Leaving her to unpack her suitcase in the guest room, Alex went downstairs to call Norma. Ensuring that Octavia wouldn't meddle with the phone call. He couldn't blame her for wanting to intervene. His track record in the dating world had never been very impressive. Some thought he was cold, tiresome, and uptight. But Alex knew that the few people that could peel all of that away and wore down his defenses were the ones who truly deserved his time.
But Norma didn't turn out to just be that. She had weaved her way into his work, his thought processes, his needs and desires that never usually made it to the surface.
He didn't want to risk any more mortifying questions from Octavia, so he chose to text her instead. Alex sat down at his dining room table, right where they had acknowledged their feelings for each other the very first time. But staring at his phone screen, he couldn't think of what to text her.
AR: What time are you free tonight?
That was the best he could come up with. He couldn't help feeling a bit desperate. They hadn't gotten together in a social sense since their uncomfortable falling out. But he wanted to make it up to her. He always ended up doing just that.
He sat at the table, staring into space, grabbing hold of his stress ball. Not long after tapping it rhythmically on the table, his phone buzzed. He snatched if from the table.
NB: Hi Alex. Any time after 6. Does that work?
Alex decided to wait it out a few minutes before responding.
AR: Ok. 7:30?
She replied almost instantaneously.
NB: See you then
Nodding to himself, he tucked his phone away into his pocket. Octavia yawned coming downstairs as his phone buzzed in his pocket. He stood up and checked it discretely.
NB: You should invite your sister over to join us. I'd love to meet her!
Alex groaned and rubbed his temple at her request. His brows furrowed at Octavia now standing in front of him, looking down at his phone. Octavia crossed her arms at his sour expression.
"A friend of mine wants you to tag along when I go to see her tonight. She wants to meet you."
"Oh, really? That's cute. Who is she? Is she the one you spoke with on the phone?" She leaned against the dining room table, preventing him from making an escape from the conversation.
"Her name's Norma and yeah, she's the one that called me in the car." Alex managed to get past her and headed up the stairs.
Alex trudged up the steps and stopped midway as Octavia called out to him. "So she's a friend, like you told me?"
"Yeah. Just don't go and try to humiliate me, okay?" Alex rolled his eyes despite himself, realizing how petty he sounded, but continued to lecture her. "No need for the old middle school stories, or, uh, that time I did that thing…you know the stage incident. That kind of stuff will remain between us, alright?" Alex continued up the stairs, not expecting Octavia to agree to any such thing.
Alex felt the existent feeling of déjà vu crash over him as he checked himself in the mirror of his bathroom. He'd decided on wearing a tighter fitting navy blue polo shirt and dark jeans. When he had come downstairs, Octavia had given him an amused grin, one that crossed her lips because she knew that he was trying. He never wore anything besides his uniform, a plaid shirt, or a suit by choice. Today he decided to take a risk and try something new. As she smirked at him, Alex awaited taunting from her.
Alex used to have a preppy side. As a child in school, he had always been scrawnier and had attracted bullies for his sweater vests and his enjoyment of reading. He always carried a book around with him in younger grades. Alex was the silent type that carried on more burdening knowledge of real life than anyone else in school. Between the work his father participated in and the rough conditions he was exposed to at home, he felt shut out from a lot of town gossip. One thing he knew however was that his family seemed to always be entangled in it.
But soon people realized not to dare mess with him. He carried his father's intimidating demeanor, despite him not voluntarily speaking whenever he had the chance. Gradually, he ridded himself of his preppier nature, and dressed more casually. Octavia seeing him in a polo reminded her of a time when that was all he wore. Where he wasn't afraid to carry the weight of being the hidden intellectual in the room. Alex had always been observant and thoughtful, but had always preferred to keep his own thoughts to himself.
Self consciously, Alex went back into the bathroom where he checked over his clothes again. He shrugged it off. He liked how he looked. The shirt hugged his upper arms and only the very last button on the collar was done up, rendering some chest hair to peak out of his shirt.
As he stared into the mirror, he realized how vain he was being. On a daily basis, Alex wouldn't even think of giving himself a second look in the mirror, but god. With her, he wanted to look good. What was she doing to him?
Downstairs, Octavia was already standing by the door.
"Ready?" Alex asked. She gave him a quick once over and grinned at him affectionately.
