The doorbell rang twice, and Zuv dragged himself from the bed.
He was a little bit surprised to see Allan.
"Why are you this early?" Zuv brushed his hair off.
"It's noon already," Allan said, barely able to hide his smile. He got into the house, looking a little messier than usual.
"Who is it?" Crystal asked, shutting the door.
"Allan, go back to sleep," Zuv spoke in a hoarse voice.
"It's okay, I slept well." Crystal reached out for the drink Allan was holding.
"Didn't mean to wake you up," Allan smiled.
"Creepy," Crystal muttered.
"The last time I remember your face was when you wanted to talk with Nora," Zuv asked intently.
"Well, that's why you've been smiling a lot." Crystal looked at Allan, tilting her head.
"No and no. The last I saw you was when I dropped Nora off, and that was nine hours ago. And no, we are not together. But we are back to being friends now." Allan smiled again.
"Why not cut to the chase and be together already?" Zuv asked, annoyed, and chugged down the water.
"Well, it's not that simple. If we start dating, I know how it's going to end. A relationship with no trust. I would be a lot more useful as a friend." Allan's face dropped a little as he sat on the chair in the dining room.
"It's okay, take it slow. But not too slow. Even that could hurt." Crystal gave him a pat on the back.
"You sure she's okay about it?" Zuv asked.
"I don't know. I hope so. Is she up?" Allan asked, now being serious, a little worried about things he didn't think through. The what-ifs started pouring into his head.
Zuv nodded and said, "Probably still sleeping."
"Okay, I will go check on her." Allan walked toward the staircase.
"What's for breakfast, or should I say lunch?" Crystal asked, kissing Zuv and hugging him sideways.
Each step Allan took, he second-guessed the situation—if he was crossing lines, if Nora had changed her mind. He knocked on the door once and waited. After a few seconds, Nora asked him to come in. And now the spiraling had gone rogue, and he started going back. Maybe it was too soon to be meeting. He was about to go down the stairs when Nora got out of bed and opened the door. They looked at each other and were surprised. The tension was still there, lingering in their throats.
"Hey. Hi. I just stopped by." Allan walked back up.
"Come on in," Nora spoke, with a little smile and confusion.
Allan sat on the unmade bed, and Nora opened the curtains.
"So are we cool?" Allan asked, with his eyebrows stiff and lips tight.
"Yeah, friends sounds good," Nora smiled and nodded.
"Right." Allan stretched his hands, a big smile on his face.
"What are you here for?" Nora asked.
"I just wanted to hang out and catch up," Allan said.
"Catch up on what exactly?" Nora asked, while pulling her towel and clothes.
"You know, everything—the college, friends, etc." Allan thought hard.
"Keep thinking of questions. I will be back," Nora said, heading to take a shower.
"Oh, I will be downstairs then. You wash up." Allan got up.
"Stay, unless you want to walk in on a couple who might be hooking up and—" Nora turned back and spoke to Allan.
"I'll just stay here. I will be on my phone." Allan nodded awkwardly and got back on the bed.
He started by folding the sheets, then arranging her table, and later dusting off the mirrors.
"What are you doing?" Nora asked as soon as she walked out of the shower, dressed, with water dripping off her skin.
Allan stared at her for a second.
"Just cleaning. Didn't have anything better to do. Sorry," Allan said.
"Your call. So what questions do you have?" Nora asked, and Allan took out his phone, opened the notes app, and looked at her to proceed.
"Why the college?" Allan asked.
"Well, I decided to open a café and wanted to learn about the business side of it. I want mine near the beach," Nora said, then turned on the hair dryer, blocking out the sound, and looked at Allan in the mirror. His facial expression changed every minute.
"How are things with Mike? It's a bad question; you can skip it." Allan walked back and forth.
"He's focusing on his studies to take over the family business. And he won't talk, but we left on good terms, at least on the surface. He picks up my calls if I ever need help and probably has a new girlfriend," Nora said.
"Oh, okay. He definitely stares at me every time he sees me." Allan raised his eyebrows.
"You were his friend, and you cheated with his girlfriend and then got a new girlfriend. Sounds like a reason to stare," Nora said, pointing out.
"Well, the order was that I was in love with his girlfriend and then accidentally became his friend. And we never slept together, so it's not as bad as it looks." Allan looked around, turning his face away.
Nora stared and said, "Let's go," and Allan followed her downstairs. Zuv and Crystal were still stuck together.
"You were right," Allan whispered.
"I made sandwiches. Eat up," Zuv said.
"We are going on a date. See you later." Zuv passed the plate, then grabbed his jacket and left.
Allan kept looking around, fidgeting.
"Any more questions?" Nora asked.
Allan sat up straight and answered immediately.
"What happened to the ring?" Allan asked.
"What about it?" Nora asked.
"Does it glow? Do you have powers? And do you still feel the same way about your destiny?" Allan spoke, toning down to hesitation.
"It looks like a normal ring now. If I don't wear it, I feel like I'm being pulled from everywhere and easily attracted to negative things." Nora's fingers started twisting the ring. It had been there for far too long—long enough to leave a mark.
"I… I'm sorry about the whole thing. Things would have been much different if I had told you everything from the beginning," Allan said, his eyes fixated on the ring.
"Anyway, what's the actual reason you are here?" Nora asked.
Alex sighed and bent forward.
"I feel stupid to bring that up." Allan hid his face.
"You are already stupid in my eyes, so speak," Nora laughed slightly.
"I wanted to ask for your help in a case. More like all cases." Allan looked at her, unsure of how to frame his words.
"Any trouble?" Nora asked.
"No, not yet. I want to investigate cases like before, without any hidden agenda. Together as a team." Allan spoke, looking at her expression without blinking.
"Oh." Nora's smile dropped a little.
"It's absolutely fine if you don't want to. Not all my friends investigate these things." Allan continued hurriedly, taking a step back.
"All right, let's do it," Nora replied.
"I can ask someone else. What? You're in?" Allan froze.
"Yeah. Looks like these things sneak up on me. It's time to do the same. And if there's a ritual or an item that could break the curse and put me back to myself again, it's worth it." Nora walked closer.
"Oh, okay. I thought you would take time and then decide. I had another speech ready just in that case." Allan said, crushing a paper in his hand.
"So about that 'I can ask someone else'—who would that be?" Nora closed in on Allan.
"No one. Just Zuv or Crystal." Allan hesitated to speak.
"There's no way Zuv would get dragged into it willingly, and Crystal loves her job too much to have time for you. Now why don't we talk about an actual candidate to replace me?" Nora asked, holding his collar.
"No one can replace you. Now, if you could leave my collar, I will be back with something interesting." Allan was released and walked back with heavy steps.