After the game, the guys from the team decided to go out and celebrate, but Noah chose not to join them, since his emotions are still running high and the tension after the fight proved to be a little too much for him to handle. So instead, we opted for going to dinner to have a little celebration of our own.
Noah was craving Chinese food, so we went to a little restaurant downtown, and had the best chow mein of our lives. After that, I offered to walk a few blocks down to an ice cream parlor for dessert, but he said he was too tired and just wanted to go home. He invited me to stay the night with him, and it took a long phone call and a lot of begging, but my dad agreed to let me stay with Noah.
We walk into Noah's house to find it in complete silence, so careful as to not wake anybody up we take off our shoes and continue deeper into the residence with only our socks on to muffle our steps. Noah starts up the stairs, but the lights on in the kitchen catch my attention. "Are you coming?" he asks, turning around when he notices I'm not following him."
"I think someone left a light on back there," I say, my head turned towards the kitchen and the tip of my index finger drawn between my lips. "Let me go check it out really quick, you go ahead though, I'll meet you up there in a minute."
"You sure?" he furrows his eyebrows and I nod. "Okay, but don't take too long, as soon as my head hits that pillow I'll be out like a light." He warns before disappearing up the stairs into the darkness.
I take a few quiet steps towards the kitchen, and I'm startled when I see someone sitting at the table. Not expecting anyone to be up this late, I gasp and take a step back when I make out Claudia's figure in the dim lighting.
She has her head bowed and buried in her hands, elbows on the wooden table and long silver hair cascading down her back. Beside her are a bottle of wine that's three quarters empty, a red-stained glass, and an ashtray that has a lit cigarette resting on the rim. The sound of me drawing a breath in sharply should have alerted her of my presence, but if it did, she's choosing not to acknowledge me.
"Claudia?" I say hesitantly, never knowing what to expect when I encounter this woman, but she seems not to be doing all that well and I want to make sure everything is alright. She slowly lifts her head up and turns to see me standing a few feet away. Her eyes are heavy with exhaustion, and I can't tell if she has dark circles under her eyes or if it's just smudged makeup. "Are you okay?" I ask.
"Couldn't be better." She sighs, picking up her cigarette and putting it between her lips to breathe in the smoke.
"Okay..." I say shyly, clasping my hands together and pressing my lips together into a thin line, not sure of what to do now. The silence stretches between us and she looks straight ahead, her gaze fixed on something outside the window. I'm thinking I probably shouldn't have interrupted her, and I'm feeling out of place here, so turning my body and pointing back at the stairs I say "I'll leave you alone, I was just-"
"Do you want a cup of tea?" her head snaps in my direction, seeming to not have heard a word I just said.
"Uhm..." is all that manages to come out of my mouth.
"I just made it," she clarifies, gesturing to the counter behind her, "It should still be hot."
"Sure," I accept her offer, making my way to the kitchen and digging through the cupboards to find a cup for myself. As I approach the counter, I spot a porcelain teapot and a matching white cup with a blue design on it, sitting beside each other. I'm guessing that was for her, but something made her go for the wine instead. So I grab a little tray, setting both cups and the teapot on it and bringing it to the table. I set it in front of her and pour her some tea. She takes the cup, offering me a small smile. I grab my own and quietly sit across from her.
"Is Ophelia here?" I ask, just now noticing the set of luggage in the corner of the room.
"No, those are mine," she responds, "I'm flying to Chicago in the morning. I have a conference and I'll be spending the week there." She takes a sip of her tea, "As for Ophelia, you just missed her, though I don't think you would've liked being in her way. I certainly wish I hadn't been." She adds, looking down.
"Did something happen?" I ask hesitantly. I don't want to pry, but she seems like she needs someone to talk to, and I'm the only one here to listen.
"Just another one of her tantrums," she sighs. "Her dad called, well, I should probably say her father. That man has never been a parent to Ophelia. Twenty-seven years and Henry has never wanted anything to do with her, and now suddenly he wants to be involved in her life," she rolls her eyes, "It's as if he can sense when my life is falling apart, and he comes in at the worst moment possible to screw it up even more. I told her it probably wasn't a good idea for her to meet with him, she's very fragile and I think it would hurt her more than help her. Besides she already has a dad who cares for her, she doesn't need a stranger introducing himself into her life without knowing the first thing about her."
I listen attentively without interrupting her, linking my fingers together and resting my chin on them as I let her vent.
"Anyways, she flipped out at me and ran off to her boyfriend's house, though I don't know why I expected otherwise." She takes a moment, her eyes glancing over her cigarette and her tea, trying to decide. She goes for the cigarette but puts it out before taking her cup between her hands. "I know she blames me for Henry's absence. They all resent me, all my children. They have their own justifications for it, but they can't see that everything I've ever done was for them.
"Ophelia is always avoiding me, when she's not working she's with that boyfriend of hers. Aiden wants nothing to do with me. He bolted out of here the first chance he got. But Noah, he's different. He's a fixer, a mediator, and if it weren't for him, this family would fall apart in a heartbeat. He might hate me, but he's always there for me. I actually think I need him more than he needs me. It's always been that way." She pushes her hair back and out of her face before pouring herself another cup of tea, offering me some more but I decline with a dismissive wave of my hand.
