Flashbacks novel Chapter 13

It’s been a few weeks since the whole thing happened. Turns out, I was imagining the whole thing. I thought my dad was him. It’s a form of PTSD, I was told. I was prescribed medicine to help me with it. I also had a therapist I went to see every now and then.

Ever since what happened, Noah’s been distancing himself from me. I don’t know why - I’ve tried apologizing to him numerous times but he always shrugged it off and said it was fine, said I wasn’t in the right state of mind. Still, I knew he was hurt. Every time he and I lock eyes with each other, I see pity. There’s also a weird tension in the room with us. It’s unbearable. I plan to speak to him when I gain the confidence.

“Elle!” I heard Norma scream.

“Norma!” I screamed back as she ran into my arms, giving me a big hug.

“How was school today? And where’s Dominic?”

“Today was fun! We went on a field trip. And Dominic’s at school doing sports,” she answered, twirling her hair around. I lifted a brow up at her strange behavior.

“I can keep a secret…Did anything happen on this school trip?”

Her cheeks turned bright red. “You can’t tell mommy,” she says whilst holding out her pinky.

“I promise.” I linked out pinky’s together.

“My crush kissed me on the cheek today. We held hands, too,” she whispered out, grinning.

I coed. “Is he cute? Tell me everything!”

“He’s really pretty. I got shy so I didn’t want him to hold my hands.”

“Aww, that’s adorable -”

“What are you guys whispering about here, huh?” Arthur asked.

We both giggled. “No,” we said in usion.

He lifted up a brow. “You guys up to something?”

“Maybe,” Norma answered whilst shrugging.

“Mhm, interesting.” He pretended to think before looking over at me. “Norma, honey, I think you have a room to clean. I need to speak to Elle.”

“I don’t want to clean my room,” she complained.

“Well, you have to. Go on now.”

“Fine.” She pouted then walked away.

I chuckled. “Children, am I right?”

He grinned. “Yeah. How have you been?”

“I’ve been good, Arthur. Again, I wanted to apologize to you for what happened - I can’t believe I thought you were him then I thought you worked for him -”

“Stop blaming yourself,” he cut me off. “You weren’t in control nor were you in the right state of mind. You shouldn’t be apologizing to me, either. I’m the one who should be apologizing.”

I nodded. “What does Celeste think about this? I mean, she did talk to me and she’s been a real bi help these past few weeks, but how does she really feel about this?” I asked, using one hand to gesture towards myself.

“She loves you like her own daughter. She knows you’re going through things, and although she doesn’t fully understand, she knows you need time to adjust and things as such. She doesn’t feel anything negative towards you if that’s what you’re asking,” he answered.

I smiled. “Thanks for being honest with me, then. I appreciate it.”

We sat in silence for a bit. I realized then and there that he looked more tired. The eye bags under his eyes were becoming more noticeable and he looked drained.

“You okay?”

He looked at me, a bit shocked looking. “I’m well, just dealing with a lot of stress because of work. Word of advice, don’t become the CEO of a company,” he jokingly said.

“I’m sure everything’ll be fine. You should rest though, you look exhausted. And don’t worry. I don’t plan on becoming a CEO,” I said. “I think we should have dinner. All of us - as a family. I can cook,” I nervously suggested.

He grinned. “That sounds like a great idea. I can go with you to buy the things we need, if you want me to.”

“No, it’s fine. Noah can go with me. I need to speak to him anyway.” He took the hint and nodded.

“He’s out in the car, I’m pretty sure. Here, take my card.” He handed me a card from his wallet.

“I don’t need your card. I have my own money.”

“Take it just in case.”

I sighed. “Okay.” I took the card then ran out of the house and to the car. I knocked on the window, causing Noah to roll it down. “Yes?” he asked with a blank face.

“We’re going shopping. I’m cooking tonight.”

“You look happy.”

“Because I am! Now can you unlock the door?”

“Yeah, sorry. Hop in.”

He started driving as soon as I closed the door, surprisingly. He really didn’t want to waste time, huh?

“We need to talk,” I stated suddenly.