WHO: Parker WHAT: Her worst fear is realized, courtesy of Barbas. WHEN: Early evening WHERE: Apartment #109A RATING: PG (if that) STATUS: Complete; Narrative
Parker was irritated and it showed. From the way she frowned at the contents of the refrigerator she was staring into to the way she huffed in obvious annoyance, she all but oozed discontent from every pore. However, unlike most adults who might be irritated about work, or bills, or politics, or any of the other adult-themed things that tended to bother them, she was annoyed at one simple yet undeniable fact.
They were out of cereal. And, to make matters worse, they were also out of popcorn, chips, and anything else that was quick and didn't involve preparation.
This meant that she was going to have to cook. Her, cook an actual meal. The thought was terrifying as it was amusing, and as she shut the door to the fridge she snorted lightly before making the decision to ask Noah to fix something. Because unless he wanted to have their apartment catch fire, that really was the safest route to take.
Turning with the intention of finding him so she could ask, Parker instantly went still as everything around her simply... changed. One minute she was standing in a makeshift kitchen in a decent-sized apartment, and the next she was standing in a kitchen the size of said apartment, with the smell of something clearly home-cooked thick in the air. Eyes wide, body rigid, the blond slowly turned around in a semi-circle and instantly froze at the sight before her.
It was Noah. He was sitting at a kitchen table with a boy she didn't recognize, a somewhat younger looking version of who she knew to be his daughter Claire, and another woman that she had never seen before in her life.
"Whoa," she exhaled before her eyes went wide and her hand clamped over her mouth. However none of them seemed to have heard her, or were even aware that she was present in their kitchen. They were all quite content sitting around the table, passing around what looked like a plate of vegetables, and amicably discussing various events in their lives. Noah made a comment about something and Parker watched at the woman sitting beside him smiled and placed a hand upon his arm in clearly a loving gesture.
It was his wife, Parker realized with dawning horror. His completely normal, able to cook a home-cooked meal, mother of his children wife. Sandra, that was her name. This was Sandra. And Noah. And their kids. And they were all happy. Noah, the man that Parker had taken on a scavenger hunt all around Colligo to steal various items, he was happy with this picture perfect, Norman Rockwell life.
Stepping backwards as though putting distance between herself and them might make it easier to bear somehow, Parker swallowed down the vague feeling of fear-induced nausea that washed over her. When Noah leaned across his seat with the clear intention of kissing the woman he'd been married to, though, Parker quickly spun around and slapped her hands over her eyes. "No, no, no, no, no," she whispered, shaking her head violently to try and dispel the image now burned into her brain.
She couldn't get it out of her mind, though, and it was only made worse by a fleeting thought that seemed to touch upon the real reason for the horror she was currently feeling churning deep within her gut.
This is what he wants from you. Just a replacement for the wife he lost.
"NO!" The shriek was loud even to her own ears but Parker didn't care. Her hands fell away from her eyes as she wildly looked around. The scene was gone, she was back in her apartment, but at the moment she didn't care anything about that. She had to go, and she had to go now.
Grabbing her jacket on her way to the double doors that led to the patio, she was just about outside when Noah entered the living room. Parker froze in place at the sight of him, eyes wide and horror etched upon her face. When he greeted her, she backed away. When he tried speaking again, she did the only thing she could think to do.
She screamed as loudly as she could - a blood-curdling, terrified scream from the very depths of her soul. And then she took a running leap onto the patio and all but dove over the railing with every intention of never coming back lest she somehow find herself living the very life of utter and complete normalcy that she had just witnessed.