Do You Believe In Destiny?

Chapter Twenty Seven

A week after the wedding, her life was calming down immeasureably as she began settling into a new environment and a new routine. 

There was a lot to grow accustomed to - new roommates, a new...bed-mate...new sounds, smells, and everything else that went along with moving to a new home. 

The first day waking up in a strange bed had been quite jarring - even more so when Normani had unexpectedly rolled wrapped her in a warm hug. But once the initial shock had passed, she'd decided that maybe, just maybe, she could get used to this.

While her life may have been settling down, the same could not be said for the rest of the world outside the remarkably thin apartment walls.

Normani had done her very best to keep Dinah away from newspapers and the news in general, but one day, against her better judgement, she'd gone online to find out just what was being said about her, the wedding, and her family.

It was honestly surprising how much upheaval she'd caused by not marrying Alex. Many people were offering their own opinions from a social standpoint - whether denouncing her decision because Alex was a 'catch' or praising her for it since he was a 'disgrace to mankind.'

But the most...interesting might be a good word for it...aftershock of her decision was the effect she'd had on her family's company.

The term 'turmoil' had been used in several articles to describe the current state of Hansen Industrial - a 'cruise liner without a rudder' and a 'planet without an orbit' had even popped up in some of the more creative editorials.

Each author danced around or directly posed the same question - who was next in line now?

One piece had suggested that Alex would still take over the company - that the Winchesters would remain successors to the most powerful position in California even without the arranged marriage.

Over her father's dead body, she'd thought when she read that. If her father was anything, he was prideful - and the prospect of the company leaving the family name outright would never be acceptable to him.

He would figure out a way to live forever before he even considered that an option.

The first few days after the wedding, she'd lived with a tremendous amount of fear as she expected hulking men in suits to break down the door and forcefully remove her from the apartment at any moment.

But, as more time passed, she understood that those nightmares would never occur. And she thought she understood why.

Unpredictable - that's what she was now.

Her parents would have already taken her back if they knew what they could expect from her, but any uncertainty resulted in caution on their part. A great blow had already been dealt to the Hansen name in terms of general embarrassment and political unrest - they couldn't risk her doing something else to make front page news.

And, in this day and age of ubiquitous technology, they surely realized that it would be impossible to keep her quiet forever if it was against her wishes. 

Even though she felt as if she owed them nothing - that her time served as their dutiful daughter was more than enough payment for the education and nourishment they'd provided - there was still a great amount of guilt weighing upon her heart for the difficulties she'd caused.

But whenever she felt that way, she would steal one glance at Normani - her heart doing that embarrassing stutter step it always seemed to do - and she knew she'd made the right decision.

The right decision for her.

With Normani on winter break and her employment status...well, she'd always technically been 'unemployed'...the two of them were able to spend nearly every waking second together. They'd ventured out shopping earlier in the week, one of the most peculiarly enjoyable experiences she'd ever had, and she'd purchased some new clothing. Nothing spectacular, just some reasonable outfits so she'd have something besides a wedding gown to call her own.