"Yeah. Let's go meet this mystery woman."
For an hour before Alex was expected to arrive, Emma had debated Norma over what to wear. Emma insisted that Norma dress up, and so she decided to wear a tight red cocktail dress, one she didn't usually have occasion to wear.
Dylan and Emma were cuddling together on the couch and listening to records when Norma came downstairs to model the dress. As she made her way down the steps, Dylan looked up to see her timidly straightening her dress. Emma followed his eyes to see what he was gaping at.
"Mom, where are you going?" Emma giggled at Dylan's question and bit her lip.
"I thought I told you. I'm going out tonight with Alex. He should be here soon.
"Well, I think the dress looks amazing," Emma reassured. The two shared a knowing smile, and Norma lit up at the compliment.
"Are you sure it's okay?"
Before Emma could answer, the doorbell rang and Dylan had launched himself off the couch to open the door.
"Dylan! Dylan, I'll answer it!" Norma jumpily hurried to sit beside Emma on the couch, trying to look as nonchalant as possible. As she stared off, her heart escalated at the sound of the door opening. Why is the only thing on my mind the anticipation of the way he'll look at me when he sees me in this dress? She asked herself this internally as Dylan struck up conversation with two voices at the door. She gulped as she heard Alex speak.
"Oh, uh, hey Dylan."
"Hi, come on in… I don't think we've met before?" Emma and Norma stood up as Alex and his sister were speaking with Dylan. Norma couldn't stop herself from admiring Octavia. She glanced back and forth between Alex and her, finding the resemblances they shared. Norma was genuinely blown away at how gorgeous Octavia was. What made her heart warm was the way her glowing presence caused Alex to glow himself. Alex gave Octavia a small smile as she introduced herself to Dylan.
"Octavia Romero. Nice to meet you! I'm Alex's younger sister." She poked Alex in the side and he jumped a bit, groaning at her sudden playful action. Emma went over to join them in conversation, but Norma uncharacteristically observed from afar. She tried to figure out their age difference. Norma herself was 37, and she knew that Alex was 38, only a year older. Octavia had just come out of her doctorate program, so she knew she couldn't be more than 30. She was very youthful looking, and seemed to be a little too much exuberance for Alex to manage.
Norma walked over to join the group, purposefully standing in front of Alex so that he could take her in as she spoke with Octavia. Smiling widely at her, Norma stuck out her hand to shake Octavia's.
"Hi, I'm Norma," she introduced sweetly. Octavia shook her hand and smiled knowingly back.
"Yes, I've heard quite a bit about you! It's nice to meet you. I'm Octavia by the way."
"Hi Octavia! May I say you're just absolutely gorgeous! You honestly don't look a day over 21. How was your time at college? I heard you got your PHD?" Norma felt herself getting a little too enthusiastic, and so she kept her mouth shut awaiting her response.
"Oh thanks, Norma! That's so sweet of you to say! Yes I did. I have doctorates in linguistics and also in public policy." She lowered her voice self-consciously at the part about her education. She felt like a geeky elitist, but Norma's smile made her feel completely comfortable.
"That's amazing, Octavia! I'm sure Alex is very proud."
There was an unsettling pause as everyone turned to look at Alex's expression. Norma shifted her gaze to him to see what everyone was looking at.
Alex couldn't tear himself away from her. Realizing how entranced he must have looked, he cleared his throat and noticed Norma looking down in embarrassment. It was his opening.
"You look really nice, Norma," he breathed. His eyes were a new shade of lust she hadn't witnessed before, and she wasn't the only one to notice.
"Well, uh, Emma and I are off to the town bar. You can join us if you want," Dylan smiled at Octavia warmly, and Emma nodded in agreement.
"Are you sure I'm not intruding?"
Emma eyed Alex and then Norma. She shook her head and chuckled softly. "Not at all!" Without further discussion, Emma, Dylan, and Octavia headed for the front door. Before leaving, Octavia turned on her heels to face Norma.
"It was really nice meeting you, Norma. I hope we get a chance to meet again sometime soon." She winked at Alex and followed behind Dylan and Emma who were already out the door.
