16.
~ Norma had insisted Dylan stay for dinner, and it was nice to feel like a family again; if only for a while. Dinner with the three of them was much easier than it had been with Norman. Her oldest son not at all threatened by the idea of a new man in his mother's life. Alex and Dylan seeming to make easier small talk than him and Norman and there wasn't the fear of anyone saying anything horrible.
Her oldest son told them about the move and Emma's steady recovery as well as his new job that he was surprised he was so good at. Norma noticed that Dylan looked happier. His smiles coming easier. She'd never seen him smile this easy when he lived here before. Just like Alex, the men in her life seemed to be finding happiness she didn't think they could. She only wished Norman was there. That empty chair at the kitchen table seeming to taunt her with his absence.
Dylan explained how he liked the city and living with Will and Emma. Adding quickly that it wasn't as odd as he thought it would be; sharing a home with his girlfriend and her father. Will seeming happy to accept Dylan and almost wanting the young man to be with his daughter. Not minding that the unmarried couple sometimes stayed overnight in her room.
Apparently Will Decody was very open minded and trusted both of them. A lifetime of Emma almost dying had caused them to embrace life more easily.
Nothing had to be done that instant about the money in the safe deposit box. Alex assuring his wife and step-son he would call the DEA agent if and when he decided what to do.
"Romero, don't wait too long. Okay?" Dylan warned hugging his mother goodbye. His expression going back to those all too familiar lines of worry. A constant expression from childhood that he might never completely shake off. "I mean, if the worse happens, maybe I can put Norman on my insurance. My job comes with benefits, I might talk to HR and see about putting a sibling on my policy. The worst they can do is say no."
Norma beamed at him. Wondering when her son had turned into such a responsible young man. If he'd turned out so well, it was in spite of his difficult childhood, not because of it. She hadn't always been the best mother to him, and she regretted that.
She'd always put Norman first because he needed her more. Dylan was always so strong and independent. Even at a young age he didn't seem to need her. Then there was always that dark cloud of shame she couldn't shake around him to. Always that memory of what Caleb had done to her.
"Norman is my responsibility. Not yours." she said sadly.
"Nothing is happening yet." Alex added easily.
"We'll make arrangements for Norman. Don't worry." Norma added quickly as though such a thing would be easy. Alex's easy confidence was infectious.
The reality of the situation would be far less easy. Norman's continued care was no small task and if Alex were to lose his job or, God forbid, go to prison, who knows what might happen? Her son would defiantly be out of PineView and if she wasn't careful, he might end up in that awful county place again. A place where they would pump him full of drugs and not help him at all.
~ "Please stop worrying." Alex asked as the closing scene to 'The Graduate' played out. The ending was always one where Norma couldn't decide if it was good or bad. It was the kind of movie she'd never let Norman watch. It's sexual nature was one thing and then there was the idea of some older, manipulative woman seducing an innocent younger man that she didn't like.
She was glad she had Alex to watch this with though. She'd always liked older movies because of their innocence and how effortless life seemed to be when portrayed on those cardboard sets. Why couldn't life really be like that? With nice clothes and homes? Not a care in the world except for the occasional humorous misadventure.
She could watch these movies with Norman and never worry about a risqué scene that would make them uncomfortable. Not a chance of an exposed breast of awkward love scene that left absolutely nothing to the imagination. Hollywood just didn't do that back then and that was good.
What was so bad about leaving sex to the ignition anyway? Wasn't it more romantic to not show everything? For a couple, truly in love, to be discreet and save such desires for the bedroom with the door closed?
When did it all change? When did it become acceptable to be so obscene?
Alex didn't agree with her philosophy on films. He had no desire to leave reality and find some distant safe haven where everything was picture perfect and always in black and white.
No, Alex liked to have something with substance. He even liked that Mrs. Robinson felt like a real person and not some cookie cutter housewife who baked cookies in heels and pearls. She was evil and unapologetic about it. She was a villain, but you couldn't help but understand her.
"How can you like Mrs. Robinson?" Norma gasped in horror.
"I saw this movie when I was sixteen, Norma." he explained with sleepy eyes and a wide grin. "Every teenage boy dreams of their own Mrs. Robinson."
He'd been drinking a little since dinner. A rarity for him since they'd been married, but it had been a stressful day. Norma found she didn't mind it. When Alex drank he didn't become angry or loud. He didn't try to pick fights with her or say mean things. He certainly didn't hurt her.
