* Updated due to a few tiny mistakes that were irritating me when I read this one back.
When Norma woke up—after not actually realizing she'd fallen asleep in the first place—it was to unfamiliar warmth. Her blue eyes flickered open to a navy blue blanket sprawled across her, and her first instinct was to turn to the dark-eyed stoic sitting comfortably beside her. She quirked an eyebrow, gesturing down to the blanket questionably.
"You fell asleep, that air hostess from earlier put it over you."
She couldn't help but notice that the statement was almost put across self-defensively, as if to say, it wasn't me. To try and save himself from feeling like a walking movie cliché; that 'hard-faced guy covers equally sassy yet kind-hearted female up in blanket as she falls asleep, thus telling the audience that yes, he does in fact care for this girl, despite their exchange of insults throughout the previous half of the narrative' kind of cliché.
"But you must have asked..."
He sighed. "You shivered in your sleep and I hadn't exactly planned to be responsible for a death on this vacation, so yes, I asked for a blanket. Is it such a big deal?"
"I don't know about big deal, but I do think it's pretty damn funny." She said, a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. "I mean, come on—a guy like you—cliché? God, you must be kicking yourself."
"I would, but you already did the honours in that department."
She grimaced in embarrassment. "I kicked you?"
"Numerous times. Quite aggressively I might add."
"Oh...well. Sorry?" She breathed out a guilty chuckle, straightening up in her seat. "Uh—how long was I asleep?" She asked, still slightly dazed.
"About a half hour, maybe?"
"I don't even remember falling asleep." She stated with a frown, welcoming the warmth and comfort of the blanket by pulling it tighter over her body.
"Well let's see, I think I was half way through talking about my local town—which by the way you asked me about—when I realized i'd been talking to myself for the majority of it, so..."
"Ohhh," She chewed on her bottom lip guiltily, unable to keep back the snort that escaped her nose. "I'm sorry."
"It's alright. I bore you, you've told me that already."
"No!" She began in his defense, putting her hand on his thigh apologetically; initially not thinking about the intimacy of such a gesture. "Aw, no, i'm sure it was very interesting."
He paused for a moment; and with his quick glance down to the placement of her hand, she assumed it was in shock over the sudden contact. She cleared her throat and pulled her hand back, Alex shifting slightly in his seat once her hand slipped away.
"Not really. I was just saying how it's a small town, and—"
"Oh! Yes, yes. No I was awake then. Phite Wine—wait, no—White Pine Bay. Right?"
He laughed quietly at her hesitant stutter, nodding. "Yeah, that's it."
"See! I do listen. I remember, because I asked why you flew from Phoenix."
"I told you, I was staying—"
"With a friend. Mhm." She nodded slowly, the corners of her lips quirking into a suspicious smile. Of course she wasn't accusing him of anything; after all it was hardly her business whether or not he had a girlfriend, or a friend with benefits, or whoever this 'friend' was. He'd originally said he was single, though. It'd be hypocritical of her to scrutinize him for lying since she'd done just that, but she was merely curious.
As was completely in character for the stranger she'd barely gotten to know, Alex went quiet after this. Neither confirmed or denied the accusation behind Norma's suggestive tone, left it as another question to linger along with all the other uncertainties she had about him.
They got back into that silence again. Alex once again picking up his newspaper; completely content sitting in silence and keeping himself to himself, unlike Norma who couldn't bear it. Unless she was sick, in a bad mood, or simply wanting to be alone with her thoughts—in which case she welcomed it—she could never manage to function properly in complete silence. She often found herself having to make some form of noise to lessen her discomfort; a shift in her seat, a hum, sometimes even a forced cough. In this particular situation, things were different. She knew that if she started making a noise, Alex would become irritated, and he would simply ignore her.
"Oh oh oh!" She exclaimed abruptly, spotting what was on the page Alex had just turned over and reaching over to ensure he didn't turn past it.
"Jesus..." Alex muttered, closing his eyes briefly. This woman seemed to have a habit of scaring him out of his wits when he least expected it.
"Sorry, but I couldn't let you go past that. I am the best at crosswords." She stated, tapping the page firmly. "Honestly. Test me. I bet you I know them all." She said confidently, straightening herself up in her seat and smiling contently.
