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

The moment I knew

Noah had insisted strongly that she join him on tour, even if only for a few stops. Lisa had managed to take a few days off before the weekend, so she set off to see the band in concert.

She left her home with a small suitcase in hand, attracting the attention of the elderly neighbor.

“Where are you going, doc?”

“Hello, John. I’m going to be out of town for a couple of days. I need a break from work.” John nodded, absentmindedly scratching his white beard. They took the elevator together, and the old man insisted on helping her put the suitcase in the car.

Lisa looked around. She couldn’t explain it, but she felt an unsettling presence, as though someone was watching her. She frowned and said goodbye to John, promising to bake him a pie when she returned from her trip.

«Can't wait. But remember, I really liked those cookies with chocolate chips that you made a few weeks ago»

«Sounds like a plan»

Lisa smiled and shook his hand.

When the plane landed, Lisa rushed to the exit. Noah and the band were busy with concert rehearsals, so she would have to take a taxi to the hotel where they were staying.

Before she could leave the arrivals area, a sign with her name caught her eye. Holding it were the slender, ink-stained fingers of her boyfriend.

Lisa ran to him and hugged him tightly, momentarily throwing him off balance.

“Happy to see you missed me,” Noah said, returning the embrace and pulling her even closer. “Come on, we’d better go. I’ve prepared a surprise for you.”

“Don’t raise my expectations.”

“Nothing too extravagant, I promise,” he said, wrapping his tattooed arm around Lisa’s pale shoulders as he took the suitcase from her and guided her to the car.

They arrived at the hotel, and Noah held her hand as they took the elevator.

“I’m starting to think the surprise is you and a bedroom,” Lisa said with a smile as Noah opened the door to their room.

The bed and much of the floor were covered in red rose petals, and a floral scent lingered in the air of the hotel room. “It’s me, a bedroom, and your favorite flowers.”

Noah embraced her and kissed her without giving her a chance to catch her breath. Oxygen was unnecessary for either of them at that moment. She missed everything about him: his gentle touch, his breath on her neck, his soft hair that she loved to run her fingers through. They had been apart for just a few weeks, and her body responded to Noah’s like a magnet. Both eager for the contact, to feel each other’s warmth, and Noah’s skin burned under her touch.

He missed Lisa so much.

The way that deep gaze delved into his soul. How their bodies fit together perfectly, like pieces of a puzzle. Her voice moaning his name and how it turned Noah on.

"Don't be shy, girl” he said when his ear heard Lisa suffocated a scream in a sigh.

"There's people in other rooms”

"Let them know how you missed me”

They found themselves wrapped in the sheets, rose petals scattered everywhere. Noah held her close with one arm, while Lisa rested her hand over his heart. If she concentrated enough, she could feel its irregular beat. “I really missed you” she whispered.

"Yeah, noticed it”

Noah pressed a damp kiss to her lips and got up from the bed, leaving Lisa with a bewildered expression on her face.

Noah’s tattooed hands now held a beige package tied with a small brown ribbon. He handed it to her as he lay back down beside her.

Lisa inspected it with her eyes, unable to guess what might be inside, and Noah smiled. “What’s wrong? Aren’t you going to open it?”

Lisa mustered some courage and untied the ribbon from the small gift. In her hands appeared a poetry book, and she felt tears welling up. She had mentioned her passion for reading, especially poetry, to Noah a couple of months ago, and the overflowing bookshelf in her home had evidently made an impression on him.

“I saw it and thought of you. Did I do something wrong? Maybe you already have it, I...”

Lisa silenced him with a kiss, and Noah wasted no time losing himself in it. He pulled her closer, gripping her thick, curly hair. “It’s perfect” she whispered against Noah’s lips, making him smile tenderly.

"Not as you” he said while getting on top of her once again.

That was the moment he knew she was the one.
___________________________________________

Noah was still sitting in a chair in Lisa and Nancy’s psychology office. His friend had just revealed that Lisa felt trapped and that someone might have harmed her. Noah had asked if she knew which patient was making Lisa feel unsafe, but Nancy shook her head.

“There’s professional confidentiality; she never told me.”

“Well, you must have records. You’re a psychologist; you can recognize a public threat from the diagnosis.”

Nancy went to get the documents related to Lisa’s patients. Generally, Lisa dealt with elderly people with depression or teenagers with relational issues, but it wasn’t uncommon for young adults to come to her to address past traumas.

“I have two names that might match. We’re talking about two men, one twenty-five and the other just turned thirty. Both with troubled pasts. Lisa noted that they both show strong traits of obsessive-compulsive disorder.”

“Elaborate”

“Well, it’s a disorder characterized by obsessions, intrusive thoughts. They often suffer from anxiety, have a distorted view of reality, and if things don’t go their way, they often become agitated. These two guys, in particular, don’t have specific rituals, but according to Lisa’s notes, they have a tendency to fixate on objects or people.”

“One of them might have made Lisa the object of his fixations,” Noah concluded, receiving an affirmative nod from Nancy.

A thought crossed his mind, and before he could process it, it was already out of his mouth. “One of these guys is dark-haired with tattooed arms?”

Nancy thought for a moment, she actually saw a patient with that appearance. She pulled out a document from the folder she had been flipping through. “Dylan Monroe.”