An Intangible Pattern - Fate Bound.

New Home

The prospect meeting Noah again soured the evening for Alex. It wasn't long before a thumping migraine began behind her left eye and she excused herself from the party.
Cat showed her to a room overlooking the garden. She tipsily hugged her sister goodnight before leaving Alex alone in the bare, echoey room. There weren't even curtains up yet, so she stared up at the moon visible through the arched window. She flopped back in the double bed listening to the sound of merriment from downstairs.
Why didn't I put two and two together? She thought, as she lay there. She had destroyed Noah's business card and suspended her email account after she sent the package he asked for. Now she berated herself for being so stupid as to not realize that Arthur and Cat had moved closer to his workplace, the same workplace that Noah worked at, the same Noah he frequently stayed with when he worked overtime. She had promised her sister she would stay for the week to help her settle in, so to run away now would look suspicious.
Perhaps, as Arthur said, Noah would be too busy with his work and she could slip away at the end of the week without incident, but sooner or later she knew their paths would cross.
Between the anxiety turning in her stomach and the blinding pain in her head, Alex couldn't sleep. Her agitation built to such a peak that she felt nauseous and rushed to the bathroom to vomit. Her headache began to subside after she was sick, but she still lay awake until everyone else had staggered up to bed. She heard Rob's voice call out goodnight from the room across the hall, so she got up and tapped on his door.
"Rob?" she whispered.
"Hmmm? Come in! " He called. She opened the door and crept into the room,
Rob was lying on the bed in a state of disarray. He had obviously tried to remove his sweatpants but given up before he could get them past his knees.
"Hullo kitten!" He chuckled.
"You're drunk."
"Yep!"
"You're going to suffer in the morning,"
"Probably!"
"..."
He lifted his head and squinted at her.
"You ok?" he asked.
She hesitated for a moment then said. "I can't sleep, can I stay with you for a while?"
"Yeah, of course! One thing though, can you get me out of these bloody sweatpants? I'm finding gravity unusually challenging right now."
Alex sighed and pulled the sweatpants off him, laughing as they caught on his ankles and he floundered to wrestle free. Then, she lay down on the bed beside him, he rolled over and put his arm around her. She was comforted by his warmth against her back and he, sensing the tension in her body, gently squeezed her to reassure her.
"You can tell them you know, or I can tell them if it's too much." He slurred.
She shook her head, "I can't,"
"You shouldn't be the one who's afraid," he whispered plaintively.
"Rob, please. I'll find another way but for now... I just need... somewhere safe.".
He pulled her in tighter to him and she began to relax enough to drift.
There was a knock at the door and they both raised their heads from the pillow.
"Rob? Rob!"
"What?"
The door opened and a terrified looking Jess peered in.
"I heard a noise, can I come sleep with you?"
Before he had time to answer she dived under the covers on his other side.
"For heaven's sake," he cried exasperatedly, "we can't all sleep in my bed!"
Yet somehow they did.