"Alright, lets see. Here we go; 1 down. 8 letter word for luck."
He observed her as she thought it through; mumbling to herself, racking her brain for possible synonyms. The concentration plastered on her face was amusing, but there was also something almost fascinating about it. Alex always found it enjoyable, watching someone talking or thinking about something they were passionate about. Even something as silly as a crossword.
"Ah! Fortuity. That's 8 letters, is it not?"
"Are you sure? You're committing to that?"
"Yep. Get it down."
He pulled out a pencil, and she looked at him in what could only be described as horror.
"Oh, god. Please don't tell me you're one of those people."
"Those people?"
"Yeah. Those sissy's who use a pencil instead of a pen. Give me that—" She said in playful frustration, snatching the newspaper from him and pulling her handbag onto her lap. Scrambling through an abundance of random items that she had in her kitchen-sink-of-a-bag, she eventually found a pen. She held the lid in between her teeth as she purposefully scrawled 'Fortuity' into the 8-boxed space. "If you're sure about something, you commit to it."
"Uh, Norma?"
"Yes, i'm about to link this to my theory that you have commitment issues. And? I think it's accurate. You're showing all the signs." She stated seriously and nodded.
"Oh don't get me wrong, I was ecstatic to hear your commitment issues speech—it's just that—" He reached over, lowering his voice and tapping his finger on the page. "You wrote in the wrong box."
"What? No I didn't. See, it's—" She paused, inspecting the page properly and realising that he was in fact right. Clearing her throat uncomfortably, she sat upright in her seat and passed him back the newspaper. "It's because you were distracting me." She insisted stubbornly, setting her hands on her lap and shutting her eyes.
"Oh, obviously. Mm." He nodded, his tone the most sarcastic she'd heard from him yet; so annoyingly smug.
She opened one eye, then both, turning to glare at him disapprovingly. Breathing out an elongated sigh, she turned back away from him with a shake of her head.
"You're an ass."
An unexpected wave of sadness hit Norma like a ton of bricks when the announcement sounded that the plane was coming into landing. She wanted to shake herself back into order; scream at this person she'd become over the past few hours, tell her that god dammit—she'd only known this man for a couple of hours no less. He wasn't worth getting so upset over.
But she was upset. Upset because she hated the idea of letting go of what'd been a well-needed glimpse of normality. Normal people conversations; civilised, simple conversations of nothingness. Not arguments about curtain colours or how there weren't enough beers stocked in the fridge. There was no toxicity there at all. Just two completely normal people, with normal lives and normal personalities. She hadn't had that in a long time, and now she was going to have to let it slip away.
To Norma, the phrase 'You can have too much of a good thing' is complete bullshit. Always has been, always will be. From the point of view of someone who has been to hell and back; you can never have too much of a good thing. If it was at all possible, she probably would sit on that plane for hours to follow; talking to Alex about silly, low-importance things. But eventually, it would have to come to an end.
Without truly realising they were doing it, the two of them stayed around each other for as long as possible after getting off the plane. Not talking to each other or looking at each other, but secretly aware of one another's movements; subtly following so they didn't lose each other in the crowd. To baggage reclaim, through customs, until they realised they couldn't trail each other any longer without coming to a stop.
The stop where they were going to have to go their separate ways.
"Well...here we are."
"Here we are."
"Uh..." He chuckled awkwardly, the sound fading away as his attention was drawn to the sudden movement in front of him.
Norma had outstretched her hand, looking at him with a kind smile. "It was was nice meeting you, Alex."
After a small pause, he took her hand in his and shook it appreciatively. "Yeah, you too."
"So it wasn't so bad being a source of entertainment after all, huh?"
"Hah—" He smiled, shaking his head in amusement. "No. No, I guess not."
"You should take that with you, you know. In New York." She insisted, pulling her hand away from the prolonged contact.
"Take what with me?"
"Uh, the concept of actually talking to people maybe? Women? It might do you some good." She suggested encouragingly.
"Yeah, I told you. Not looking for anything."
"Sometimes the best things come when you don't go searching for them."
