Norman had been calling Beatris for over ten minutes with the intercom and she wasn't responding. Why was she hell-bent on making things difficult for him? He frowned.

A few minutes later, he walked out of his bedroom and down the stairs to hers. Without knocking, he opened the door and strolled in.

An open empty box was lying on Beatris' bed and she was walking from her wardrobe with her hand filled with clothes.

She stopped momentarily and stared at him before walking back to her bed. She put the clothes down and started folding neatly them into the box.

Norman felt heartbroken. Was she leaving? *No. She can't be leaving. Norman, you have to do something about this!* His inner mind screamed at him.

"Tris, what are you doing?"

"Obviously packing my box." She didn't stop for a second.

"Where are you going to?"

She looked up at him without a single expression on her face. "Away."

"Tris..."

"Yes, Mr Patterson? Do you need something? Are you here to bully me or strangle me? Are you here to talk about it or put the blame on me?" She asked furrowing her brows as she relayed their pattern to him.

"You make it sound like it's all my fault," Norman replied, his deceitful blue eyes gleaming fear and sadness.

Beatris ignored him. She'd had enough of this emotional blackmail.

"Are you... Are you coming back?" He asked with a trembling voice.

Beatris gave an angry lopsided smile. "I wish I wasn't."

Norman sighed. He wanted to force her to stay but he remembered Leonard's words. He had to take his chances.

"Take care of yourself, Tris," he said before walking out.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Beatris walked into the large beautiful hotel room alongside Mac who carried her box.

It had a beautiful view of tall trees standing far away and a beach behind them.

"You like it?" Mac asked.

She turned to face him, her hands across her chest. "It's... it's beautiful. Thanks for helping me out." Sara's words had left her with confusion and mixed feelings. She hadn't known whom to call or where to go and she felt damn lucky that Mac had texted in her moment of distress.

"Don't mention. I could do anything for a pretty lady like you." He smiled taking her hand in his and placing a slow, sensual kiss on it. Mac had a great appeal and sometimes, she'd catch herself just staring at him. Yet, the same thing while attracting her at one pole, repelled her fiercely at the other.

Beatris snatched her hand slowly with a smile plastered on her face.

She didn't believe Norman would let her leave just like that and she was really prepared for any battle. She'd been through so much in life, she wasn't going to tolerate abuse from any man.

They both walked to the long armchair and sat on it. Beatris didn't exactly like the proximity between her and Mac, It made her feel things she didn't want to feel but she made no attempt to move away from the warmth of his touch. It'd be a lie if she said she didn't need it.

"Beatris, you sounded really sad over the phone. I'm really not such an intruder but I can't help being worried about you," he said putting his arm around her.

Beatris relaxed under his touch, till she was half lying on his broad and comfortable chest pulling her leg up on the chair and wrapping her hands around them.

"What happened?" He asked.

"I suddenly felt... lonely," she said with a depressed look plastered on her face.

She didn't want to tell him or anyone the truth. They wouldn't understand.

She hadn't fully understood what had gone wrong. But at that moment, when Norman's hands were wrapped around her neck, the eyes she was staring into belonged to someone else. It was as though he'd been possessed.

That could not possibly be the shy, introverted man that gave her anything she wanted and wouldn't permit her to lift a finger.

Something ought to have happened to him, maybe something to do with his mother because he'd not been very pleased when she'd mentioned her.

Beatris was both desperate and scared to find out what it was because while she wanted to save him, she also wondered if there was truly anything in there worth risking her life for.

That was why she was here to clear her head and think.

Mac inhaled deeply as he ran his fingers through her black curls. "Why?"

"Norman... He's kind of always busy and... And it's really annoying sometimes... Most of the time." she found herself telling another tale to avoid the hideous truth.

Mac let out a chuckle. "What kind of man treats his woman like that?"

"I guess he's just really busy with work and I should try to be more understanding and..." She trailed off, unable to believe the words her mouth had chosen to utter.

Mac sat up so he could see her face. His blue eyes pierced into hers and she was speechless. "You're defending him."

Hell yes, she was and she didn't even know why.

"H-he's my husband," she stuttered.

"Do you really love him?" Mac asked.

