Sweet Escape

Chapter Two

When Norma woke up-after not actually realizing she'd fallen asleep in the first place-it was to unfamiliar warmth. Her blue eyes flickered open to a navy blue blanket sprawled across her, and her first instinct was to turn to the dark-eyed stoic sitting comfortably beside her. She quirked an eyebrow, gesturing down to the blanket questionably.

"You fell asleep, that air hostess from earlier put it over you."

She couldn't help but notice that the statement was almost put across self-defensively, as if to say, it wasn't me. To try and save himself from feeling like a walking movie cliché; that 'hard-faced guy covers equally sassy yet kind-hearted female up in blanket as she falls asleep, thus telling the audience that yes, he does in fact care for this girl, despite their exchange of insults throughout the previous half of the narrative' kind of cliché.

"But you must have asked..."

He sighed. "You shivered in your sleep and I hadn't exactly planned to be responsible for a death on this vacation, so yes, I asked for a blanket. Is it such a big deal?"

"I don't know about big deal, but I do think it's pretty damn funny." She said, a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips. "I mean, come on—a guy like you—cliché? God, you must be kicking yourself."

"I would, but you already did the honours in that department."

She grimaced in embarrassment. "I kicked you?"

"Numerous times. Quite aggressively I might add."

"Oh...well. Sorry?" She breathed out a guilty chuckle, straightening up in her seat. "Uh—how long was I asleep?" She asked, still slightly dazed.

"About a half hour, maybe?"

"I don't even remember falling asleep." She stated with a frown, welcoming the warmth and comfort of the blanket by pulling it tighter over her body.

"Well let's see, I think I was half way through talking about my local town—which by the way you asked me about—when I realized i'd been talking to myself for the majority of it, so..."

"Ohhh," She chewed on her bottom lip guiltily, unable to keep back the snort that escaped her nose. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright. I bore you, you've told me that already."

"No!" She began in his defense, putting her hand on his thigh apologetically; initially not thinking about the intimacy of such a gesture. "Aw, no, i'm sure it was very interesting."

He paused for a moment; and with his quick glance down to the placement of her hand, she assumed it was in shock over the sudden contact. She cleared her throat and pulled her hand back, Alex shifting slightly in his seat once her hand slipped away.

"Not really. I was just saying how it's a small town, and-"

"Oh! Yes, yes. No I was awake then. Phite Wine—wait, no—White Pine Bay. Right?"

He laughed quietly at her hesitant stutter, nodding. "Yeah, that's it."

"See! I do listen. I remember, because I asked why you flew from Phoenix."

"I told you, I was staying—"

"With a friend. Mhm." She nodded slowly, the corners of her lips quirking into a suspicious smile. Of course she wasn't accusing him of anything; after all it was hardly her business whether or not he had a girlfriend, or a friend with benefits, or whoever this 'friend' was. He'd originally said he was single, though. It'd be hypocritical of her to scrutinize him for lying since she'd done just that, but she was merely curious.