"Wow! It smells wonderful in here," Norah said, as she and Aaron entered the store Exquisite Scents, which had words underneath that said: Handmade, soaps, lotions and body washes that you will not be able to find elsewhere. Norah sniffed the air more deeply and took in all the wonderful smells. Aaron's business meeting hadn't really taken long at all, only about four hours.
"Welcome Mr. Hotchner and guest. Welcome, to Exquisite Scents!" Announced the lady behind the counter.
"It's nice to see you again Daniella," Aaron greeted the elegant woman behind the counter of Exquisite Scents with a kiss on the cheek. "Dani, this is Norah Greenway. Norah this is Daniella Labeaux or Dani, she as part owner as well as manager here."
"It's nice to meet you Ms. Labeaux," Norah said shaking the elegant women's hand.
"It's Dani, Ms. Greenway. I am glad that Aaron brought you to my shop," Daniella said.
"You can call me Norah," Norah told the woman warmly, shaking her hand firmly.
Daniella's accent was quite thick, and Norah couldn't quite place it, though it was clear she hadn't been born here in America. Still, Norah thought it was utterly charming.
"It smells like a garden in here," Norah said.
"I'll take that as a compliment," Daniella laughed delightedly. "They're are worst things you could've said my shop smells like."
"You should, as it was meant as one," Norah said. "I love any kind of garden no matter the season, whether that be summer, spring, fall or winter. I love the numerous possibilities that a garden represents. To me it means hope for the future, love and romance. Aaron and I shared our first kiss in the garden, so for that reason alone it will always have a special place in my heart."
"That is so lovely and so romantic," Danielle said nearly with tears in her eyes. "Why do you not look around in find what you like," Daniella suggested. "We have many lovely soaps, hand and body lotions and body wash here. I will be in the back if you need any help with your selections. Just call me when you are ready to check out.
"That was lovely Norah," Aaron said quietly.
"I meant what I said Aaron that spot under the oak tree will always be special to me because we first kissed there," Norah said kissing cheek.
Aaron said nothing simply took Norah into his arms and kissed her on the forehead.
"You go look around and see what you like," Aaron told her quietly, still trying to get control of his emotions.
"Bad idea to let me loose in a place like this Aaron," Norah told her escort only partly joking, saying nothing about Aaron's emotional breakdown. Aaron wasn't one to let his emotions overcome him, especially in public, but apparently what she had said had touched him deeply. "I could spend several hundred dollars in here with no problem at all."
"Go right ahead," Aaron said with a smile, seeming to have gotten control of his emotions. "Pick out what you like."
Norah said nothing, as she examined the soap. Each soap was like a little jewel, deep reds, yellows, greens and purples, even a white that was more ivory then plain white. They were expensive though, but that was what Norah had expected, as this kind handmade soap was always more then the other kind and she also knew that Aaron would never have brought her here unless everything was of the highest quality. It just wasn't in him to buy cheap or at least less expensive or to let her do so either not while he was with her anyway. Aaron believed in quality and products of quality were more expensive no matter what product you were talking about.
Soon Norah had a basketful, although they weren't all for her as some would go on to be gifts for friends.
"Done?" Aaron asked in amusement as he looked at the fullness of her basket.
"Oh, I could spend all day in here," Norah told Aaron seriously. "Some of these are going to be gifts for my mom, JJ and several other people. I'm going to have to start buying these off-line that is if they have a website."
"Of course they do, doesn't everyone nowadays?" Aaron questioned.
"Most do," Norah acknowledged. "I have found one or two people that don't have websites but they've been in business for generations, so don't see the need to have one."
"Well, this place has a website, Penny designed it, since I am part owner," Aaron said. "You'll have to check it out."
"Oh believe me I plan to, though I won't need soap, hand lotion or body wash for at least a year, maybe even more," Norah said.
Aaron disappeared to get Daniella from the back and she appeared only a minute later like magic. Norah just blinked and she was there as if she had transported instead walked. It was like she had popped up out of the ground.
"So ready to check out Norah?" Daniella asked.
"Yes, but believe me, I could spend all day in a place like this," Norah said, as she put her full basket on the counter. "I plan on checking out the website that Aaron says you have. I only wish I'd known about this place sooner."
"It's rough keeping your hands nice isn't it?" Danielle inquired politely.
