What was that pounding? Was it a hangover? I wasn’t even legal to drive. I woke up realizing that the pounding was from my door. I unwillingly moved the quilt aside and sat up, glaring at the direction of the sound.
Nora was standing with one hand on her hip and the other was banging on the door, that was wide open, all the while looking me right in the eye.
“Rise and shine sleepyhead. We have things to pack”, she walked in and pulled my duvet that was still covering my legs and walked to my closet, eyeing it for travel bags.
“You could’ve woken me up like a normal human being”, I said, still waking up.
“You don’t think I tried that? Apparently it didn’t work. If you sleep like a normal person, I would have woken you up like a normal person”, she said, dragging the suitcase to the bed.
“Why are you so hyped up? I thought you would be crying in your bedroom corner. Apparently, I was wrong”, I said with a frown.
She stopped whatever she was doing and turned around with a strained smile and sat on my bed.
“Do you think I will be happy without you? Alone here? All the best memories in my life include you Bella. In Fact, I’ll be the one suffering more. I don’t want to sound selfish, I admit it, I’m sad but I’m also happy that my cute little sister has found a boy for her”, she said with a small smile.
It was moments like this Nora I would miss when I move out. One minute you want to kill her and the next she would say something that would make your heart swell. I walked over to her and hugged her. She hugged me back, gently patting my back.
“Ugh. You stink. Go and take a shower. I’ll do the packing”, she said pushing me into the bathroom.
“I don’t stink”, I slapped her rear and walked past her into the bathroom.
My closet was cleaned out and all my belongings were now neatly arranged in my blue suitcase, when I exited the bathroom. My books and other things were in another bag. She had laid a black skinny jean and a pink top on the bed for changing now. I slipped into my clothes, brushed my hair and went down.
“You know you can’t go with him if I don’t approve, right? “, she asked in a serious tone. I stopped on my tracks.
“Um, he won’t be coming here, I guess. Jimmy will be picking me up”.
“What?”, she turned around too fast, removing her eyes from the pan, “He is not making a very good impression”, she said, apparently shook.
“He- he is kind of busy with a work thing. I promise I’ll bring him around sometime”, I stammered.
“On a Sunday morning ? Fine”, she shrugged. She was disappointed. Well, shit.
Later, we both went to my room to take my bags downstairs. It weighed like tons. Carrying each, we came tumbling down the stairs and put the bags on the floor with a thud. We were panting like dogs by then.
I texted Alice the time and somewhat short version of everything I told Nora and pocketed my phone.
We moved around the house, spending the lazy Sunday afternoon together, making lunch. Nora taught me some basic recipes, so I could cook something without poisoning myself.
We ate our lunch and chatted for a while. A knock from the front door interrupted our chatting.
“That will be Jimmy. I’ll get the door”, Nora said leaving the remote with me. I sat on the couch changing channels on TV. There was no sound of conversation or footsteps.
“Nora?”, I shouted, getting no reply.
I stood up and walked to the door. Looking through her tense shoulders, I froze in my place.
What was he doing here?
Nora stood by the door frame, her mouth partly opened in shock.
“Hey”, he smiled at me and eyed Nora who still hadn’t said a word, “You ready ?”, he asked me casually with a nod. Nora turned to look at me with a look of pure shock.
I stood there looking at both of them and went and stood next to him. I felt the warmth radiating from his body through his white polo t-shirt.
“Nora. He-he is Ryan. My uh-”
“Boyfriend?”, she finished me. I purposefully avoided eye contact and murmured a yes.
“Excuse us Ryan, will you?”, she snapped out of her trance and dragged me to the kitchen.
“Why didn’t you tell me you knew him before?”, she whisper-screamed, eyeing the hallway from which we just walked in.
“Before? What do you mean? You knew him before?”.
“Umm. Kind of, yes” , she laughed nervously. I looked at her and raised my eyebrows, giving her a care-to-explain look.
