“Exactly, and Noah isn’t harmless either.” It’s quiet, and I know I still owe Eric another answer. “I don’t know exactly what Nora and I have right now, but it feels good, and I’m trying not to overthink it. She’s different, you know?” She intrigues me, she challenges me, she’s stubborn. She’s unbelievably attractive and pure. And unless we’re talking about how much I’m worth in bed, she’s not interested in my net worth. She drives me completely crazy, but I’ll keep that to myself.
“I know, I can tell,” Eric says, grinning as he finishes his beer.
If Eric sees it, Isabella sees it too, and that could be dangerous. The extent to which she and her unstable personality haunt and frustrate me is immense. She keeps managing to have an impact on my life, and I hate that I’ve brought Nora into this situation, even if she doesn’t realize it. I hope the measures we’ve taken are enough and I decide to burn off my irritation with a good workout later, needing the physical release to clear my mind.
Chapter 13
Nora
Dennis
Everything okay, Nora? Let me know!
Nora
Everything’s fine, really, don’t worry!
I send an equally unflattering selfie as last night, this time with the shelf of tomato sauces in the supermarket.
Dennis
LOL! Call me if you need me, okay?!
Nora
I will! Love you!
Dennis
You too!
Luckily, Dennis doesn’t ask difficult questions. That’ll be different with Anna, but I need to call her and update her on this new episode of the soap opera that is currently my life. I’ll call her as soon as I’m home and have unloaded all the groceries. In this weather, that’s a real workout.
“Hi Anna, it’s me, everything okay with you and the baby?”
“Yeah, all good, still stuck in bed, but secretly it’s kind of nice to be waited on. The baby’s doing great, at least.”
Melvin is undoubtedly spoiling her without limits.
“Oh, good to hear, that’s the most important thing!”
“How are you? How was yesterday? Dennis texted me that my plan worked, but that was still pretty early in the evening. Beyond that, I don’t know anything.”
“Your plan did indeed work, it was a… special evening,” I say with intrigue.
“A special evening? If you're going to say that, you'd better finish the story, Nora! My life currently consists of eating and sleeping, you really have to tell me about your night,” she pleads desperately.
“I know, that’s why I’m calling. Andreas was there,” I say, a bit more seriously this time.
“Oh, really? Unbelievable. What a coincidence!” Not such a coincidence. “Was it a good thing that he was there? How did he react? Don’t tell me he ran off again or something, huh?!”
“No, he didn’t run off. He came for me.”
“Oh,” is all Anna can say.
“It’s a long story, Anna, but he took me back home. We sort of talked it out, I think.”
“Sort of talked it out, you think?” she echoes. “That doesn’t sound very convincing. What was his excuse for leaving you hanging like that?”
