technically taken his name, but it could be the insurance company so she made a point of sounding deliriously happy when she answered.
"It sure is!" She chirped, plastering a fake smile on her face so the person on the other end could hear it.
"The woman who finally locked down Alex Romero! Man, I gotta say, I never thought I'd see the day..."
Norma's smile faltered. If this was the insurance company, they were terribly unprofessional.
"I'm sorry, who is this?" She ventured, as the person on the other end chuckled, a laugh she thought she recognised from somewhere.
"Oh man! I'm sorry, where are my manners? I'm Gabriel, Alex's brother." There was a pause, where Norma tried to suppress the words "I didn't know he had a brother" but couldn't think of a single other thing to say.
"Lemme guess? He didn't even mention me?"
"Errr..." She floundered, glancing over at Alex who had finally looked up from his paper to stare at her quizzically.
"Don't worry. That's classic Alex." He said warmly.
"Oh. Ok." She said weakly, before the silence stretched on and he chuckled again, the chuckle she now recognised as Alex's same chuckle, low and deep in his throat.
He quirked his eyebrows at her, clearly now intrigued at the conversation.
She cleared her throat.
"Listen, he's right here. I'll pass you over-"
"Wait, wait. Just one quick question before you do - Is he being good to you? Is he making you happy?" He sounded serious now, his tone still warm.
She paused for a second, hovering next to Alex's chair, staring down at him with an unreadable expression.
"Yes. We're deliriously happy. He's everything I ever wanted." She answered, just deadpan enough for Alex to look confused and hurt all at the same time, but upbeat enough that Gabriel seemed pleased with the answer and laughed again.
She passed the phone over without another word, mouthing "It's your brother" as she pressed the receiver into his hand.
Alex flustered for a moment before plastering that same smile on his face and springing up from his chair, pacing the kitchen as he spoke to his brother.
Norma pretended to suddenly be very busy cleaning the coffee filter out, listening to Alex's side of the conversation with interest.
"Yeah, no... Well, it was very sudden- Yeah, but when you know, you know, right? Why waste time?"
"I know-... well, we would have loved to have had you there, but it was all kinda spontaneous."
Chancing a glance over her shoulder, she caught him rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand, obviously anxious over lying to his brother.
"Ok. Go on..? What? Oh my god, that's great news! Congratulations!" He smiled, genuine and warm, apparently forgetting she was there.
"Oh." His smile faltered and he glanced up at her shiftily. "Well, you know, things are pretty crazy up here right now. I don't know if we'd be able to get away. Norma's got the motel... and-"
He sighed deeply and looked crestfallen and Norma suddenly felt like she was intruding on an intimate moment and ducked out of the kitchen, absurdly tip toeing like her steps would echo down the phone line.
"Gabe, I get it, ok? I just don't think we're going to be able to. Please don't do that. Don't mention mom..." That was the last thing she heard before gently pressing the door shut behind her, giving him some privacy to talk with his brother.
Thank you so much for all your reviews, guys! I adore them. This is where the story is going to completely veer off from the show, so I hope y'all like it!