As soon as the door shut, Norma spoke first. "Great! So much for going to the bar!" As usual, Norma was worked up. She strut over to the kitchen table and sat down dramatically. Alex sighed heavily and took a seat beside her. He folded his hands together and leaned towards her slightly. She could almost feel his breath on her cheek.
"It's not a big deal," he muttered.
She faced him, biting her lip at their proximity. "You're right. We can go somewhere else… maybe stay in?" Her voice lowered as she posed the question. Alex brought a shaky up to brush a curl from her forehead, and slid his hand her collarbone fleetingly.
Alex's eyes softened. "If you want."
She nodded lightly. They gazed at one another briefly, blinking and breathing with nothing to say.
"You hungry?" Alex enquired.
"Yeah, I am actually."
"I can make you something. You're always running off your feet. You need a break. I'll find my way around this kitchen." Alex felt high and mighty, and Norma snorted at his sudden boost in confidence. He stood up and headed for one of the cupboards.
"I can make some pasta for us."
"That's so sweet, Alex. Thank you. I didn't"
Alex didn't seem to hear her thank you while he fumbled around the cupboards trying to find pasta, but he couldn't find a single package. Slowly, he turned his head, looking expectantly at Norma. She chuckled and leaned back in her chair. She folded her hands at the back of her head and just watched as he struggled to find the ingredients he needed.
"Uh, you wanna tell me where I can find some?"
"Like you said, I need a break and you can find your way around this kitchen, so have at it!" She teased. Alex's eyes narrowed and rolled his eyes. He turned back around and opened the next cupboard he had yet to search.
As he opened it, she blurted, "Warmer!" He looked at her and raised an eyebrow at her playfulness. She was getting so comfortable with him and he relished every second of it. He searched around, and couldn't find anything. He went to the next, and began searching.
"Warm!" She announced, smiling playfully. He mirrored her energy and smiled back. Alex rummaged around but still could not manage to find the pasta or any sauce.
"I really don't see it. I'll be here forever if-"
He silenced himself in embarrassment as Norma stepped beside him and reached up to grab the pasta box that was right in front of his line of sight. He scratched his head and looked at her with squinted, flustered eyes.
"I could of sworn that wasn't there a second ago…"
Norma set it on the counter and returned to the table. Alex looked down at her hopelessly.
"What?!" She whined, crossing her arms. All Alex had to do was cock his head to the side and frown slightly, and Norma was back on her feet. She rushed around the kitchen and pulled out everything he needed to make dinner.
Alex leaned against the counter and looked at her incredulously. "Thanks." He grinned weakly as she stood in front of him. Norma took him by surprise and snaked one arm around his waist, while the other gently tugged at his collar.
"Nice shirt," she complimented. Her eyes fluttered between his eyes and lips, but she didn't budge. Alex's lashes lowered and he swallowed as her body pressed itself against his. He moved aside all of the food with one brush of his arm, and swiftly lifted her up onto the counter. Norma gasped in surprise as he clutched her waist and legs to do so. The sensation was immediate and she felt light-headed. Alex was never one for dramatic gestures, or she had thought.
It was his turn to claim her. He held her waist delicately, kissing her cheek and jawline over and over with open-mouthed kisses. Slowly, he made his way to her lips. Alex paused as their lips touched ever so lightly. Norma brought her hand to the back of his head, softly massaging his neck as she leaned in for the kiss.
As they crashed together, the kiss was sloppy and heated. Both were drowned in their own passion to care very much about where they were. Alex allowed his hands to gradually slide up Norma's thighs, leaving her goose bumps on every inch he had touched. He'd grazed her entire body, and now was about to explore a part of her he had never imagined he would do outside of his fantasies. Just as Alex's hands made their way up to Norma's chest, Norma's cell phone rang, obliterating the mood they had slipped into. Norma let out a soft groan and jumped off the counter. Alex rubbed the back of his neck and checked his breathing, steadying it, and in turn his heart rate began to come down.
"Hello?" Norma picked up the phone of the unknown
"Hello mother. I hadn't heard from you in quite a while, so I decided to see how you were doing."
Norma's eyes widened into probably appeared to be a look of terror and shock. Alex eyebrows furrowed at her curious expression. He gingerly placed a hand on her shoulder and mumbled, "Are you alright?"
Norma jerked back her shoulder from Alex's grasp, and he watched her with a hurt look in his eyes. She mouthed, "I'm sorry," and he nodded understandingly.
