Chains

Chapter Eight

POV: Norma

The wall Alex was trying to knock down was one that I wasn't ready to let go of. If he were to find out anything more about me, if any more walls were brought down, it wouldn't be long until it was just me left. So I clung onto those last few secrets like a baby with a blanket, the thought of being in that vulnerable position terrifying me. Him knowing all my secrets, me completely paranoid about what he could do with them or who he would tell. Telling men things about me very rarely ended well, and I wasn't prepared for more stress and heartbreak. It was already too much; all of my problems piling on top of me like I was at the bottom of a garbage pile.

I'd barely talked to anyone about Caleb; only Norman and Dylan. Even then I was as brief as I could possibly be when it came to describing what I went through. Talking about it brought back vivid memories, even thinking about it did. Which is why I tried to avoid it as much as I possibly could.

"Norma?"

As per usual i'd gotten carried away with my thoughts; thrown into my own little mind palace where I stood alone surrounded by my demons. So it took a while before I came back to reality and realized that I wasn't alone in the office. "What?"

"It's just me.." Natalie said, her elbows resting resting on the front desk with her chin resting on her hands. "Did you argue with him?"

"What?" I repeated once again, fully aware that she was in front of me this time but confused as to what she was talking about. I'd been so consumed in my thoughts about Caleb that I worried for a moment that i'd been sharing my thoughts out loud and Natalie had heard the entire thing.

"Alex." She explained with furrowed eyebrows, like as if she was concerned over how out of it I seemed to be. "Did you argue with Alex?"

"Oh---" I let out a breathy laugh, closing my eyes briefly and shaking my head. I was almost amused at my own tendency to lose sense of reality. "Uh...no? I mean, well, I guess. But..."

Her eyebrows furrowed once again, though this was accompanied by slight smile curling up at the corner of her lips. She still looked concerned; but this time also seemed to be amused, perhaps by my lack of ability to decide on an answer.

"I don't know. He just, he said something that uh...it got to me. Hit a nerve, you know? And lets just say I didn't take it too lightly. Thing is I don't even think he meant to upset me, so it was more of a one-sided argument and him looking confused at how pissed I was..." I laughed, but not out of amusement--out of nerves--and subconsciously bit the top of my thumb.

"Oh trust me, I have those kinds of arguments with Alex all the time. You see one of his problems is that a lot of the time he means well, he just doesn't always think enough before he speaks. And especially with you--if you don't mind me speculating--it seems you might be...quite...uh, sensitive?" She said in a cautious tone.

I simply nodded, shamelessly agreeing to the speculation.

"Well, then there you go. You've got a clash on your hands. Guy who says thinks without thinking first, sensitive woman. Bam." She clashed her hands together dramatically. "An argument is bound to happen."

"I am sensitive. I am. I will hold my hands up and admit it. But I think--I don't know. This...this is different. It's something, uh....something that really gets to me." No matter how much I tried to avoid it I could practically feel Nat's gaze on me, pounding on the pressure for me to elaborate further on what I was talking about. "I don't really want to get into it right now. It's just...it's something from my childhood---that Alex actually doesn't even know about, so there's no way he would've used it to upset me. Hence why there was no real need for me to have been so pissy with him."