"Especially when you work out in the garden, sometimes all day. I'm a horticulturalist and while I love what I do it's kind of hard to keep your hands, your fingers and your cuticles nice," Norah said. "I usually don't bother worrying about them, but then, I wasn't dating the most handsome, eligible bachelor probably in the world."
Aaron snorted at that and Norah shot him a glance.
"Whether you want to admit it or not Aaron, it's true. You have women falling all over themselves to get your attention, hoping you'll marry them. That you don't give them the time of day must disappoint them a lot," Norah said in a tone that let the other two people in the store know that she didn't care if those particular woman were disappointed. They just wanted another notch on their belts and to be Mrs. Aaron Hotchner. Luckily, Aaron was far too intelligent to fall for a woman like that.
Daniella was nodding in complete agreement with what Norah was saying. Whether Aaron wanted to admit it or not he was number one on the most eligible bachelors list until he married. Of course, if things kept going the way they were Daniella suspected that Aaron would marry Norah. She could see the connection between them and it was growing stronger with every passing day. Also, she was French and the French believed in love, deep and abiding love or love that only lasted a brief time before fading.
Daniella checked out Norah with amazing efficiency and it was only a few minutes later that everything was bagged and Norah and Aaron were ready to go.
"I hope you enjoy these products, Norah and that you will shop here again," Danielle said as both Norah and Aaron Hotchner turned to go.
"I'm sure I'll enjoy them very much," Norah said before she exited the store behind Aaron.
~~~Aaron and Norah~~~
"So where to next," Norah asked Aaron cheerfully.
"I thought we'd get some lunch," Aaron said as soon as Norah had put her purchases in the trunk of the car. "You did spend several hours in Exquisite Scents."
"I could've stayed in there all day, buddy, as I've told you before," Norah told him defensively. "I could've easily bought out the shop, I promise you. I might not have looked after my nails or cuticles until recently, but that doesn't mean I'm not a female that doesn't enjoy things like handmade soaps, body wash and lotion. It's not often I have handmade soap, as I usually buy something that's mass-produced, just because it's cheaper."
Aaron was about to be reply when he and Norah heard a screech of tires and both watched in horror as the car came directly towards them.
"Norah!" Aaron exclaimed pushing her out of the way, as the car continued to barrel towards them. This was obviously a car that didn't have the flying feature like so many did, and so they were driving on the ground instead of in the sky lanes. Something had obviously gone wrong with their brakes, as Aaron could see the woman behind the wheel pumping them, but the car wasn't slowing down, which meant there was no brake fluid in the tubing, either that or something was blocking the oil from getting into the brake.
Aaron tried to get out of the way, after he had pushed Norah to safety, but he was too slow and the car rammed into him.
"Aaron!" Norah cried in horror, as Aaron disappeared beneath the SUV.
The SUV crashed into a lamppost and stopped the front end crumpled, with the woman still slumped over the wheel. Some people rushed forward and a big man, with bulging muscles tried to wench the door open and finally succeeded. The door squealed so loudly that people covered their ears, as the sound was very high pitched.
"Hey lady, are you okay?" The big man asked, even as he checked for pulse.
"She's breathing, she has a pulse, though it's at least double what it should be."
"Has anyone called 911?"
"I did," Norah said stepping forward trying to not worry to much about Aaron. Aaron just had to be okay, he just had to be. She had realized as soon as he had pushed her out of the way of the speeding vehicle that she just couldn't lose him to such a stupid accident.
"Let's get out of here," Aaron told her softly and Norah stared at him as if he was a ghost. While Aaron's clothes were dirty and torn he looked healthy considering he had just been run over.
"You owe me an explanation buddy," Norah told him, even as she hugged him tightly. "You should be on the way to the hospital or even dead."
"I'll explain everything once we're alone," Aaron promised her softly. "I've been meaning to anyway."
Norah nodded and the two of them disappeared into the crowd while they were still occupied with the crashed SUV.
Aaron hailed a cab down the block as their car wasn't accessible right now, not with all the people crowded around the woman's SUV.
Aaron gave the cab driver the address of the hotel and then squeezed Norah's hand to let her know this was not the place to talk, as if Norah didn't know that, but she simply nodded, cuddling into Aaron's side. That Aaron was alive and seemed to be okay calmed Norah's nerves that had been going haywire. Still, she was determined to get an explanation about how Aaron didn't seem to be hurt other than his torn clothes.
