Helanie:
"Helanie, please open the door," he had been calling out for while I cried in the bathroom.
Ever since he told I would lose, I had locked myself in—but not before I cried loudly in front of him. I don’t do that in front of anyone.
But I don’t know why I get so comfortable with him. Or maybe... I love showing him that he’s the reason I’m so hurt.
But a person would only do that when they know the person they’re crying in front of would care.
Did I, deep down, know Norman cared?
I an—more than what he showed?
"Helanie, I just ant—look—"
He shut up when I opened the door and faced him. He instantly stepped back, fixing his white shirt.
"What? What do I need to look at? Show ," I said with my whole chest, challenging him—and as I kept moving forward, he kept stepping back from with a weird look on his face.
"I ant—you couldn’t even land a punch on my face today," he muttered, trying to look away because I kept glaring at him.
"Exactly. Why? Because you didn’t let ," I yelled, and he sighed, placing his hands inside his gray pants’ pockets.
"Because that would not be realistic?" he complained.
"Huh, look at Maximus and Kaye—they let beat them up. And you—you didn’t even let slap you," I stomped my foot, and he narrowed his eyes at like he was in disbelief over what I was saying.
"You wanted to slap ?" he asked.
I nodded aggressively.
"But you’re such a bad person. You only think about yourself and your face—" I scoffed, turning away and folding my arms over my chest.
"Okay. Slap ."
I heard him say it, and my posture shattered.
My arms slowly started to unfold and drop down from my body, and when I turned around, I found him standing behind —body hunched slightly, his face turned to the side, ready for a slap.
"You’re allowing to slap you?" I asked in a low voice.
"Yeah, since you so badly wanted to do it," he said, hands still in his pockets.
’Norman is asking to slap him?’
Since when did Norman start to bow before soone?
"Co on. If that’s what will make you stop crying, do it," he insisted.
I tied my hands behind my back.
I rembered how he ca to save when I was being married off. I rembered how he defended every ti I was in trouble.
The man who used to hate my guts was now taking care of .
Did he really deserve a slap?
I stared at his face, and my body started to feel this weird kind of itch. I gulped as I looked at his cheek next.
An urge to get on my tiptoes and kiss him on the cheek rose in my chest. He had done a lot for . I an... I could thank him, right?
So I did get on my tiptoes and was just about to kiss him—when his phone beeped.
He quickly turned his face, probably to check if I was going to slap him, and that’s when our faces t.
Not t, but... almost.
We breathed on each other’s lips briefly before I stepped back in a panic.
"What were you doing—?" he asked, eyes wide.
"Nothing," I groaned, yelling like I just got caught doing sothing I shouldn’t.
"No, you were doing sothing. You were on your tippy toes," he pointed at my feet. "What were you doing?" he asked again.
He was so annoying. Why was he like that?
"You said I could slap you," I said, planting my fists on my waist, glaring at him.
"You were slapping with your face?" he said—then paused, probably realizing how dumb that sounded, and looked down at his phone to avoid eye contact.
I was so embarrassed.
And this giant didn’t help either. He wasn’t the type to let sothing go. He’d dig and poke until the other person admitted it and fully drowned in sha.
What a beast.
I should’ve just slapped him instead.
He stared at his screen and sighed.
I instantly knew who it was.
"Jessica, what is it?"
As he answered her call, I rembered what I’d found out about Jessica. She had tried to end her life.
"Shit, shit, shit. I’m such an idiot. I shouldn’t even be doing—"
I shut myself up. I didn’t even know what I did.
I was just glad I didn’t go through with the kiss on the cheek.
I’ll keep my distance from him—for Jessica’s sake.
After Norman returned, I had changed my whole mood and behavior.
"She was just asking about the deal we’ve been working on together. The files are over there, you can take a look," Norman said, placing his phone on the stand—with their chat still open.
"Take a look."
I shook my head.
"You don’t need to show anything. I’m your wife until next full moon. I’m not going to call you out or anything. You can continue your relationship with Jessica, no need to act all loyal," I said with a dry laugh, trying to play it off.
"I’ll go change and then rest," I added, and quickly ran into the bathroom again.
After I showered and ca out, I found Norman sitting on the couch in black shorts and a gray shirt.
"You can sleep in the bed," I offered, and he shook his head.
"Norman, I don’t move much in my sleep. And you don’t either, since you can literally sleep while sitting, so it’ll be fine. We can make a barrier in the middle," I said, starting to place pillows down.
"It’s okay though. I don’t really sleep like that," he mumbled, making glance at him from the bed.
But then, he slowly got up and ca to the bed.
"But thanks," he added quietly.
Then he lay down on his side, back facing .
I wanted to ask him so many things... but he seed so down, I let it go.
Within minutes, I was asleep.
---
I woke up to my hand hurting and soone groaning loudly.
Rubbing my eyes, I saw Norman standing tall next to his side of the bed, holding a pillow.
As soon as he noticed I was awake, he started complaining,
"So much for ’I don’t move in my sleep’—you freaking went all commando on ! You punched , kicked —"
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