“What the fuck, Nora?” she hisses and begins to storm back to her bedroom, stomping her bare feet on the wood floor.
“Hey Alice,” I call after her, but she barely pauses until I say, “I want you to meet Elliot.” She stops in her tracks and whips around to see Elliot and me standing in her hallway. I’m smiling at her as I turn back and say to Elliot, “Elliot, this is my sister, Alice. She’s the reason I was at that party in the first place.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine: Elliot
Nora’s sister shrieks out loud, almost ear-piercing and then runs to Nora, embracing her in a hug that looks more painful than loving.
“Seriously?” Alice yells, now clutching Nora by her shoulders as she looks at me with a huge smile on her face.
She looks like Nora but messier, not in a bad way though and I shouldn’t hold it against her given we’ve obviously woken her up.
After finally letting go of Nora she walks over and gives me a hug. It’s something I didn’t entirely see coming since we’ve just met, but I guess she’s probably had her fair share of conversations with Nora about me. I’m not sure Matt would respond this way and I’ve talked extensively about the whole situation with him.
When she pulls back she says, “Fuck, do you know how long we’ve been looking for you?”
Nora lets out a long sigh and before I can speak she adds, “Yeah, Alice, he’s aware.” It makes me laugh and I give Nora a wink, making her cheeks flush just a little. Each time I look at her she grows even more beautiful than the day I met her. Maybe it’s the passage of time or all the time I spent searching for her, but I realize there’s no one else in the world I would rather be with right now than her.
Alice grabs a bottle of champagne and some orange juice along with three glasses and sets them down on a small table just outside the kitchen. We all sit down and Alice opens the champagne, the cork letting off a loud popping noise causing both Alice and Nora to let out a laugh.
“Glad you happen to have the makings for mimosas just sitting around in your fridge,” Nora says, and Alice rolls her eyes.
“Of course I do. I’ve been waiting to celebrate this moment and I thought it would be wise to just have it on hand,” Alice replies, but I can tell by Nora’s expression she knows Alice is full of shit.
“I think we both know that this is a staple in your house, Alice, but if you want to act like it isn’t, that’s cool,” Nora quips back and Alice laughs a little.
Their relationship is very natural and fun, and reminds me of Matt’s and mine. I’m glad all this time Nora has had Alice to lean on. I smile at Nora when she looks over at me, my hand sliding over to rest on her thigh and I watch her cheeks flush again. I love that she’s surprised by my feelings and my affection toward her.
“You both seem to get along well,” I say, interrupting the playful banter between the two of them.
They glance quickly at each other, the laughter returning as Nora says, “We hated each other up until about a year ago.”
“I wouldn’t say we hated each other,” Alice adds. “It was more that we didn’t understand each other.” She looks at me and shrugs her shoulders. “We had a lot of issues…” Alice trails off and then adds, “You were one of them.”
“Alice!” Nora practically shouts as she turns to me and shakes her head. “You were not an issue, I promise.” She leans closer to me and I can feel the warmth from her body as her hand slides into mine, her fingers weaving through and holding tightly. As her hand tightens in mine, she gives me a smile and I know this is where I’ve always needed to be.
Alice and Nora begin to fill me in on their relationship prior to their road trip to find me, and I can’t help but smile when I think about how much this has changed more than just my life.
“Everything was an issue to Alice at that time,” Nora adds, but I can hear the humor in her voice. “Our mom had just died and I guess in hindsight we were both kind of a mess.” Any trace of humor is gone now.
I look at Nora and then at Alice who nods her head, giving Nora a sad but reassuring look. My hand tightens in Nora’s and I wonder why she didn’t share this with me when we met all those years back. I want to ask her about it and I want her to tell me about it, but I don’t think now is the time to have that conversation with her.
Alice quickly changes the subject and begins sharing how she and Nora managed to mend their relationship, and interestingly enough it had to do with me. She tells me how she traveled around with Nora while she was looking for me last year.
“Alice is the reason I wrote my book,” Nora says, smiling at Alice. “I love to write and Alice loves to take pictures. She documented our entire trip, taking notes and pictures. She reminded me I should write what I love.”
Nora pauses and looks at me, her eyes are sparkling and a small shade of pink crosses over her cheeks as I feel her grow slightly nervous.
“I’ll show you when we get home,” she adds quietly. Her cheeks are still flushed, but her eyes are firmly locked on mine.
“I would love to see it,” I respond, giving Nora a quick smile before turning my attention to Alice. “And I guess I owe you a thank you.”
“Me? Why?” Alice asks as if she couldn’t have possibly played a part in any of this.
“You’re the reason Nora was in San Diego in the first place. We never would’ve met if you hadn’t been living there, and I never would’ve found her now if you hadn’t encouraged her to write her book.”
“I guess I never really looked at it that way. It was a hard time for both us and I think that clouded the memories of those days. Either way, I’m glad I could help.”
There’s a lot I don’t know about Nora, but as I sit here with her and Alice, I’m learning, and I know once we’re alone, we’ll have more to talk about.
We talk a little more with both Alice and Nora sharing stories from the road trip they took last year, and all of us laughing at some of the funnier things that happened.
Glancing back at the clock in the kitchen, Alice says, “I’m sorry to rush you guys, but I have to get to work soon. Got a lot of kids to photograph today.”
“I know,” Nora responds, standing up from the table and carrying our empty glasses into the kitchen. “Thanks for letting us come by today. I’m so glad you got to meet Elliot.”
“Yeah, yeah, of course. How about we do dinner tonight or another night this week with James too?” Alice questions and looks at both Nora and me. “How long are you here for?” Alice asks, this time her question is directed at me.
“I’m not certain,” I answer, and I’m sure it makes me sound weird that I never booked a return flight. “I still need to book a flight back home.”
“Oh, so this visit is pretty open-ended?” Alice’s eyes widen as she looks at Nora and I’m not sure if this is a good or a bad thing. I know how this looks to the outside observer. The only two people this situation makes any sense to are Nora and me, and I imagine right now Alice is wondering what my intentions are. I can see her mind trying to sort out details and questions. Am I planning to return home? Where is home? Do I have a job? Am I staying with Nora?