The Heir

Twitterpated

"I'm assuming Dale and you were quite close." I asked Noah as I closed the door behind him.

"We were, actually." He made his way to the sofa, dropping down into its soft cushions as he glanced around the room. "I didn't know he had family."

"I'm not family. Well, not by blood, anyway."

"What do you mean?" Noah was now the one with the confused look on his face.

"Dale and I met a few years ago. I got a job as his teaching assistant right out of college. My family and I don't speak, and Dale took me under his wing. He was like a father to me. He left me his home, actually." I gestured around the amazing room we were sitting in.

"Wow." Noah whistled. "I always wondered how he was able to afford this home on his salary." He chucked.

"I did too. It seemed Dale had some secrets. Would you like something to drink?"

Noah and I spoke most of the night. We discussed Dale as I made us both dinner. Laughing and reminiscing about Dale. We spoke about how we both met him and what he did for us. It seemed Noah was pretty close to Dale. He had mentioned how Dale had a friend he had wanted Noah to meet. He described the friend as beautiful, smart and something powerful. But neither Noah or I could decide who Dale was referring to. He didn't have many friends, but it seemed he had more than he led on, as Noah didn't know about me and I didn't know about Noah.

I greatly enjoyed Noah's company. He seemed like a standup guy. It made sense, since Dale only kept the best company. I was always honored to be one of Dale's friends. He always said he didn't have time for drama or insincerity, and tended to stay far from anyone who revolved around it.

"I should get going." Noah said as he stood from the table. We had been enjoying one of Dale's bottles of wine that Noah had found. He knew his way around Dale's kitchen better than I, going right to his wine fridge in the pantry.

"Um, Noah, I don't suppose you would like to take some things from the house." I stood, escorting Noah to the door. "You know, like momentos of Dale." Noah paused as he thought it over.

"I would like that, actually." Noah skimmed the bookshelves, pulling a couple of books off of them.

"There's a lot more things in the other rooms, would you like a look?" He nodded and I led him to the first door. His jaw dropped when he saw the clutter amassed inside of the room. I walked carefully through the small path Dale had left between the clutter.

"This is incredible." Noah's eyes were wide as he navigated the junk.

"This is nothing." I chuckled, sipping from the wine glass I had brought with me. "There are three more just like it."

"You're joking?" Noah said, amused.

"Sadly, no. I have to go through all of the rooms." I made my way to the back of the room. My eyes fell upon a glass orb sitting on a small table near the wall. A velvet purple sheet was cushioned under the orb, hiding the sturdy wooden stand the glass was snuggled in.

"That's quite a task." Noah laughed from behind me.

"It is." I said, my gaze never faltering from the glass orb. Something about it seemed to pull me into it. It captivated me. I glared at it, amused at my upside down reflection in the crystal.

"Would you like some help?" Noah pulled me from my trance. I looked up, nodding my head.

"I would, actually." I turned back towards the orb, reaching my hand out towards it. It was almost as if I could feel an energy emitting from it. My fingers contacted the smooth glass.

"Ouch!" I jumped back, knocking some junk off the piles behind me. I glanced at my fingertips, red and throbbing from the shock they had just received. It seemed to pulse through my entire body, entering and exiting through my fingertips.

"Are you alright?" Noah rushed over to me, examining my fingers. Butterflies crept up in my stomach as his fingers gently caressed mine. I breathed in deeply, inhaling his masculine scent. I held my breath as my heart skipped a beat. Our eyes met, I was instantly mesmerized by his crystal blue eyes. He held my hands in his as we stood there, lost in each other's gaze.

Our heads leaned closer towards each other as I licked my lips. I longed for Noah to kiss me, but just as our lips were about to touch, Noah cleared his throat. I shook my head, pulling away from him.

"What happened?" He asked, dropping my fingers.

"It shocked me."

"It must be one of those static orbs." Noah searched the table for a cord.

"Yeah. Dale has a lot of trinkets here. It's um…it's getting late. What do you say we meet back here tomorrow?"

"That sounds good. What time?"

"How about nine? I'll have some breakfast and coffee. You drink coffee?"

"I do." He smiled as he followed me out of the room and to the front door.

"As payment, you can keep anything you find that you want." I said as he walked out the door.

"Oh. That's not necessary."

"It is. Dale was your friend too. He would want you to have whatever you wanted."

"Thank you." He beamed with sincerity before turning and descending the steps. I watched him climb into his lifted Chevy truck, waving as he left the driveway.

—--

"Good morning." I greeted Noah as he arrived right in time.

"Good Morning, Sophie." Noah's smile was bright as he stepped through the doorway.

"You're right on time." I remarked.

"I suppose I am." Noah looked at the large, grey watch on his wrist. I swooned as his bicep curled seductively at the action.

"Gosh, Sophie, what's wrong with you?" I whispered under my breath.

"Sorry?" Noah barely heard my words.

"Nothing…I…" I paused, shaking my head in embarrassment. "Should we get started?" I made my way to the dining table first.

"Wow. I thought you said just coffee and breakfast."

"I did." I watched Noah gaze out over the table.

The table was covered with some donuts I had picked up on my way over here. But then I worried that Noah might not like donuts. As soon as I got here I started making eggs. I added bell pepper, ham, tomato and cheese. But then I began to worry that he might not like peppers or maybe doesn't like cheese in his eggs. So I made plain eggs. I then worried that maybe he wasn't an egg person, so I made some bacon. But the bacon made me concerned that maybe he was a vegetarian, or vegan. So I made some vegan pancakes. That was pretty new to me.

"It is a breakfast." I pointed out.

"It is, it's just a lot more than I had anticipated." He laughed as he reached for a chair.

"Is it too much?" My heart began to beat fast in my chest as I worried I had overdone it. I don't know why I felt the way I did around Noah. I normally didn't get twitterpated around men at all, nor nervous. I didn't worry what they thought of me or my actions. Maybe that's why I only ever had two boyfriends in my entire life. Once at Sixteen in high school, then once again at twenty in college. I was now twenty three and had been single for some time, maybe that's why I felt the immense attraction towards Noah.

"Please sit." Noah gestured to the chair he had pulled out for me. I grinned widely as I took the seat. No man, aside from Dale, had ever pulled out a chair for me. Maybe chivalry wasn't dead after all.

"Thank you." I sat down, reaching for a spoon. Noah sat across from me. "I wasn't sure what you would like, so I made some different options. The pancakes are vegan."

"Really?" He c****d his head, examining the pancake hanging from the end of his fork. "I've never had vegan pancakes before."

"I wasn't sure if you had any allergies or not, or if you were lactose intolerant or a vegetarian, or vegan." I rambled. "And I didn't have your number to call you to ask, so I just made different options."

I watched as Noah took a bite of the pancake. His jaw slowly chewed the flat bread.

"Is it alright?" I asked for his opinion before tasting it myself.

"It's good." He lied. I could see it in his face that he didn't enjoy it.

"Your face says otherwise." I laughed as I tried a bite. "Oh…that's terrible. All I can taste is baking powder."

"It is. I didn't want to be rude." Noah chased his pancake with a bite of creme filled donut.

"I suppose if you are used to eating vegan foods, it tastes wonderful. I'm just used to loading my pancakes with sugar and topping them with whipped cream, syrup and chocolate chips. You barely taste the pancake." I exclaimed as I shoveled eggs into my mouth.