"You sure you don't want to go to the hospital buddy? You look like you've been in some kind of wreck. You should have your doctor check you out to make sure you have no serious injuries."
"I'm fine, but thank you," Aaron told the cab driver politely, but in a tone that told him the subject was closed.
"Alright, buddy, it's your life," The cab driver said shrugging, continuing to drive towards the hotel.
~~~Aaron and Norah~~~
Once they arrived at the hotel and paid the driver a bonus and then he and Norah entered the hotel from a side entrance. It was clear why Aaron didn't want to go by the front entrance, as he didn't need to staff asking questions, though they wouldn't say anything to anyone if they wanted to keep their jobs since Aaron was the owner.
Aaron led her up a set of backstairs, that were probably meant for the employees of the hotel, the cleaning people and other various staff that made up a business like this.
Once they were finally on the top floor Norah was panting. Aaron looked carefully around for anybody and then pressed his thumb into the scanner that was attached to the door and it swung open without a sound.
"I'll explain everything, but can I get a shower and change clothes first?" Aaron asked and Norah nodded, even as she sat on the bed to wait.
Norah heard the shower running no more then a minute later and it shut off soon afterwards. She needed a shower too, but she wasn't about to get one until Aaron explained and that explanation had better be damn good. Was this explanation tied up to what Aaron had wanted to tell her about in privacy? Or was it something else entirely? Aaron had implied it was something he'd been wanting to tell her and as far as she knew he only had one major secret, so yes, it was probably that secret or directly related to that secret.
When Aaron entered the little bedroom that was part of the suite a few minutes later, Norah rose.
"You better explain buddy, because what I saw makes no logical sense. You should be dead or at least in the hospital with at least several broken bones and probably internal injuries," Norah immediately demanded. "SUVs are hardly lightweight cars."
The fear and anger on Norah's face was hard for Aaron to see, but he also understood both. Norah had been afraid for him, afraid that he was dead and the anger was because she knew that he had been keeping a secret from her and she had guessed it had to do with his quick recovery.
"Here sit down, as I don't want you falling once I explain," Aaron told her gently, as he guiding her out of the bedroom over to the sitting area that had several very comfortable looking pieces of furniture.
Norah sat on one of the plush loveseats, crossed her arms and waited for Aaron to speak.
Aaron looked suddenly nervous Norah noticed, as he knew his explanation could make or break their relationship.
Aaron sat across from her and started speaking. Norah listened, but didn't want to believe what Aaron was telling her. On the other hand, she had seen him hit with that woman's SUV that must weigh several tons, as they weren't exactly insubstantial or lightweight cars.
"I don't know if I would've believed you if I hadn't seen you run over and then emerge perfectly okay, except for your clothes," Norah said finally, as she absorbed Aaron's explanation. "As I said earlier you should be dead or in the hospital."
"I know and I'm sorry for frightening you like that," Aaron said. "I've been meaning to tell you for several weeks but the timing never seemed right. I suppose I waited too long, as you wouldn't have been, so frightened if you had known I would be okay."
"It's actually a good thing Aaron," Norah said more calmly then she had felt ever since she had seen Aaron run over.
"Why do you think it's a good thing," Aaron asked.
"Because for one thing it made me accept your explanation easier than I would have otherwise. There probably would've been a lot of anger and heart break before all was said and done, if you had just tried to explain it to me without the accident," Norah explained. "Thanks to that accident because the woman couldn't seem to stop the car, while it was horrifying, it also had made me accept your explanation about immortality easier. It also made me realize that I really truly love you and I can't see my life without you in it. All I could think when you disappeared under the SUV was please be okay. If I had known about the immortality then I wouldn't've been so worried, more concerned about people seeing you get hit and then you rising up without any injuries."
"Does this mean you'll agree to marry me?" Aaron asked with a hopeful puppy dog expression.
"Of course, it does," Norah told him, even as she rose and went to sit on his lap. She snuggled into his chest and kissed the side of his neck. "I don't know now why I kept denying that I do love you for so long and I know that if I turned you down I would never marry, never be truly happy."
"It doesn't matter now," Aaron mumbled softly, his tone tender, even as his arms came up encasing Norah's body, then kissed the top of her head lovingly and murmured sweet nothings in her ear.
