Hidden Clips

Absence

Norman was back, and Norma was unable to stop herself from feeling uncomfortable around him. Something had drifted and changed between them, and she was sure Norman knew precisely what it was.

As a good mother, the one she's always been to Norman, before picking him up that morning she had to make some rearrangements herself. Her husband had to go back to his old house. Abandon the home he had learned to love so much and call his own.

The look on his face when they both decided that it was for the best, despite everything else happening between them, broke her heart. Norma despised that she couldn't be honest with Norman just yet, even more, that her husband had to go away.

Pretending that she spent his time in Pineview crying over him was simple, but spending so much time separated, a little bit more than they were ever used to anyway, made her feel like granting Norman the access to come home was the wrong decision.

Now she was alone in bed freezing to death. Not knowing if it was because the heater seemed to be broken or because Alex wasn't there to keep her warm. She missed Alex in a way she's never endured before. Not with Sam—not with anybody else. Her chest stings, and she needs to cry. The absence of her husband is too much.

In plain dark, Norma reached for the vintage watch that she always arranged to take off before bed. Her cold hand turned on the lamp on her bedside table, exposing the watch with ease. It was only 11 pm, and she let out a loud cry of defeat.

Assembling up in bed, Norma raised her glare trying to find the location of her phone. Spotting it on her vanity, she promptly got up, and speed walked her way through it, grasping it smoothly and running back to bed.

She turned the light off and covered herself entirely, uprooting the thick duvet all the way, trying her hardest to find the warmth and coziness that her husband readily granted her every night.

But it was gone.

Norman was back, and her husband was gone.

His voice is the song her heart wants to hear. Assembling back in bed was easy, not finding him was the difficult part. Norma unlocks the phone and finds her husband's name on her recent call log, tucking in her lip as she pressed the phone to her right ear, waiting anxiously to hear the sound of his voice.

Her favorite melody.

After two rings, his deep voice swelled her heart with immediate joy.

"Can't sleep either, Mrs. Romero?"

She could tell that he was smiling. She loved the way he answered the phone, praising how he didn't ask if something was wrong. He just solely knew the reason behind her call.

"How do you know?" the same smile plastered on her face.

"Because I can't sleep either," he admitted. "I've been tossing and turning all night."

"I wanted to hear your voice," she stated in a muffled voice, her tone hopeless and defenseless.

"Are you okay?" his voice swelled with concern.

Norma took a deep breath; there was no need to try and answer this question because they both knew he already had the answer.

"Baby?" he whispered. "It's okay. It's not forever, I promise."

Her voice quivering as her eyes shut in dismay. "I just miss you so much," she cried softly, not daring to wake Norman up. The last thing she needed was for him to invade her space.

She detected the second he also released a deep breath, both of them recognizing the circumstances weren't as easy as they made it out to be.

"Don't cry, please," his voice sad and pitiable. "It kills me to know I'm not there with you, where I'm supposed to be."