"Norman, sweetie. I was um, just about to call you," she lied. Norma dreaded the idea of Norman finding out she was so immersed in a new potential relationship, that she had hardly put in the time to see how her own child was doing.
"Do you want me to give you some privacy?" He whispered, pointing out to the living room.
"Would you? That would be great." Norma was so breathless, that she panted in between words.
"Mother, are you alright? Is there someone there with you?"
"I'm fine, honey. And no one's there, it's just us."
Norman could detect some uneasiness and pressed further. "There is someone there, isn't there?" Norman's voice cracked, and Norma could hear his breathing become shakier.
"There was. It was Alex. He left the room to give us privacy."
"I see. I thought I heard a voice in the background. Were you two just having an intimate moment? Did I interrupt? You sound very out of breath, mother.
Norma shook her head in disbelief and began pacing around the kitchen. She kept her voice in a hushed tone so that Alex couldn't make out any of what she was telling him. How could Norman possibly sound worse than before he was put in Pine View? The edge in his voice was worrisome. It sounded as though he had pent up his anger towards her "abandonment," and that the sweet boy she had raised had evaporated. The bitterness in his voice only increased as the conversation went on.
"Norman stop! Are you feeling okay, hon? You sound a little…irritable."
"I'm fine. I was feeling very relaxed and thought I'd call up my mother who hasn't tried to contact me in weeks. And here she is, screwing men and completely shutting out her own son!" He sounded on the verge of tears, but the underlying rage and spite in the way he articulated himself only proved he was much more manipulative and terrifying than she ever would have thought he was capable of.
"Norman, please! I've been very busy lately, and I was planning on calling you, I just didn't have the opportunity."
"Sure," he scoffed.
"In fact, I was planning on visiting next weekend! Would you still like me to stop by?" Norma cooed, trying to calm him the best she could.
It was as if a switch had been flipped, and Norman sounded even and calm like the heated argument hadn't taken place. "Yes, of course mother, I'd love that. See you soon."
"Alright, sweetie. Talk to you later. Bye." She hung up as quickly as she could and went into the living room to find Alex sitting on the couch looking very concerned.
"You heard every word, didn't you?"
"You've got to try and keep your outraged shrieking to a minimum when attempting to keep information from me." He got up from the couch and paced towards her. Her heart tightened at his voice. How did he just manage to sound so seductive? Norma asked herself as he brushed passed her, heading for the kitchen.
"So how about I finish where I left off?" Norma trailed behind him into the kitchen, assuming he meant he would hoist her back onto the counter and have his way with her. She snaked her arms around his waist and began to squeeze. Alex whirled around and let out a faint gasp.
"Oh, Norma. I meant cooking us dinner." He smirked at her advances while he simultaneously set the pot on the stove. "You relax. I'll have dinner ready before you know it."
Norma threw her hands up in defeat and collapsed on the couch. She was awakened by a gentle nudge on her arm. Squinting her eyes open, she saw Alex holding a bowl of pasta in his hand.
"Y-you dozed off while I was cooking. H-here. It's all done," he stammered. She sat up and shot him a sleepy smile in appreciation. Taking the bowl from him, she stood up went to join him at the kitchen table.
Norma looked down at it quickly and then back at Alex. Not only was she impressed, she had butterflies at the mere thought of Alex stepping out of his comfort zone of frozen dinners to cook them a nice meal. This side of him was nothing like she's ever seen. But of course, the same could be said for when he had propped her up on the kitchen counter.
Alex waited in anticipation as Norma took a bite. As soon as Norma put the fork in her mouth, she knew something wasn't quite right. The pasta wasn't cooked entirely, and he obviously hadn't added anything so that the pasta wouldn't clump together, because it was sticky, crunchy mess. Norma tried her best to masquerade her disappointment. She loved the effort that Alex put in to make the evening nice.
"How is it?" He asked, smiling as he spun the spaghetti around the fork. He looked down at his bowl and immediately noticed the off-putting consistency. It was all wrong and he frowned in shame at what he had done.
"Oh," he croaked.
"What? I think it's delicious." She tried to down as much as possible before he ate it and realized how putrid it was. But he could see through her attempts to try and make him feel better. He took a bite and immediately spat it into his napkin.