"I also now understand your comment of how you offered to pay for Penny's college education. When you made that comment I didn't know how that was possible because you look around the same age, now I understand.
"Yeah, that was one of my unintentional slip ups," Aaron admitted. "I knew I needed to be more careful around you until you knew I was immortal, but that was hard."
"Why was it so hard?" Norah asked. "I mean, you've been keeping this secret, for a very long time, so why was it, so hard to continue to keep it a secret?"
"Because I trusted you and I wanted you to know everything, which makes me rather loose lipped, so I had to be very careful what I said. I didn't want you to fleeing as if the hounds of hell were after you," Aaron explained with a little smile. "I knew practically from the first time we met that I could fall in love with you very easily if I allowed myself. You were everything I could possibly want in a life partner. Unpretentious, generous, kind, gorgeous, intelligent and while I didn't know if you were the greedy type the rest of it I figured out just during our interview."
Norah, blushing at Aaron listing of her attributes
"I wondered why you just didn't marry one of those society ladies, but I understand now," Norah said finally.
"My immortality was only part of it, sweetie, a very small part," Aaron said gently rubbing Norah's back, making whatever tension there was remaining disappear little by little. "It was also about personal preference. All those things I told you before were the absolute truth. I want someone that can be my full partner, in every way and not just use me for a kind of cash cow or so she can get to be Mrs. Aaron Hotchner. Even if I was completely mortal I never would have married one of them, as they would've driven me batty in no time. Now, while I've met some really nice, intelligent, charming women as well I don't think they would have accepted the idea of immortality very well, though it wasn't just that that made me not consider telling them too seriously. It was the fact that our personalities just did not mesh well enough."
"And ours do," Norah said.
"You know they do," Aaron told her with a smile. "Why don't you take a nap while I call someone to drive the car here. The accident is bound to be on the news as at least a several dozen people saw a man run over."
"So what do you think will happen?" Norah asked just a little worriedly.
"While they can track the license plate to see who the car belongs to and learn that I've staying at this hotel there's not much they can do once they see that I'm healthy. People misremember things all the time, especially if they are in a high emotional state. The police will likely just assume it was someone else that looked kind of like me, once they see that I have no injuries. They're a lot of people that look similar to each other, sometimes they can even be twins of each other, even if they're not related. The police won't have any right to question us farther, much less search the hotel room for torn clothes, as they would have to have a very good reason for that and a warrant. Of course, that's only if the police bother to run the license plate, before I can get someone there to collect the car with your stuff in the trunk.
"Oh gosh, I forgot all about soaps," Norah said suddenly frantic.
"Don't panic your stuff will be fine," Aaron assured her, "and of course you didn't think about it as you were worried about me."
"It's just that... won't it melt. I mean it's over 100° outside and it's only soap," Norah said.
"Not by the time it's retrieved, as the trunk is nice, dark and cool," Aaron told her. "If I happen to be wrong, I'll replace it, because it's hardly your fault that the SUV couldn't stop. I'm nearly positive that something was wrong with it's brakes from what little I saw before I realized the danger we were in."
"Alright then," Norah said more calmly. "I'd hate for you to go to the expense a second time, but I realize that this is a rather unusual situation."
"Good, because it's hardly your fault that the soaps at least could melt, though the body wash and lotion should be okay since they're in plastic bottles," Aaron said.
"I hope that woman was okay," Norah said finally calming down her emotions. She had to admit she was pretty tired, but then strong emotions did that to you.
"She looked okay from where I was standing, but I have no idea what kind of injuries she had. She'll likely have whiplash at the very least and possibly need a few stitches in her scalp, but other than that I don't know. There's absolutely nothing we can do about it, no matter how bad we feel for her. Now, I had better go make that call," Aaron said and Norah got off his lap. "What about if we order room service tonight as I'm really not in the mood to go out. We need to see what they say on the news anyway, before I, at least, am seen in public."
"I'll watch the news while you make your call," Norah said.
"I'll join you in a few minutes," Aaron promised kissing Norah on the top of the head before disappearing into the master bedroom.
Norah turned on the vid screen, with very low sound, as she didn't want to disturb Aaron's call, and watched the screen intently.
~~~Aaron and Norah~~~