The ladies got changed, headed away from the Academy, and made their way toward the train station. While they waited for the next engine, Noble sent a ssage to Fort to let him know she would be a little late that evening.
Although he did not imdiately respond, she was sure Fort would see the ssage. It was her husband's evening to cook anyway, so it was very likely he would be relieved to have so ti to sort out his own thoughts over a pot of noodles before she got ho.
The restaurant where they ended up really did have a little bit of everything. And that was a good thing. Because as soon as the ladies were seated, Noble's stomach growled in protest.
She had completely missed lunch. Although Awakened could go without food for longer tis than mundane humans, that did not an their bodies wanted to. And Noble's body was now vehently objecting to its improper treatnt earlier that day.
Sarai pressed her lips together to hide her smirk. She called over a waiter. Reading the natag, she said quite seriously, "Larry! Please bring one of every appetizer you have. And hurry, or this Awakened here might die of hunger!"
Noble puffed out her cheeks before plastering on a smile when Larry looked her way. "If you would hurry, that would be lovely."
"Of course." The man left and returned imdiately with a couple of salads, promising to bring more as soon as it was available.
After both of them had consud a good portion of the leafy greens, Sarai set down her fork.
"I'm ready when you are."
Noble pushed her own plate away from her. More would be coming soon anyway.
"I am not sure where to begin, really." The professor had been mulling over exactly what to say since they left the Academy.
"Maybe start at the beginning? Tell anything and everything you like." Sarai nodded her encouragent.
"The beginning. Right. Ok then." Noble took a deep breath. It was ti. "You already knew my family fled North Arica when the Category 5 gate hit. I was young, but I rember it vividly. We settled into the NQSC, Father's job transferred here, and things settled into a new normal.
"You know, I almost made it out of the teen years without being infected by the spell. The day before I turned 18, though, I beca exceptionally sleepy. You can guess how that turned out." The professor sighed.
"Every Awakened has been in that spot. Except for possibly the crazy legacies, it is terrifying." The lovely baker had been infected slightly earlier, and Sarai imagined that thinking she might actually escape the Spell only to be caught at the last possible mont would be much harder.
Noble nodded. "On a happy note, when I ca out of my first nightmare and entered the Academy, a very handso governnt agent did my initial interview about my experience in the Nightmare. I was very flustered, but he did his best to make feel comfortable."
"Let guess, that man was Fort?" Sarai smiled.
"I didn't find out until later that it wasn't his regular job. In hindsight it made sense. He was only a few years older than and seed just as nervous as I was. I half-think Dad chose him and sohow assigned him the job on that particular day because he knew that Fort was sothing special. I never got to ask my father, though." Noble trailed off for a mont as another plate of food was brought to the table.
When the waiter was gone, Sarai picked up the story. "You never got to ask him because he died, right?"
Glad not to have to say the words aloud, Noble simply nodded. "There was an accident while I was still at the Academy. I was barely able to attend the funeral in the middle of preparing to enter the Dream Realm for the solstice. It was a very bleak ti in my life. If not for Teacher Julius, my mother, and a few others urging forward, I probably would have given up. Everything looked so hopeless."
"I'm glad you didn't give up." Sarai held her friend in high regard. Things would not be the sa without her.
" too. Rather than give in to the sadness, I worked harder than ever to push through the darkness to Awaken as quickly as I could. And I did. I have never seen my mother so relieved as when I hugged her after returning. I think she had already buried in her mind because she looked like I had co back from the dead." Noble sighed. "I suppose in a way I had."
"All sorts of opportunities open up to you when you beco Awakened." Sarai herself had been able to accumulate enough funds to open her bakery. That would have been nearly impossible to do otherwise.
The professor chuckled lightly. She took a sip of water before continuing her thoughts.
"All sorts of opportunities, indeed. So are more appealing than others. For , the most attractive opportunity was the man who gave my interview after coming out of the Dream Realm the first ti." Noble flushed.
"I don't suppose it could be Fort a second ti?" Sarai winked.
"He says it was fate, but I think he pulled so strings to see again. Since I was already a high-ranking citizen, there was not much help he could give on that front. But when I ntioned I was considering going to Bastion as my anchor, he did tell of his concerns. With his help, I was able to station myself at Ender's Deep. I cannot thank him enough for that kindness." The more she spoke, the more Noble felt the anger she had been feeling towards her husband dissipate.
"Did you begin dating after that?" Sarai began to dig into a pizza that arrived at the table. The cheese stretched as long as her arm before breaking off for her to eat.
"Goodness no! We weren't in the sa place in life. He might not have been much older than , but he had a job and a career already started. I was figuring things out. So I went to a University and we kept in touch here and there.
"I will admit I did have feelings for him that developed over ti, but it felt like he was keeping at arm's reach. At last, he asked out on a few dates. They were perfect, yet incomplete. We would have deep conversations, but it always felt like I was missing sothing in his life.
"We went on like that for many months. A sporadic date, but nothing too serious since we were both very busy. I would always co close to asking what was going on, and sohow I could never bring myself to voice the question. He also often seed on the verge of so great admission, but it just never ca.
"So although we were never dishonest, it still felt like there was a wall between us that we had not overco. Six months in, I decided enough was enough. I was falling hard for him, and I had the right to know what the man I cared for was holding back. I went to his apartnt to ask him if he was seeing soone else. We had never explicitly said we were exclusive, and I needed to know where we stood." Noble paused and raised her eyebrows at Sarai. "If he was seeing soone else, I had told myself it was fine and I would let him go."
The other woman was now on the edge of her seat. "Well, what happened?"
"It turned out I was right. There was soone else in his life." The professor cut her eyes at her friend.
"Who? Another woman?" Sarai gasped.
Noble's lips curled into an ironic smile. "Oh friend, if only it had been that simple…"
User Comments
0 comments from readers