"God, this is terrible! Why didn't you tell me?" He cried, looking down at the ground.
"I'm sorry Alex! I didn't want to upset you. It's not even that bad. You could of just used a couple pointers. You tried, Alex. That's the only part I care about. I'm not even that hungry anymore," she explained.
Alex grumbled and took both of their bowls, discarding them on the counter.
"I'm just doing to step outside to get some fresh air," Norma announced, clutching her stomach. Alex chuckled at that, and followed her out to the porch. The two sat on one of the steps, breathing in the evening air.
"That bad, eh?" He teased, leaning his side into hers and studied her sickened expression.
She smiled coyly and shook her head. "No. I just tried to finish it all before you could notice it wasn't a great success."
"Next time, just tell me upfront I'm an awful cook," he laughed, standing up and offering her his hand. Norma placed her hand in his, and he pulled her up so that they were eye-level.
Alex looked out into the darkness, deep in thought for a moment. He turned back to face her and scratched his arm nervously.
"Do you maybe want to go for a night drive? It's really nice out and-"
Norma beamed at him and started down the stairs. "I'd love to."
Sitting in Alex's old convertible, Alex turned on the ignition while Norma tampered with the dashboard buttons.
"What are you doing?" Alex asked tiresomely.
"Trying to find the radio!"
"I thought with your own vintage car you would be able to figure it out by now," he jeered.
Norma sighed as he turned it on. His hand lingered on one of the knobs. "This where you can change the station," he instructed. Norma fumbled around for a while, trying to find a radio station that was half decent. She came across a folk song that she had loved when she was a teenager. Cranking it up, Alex took his eyes off the road to look at her quickly. It was growing very dark, so it was difficult for him to make out her expression. However, Norma began to sing along. At first it was softly, so he could barely hear her voice over the shrill singer's voice or the tedious banjoes. Alex's ears swelled as Norma began to sing louder than before, getting into the song. She was patting her knee and nodding her head along, and Alex chuckled at her and finally commented on her obnoxious folk song.
"Country? Really?" He didn't complain further, but his unimpressed expression made Norma laugh to herself.
"Is there something wrong with this classic folk song?" She proclaimed, looking at him in shock.
"Do you want me to be honest or-"
Norma cranked up the song louder, so that people on the sidewalks began to turn to see who was playing such insufferable music. Alex rubbed his temple, attempting to keep his face out of sight. Norma cackled uncontrollably watching Alex become more skittish. He playfully covered one of his ears and scrunched up his face as she turned it up a little louder. She finally turned it off, feeling badly about all the unwanted attention she'd attracted.
"Peace and quiet. Thank you. "Alex sighed in relief. They drove the rest of the night in silence until Alex came to a stop near the edge of a cliff. From their view inside the car, you could see the entire town. The lights twinkled in the darkness, and for the first time, Norma came to the realization of how small the town really was.
"Uh, this is a nice spot that I used to visit a lot with friends…when I used to not be tied down with work. Now that I'm not, I thought it would be cool to show you," he muttered, unbuckling his seat belt.
Norma grinned and unbuckled her seat belt. She snuggled into his side and looked up at him. "It's really nice, Alex. I'm glad you drove me out here." She kissed his nose lightly. Alex blushed and looked down at his feet. Feeling bolder, he looked back at her and held his hands up to her head. He gingerly kissed her forehead. It drove her to complete ecstasy, and she losing control.
Sadly, this is the last installment until July 26th! I'm going to be on vacation until then, so I thought I would leave you with a nice long chapter. Please leave some constructive reviews so that when I return, I'm motivated to continue the story! Love you guys and have an amazing summer!
Ideas:
-she goes out to get fresh air and they sit on the steps and cuddle
-they decide to go for a night drive in alex's car.
-norma turns on her favourite radio station that plays folk music, alex complains because its country and rubs his temple, looks down, and playfully plugs his ears as norma sings and dances along "norma, this is unbearable"
-they park out by a cliff looking out at the coast, norma asks if he's ever thought of moving out of town, alex asks if she's ever had any regrets coming to town.
-they share little, chaste kisses
-he admits that he loves how she made an entrance into the town
-it's warm out, alex fans his shirt and says it's a warm day, norma snorts and says it's nice out
-forehead and nose kisses