London
Nov. 8th
Nora hadn't heard from Jaq in over a week when suddenly her name appeared on Nora's lock screen. She was cooking, it was 8 p.m., and she had just gotten home from work.
"Everything good?" blurted Nora out as soon as she answered the call. She was nervous, but was also glad to hear from Jaq. Plus she didn't quite know what to expect.
"All good, Nor, all good," she heard Jaq's voice and relief spread through her whole body.
Over the last few days a lot has been going through her mind, regarding what could have happened to them, what they were doing...
Nora knew that this was none of her business but considering that these people had her kidnapped not to long ago, she felt like it was only normal to be confused and worried about everything regarding them. And that includes their safety.
"I'm calling because Sully wants to know how your little plan is going," Jaq explained and Nora had to roll her eyes. Of course he had assigned Jaq to call, he himself was far too important apparently. That was so typical for him.
She stirred the bolognese sauce in the pot and jammed her cell phone under her ear while she chopped basil and oregano.
Oh, she forgot how his behavior annoyed her.
"He can call me himself," Nora replied flippantly, dumping the herbs into the sauce.
She didn't even care at this point. Not texting or calling for a whole week and now he tells someone else to communicate with her? After everything that happened to them?
This man was absolutely mad in the head.
"Nora," Jaq said placatingly, and Nora heard her sigh on the other end, "Come on."
Nora stirred the spaghetti. The boiling pasta water threatened to overflow, so it took her a moment to answer Jaq.
"No, I'm forreal, he's an adult, he can call himself," Nora stood firm.
"Alright," Jaq relented, "your responsibility."
"I'm not afraid of that idiot"
Jaq laughed on the other end.
"You should be, you're really cheeky sometimes", Jaq smirked with amusement, "but somehow he lets you get away with these things, nh?"
Was Jaq implying something?
Anyways, Nora was way to mad to be scared of what Sully would do. Besides that, she knew that he wouldn't do anything to her.
Their relationship was way too complicated to describe. But she had shared the most intimate moments she had ever shared with anyone with him and she didn't want it to be a meaningless experience.
He was maybe used to treating women like this but Nora was not the one. This didn't work with her. Either he would call himself or forget about everything. There was no inbetween with her.
Nora decided to ignore the innuendo that Jaq had made and changed the subject instead.
"How's everyone else?" she asked, genuinely interested, "did anyone else catch a bullet?"
Oop-
she probably shouldn't have made a joke about that.
How insensitive.
But funny, too.
She waited an agonizing moment to see if Jaq got angry. But then she heard Jaq's cheeky laugh and breathed out a sigh of relief.
"You're ruthless, man. The others are fine," she answered Nora's question, adding, "no more gunshot victims."
"Fantastic," Nora muttered sarcastically.
At least no one was hurt. '
That's good, I guess', Nora told herself while trying to suppress her anger about that stupid men's behavior.
"What should I tell Sully now, babe?" asked Jaq.
"Tell him to call himself"
Period.
"He will kill me, the mood is horrible right now," Jaq objected, a breeze of stress resonating in her voice.
"He won't do anything to you," Nora countered, and she was sure of it too.
"You're crazy, fam" Jaq relented, and Nora heard her start the engine.
"Keep your chin up and don't come crying to me when the boss kills you, yeah?" Jaq added, then hung up after Nora said goodbye.
Nora shook her head with a grin, put the phone away and returned her attention to the noodles on the stove.
Jaq had sounded very stressed. It seemed like their problem hasn't been solved yet.
Jaq's words from the other day kept echoing in Nora's head: 'Don't leave the apartment'.
Was she herself also in danger?
But how could she be in danger if she didn't even know what or who the threat was?
Nora felt like a stupid outsider about not knowing what was going on.
Well, besides from that she was glad Jaq had come forward. And as for Sully: If he wanted to know how Project Heath Miller was going, he could check in with her anytime himself. But he apparently thought he was so incredibly important that there wasn't time. Idiot.
A little later, she sat down in front of the TV with her pasta, lit some good smelling candles and watched netflix. It was nice to be back in her own daily routine. And now that she knew Jaq, Dris, Dushane, Sully, and the other dumbasses were doing okay so far, she could shake off those thoughts, too.