The next day was more subdued as most of the party contended with a hangover. By the time Jess and Robert left, they had completed the rooms on the bottom floor but only two bedrooms on the second floor. Progress went more slowly with only three people. Alex and Cat's mother arrived on Wednesday evening and was more of a hindrance than a help when it came to decorating, so she was tasked with sewing curtains while the girls finished the work.
They had started painting the mural in the foyer and Alex was airbrushing flocks of birds onto the walls when the door rang. She looked up from the stencil at her sister with a quizzical look, but Cat seemed as curious as she was.
"I'll get it," called Arthur coming out of the sitting room. As he opened the door, he cried out in surprise. "Noah! What a surprise! Come in!"
Alex froze, her eyes snapped wide to the doorway.
As Noah stepped over the threshold he caught sight of her and, looking equally startled, hastily turned to Arthur,
"It's just a flying visit. I have some paperwork for you to sign and then I need to get back to the lab."
"Ah! Noah, so nice to see you again," gushed Alex's mother as she too entered the hall. She took Noah's arm in hers and steered him into the foyer. Alex quietly backed up the stairs while everyone was distracted.
"Why don't you join us for dinner, I'm sure they won't miss you for one evening."
Noah wore a helpless expression on his face and shot Alex a look of regret, then turned back to her mother.
"I really do have a lot of work unfortunately. Perhaps some other time?"
"Nonsense, I'm sure they won't begrudge you stopping for dinner."
"It's very kind of you Mariana, but I already ate."
"How about a coffee, I'm sure you remember my daughter Alex... Alex? Oh... she was here," she looked around in confusion.
"Come on through to the kitchen, you can stay for a coffee at least while I sign these for you," urged Arthur, leading Noah away.
"Cat, can you go find Alex? She really should join us," insisted Mariana, failing to hide the excitement in her voice.
Alex locked herself in the bathroom and put her head between her knees to quell the dizzying tide of nausea. She felt almost disconnected from her body, like she would come untethered and float away if she tried to move.
He's here. Oh god, he's here. What do I do!
She heard her sister calling her name and then a rap on the door.
"Alex, are you in there?"
Alex forced herself to reply. She tried to keep her voice steady as she answered,
"Yes, sorry I think I inhaled paint fumes, I don't feel very well."
"Are you alright, do you need to go to the hospital?"
"No, I just feel a bit sick. I think I just need to lie down for a while."
"Oh... ok then. Let me know if you need anything," answered Cat, sounding concerned.
Alex sighed as she heard her sister descend the stairs. When the coast was clear, she dashed back to her room and locked the door behind her. She lay on the bed listening to the flattering tones of her mother's voice and the polite but short replies of the alpha. Her heart was hammering in her chest but thankfully, she had not gone into heat. After a few minutes she heard the crunch of footsteps on gravel below the window and her mother's wheedling voice.
"Are you sure you need to go so soon? I am sorry Alex couldn't come down, she is very grateful for your help at the wedding. Perhaps she'll be feeling better by tomorrow. Why don't you join us for lunch?"
Alex inwardly cringed at her mother's not so subtle behavior. She suppressed the urge to scream at her for being such an idiot.
The footsteps stopped and she heard a hard edge in the alpha's voice.
"Mrs Navita, can we talk? "
"Please, Noah. It's Mariana," She replied warmly, missing the warning in his tone.
Noah nodded politely and said.
"Mariana, I must talk to you about introducing your daughter to alphas without prior warning... There is an etiquette that must be followed! It can be extremely dangerous for her!" He explained abruptly. Alex's mother was stunned into silence.
His stern voice continued, "If I had known she was here, I wouldn't have come. For all I know she may have forgotten to take her suppressant. I certainly didn't expect to run into an omega and I haven't taken mine. An alpha in rut has very little control and it can very easily turn bad. For her sake, please don't push meetings like this on her without first discussing it, and certainly not when there are other people around. She's clearly uncomfortable in my presence and she has good reason to be."
Mrs Navita looked shocked for a moment and stuttered.
"I'm sorry, I thought you had met before and it would be alright."
"She was uncomfortable with me then too, she only accepted my help because she was very ill," he lied.
There was a pause and then Mariana sighed defeatedly. "I always was a terrible judge of these things. I'm very sorry, you must think I'm very silly."
"Not at all, Mariana. Not everyone appreciates the risks involved." Noah answered awkwardly, his tone had softened and he evidently felt he had been too harsh.
"I just don't want her to waste her life cooped up in the middle of nowhere. She was always so bright, she could have done anything she wanted and then this came along and it's like her whole life has been put on hold. She should have graduated from university by now. I hoped she could get over it if she could get to know an alpha and see there was nothing to worry about."
Noah responded gently. "I know you mean well, Mariana, but you cannot force these things. It has to happen at her pace. It's absolutely not just in her head, I've worked with omegas for a long time and I've seen and heard awful things. I too...," he hesitated "I am not safe: I got into this line of work for a reason. Please, trust your daughter to make these decisions when she's ready."
"Yes...you're right, of course." Alex's mother conceded sounding deflated.
"I really must get back to work. Take care Mariana," he said gently.
"And you. Goodnight."
Alex listened to the crunch of his footsteps, then a car door opened and closed and the engine sputtered to life. As he drove away, she heard her mother sigh sadly and go back inside.
Alex lay in silence watching the sky grow dark.
I can't pin you down, Noah Courentin.
He was like Jekyll and Hyde, she thought. If she did not know Hyde, she would have warmed to Jekyll, in every instance except one he had behaved decently and begrudgingly, she even felt a little grateful to him for making her mother finally see sense: whenever Alex tried to explain her situation her mother wrote it off as paranoia. He seemed to be a contradiction, but was it genuine? Was Jekyll real or simply a carefully constructed mask for Hyde? Did it matter?
It's too exhausting to hate you anymore. I wish one of us would just disappear.
She rolled over onto her side and let her eyelids fall closed.