Speculative Glances

They chatted for a while longer with all of the topics that Alice could bring up to mind, and Henry was happy to answer any questions. It proved hard thought considering that Henry preferred to not talk about himself, and Alice took that in stride, moving the conversations along with much vigor. 

She knew to take everything with a grain of salt, but she did truly enjoy speaking with Henry. He lived a long life and had a lot to talk about. Noah would have to have been on the receiving side of those words for a long time.

Alice could tell that Noah had a lot of patience from the beginning, but she supposed she was taught to be like that. 

Henry laughed as Alice talked about how she and Noah spent time with their shifts at the convenience store since Noah was someone who would follow directions with creative depictions of how it should be done. His grandfather wanted to hear more stories since he found it funny to get it from Alice's perspective. 

Alice knew that it was better than nothing, but she literally cracked up laughing when she saw that Noah was drying the mats outside not knowing that it would be fine wet. He blushed saying that the mats needed a good cleaning anyway, and Alice covered her laugh with another cough as she greeted easily. 

A long sigh came from Henry, and Alice watched him carefully. He still looked like he was doing okay judging by the energy that he was giving and looking less deathly than earlier. But her worries went away but the small smile that the old man offered her. "So, how long have you known Noah?"

"For a couple of years now," she answered since she supposed it wasn't one that was too hard to answer. They may not have ever spoken before this year, but she would be lying if she said that she didn't know him.

He would be in the same boat. It was just that they ran in different circles and were lines that were parallel. That all changed in a span of a few months.

His grandfather clasped his hands together. "That's quite a long time isn't it?"

"We weren't close until this year," Alice automatically said.

"Well, it takes time to become friends, doesn't it?"

Alice lifted a shoulder in agreement. It certainly does take time to become friends. It was hard to call a person one just met a friend unless one was extremely young and in grade school. Friends went past the first glimpse and exchanged words. It was the constant comfort and support one could give.

Henry continued to give speculative glances about her and Noah's relationship, but she wasn't too bothered. That was a change. She hated getting that kind of look from other people at school, and it drove her insane when people often than not paired her up with other guys. But from Henry, it was coming from a good place.

Henry continued with his questions. "I hope that it wouldn't be too much to ask you to look after Noah." 

"It's no problem," Alice said slowly. "We see each other every day anyway."

Henry laughed at how she was dodging the question. "I hope that not too cliche."

Alice sighed as she grinned. "It is."

"Look after him, because I know that there will be days where he'll wander with no destination."

She smiled. "I can do that."

"I know that there will be days when he'll not be able to voice what he will want."

Noah did do that a lot and continued to do so. He would struggle to figure out what he liked and disliked since he didn't have a personal marker. But Alice would watch that he would often go for.

It wasn't hard to tell that he got the same drink every day. What was hard on the other hand was why. She only had recently just figured it out since he liked the color red on the bottle.

For a simple reason like that, he had gravitated toward the drink. It was the little things that she realized had a deeper meaning when it came to Noah. And when she figured it out, it annoyed her all the more.

He was too lazy to do what he wanted, so he would settle for what was fine. And that right there was Noah all in a nutshell.

Henry was entrusting her with such a task. She had no idea why. Henry was already doing that part for Noah, and she couldn't see herself getting in the way. Not that she would ever want to, but there was also the way she couldn't picture it. Judging by how the old man was reacting, there clearly seemed to be no problem at all.