No, when Alex drank he just became relaxed, overly affectionate and far too ready to speak his mind.
"Oh yeah?" she asked with a sly smile. She'd been partly curled on his lap and enjoying the music that was playing at the closing credits. "So, what if I was your Mrs. Robinson?"
"Hm?" he asked with an obvious, happy buzz going.
"What would I have had to do to seduce you? I mean, if you were, lets say twenty-five years younger?" she asked knowing he might be a little too honest with her.
He'd been playing with her hair and trying to move a hand up her skirt during the movie till she'd swatted him away and made him behave.
"You'd have to show up…" he sighed. "Say hi to me." he grinned devilishly.
Norma smiled widely and Alex shrugged.
"It would have been enough for me. You'd be a great Mrs. Robinson, Mrs. Romero." he smiled.
"I would never seduce someone that young though." she said defensively.
"You could have a much younger man though." he told her. "You know that right?"
"I don't want one." she said with a pout. "I like the one I have."
"Ahh." Alex smiled and looked almost half asleep. His body was warm and his hands wandering up her skirt again, up her thigh.
It still felt strange that they had the whole house to themselves. Norman or Dylan weren't home and they weren't in danger of her sons walking in on them in the living room. Yet, Norma was old fashioned enough to want to be safely locked away in their bedroom for this. To leave things to the imagination.
Alex's hands moving to undo her blouse and she was letting him. Liking the way his fingers felt across her newly exposed skin.
"Why did you become a cop, Alex?" she asked suddenly curious. She wasn't sure why she'd never asked him this before. She should have. That first night they were married she should have tried to find out all she could about him.
"What?" he asked as if he'd misheard.
"You've been a cop for a long time." she explained. "What made you decide to be a cop?"
Alex looked intensely thoughtful.
"I never really thought about doing anything else." he explained taking a deep breath and letting it out again. "My dad was a cop, but that's not why."
Norma hadn't heard this story. He'd mentioned his mother's death only once and she'd been wise enough not to press him for more details. Alex had a way of becoming closed off and she didn't want that right now.
"Yeah, he used to be the Sheriff here." Alex said in a sour voice as if it were a joke. Which maybe it was. Norma didn't know this stupid town well enough.
"Oh." she said simply and let him go on only if he wanted to.
"He's in prison. Money laundering and obstruction of justice got him ten years." Alex said casually. "But it was the triple murder that got him life without parole."
Norma was speechless.
She wanted to tell him how her father was in and out of jail most of her life. Doing six months here. Three months there. How she was no stranger to having a parent behind bars. How it threw your world askew to think of your parent capable of doing something so wrong they he has to be locked away. How without him, there was no money coming in and that Norma and her brother Caleb were close to starving with their mother incapable of proving for them.
But she bit her lip and said nothing. She didn't want to take away from Alex's experience. Her father wasn't doing life in prison and she wasn't a cop after all. It must be much harder for him.
"So, why did you become a cop?" she asked after what felt like forever. Alex stirred as if waking up.
"Oh. There was this little kid, Henry… something I don't remember anymore. Some bigger boy was hitting him. Beating him up everyday for no reason. I think I was in fourth grade and I just got sick of watching poor Henry getting his ass kicked and crying. So I beat up the bigger boy." Alex explained.
"Really?" Norma smiled.
"Yeah. With a rock." Alex said coldly. "In the face. A few times"
Norma started back at him in shock.
"The other kids, I never knew why, they all lied for me. Said the boy fell and knocked his own teeth out." Alex went on as if indifferent. "I remember… yeah, I remember the boy came back with his jaw wired shut. We were on the play ground and everyone was looking at me to see what I was going to do. I told him it was going to happen again if he didn't leave Henry alone. Never touched that kid again. Not that he didn't eventually bully other kids. His own sister wasn't even safe. But he never touched Henry again. He dropped out of school in eighth grade. His teeth and jaw were never right. Or so I'm told."
"God… Alex." Norma whispered.
She could see it all. See her husband as a young kid bludgeoning a school bully in the face with a rock till he was chocking on his own blood. Human teeth on the playground asphalt while other kids stood around and did nothing. The bully, although wrong to be brutalizing other kids didn't deserve that. His teeth and face forever deformed probably. Then to just leave school because he'd felt so beaten down and unlovable.
