Shadow On Your Wall

This could be beautiful

"I think... I think I will have pancakes with, um... maple syrup and strawberries." she decided after a long consideration and looking through the menu carefully. "Kind of a late breakfast." she smiled at the waitress, a round faced lady in her 60's, who wrote down the order on her little notepad.

"And you, Alex?"

"I will have a sloppy joe, please." It didn't take long for him to decide on his meal as it was usual of him to have the same thing every time he stopped by this place.

"And any drinks?" the woman asked, raising her eyes from the notepad in her hands to look at Norma.

"Um, apple juice for me is fine." she replied without much of a thinking this time.

"And coffee for me. Black." Alex closed the menu, handing it back to the waitress. "Thank you, Rose."

After a few minutes the waitress was back with the coffee and a glass of apple juice, settling the drinks on the table. Norma sipped on her juice, looking through the window to see that the same dark clouds slowly approaching, wind rising gradually.

"Good thing we parked near the entrance as it seems like a pretty serious storm is heading our way." she said in a serious tone, eyes scanning the sky with a slight concern. "Damn, I'm not sure I closed the kitchen window before leaving..." she turned her head back to Alex, eyes going wide.

"Norma! Really?" he asked in a stern voice, frowning at her. Seeing her body twitch a bit at his words snapping at her, it made him regret his harsh tone immediately. He didn't mean it to come out that harsh, his face softening quickly, "Well, it's fine. If it rains, it will probably rain on the kitchen's counter which is water resistant, anyways."

She looked at him with big puppy eyes, lips pressed in a thin line. The expression then began to change, a slight grin forming on her face, bursting into laughter a second later. "Got you!" she giggled, exhaling a long breath to calm herself down.

"Wow, very funny, Norma." deadpan look on his face, clearly not enjoying the joke as much as she did.

"Oh, come on!" she tilted her head at him, "And you kind of ruined my joke, you didn't even get mad-"

"Alex?" A voice came from behind, cutting Norma's words off. She turned her head to see a tall slim redhead in a red coat, sashaying towards their table. "Oh, heyy. What are you doing here?" The woman's voice high pitched, scarlet lips stretching into a wide grin.

"Hello, Rebecca." Alex replied in low voice, shifting a bit. "Oh nothing just- just having lunch." he said, eyes travelling to Norma and back to the redhead next to him.

Norma sat there scanning the woman, way too strong scent of perfume poisoning the air around them. Their gaze meeting, she felt as the woman's judging look travelled down her body.

"Oh. Who is your friend?" Rebecca arched her eyebrow, voice flat even though the fake looking wry smile, still playing on her lips.

"Um, I'm Norma Bates." she replied, trying to make her tone sound somewhat normal, "I own the Bates Motel down the road."

"Oh, that one, yeah... Well, so sad that the new bypass is planned in works." Rebecca gave her a somewhat sad look, tilting her head a bit, "I love small businesses, it's cute that people try even when it's beyond their abilities."

"Norma, this is Rebecca," Alex cleared his throat, hand gesturing towards the woman, "Um, she works at the WPB bank."

Norma gave the lady a fake smile, nodding at the introduction.

"I haven't seen you around for a while, Alex." Rebecca's face curled back into the flirtatious smirk from previous. "Oh, too bad I'm only here for a take out, bit in a hurry frankly." she explained in a regretful tone.