"I raised that boy right," she states, "I'll make you a promise right now," she says looking so deep into my eyes I feel like she's trying to see my soul "I can assure you, Noah will never raise his voice at you, and he will never even think about laying a finger on you maliciously. I made damn sure that boy knows how to treat and respect a woman. But if he ever does any of those things, you call me okay? I'll deal with him. Can you promise me you'll do that?" she asks and I nod slowly.
"Claudia, if you don't mind me asking," I start, my eyes fixed on my hands as I play around with one of my rings. "What happened with Noah's dad? I don't mean to stick my nose in your family matters, it's just that I noticed Noah doesn't really talk about him unless I ask, and even then he's very vague."
She sighs, "Where do I even begin to explain my story with Julian?" she says, a small nervous smile playing on her lips. "I was around twenty-four when I met him, and Henry, Ophelia's father, was actually the one who introduced us. They were coworkers and really good friends, so Henry invited him and his girlfriend at the time to a cookout we were hosting. From the moment I saw him walk through the door, his piercing blue eyes meeting mine, smiling at me widely even though we were strangers, I knew he would only bring trouble into my life." She reminisces.
"The four of us kept having double dates with our respective partners, and with each conversation we shared I fell deeper and deeper in love with him. I guess somewhere along the way he started falling for me too. Henry and I didn't have a good relationship anyway, we were always fighting and his family hated me, so it was only a matter of time before we broke up. But right as Julian and I came clean about our romance and broke things off with our significant others, I found out I was pregnant with Ophelia. But it was too late, Henry wanted nothing to do with me, and even though we hadn't even had our first official date, Julian decided to step in and help me raise the baby, despite not being the father. He could've run for the hills as most men would have, but he didn't and I will always be indebted to him for that. But you should know Maddison," she pauses, "Fairytales aren't real, and prince charming isn't always as perfect as he seems."
She stares at her tea, absentmindedly stirring it around with a silver spoon as she lets her grim words sink in. "Julian and I were a recipe for disaster, and I should've known it was only a matter of time before that time bomb went off," she continues. "We brought Ophelia up to the best of our ability, had two beautiful boys of our own, and even though we tried for years, we just couldn't make it work between us. We are both too stubborn, we always want to be right, so we fought relentlessly, all the time. But the last drop was when I got an email from a woman, saying she had been dating my husband for the past six months. In that moment I felt so stupid, I had somehow thought that even though he had cheated with me, he wouldn't cheat on me. What an idiot, right?" she asks.
"I'm so sorry you went through that Claudia," I say honestly, now finally understanding her reasoning behind having such a hard exterior. If you don't let people in, they can't hurt you.
"Yeah, it's a feeling I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. But lucky for you, I made sure my kids won't follow in their dad's steps. So don't worry, your heart is safe with Noah," she says, reaching across the table to take my hand and give it a little squeeze. "I'm sorry I was mean to you the first time we met," she apologizes, "I'm very protective of my family, but you seem like a nice girl and I'm sure Noah is lucky to have you," she offers me a small smile.
"Thank you," I return it.
"Well," she says, pushing off her chair "I'm off to bed, I have a flight to catch in a few hours." she heads to the hall towards the staircase but stops, lingering at the door frame before turning around to face me again. "Just one more thing, Maddison," she adds, "I risked everything I had for the man I loved. Did it turn out the way I wanted it to? Of course not. But falling in love with Julian proved to me that everything happens for a reason. Think about it, if I hadn't met him, you wouldn't even be in my kitchen right now and we wouldn't be having this conversation. Every decision you make in your life, is creating the path that you're going to be walking tomorrow, and every day after that for the rest of your life. So a little piece of advice? Choose wisely Maddison, because you won't get a re-do." With that she turns and walks out, leaving me alone in the dimly lit kitchen, the weight of her words sitting heavily on my shoulders.
After cleaning up our used dishes, I silently make my way up the stairs and into Noah's room. As my eyes adjust to the darkness, I make out his figure, the corded muscles on his back flexing as he rests on his stomach with his hands under his pillow, sound asleep.
I strip out of my clothes and dig through his closet for a shirt to sleep in, getting changed and sliding under the covers next to him. As I settle beside him, he stirs awake, flipping to his side when he notices me and wrapping his arms around me to fit his body perfectly against mine.
"What took you so long?" he asks in a sleepy voice, placing a kiss into the crook of my neck.
"I ran into your mom." I reply, "I think I'm making progress with her. She confided in me about her past, so that's a good sign right?"
"Hmm," he sounds apprehensive, "I don't know what she told you, but if I were you I would be very careful believing what comes out of my mom's mouth. She has a way of spinning the truth to fit her narrative," he says.
"I don't know. It sounded pretty genuine to me." I reply.
"Like I said, she's a good storyteller. Just know there's two sides to every story."