After their conversation, Norma didn't see Alex for a few days, and even then it was just the sight of his truck leaving the motel. She had made sure Norman was down there in the office from seven in the morning every day to give Alex the chance to speak with him. She frowned slightly as she folded up freshly washed towels, wondering whether he had yet. Norman hadn't said anything, but then he was quiet by nature. Norma gathered up the towels in a basket and headed down to the office with them. "Norman honey, have you seen Sheriff Romero lately?" she asked as she walked in.
Norman looked up at her and smiled. "No, Mother. Not since the other day." He said, standing up to leave as she walked past him. Norma set the towels down on top of the cleaning cart and looked back at him as he walked out. Presumably he was going to go finish off his bird while she cleaned the rooms. She wished he would just go hang out with Emma or something, but the poor girl's father had rang on Monday to say she was sick and wouldn't be able to work for a few days. Maybe Emma was just trying to avoid Norma after the whole quitting because she felt left out thing.
It wasn't until a few days later that Romero had the opportunity to talk to Norman. There had been a few murders related to Nick Ford's business as they worked out who was going to take over. Nothing Romero was interested in investigating, but he went around and spoke to people involved just to make sure. He would prefer it to be only the one marijuana business in this town but as long as the two companies were peaceful with one another and followed the rules, it would be business as usual.
When Romero woke up on Thursday morning, he wasn't in any rush to get to the station early. He took his time getting ready for work, then wandered over to the motel office, where he could get his morning coffee and drink it while he extracted information from Norma's son. Norman looked up as he walked in. "Good morning Sheriff," he said, smiling like he always did. "Hey, Norman," Romero answered, going straight to the coffee facilities. "How's it going?"
Norman made a non-committal noise, shrugging. Romero turned around to face Norman as he stirred his coffee. "Hope you're alright after all that's happened lately," he said. Like with the Blair Watson thing, he needed to get information without asking directly. "Bet you wish you had your dad to talk to sometimes," he added, watching Norman closely. Norman smiled awkwardly again. "Yeah, but I'm fine." His smile faltered slightly. Obviously, it was a tough topic for him. "He.. died a while ago. It was an accident." Norman looked away, smile gone now.
"A car accident?" Romero pressed, feeling a little bit guilty for pushing the subject. Norman looked at him again, probably wondering why Romero was asking these questions. "I only ask because I lost my father too." Romero said in explanation for his sudden curiosity. It was partly true. Norman nodded in sympathy. "Oh. No, but it was in our garage. He hit his head." Norman looked away again, looking sad. It was Romero's turn to be sympathetic. "If you ever need someone to talk to, Norman, you can come to me, alright?" Romero started towards the door. "Thanks Sheriff." Norman said quietly.
Norma was cleaning up after breakfast when the phone rang. It was the mayor, delivering the news Norma had been expecting since Christine's comment the other day in the supermarket. Work had begun on the bypass, and Norma's seat had been given to someone else. The mayor gave the reason that Norma had missed an important meeting last week, but the real reason was that Nick Ford was dead and Christine and George now hated her. After Norma hung up the phone, she slumped down at the kitchen table with a coffee. The bypass matter was out of her hands, and she didn't care for losing the seat now, knowing that she couldn't stop the road. If it wasn't early in the morning, she'd down a real drink.
Norma headed down to the motel, prepared to break the news to Norman. "Norman?" She called as she walked into the office. "Back here, Mother." He answered, coming to the door. "Norman, I have bad news." She began, then hesitated. How much should she tell him? "What is it Mother?" Norman asked, looking concerned. Norma sat down at the front desk, sighing. "I lost my seat in the council. I think Christine told the mayor about how I lost it at George last week.. when you were missing. It doesn't matter, really. They started working on the bypass road today. I can't stop it." Her voice had risen higher throughout her speech and she was beginning to cry. "What are we going to do, Norman?" Norman just held her wordlessly. A part of him, a part he had no consciousness of, knew exactly what to do.