He really did know how to cross the lines. But deep down, Beatris knew she had to sort out her feelings. However, love was far from any thoughts she had towards Norman right now.

"I..." She started but couldn't get anything out.

"You don't even know if you love him. How can you survive in a marriage like that?" He asked, almost looking like he was pissed.

"Norman is a good person." *He's not*. Her thoughts and her words were polar opposites.

"When I look into your eyes, I see a woman yearning for help and protection." His eyes pierced into hers. "You don't deserve any of this. You don't deserve to be unhappy," he said.

Beatris, suddenly feeling uncomfortable got up and walked forward, looking through the open window at the beautifully littered beach and its horizon.

She felt Mac's presence behind her before he wrapped his arms around her and placed his head on her shoulder, leaving small kisses on her neck.

This was wrong. She was a married woman, she couldn't let her weakness get in the way.

Beatris turned to face Mac. She regretted it the moment she saw his eyes. It drew her in too much like it was speaking to her, telling her something she needed to know. "Mac, please."

Mac let her go. It was as though he understood what she was asking without having her say the words. "This is a whole new world we live in. If you're not comfortable with your marriage you could walk away."

She closed her eyes briefly before opening them again. "Can we just mentally go to a whole new place? Heaven knows I do not want to talk about Norman right now."

He smiled. "Of course, anything you want."

----------------------------------------------------------

Norman paced about his living room. One week had gone by already and yet Beatris had not come back.

He badly wanted to report this to the police but she'd moved out willingly. If she was found and she declared what he'd done to her publicly, it could result in a major scandal because people always found a way to make a woman the victim and no one cared about him.

Why was he thinking the worst right now? He slumped into the chair and sighed deeply. Why couldn't he take his mind off her for even one minute?

Everything about his house reminded him of her. Her smile, her lips, her hair, her eyes. She'd clouded his mind and it was frustrating. The kiss they'd shared flashed back in his memory. He absolutely loved it. He wanted to do it again. But his wife was nowhere to be found. Leonard's advice was stupid. Some things could only be controlled by force.

He had to do something about this aching feeling.

Norman took out his phone and dialled Leonard's line.

It seemed like the man had been waiting for his call because he picked up immediately.

"Hello?" Leonard said.

"Hey, Leo. What's up?"

The line was a bit fuzzy so he assumed he was driving or something.

"Just uhm... I'm just driving with Uhm..." He paused and Norman knew who exactly he was talking about.

He ran his hand through his disheveled overgrown hair. "Beatris is out of town and... Can you guys come over? At least, you have an alibi."

Leonard's brief silence showed he was quite surprised. "Are you serious?" He sounded excited.

"Yeah. I'm just a bit bored."

About thirty minutes later, Leonard walked in hand in hand with a smallish woman, her long brown hair cascaded down her shoulders. Even with her beanie pulled all the way down till it half covered her forehead, she still looked pretty.

"Hi, Elaine." He smiled at her.

Elaine looked up at him without changing her emotionless expression.

Leonard leaned down and whispered in her ears. "It's okay. It is."

She nodded before curving her lips into a small smile.

They all settled down on the long arm
chair and the weird silence continued to play out between them.

Leonard got up. "I should go get us some drinks," he said before walking away.

Norman knew what he wanted.

"I can't believe you'd invite me to your house. What's your motive?" Elaine spoke up before he could, fixing her big brown eyes on him.

"I can't believe it myself." He smiled.

"I heard you got married. I'd love to meet the woman that could marry such an insane person." She chuckled. "What has it been like?"

Norman folded his arms across his chest as he turned to face her. "It's been great actually. We're so much in love," he said emphasizing his last word

She scoffed and watched him keenly. "You and love are like two opposite words."

Norman laughed as he adjusted to face her with a light chuckle and his never-fading smile which hadn't ceased to irritate her for the five minutes they'd been sharing the same air. "It's so good to see you again, Elaine. Trust me, I just missed you. I have no ulterior motive."

Elaine was about to reply when Leonard walked in and interrupted their conversation.

He poured out drinks for them and settled in between them. "This feels so much like all those years ago when it used to be just the three of us."

They all smiled. Leonard's might've been for real but Norman and Elaine knew quite well that this friendship was just a fantasy in Leonard's head as it always had been.