How brutal the world was sometimes.
"Don't feel too sorry for him." Alex huffed as if reading her mind. "That school bully grew up to be Keith Summers you know."
Norma stared at him in disbelief and Alex nodded.
"Yeah. He was always a wrong one. That's what my grand dad used to say. 'That Summers boy looks like a wrong one, Alex. You stay away from him." Alex said with a nostalgic smile.
"Is that why you became a cop?" she asked softly. It was like a spell had fallen over them and she didn't want to break it.
Alex nodded.
"All the kids looked at me different. Not like they were afraid of me, but like they expected me to keep the peace. It was strange. If kids were fighting and I walked past, the fight would end. I remember Sandy White crying to me because some mean boy stole some project and I had to get it back for her." he explained as if embarrassed.
"Did you?" Norma asked feeling amused again. Suddenly she saw the younger version of her husband in a different light. Almost like a small version of the man he would become. His body not having caught up to his mentality.
"Of course I did!" He said in annoyance. "You know I'm a sucker for a damsel in distress."
"You sure are." Norma agreed happily. She gleefully thought back on all the times Alex had come to her rescue and how he'd always been the first person she thought to call when she was in trouble.
"So that's when you decided to be a cop?" she asked.
Alex nodded.
"I… joined the Marines to get away from my dad and this town." He explained. "They saw I had an aptitude for law enforcement and made me an MP. After my tour was over, I came back home… and buried my mother." he said this last part tonelessly. "And joined the Sheriff's office."
He raised his eyebrows as if he remembered something.
"It was a little awkward to work in the same office my dad had for so many years. Especially after he went to prison." he said.
Norma said nothing. She had no life experience to compare to the oddity of that.
"I think, eventually, people got used to it." he added.
"You were elected Sheriff." she reminded him hopefully.
Alex winced.
"Yeah. About that." he said sourly. "I deserved the job. I did. I had the right qualifications and all but nothing in this town happens without Bob Paris' say so."
"You were elected." Norma said not understanding.
"I was elected." Alex nodded. "But Bob Paris appointed me. We all know it. Even that agent from the DEA was suspicious about how I was elected Sheriff after what happened with my dad."
Norma blinked. She knew Bob Paris was powerful and important but it's not like he was the man behind the curtain. He wasn't all powerful and all knowing.
"It was something he could give and take away. As long as I stayed under his thumb, made it work…" Alex sighed. "Then everything worked. Till it didn't. Till I stopped looking the other way."
Norma waited a while for Alex to forget their line of questioning. Truth slipping out of him in a way she'd never expected before.
"Why did you marry me?" she whispered cautiously.
"Because you asked me to." he whispered back quickly. A line rehearsed and guarded.
"No, really. Why did you marry me?" she asked not liking that answer.
Alex started pulling away her blouse again and exposing the lace of her bra. His focus becoming clearer and she saw he wasn't as drunk as she'd thought. Either that or he was sobering up quickly.
"Because, I…" he said slowly. "For the same reason I killed Bob Paris."
Norma blinked. By an unspoken rule they didn't talk about Alex doing away with Bob. The less they talked about it, the better. It was enough that she knew he did it and she didn't need or want to know the details.
"I was afraid I'd lose you if I didn't." he said. "I saw…" he let out a deep sigh and grasped her waist with both hands. "I saw how worried and afraid you were, that day on the porch. I know you were afraid of him. Of Norman. I know you were scared of what he might do to you-"
"No." Norma said quickly but Alex shook his head.
"I've seen so many battered women, Norma." he said. "So many of them are too terrified to ever report their abuser and they all have that same look. That same look you had on the porch that day."
He said all this with such a lazy voice, it was like he was describing a fishing trip.
"So, I got some of the cash I'd just liberated from Bob Paris, went to PineView and bribed the admissions office to get Norman in." he told her easily.
Norma felt that awful sound like the ocean was crashing into her skull again. Violent waves obscuring her hearing.
"How- how much?" she asked feeling sick and dizzy.
"Enough." Alex said with such a sharpness Norma knew not to ask again.
"God." she breathed. A real feeling of seasickness taking over with the sound of the ocean waves in her ears. "That much."
"Norma." he sighed. "He needed to be there."
"You gave them all that money, married me, had that awful insurance man investigate us and now…" she felt like crying.
