The Mysterious Cycle | #wattys2019

Chapter 11

Naomi shook her head and replied to his concern with "I am fine, thanks."

Seb offered her his place for the night as she had no place to go. He lived alone anyway but she politely but firmly refused it.

"Hey Naomi, your husband gave me the task of being there for you always, and looking out for you. I think you should stay with me, I will ensure that you will be fine." said Steve expectantly.

"Thank you for everything Steve but I think you have done enough for me. Besides, I can't put your life at stake repeatedly. I can take care of myself."

Everyone offered their house one after the other but she politely declined their offer. She was done depending on others and repeatedly putting their lives at risk. They had a family too and she didn't want them to lose it all like she had in a matter of few weeks.

However, Eleanor was insistent on Naomi staying at her place. While they didn't get along very well, Naomi was surely touched by the gesture. It made her realize probably cold war at work doesn't mean that you don't offer your hand for help for someone in need. Besides, Naomi had no other choice. She had to stay somewhere and Eleanor was willing to take any sort of risk.

She searched around the burned down house and found certain things that wasn't engulfed by fire. She collected them and headed to Eleanor's place.

"Welcome to my home, feel comfortable please, it is your home now."

"Thank you Eleanor, I really appreciate whatever you are doing for me. I really do."

"Oh please, don't mention it, plus I also wanted to talk to you about Will. I am so sorry for your loss, Naomi. We didn't get a chance to talk properly about it. If it is okay for you, would you please tell me about everything that happened in these few days?"

Naomi didn't want to speak about it but she knew she had to someday. She couldn't avoid this topic forever plus any sort of help was welcome. And maybe keeping Eleanor, Seb, Chris and Mike aware of the incidents could help her find the killer but she wasn't sure if she could trust all of them.

As Will told her again and again, "Trust No one."

But she had had enough. She was tired of keeping things to herself and brooding over it day in and day out. It was killing her from within and all she wanted to do was crying and scream at the top of her lungs. She desperately wanted to talk to someone about it but she didn't have the guts to face the reality that she was being put through. She felt as if her head was going burst with the amount of overthinking and paranoia she was suffering from. She had to open up to someone someday. She couldn't keep it inside her forever. So she spoke to Eleanor about it, she told her most of the details barring a few personal ones. She didn't forget that she couldn't trust anyone.

Not even someone as trustworthy as Eleanor. To lighten up the mood and to make her feel better, Eleanor and Naomi spent a lot of time talking and they played a board game or 2. Eleanor also offered her a tub of chocolate ice cream to lighten up her mood which Naomi welcomed happily. Eleanor's house was very beautiful. She lived alone, her family stayed on the West coast. She had a very good flat in a posh building in the city. The people in her building seemed quite polite and rich.

The interiors were done well, it was a 2 BHK and it was very spacious. It was evident that Eleanor had put a lot of thought into decorating her house the way she did.

As they were done talking and playing, Eleanor escorted Naomi to her room. Since Eleanor had two rooms, she offered one room to Naomi.

"Don't hesitate to wake me up if you need anything. Night." Naomi nodded. Eleanor smiled and closed the door behind her.