No Body No Crime || Bad Omens || Noah Sebastian

Delicate

Being a psychologist had always been Lisa’s dream, and it still was, but often, at the end of the day, the weight of everything she had heard from her patients took its toll. Traumatic stories had crossed the threshold of her office, and if the walls could speak, they would have begged not to hear another word.

Parents who had passed away before unresolved issues could be addressed. People without friends or family, with nothing to keep them tethered to life. Teenagers who hated themselves so much they inflicted harm on their own bodies.

At that moment, Lisa was listening to Dylan, a twenty-five-year-old, just like her, as he recounted his week: how he had managed his days and overcome the challenges caused by his disorder.

"But I have to be honest, doc," Dylan admitted, "aside from going to work, I’ve done little else. It’s like just existing takes up all my energy."

"Maybe that’s because it does. All the energy you have is being used to survive. It’s no wonder you feel drained."

They talked for a few more minutes until the session came to an end.

"Thank you, Dr. Kingsley. Ever since I started coming here, I feel like I’m really getting better."

"I’m glad to hear that, Dylan. But it’s not me having that effect on you—it’s your will to live finally making itself heard."

She walked him to the door and waved him goodbye.

A few minutes later, she received a message from Noah, inviting her to come downstairs for their date.

When she got into the musician’s car, she was met with those beautiful brown eyes she had been trying to catch sight of for so long.

"Ready for the best night of your life?"

"That’s quite a promise. Don’t get my hopes up too high, or my disappointment will be even worse."

"Alright, it’s just a quiet dinner at a restaurant I found along the way, but the best part of the night is me."

And maybe he was right. Noah was captivating; everything about him attracted her. The way he gripped the steering wheel, how he had opened the car door for her when they arrived. His carefree smile.

The restaurant was simple, perfect for a first date. They talked about their lives without pausing for a moment.

Lisa told him about her family and how she was the first in her lineage to graduate from college.

Noah, on the other hand, shared amusing stories about the tours he had taken with his band around the world.

"You’ll have to let me hear something, sooner or later."

"Sooner rather than later, I promise."

They continued talking non-stop, even as he drove her home, sparks running down her spine every time Noah brushed against her thigh while changing gears.

When they arrived in front of her building, Lisa realized she didn’t want the night to end. Taking a deep breath to muster her courage, she asked, "Want to come in? I have a great bottle of wine that won’t drink itself."

Noah smiled. "As much as I’d love to say yes, I’ll have to decline this time." The disappointment on Lisa’s face was clear, and Noah gently stroked her cheek. "Don’t think for a second that I don’t want to. But I want it to be special."

He left her with a kiss at the corner of her mouth and wished her goodnight.

The next time, Lisa invited him over for dinner at her place, and they drank that bottle of wine. He finally kissed her, and it didn’t take many dates before they found themselves wrapped in each other’s arms in her bed.

They had gotten serious quite quickly, maybe too quickly, but neither of them realized it. It was so good to be together, and neither of them wanted to give that up.

They would stay together as long as they wanted, and after that, there would be no regrets or blame.

___________________________________________

Noah thought about how wrong they both had been. They had become serious and exclusive so fast. He had told Lisa he loved her after just a month from their first date. Lisa had said she felt the same, or at least that’s what she told him. It seemed unimaginable to him now, being in her room, in her apartment, searching for clues as to where the woman who claimed to love him might have gone.

After hours of searching, he stumbled upon a file he had never seen before. At first glance, he realized it was Lisa’s secret diary.

It dated back to long before he had met her, and as he scrolled through it, he found the moment when her eyes had first landed on him.

The way she described him made his heart skip a beat.

A gorgeous guy who had made her laugh. And she wished that laughter would never leave her lips. She didn’t want him to ever leave her lips.

He felt awful reading his girlfriend’s private thoughts, but it was the only way to understand what had gone wrong between them. Why she had chosen to leave without saying anything to anyone.

He skimmed through the pages, reading every moment of Lisa’s life as if it were a book for sale in a bookstore. Their year-long relationship was all there, in black and white. Every gesture, every word, every feeling she had experienced with him was documented in painstaking detail.

Their first argument. How she had felt the world crashing down on her when Noah told her he was leaving for the tour.

She had never told him. She had wished him good luck and hugged him tight, but in her heart, she was suffering. And he hadn’t noticed.

Maybe she didn’t want to be with him anymore because of the way he made her feel so alone.

He came across a page of her diary dated a few months ago, and anger began to boil in his veins.

There was another man in Lisa’s life.