The Nightcolt Manor

(18)

Heath and Nadine were snapped out of their engagement by the sound of the library door opening. Nadine's head whipped around to see her friend, Shannon, standing open-mouthed in the doorway.

Nadine looked back at Heath, unable to read his expression. She realized that he hadn't disappeared, his hand still firmly wrapped around her lower back.

"Oh.. my.. god." Shay said slowly, before her face turned into an intoxicated grin. "Nadine." She began slowly, drawing the name out in a teasing manner. "Who's your friend?"

Nadine's hazel eyes widened, her gaze switching back and forth between Heath and her friend. "Uhm--" she stuttered, trying to figure out what to say without telling her friend that the man she had just been caught with wasn't actually alive. She crawled off of Heath, his hand sliding off of her hip and instead coming to wipe his mouth in a sophisticated manner.

"Shannon, meet Heath.." She said steadily, standing up and holding a hand out to Heath. Her friend glanced at her purposely, her face conveying everything she thought with one look. Nadine cleared her throat, "Heath is my.. partner.." she said after a few choice words came to mind of what to refer to her ghostly beau as. "Heath, meet Shannon, my friend."

Nadine gave Shannon a firm look, willing her not to say anything stupid. Heath stood up, walking over to her friend and placing a respectful kiss on the back of her hand. Shannon's jaw dropped, giving Nadine another particular look. She shook her head at Shannon scoldingly, once again telling her not to say anything dumb, especially in her drunken state.

"Cold hands." Shannon suddenly commented, Heath standing straighter at her words. "Cold hands, warm heart." Nadine said quickly, a nervous smile on her face. "Does he speak, or what?" 

Nadine groaned internally, turning her attention to Heath, who still had that same unreadable expression. "I've heard some things about you." Heath said finally, his hands folding behind his back as he eyed her skeptically. "All good things, right?" She laughed, her voice slurring a little.

Heath didn't say anything more, continuing to look at her. "Alright, time to get back to that party, eh?" Nadine laughed awkwardly, pushing Shannon out quickly, her friend letting out a few drunken complaints as she shut the door. She turned back to Heath, feeling embarrassed and disappointed that the two of them were interrupted. "I'm so sorry. Again."

Heath sat back down on the couch, unbuttoning his waistcoat. "At the very least she was intoxicated.." he muttered, a hand running through his black hair. "Well, she probably wouldn't have been able to put her finger on it even if she wasn't." Nadine shrugged.

"Uh.. I've gotta go make sure those people leave before the night is over. I'll see you in the morning, hopefully." She said after a few beats of silence. She walked over, leaning down and pecking him on the cheek gingerly. He responded promptly by grabbing her wrist as she began to walk away, placing a firmer kiss on her lips.

__________

After the disaster that was Shay's house (not really) party, Nadine went back to the quiet sanctuary of her own home.

"God, I really hope she was too wasted to remember that." Nadine thought desperately to herself. She suspected Shannon would probably come knocking at her door in the morning, wanting to go get some 'hang-over breakfast', or even worse.. ask her to elaborate on last night.

Nadine climbed out of her bed, rubbing her temples. She couldn't afford to lose this. She already had some weird creeps try and go "ghost hunting" a month or so ago, and now she had to worry about her own friend exposing her secret. Like clockwork, Nadine heard her doorbell ring. She reluctantly walked to her door, peeking out of the peephole and making a frustrated face while she still could before she opened the door for Shay.

"Morning.." Nadine said as Shay walked in with a grin, her bright outfit stinging Nadine's eyes.

"So, how did you like the party?!" Shay asked, turning to her with an excited and hopeful look. Nadine grimaced before wiping the look off her face and replacing it with a smile that hardly reached her eyes, "Yeah! It was.. great!" She said slowly, walking into her kitchen.

"Well, I'm so glad you agree, cause I had such a great time! Ugh, my phone was blowing up with messages saying how much people liked the location," Shay continued, though Nadine drowned her out, running a hand through her hair. "Anyway, go get some clothes on! We're going out today!"

Oh, right. Nadine looked down at her attire, which was still her crinkled pajamas. "Yeah, I'll go do that." She replied, rushing into her room to throw some proper day clothes on.

She came out fifteen minutes later to see her friend sitting on the couch and looking at some scattered paper clippings. Before Nadine could realize what it was her friend had gotten into, Shay spoke up, "What's up with all these old newspaper clippings? And photos too."

Nadine was at a loss for words, speaking carefully, "Uh.. you know how much I love history. I just wanted to do some.. background research on the Nightcolt Manor."

"Huh. Uh-huh." Shay said absentmindedly, picking up a photo and squinting at it. "He looks so familiar." She pointed at the picture of Heath, turning it around so Nadine could see. She rushed forward, plucking the photograph out of her fingers swiftly, "Yeah, I guess.. He was the original owner of the Manor."

"Really?" Shay said, her brows raising, "He's hot for a dead guy. I'd totally marry him back then." She snickered, biting her lip. Nadine felt a strange sense of jealousy at those words, but she pushed it down.

"Really, though. He looks so familiar!" She insisted, standing up. "Yeah, well, maybe you saw a lookalike. He's got a pretty 'modern-looking' face, I suppose." Nadine bullshitted with a shrug.

She cleared her throat, grabbed her purse and placed the photo in her wallet carefully, "Let's get out of here, shall we?" She said hurriedly, shooing her friend out of the house, all the while breathing steady sighs of relief that her friend hadn't completely known who she  was actually looking at.