She sighed. “Do you remember the guy from the office I told you about? Blue suit? Greek God?”, my mouth fell open as I remembered her vivid description of the guy her boss was trying to flirt with.
She cringed. “In my defense, I didn’t know he was your boyfriend”, she said and was shocked when I broke into laughter.
“You said you wanted to meet him, right?”
“Well not like this I mean -“, she was cut off by him.
“May I come in ladies? I left my jacket in my car and it’s kind of cold outside”.
“Shit. He is still standing out”, she ran to the door with me hot in her heels.
“Sorry about that. Come on in”, she moved aside. I stood near the stairs watching my extremely interesting toes to avoid meeting his eyes and creating an awkward scene .
“Is that all, babe?”, he asked looking at the two bags.
Oh c’mon dude. Seriously? Babe?
Apparently Alice told him everything. I gave him a tight smile.
“Yes”, before I bent down to take them but he beat me to it and he grabbed them and carried them both out as if it weighed nothing. Nora and I stood in awkward silence, glancing at each other when he came back in.
He came to stand beside me and pulled me into a one-arm hug, casually snaking an arm around my waist. He did so naturally, one would think we had been dating for years. That put a smile on Nora’s face.
“Nora, right?”, she nodded .
“Shit Sorry. Nora, Ryan. Ryan, Nora “, I did the customary introduction and stood there while they shook hands.
“Nora, I know what I’m asking of you. It must be hard for both of you. Trust me I tried. I just couldn’t stay away from her”, he gripped me tight and gave me a smile and continued, “we are just a phone call away. If you guys want to meet, just say the word. Okay?”, she nodded, smiling.
“I will be waiting outside”, he kissed me on the forehead, gave Nora a polite nod and went out, closing the door behind him. Nora had a shit-eating grin all the while.
I mentally rolled my eyes at him. Just give him an Oscar already.
“I like him”, she said nodding at the doorway.
“You already did”, I laughed when she visibly shuddered. “Ugh. Don’t bring that up. And don’t tell him about it”.
“I won’t if you promise to call me every night”.
She pouted and pulled me into a hug. “Of course I will”, we stood there quietly, still reeling in the fact that we wouldn’t be sharing an apartment together. She wouldn’t be there to get me my towel every time I forget it. I wouldn’t be here to bitch with her about her boss.
In the two years we’ve known each other, we have grown closer, more than just roommates into sisters. Two girls who have found family in each other.
We stepped back sniffing, wiping away the tears. There was a comfortable silence between us that was interrupted by us breaking into giggles. Taking a deep breath I forced a smile, fighting back the tears.
“We are still us, okay. Nothing has to change. I’m just going to be eating and sleeping in a different place”, I told her but more as a reassurance to myself.
“I know”. She handed my shoulder bag and phone and walked me to the door.
I knew I was lying to her about the situation but few things were better left unsaid.
“I will miss you, Nora”, I had two weeks to process it and it still felt strange. I tried hard but a few tears betrayed me and rolled down my cheek.
“Shh. Don’t cry. I’ll cry too. I will be in Wood Springs. I’m just one call away. I will miss you too”, she wiped my tears and pushed back the stray strands sticking to my face.
Ryan was leaning against his car. I walked down the porch and he opened the door for me. I was about to step in when Nora called his name.
“She means everything to me. So, don’t you dare hurt her. I might look small but I know karate. Be good to her. I’ll be here to kick your ass, if you don’t”, she said with a serious matter-of-fact expression on her face.
I smiled. While all the huge, brawny guys in the pack house shuddered at his voice, he was threatened by a woman who was about half his size. But if he knew any better, he should be scared.
“Sure thing. I promise”, he was about to round the car when he stopped and looked at her, lost in thoughts. Walking towards her, he pulled her to a tight hug. I was shocked and by the looks of it, Nora was too.