"Jesus," He shook his head and looked away; clearly either amused or disgusted by her attempt at being poetic. She couldn't quite tell which it was. With him, that line was sort of blurred. "And how does that theory work out if you just completely bypass those things all together, huh?"
"Well, then you end up living by yourself with 12 cats."
"I'm more of a dog person, but—"
"My god..."
"What?"
"Nothing. I'm just—i'm despairing for you—I really am."
"Why's that?"
"Well, you know. A guy like you; if you ever want a relationship, you're gonna need to find someone pretty damn obstinate."
"So you're essentially saying that the only kind of person I could be in a relationship with is someone who doesn't leave me alone?"
"Exactly."
"What a bright future I have..."
"Hey, it's not a bad thing. You literally need that. Because, heck, someone who is quiet and timid will give up on you like that." She said, clicking her fingers. "Because they'll just assume you're an asshole. Which—"
"Which I am?" He wrongly predicted, to which she tutted.
"Which is why," She continued innocently, assuring him that he was overestimating her tendency to throw insults at him. "You need someone more tolerant, and stubborn. That way they won't stop until get past this whole—" She paused, gesturing around his face with her hand. "—Mr Stoic 'I don't care about anything' exterior you got going on."
"It's a nice theory, i'll give you that. Can't say i'll ever see it in practice though."
"Well, I wouldn't rule it out." She shrugged. "But hey! You're going to actually have to get to New York first—"
"Oh, yeah, probably should get to that..." He trailed off, jokingly checking his watch.
"Well, I hope you have a wonderful time. You know, being boring, festering in your hotel room..."
"Oh I will." He muttered sarcastically, a small quirk in the corner of his lips.
She breathed out a laugh, shaking her head. "No, seriously though, enjoy yourself. Kick back, you know, live a little. You might actually surprise yourself."
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Well you won't, but—"
"No, I probably won't."
"Anyway." She laughed, waving a hand in front of her face.
Some strange, unfamiliar part of him wanted to hug her. Lord knows why. He'd barely known this woman a couple of hours; surely of all people, it wouldn't be her that would be the one to break his discomfort with intimacy. In this moment, it seemed that she was, but maybe it really was just that. The moment. Either way, he didn't do anything about it. For someone more chipper and confident, perhaps it'd have been in character. If he'd have been a woman, perhaps it'd have been more in character. But he was a man who simply didn't do intimacy; and so if he hugged her, she was sure to know that he wasn't just seeing her as some random he happened to talk to on a plane.
He raised an eyebrow, watching as she grabbed the handle of her suitcase and turned her back on him after nothing more than a smile for goodbye. "Goodbye, then?"
She turned around, tilting her head apologetically and simply giving him a wave. "Bye."
She'd always hated that word; goodbye. She had refused to say it to Dylan and Norman when they left. Granted, that was mainly because that wasn't a final goodbye. In a number of weeks she'd only be saying hello again. Yet, she'd managed to say it when Sam left. She'd be seeing him again, too. Difference was; she didn't actually want to.
But this? For some silly, inexplicable reason, she didn't want whatever this had been to end. It baffled her how she felt more comfortable with this complete stranger; this man she'd known for mere hours, than the man she'd been married to for years. That wasn't possible. Feelings like that weren't real. They were only seen in the movies; where people fall in love in a day.
Of course, it wasn't love; but it was something, and truthfully it'd been a long time since she'd felt anything at all.
Yet now, through a cab window, she watched it all slip away from reach. Getting further and further...until nothing. He was just gone.
Firstly: I'm sorry that it's been a while, I planned to try and update at least once a week but it was my birthday recently so i've been busy with celebration/early celebration for that. Not to mention I had been struggling a little bit with writing in general, hence the change in style which is the second thing I wanted to mention. For years i'd been so used to writing in third person, and ever since I switched honestly I don't think i'd ever got used to it properly. It just never seems to look right to me when I write in first person, and while it may just be a mental thing, it still slows down my writing process and i'd much rather it come more naturally to me. That benefits me, and also you readers since it will potentially help updates come quicker. I really hope the change isn't annoying for anyone, and hope you enjoyed this chapter. Things will get more interesting from this point on, promise!