"No, don't think about that." he told her.
"I don't want to lose you, Alex." she said helplessly. "It's not just about the insurance, you know that."
"Do I?" he questioned playfully and she threw him a spiteful look.
He shrugged as if he was perfectly innocent. As if he wouldn't hurt a fly.
"Well, I'm not sure, Mrs. Robinson." he grinned knowingly.
"Stop that!" she laughed as though he'd sworn. She moved closer and pressed her lips to him. Silencing his teasing with a kiss.
"If I could tell 20 year old me all about you." he said in-between kisses. His hands moving up her skirt and holding her bottom. Pulling on her panties as though he hated them. Norma wrapping her legs around him and feeling with delight that hardness press against her.
"What would you say?" she breathed while her husband, with fiendish delight stripped off her bra and her bare skin was presented for him to enjoy.
Alex quickly shedding his own shirt so they could relish the feel of flesh on flesh. Norma still amazed at how strong he was and how easily he moved her body.
"That you were worth waiting for." he whispered. "You were always supposed to be my wife."
Norma nodded. She couldn't think of anything else to say or ask him. His hands were moving all over her body and everything was a riot of heat and the sheer thrill of being naked in her living room.
With a graceful ease, Alex maneuvered her on her back. Norma hardly noticing the scratching couch fabric over the sheer heat and primal urges they were giving off.
"You have no idea how much I wanted you. How much I've always wanted you." he whispered in her ear. His breath hot and electric, sending shivers down her body and causing her legs to spread wider for him.
"You did?" she mewed helplessly bucking hard against him and feeling him free himself from the confines of his pants.
"When I stayed down at the motel…" he muttered into her neck. His lips burning her and she squirmed rebelliously against him.
"When I was down there all alone… I kept wanting you to come and see me." he admitted. "Why didn't you? I kept hoping."
"Alex." she gasped feeling him push her leg up and his member easily enter her. Her own body suddenly so hot and wet with need that he seemed to glide into her with ease.
"I wanted you, so much." he panted again slowly rocking inside her. Her inner walls contracting hard around him and making him suffer.
His breathing coming hard at the extra effort she was inflicting on him. His arms almost gently holding her down and lacing his fingers with her.
"God, your'e so beautiful." he groaned and she could feel his member growing harder and his movements trying to pick up speed.
"Be gentle." she breathed feeling he might actually be capable of hurting her.
He looked down at her in alarm. His eyes coming into focus and his tempo slowing down. His movements becoming steady, hypnotic and comfortable.
When he kissed her, it was soft and sweet as always. Not reveling how fiendish his body could actually be. How his hips took control and moved her body without mercy.
"Alex!" she warned feeling an unexpected orgasm bubble up into a terrifying wave.
Having no sympathy for her, he ground harder. His body heat causing a riot of sensations she couldn't control or give voice to.
She gave them a voice all the same. Profanity she didn't normally shout out unless she was very angry or upset.
"Such language." he teased once she'd come down again. Her sudden orgasam sending out shock waves through her body.
A wicked smile was on his face and he knew exactly what he'd done.
"I hate you." she moaned, but didn't mean it.
His smile widened and his breathing was still coming hard.
"Oh yeah?" he challenged ruefully. "I wasn't the one swearing so much."
He seemed amused by her sudden vulgarity. Her profanity making Alex only ride her harder and faster. His pace quickening with the excitement she wasn't being a lady.
She slapped at his bare chest and made a face of disgust. Her hips still bucking against him as she expected more. Her body still wanting more.
"Oh, I hate you." she moaned again and wished there was a polite was to ask him to do it again.
His hands moved between her legs and his fingers delved into the wetness he found there.
"Alex…" she sighed helplessly and let him torture her.
She almost stopped breathing at the feel of those strong hands and fingers manipulating her sex like this.
"Such a bad girl." he teased when she swore at the sudden spasm he'd caused.
It was becoming too much.
"No more!" she panted hotly as she couldn't control the wave after wave of pleasure that was drowning her. Her body was too hot and she was terrified of what she might say and do if he kept going.
She pushed his hands away from her.
"Norma." he pleaded. His face hurt she was begging him to stop.
"No. No more." she cried.
"Baby." he said calmly. "Then lets go upstairs and have some real fun."
Sorry it took so long to post. A lot going on in my world but this was a long chapter and I hope it was worth the wait.