“Thank you. For being understanding”, he said, his voice in utter sincerity. She smiled back.
He got in and the engine purred to life. It was a foot, then a few meters and then she disappeared as the car turned around a corner, out of my sight. I leaned back against the warm leather and closed my eyes, sighing deeply.
The ride was silent. He took occasional glances at me, opening his mouth to say something then deciding against it.
“I thought Jimmy was supposed to pick me up”, I asked, trying to diffuse the awkward silence.
“He was. I was around so I thought I would come instead”, he said, looking at me before focusing on the road.
“She was nice, Nora. It must be hard for you”, he said, his eyes carrying genuine feelings.
“She is”, I smiled. She was too much love packed in a 5’2″ body.
Silence engulfed the car , but it was a different kind of silence than it was 5 minutes ago. It wasn’t awkward. An old country song filled the space as we drove down a freshly rained road, through the woods.
Soon the pack house came into view. He parked the car and we got out. I went back to take my luggage from the trunk but he stopped me.
“I will take care of it”.
A small party of familiar faces stood at the foot of the steps. Two men rushed past me and carried back my luggage inside.
“Bella”, Alice squealed and hugged me, taking me a few steps back along with her.
“I’m very happy to have you here”, she said grinning from ear-to-ear.
“How is Nora?”
“It was hard but she took it pretty good”
Jimmy engulfed me in a bear hug followed by Stacy. Dan nodded at me politely, quickly averting his gaze.
“I have some things to take care of. Alice and John will show you around”, he stood there for a second and made sure that I was okay with it and walked away, discussing something with Jimmy, Dan hot on their heels.
I slipped into Alice’s arms and walked in front with John trailing behind us typing furiously on his phone. The large entrance hallway flowed into two large, wide staircases that connected the living area of the house to individual private rooms on the above floors. Tall windows, double high ceiling decorated by a grand chandelier, supported by huge pillars, a fireplace formed the main part of the mansion. The white halls looked even bigger, hauntingly beautiful than it already was as the evening rays of sun lit the corridor. Past an archway was a sitting room with another fireplace. Every single décor approximated the wallpaper and paint colors.
We wandered around, coming across many new people I was yet to meet, with her pointing at different rooms and me pulling her to stop to look at every painting mounted on the wall. In short, this house was not big. It is huge. Tall wood clad glass patio doors opened into an equally impressive backyard. We sat on a stone bench in the backyard garden, resting our legs. John stood leaning against a tree near Alice with his hands in his pant pockets.
A small boy with cookies in both his hands and crumbs all around his mouth came running towards us.
“Alice”, he stopped, “So anyway, Aunt Elena needs you in the kitchen”, he said, balancing the cookies in his hands.
Alice laughed and John rolled his eyes.
“I don’t talk like that, Cliff”, he said, ruffling the boy’s hair. “You do”, Alice stood up and lifted Cliff into her hands.
“I’ll be right back, Bella”, she said and walked back into the house.
I sent a message to Nora saying that I was getting settled and that I would call her once I was free.
John came to sit behind me on the bench, smiling down at me.
“Are you comfortable here?”, he asked leaning forward, elbows on his knees.
“Well I’m always comfortable around my friends. But I think it will take sometime to get used to this place and the fact that your sitting room is bigger than my entire apartment isn’t helping either”, he laughed.
“I appreciate what you are doing for us. I might sound like a dick but I’m happy that Ryan found his mate and that it’s you”, he said hesitantly, worrying that might take it in the wrong way. But I was surprised at how everyone cared for him. Besides the fact that he was their Alpha, they seemed to care about him as a friend, as a family. I smiled at him.
“And I want you to know that you can always find a friend in me. Maybe a brother too”. I was at a loss for words. I mouthed a ‘thank you’re at him. The weather was warm and windy.
He stood up. “Come, I’ll show you around. Elena is obsessed with Alice and she might be back anytime soon”.
It was one hell of a long tour.