The Dark Nights of Winter

Chapter 3 - Noelle

When I emerged back into the shop, I found Alex, Alice and Dylan sitting around a small wooden table eating cakes and drinking tea. It was an odd sight. Alex looked too big in the space. Even Alice was dwarfed beside him. Seeing him holding the tiny teacup just looked comical. The three of them were chatting away as though they had known each other for years. Alex said something I couldn’t hear, Dylan and Alice roaring with laughter in response. Alex’s slight wince at the noise was barely even noticeable. In the life he had led, I guessed he had never really been around such outgoing, loud people. The pair only seemed to be worse when they were together. They seemed to charge each other up and spark all the more.

Alex had only ever really dipped his toes in the real world. Thinking back to Katie telling me that Alex had taken on a part-time job when he was in university. He had only done it to help his girlfriend at the time, but it must have been a good experience of the real world for him. It just reminded me that he wasn’t quite like the rest of the nobility. There was something different about him. Something I would cling to for hope that he could live without the crown that was rightly his.

As Alex looked up, his eyes locked with mine. His smile matched my own. I knew right then that everything was going to be okay. Crossing the shop and taking the last remaining chair at the table. Alex reaching for the Queen Anne teapot straight away to fill up the delicate antique teacup that had been left for me to use.

As he placed it back on the table, his hand slipped seamlessly from the table to my thigh. He just let it rest there as though it was the most normal thing in the world. It might become that way at some point, but for the time being, it sent a wave of heat up my leg and into my groin. I loved my friends, but I needed to be alone with him. We hadn’t ever really had a moment, just the two of us. There had only been stolen ones which could be interrupted at any moment.

Just as I was considering making an excuse to head upstairs with Alex, he spoke. “I’m going to leave you guys to catch up.” I looked at him with slight alarm. There was no need to catch up with my friends. Maybe Dylan, but I had only been with Alice earlier in the day. They weren’t the ones I had been without. He was. “I’ve got some business to take care of.” I still didn’t quite believe him. There was too much of a twinkle glittering in his eyes.

The shop door had barely clicked into its frame when Dylan and Alice started talking over each other to the extent that I couldn’t take in a word of it. “Right! Both of you calm down.”

“He gave up an entire country for you and you want us to calm down?” Alice’s hands were on her hips as she sat there, scowling at me playfully. Alex had said he would abdicate, but words were easy, actions would be harder, and we hadn’t even discussed what it all meant yet.

Dylan laid a hand over mine on the table. “It is like the ultimate romantic gesture.” He wasn’t wrong, but I needed time for it all to sink in. “You’re living every girl’s dream.”

“Yes, Dylan. Now, if only I could get the hole in my ceiling fixed at long last.”

“All in good time, honey. We’re in this together and we will get it all back to perfect in no time.” I knew she was right. I wasn’t even being serious, just trying to deflect all the sudden attention. “Are you two staying here tonight?”

“That’s the plan, but I haven’t spoken to Alex yet.” Not that I thought for a second he would object. He was probably more comfortable with a nice five-star hotel, but he knew how much my pokey little flat meant to me. It was certainly more comfortable than staying with Ben and Agnes. That would be much worse between the single bed and the animosity that still hung between Alex and Ben.

Alice brightened again. “I shall make sure I clock off nice and early tonight, then.” Winking at me exaggeratedly. Alice and Dylan burst out giggling like a pair of naughty school girls in unison.

“Oh my God, what I wouldn’t give for an hour alone with that adonis.” Dylan piped up.

“Not sure you’re his type. Our little Noelle, on the other hand, seems to get his heart racing.” I rolled my eyes at Alice.

“I don’t know how I put up with you two and your naughty antics.” It just earned me another round of laughter, which I joined in with.

“It’s not our fault that you are a perfect little nun.” I frowned, annoyed that Alice had said it. Dylan wasn’t aware of my V-card status, but I was sure he wouldn’t be surprised. It wasn’t exactly a secret, but still, it would have been nice to keep it to myself.

“I’m not a nun, just choosey and discrete. So, don’t be expecting any juicy details.” I sipped at my cup of tea as the pair of them let out a wail of complaint.

The pair were chattering away again. They never seemed to stop. At least it was no longer my love life that was the topic of conversation. They had moved on to talking about a fashion line that had been released by some reality starlet that I had never heard of. I didn’t tend to have enough time to sit about binge watching reality television, with the exception of the odd baking show, of course.

My chair was facing the windows of the shop, but at an angle. A flash of light pulled my gaze to the outside world. A chill washed over me and the hairs on the back of my neck stood to attention. I searched the scene, but nothing was obviously amiss. Something just felt out of place, but I couldn’t find it. I had never been very good at spot the difference as a child.

I saw the man reaching out for the door handle of the shop’s front door and stood up, ready to greet him. He wouldn’t be the first customer who had come in despite the notice on the window saying we were closed due to circumstances beyond our control. The bell rang and Alice and Dylan calmed themselves at the announcement of a new arrival. “Afternoon, sorry we’re closed for the time being. We had a slight emergency.” I looked up at the hole in the ceiling. “We will be back up and running as soon as possible.”

There was something odd about the way the short, bold man was looking at me. He was wearing jeans and a black t-shirt. Adding in his black boots and he really wasn’t our typical customer. He looked nothing like a tourist or one of the odd men we got in that worked in the offices nearby. “Noelle Spencer?”

“Yes. Can I help you with something?” There was something about him that put me on edge. His eyes were too inquisitive. Before I had the chance to see what he was doing, lights started flashing in my eyes. The brightness was disorienting, and I tried to shield my face from the onslaught with the length of my forearm. It seemed to go on for so long before I heard a crash and everything just stopped.

I lowered my arm slowly and opened my eyes to see Alice pushing the man in the chest. He was stumbling backwards towards the door, but only an inch at a time. Alice was no match, even though she was taller than the intruder. He was just much bulkier than she was and she didn’t have the strength. His camera was laid on the floor under the table we had been sat at. “Get the f**k out. f*****g scum.” Alice was so angry she was practically foaming at the mouth.

Dylan stepped up to the pair. “Look, you’re not welcome, so just leave.” He stood beside Alice and she finally stopped pushing the stranger. She was no calmer, but had clearly realised she had no hope of moving him. Dylan, in comparison, was a vision of tranquillity.

The intruder put his hands up in front of him in surrender and started stepping backwards. “I won’t be the last, not now. So, at least tell me, is he really abdicating?”

“No f*****g comment.” Alice fumed at him, pushing him again in the process.

“Can’t blame a man for trying. Can I at least get my camera back?” Dylan picked it up from under the table. Fiddled with it for a moment before tossing it at him.

I just stood there watching him retreat out of the door. Feeling numb. He was just a reporter trying his luck. I should have expected it, but the idea hadn’t even crossed my mind. I hadn’t expected anyone to know anything about my significance to Alex, let alone where to find me. The peace and quiet of my old life seemed to be dead and buried, crown or no crown.