Chapter 4 Nora
Chapter 4 NORA
H is smile. It was wide, pearly white, and framed by dimples. Hadn’t Nora seen that smile before? No. Impossible. She would remember it.
Nora couldn’t deny that she wasn’t keen on being alone during a possible tornado—even more so because it was unusual for one to appear in November. The rational part of her knew she’d be fine. But when the tornado sirens went off and she realized that she couldn’t leave Aiden outside during the storm, she was relieved. Also, even if she didn’t want to admit it, it meant she might get to know a little more about this intriguing man who’d appeared in her life so unexpectedly, like a stroke of luck. A man who had elicited goosebumps all over her body with nothing but a kiss on the cheek. And to think she’d initially thought he was a creep...
“Fate works in mysterious ways,” is what Dipa said every time she told the story of how she met her wife Vanessa in a supermarket line. They were now happily married and in the process of adopting a child. Nora wasn’t sure, however, if her best friend would approve of her inviting a stranger into her home at a time like this, even though Gabe knew him. Dipa would at least want Nora to text someone, preferably her.
Tornado sirens went off. Got company. His name is Aiden. My landlord knows him. Stay safe.
Her friend replied immediately.
Aiden McKenzie?? Ooh, girl! What a day for a date!
“Gross!” Nora spoke without thinking. Aiden McKenzie was well-known for dating under-age aspiring actresses and models.
“I’m sorry, am I interrupting something? I didn’t mean to disrupt your evening,” the Aiden in front of her said.
Despite Nora’s lack of knowledge in the celeb field, she would never forget McKenzie’s mop of bleached hair and his disproportionately big mouth calling her “cheap slut” back in her days of waiting tables, all because she said they were out of whatever entrée he wanted to order. Definitely not the same guy.
“You’re not interrupting anything. I just mentioned to a friend that I’m taking shelter with someone named Aiden and she joked, asking me if it was Aiden McKenzie. She’s really into the celeb world, you know.”
There. Plus, now Dipa was aware of his presence at her house, which gave Nora an increased sense of security.
Aiden stared blankly at her. “Oh. I see.”
Then she realized: maybe he was just like her, and couldn’t care less about this celebrity or that. “Do you... do you know who Aiden McKenzie is? He’s one of these Hollywood actors and—”
“Yes. I do. But I’m most definitely not him.”
Nora threw her hands in the air. “I know! Believe me, I don’t know shit about celebs, but that one I could recognize a mile away. And run the opposite way.”
Maybe she was a little too effusive in her response, because Aiden watched her with a slightly suspicious countenance. Or, more likely, he just thought she was being weird.
“Anyway, I . . .” Aiden lifted his duffel bag.
He’d taken off his bomber jacket, and once again Nora couldn’t help but notice the drenched shirt clinging to his lean figure. Her throat went dry as she pictured him pulling off the soaked shirt right there in her living room, and she coughed to dispel the thought. “Oh, you want to change? There’s a restroom right there—”
“I think I remember where it is,” he said with a timid smile. “I’m sorry, I never meant to be such a burden.”
“It’s no burden. You’ll find towels in the cabinet under the sink.”
It was strange to be in the presence of someone so familiar with her house, even though they’d just met. What sort of memories did he have here?
Nora rushed to give her living room a quick makeover. Where to start? There were dirty plates on the dining table, empty to-go bags from Woody’s Café on the coffee table, a fucking bra resting among a messy pile of pillows on the sofa. She hid the mess as fast as she could, and it wasn’t perfect—it was presentable at best—when the powder room doorknob clicked open.
Aiden emerged in sweatpants and a black t-shirt stamped with the face of a handsome man with messy curls she recognized as a singer, but she couldn’t remember from which band. The sight of Aiden rubbing his curly hair with a towel was strangely intimate.
“Do you have a plastic bag for my wet clothes?”
“Just leave them in the bathroom. I’ll put everything in the dryer later.”
“Right. Can I help you with anything?”
“No, it’s cool. Please, have a seat. I’ll be right back.” She moved towards the stairs and then spoke again. “Actually...” She turned around and caught his eyes appraising her figure, which caused a wave of warmth to swell inside her. His gaze immediately rose to meet hers. Nora took the opportunity to glance at the body parts his sweatpants did little to conceal—if he could check out her assets, she could do the same. “Could you light the fireplace? It’s cold here, and the furnace is broken.”
How could people find 68 degrees pleasant? It was too cold to exist with dignity.
And yet, it didn’t look like he was cold, though, not with the way his cheeks were aflame. He bobbed his head. “Of course. I’m glad to help.”
A clash of thunder boomed overhead and she jumped. Aiden’s warm hand reached out for her elbow, and she felt another kind of startle—a very pleasant one.
“Are you quite okay?” When Nora turned to look at him, she found concern in his eyes.
“Yes.” Nora chuckled. “Just... mini heart attack. You know.”
“I’m sorry,” Aiden said, and Nora recalled, with amusement, her British friend Martin from college who was known for apologizing for everything, even if he was not at fault.
Nora rushed upstairs to swap her own soaked clothes for dry ones. She quickly picked a white t-shirt and some comfortable jeans. At home, she usually dressed quite casually, but she wouldn’t be caught dead entertaining in sweatpants—despite Aiden proving that, yes, people could look good in them. For warmth, she threw on an oversized, wine-colored cardigan she’d bought in London. It seemed befitting, considering her guest’s accent.
She added a bit of concealer, mascara, and lip balm. Aiden wasn’t a date, as Dipa suggested, but he was still a man—a handsome one at that. And her vanity, while not overblown, was still enough to prevent her from pretending she didn’t care.
Nora looked around her bedroom—her bed was unmade, the chair was covered in clothes. She was torn between giving the space a quick tidy-up and closing the door and locking it, pretending she didn’t have a bedroom at all. In the end, she decided to leave it a mess, as a reminder that she shouldn’t bring him upstairs. She repeated this to herself: she wouldn’t .
For all the fun everyone else seemed to have with one-night stands, they just didn’t work for Nora—maybe it was the lack of cuddles, good-morning kisses, and starry ‘I-love-you’ eyes. Maybe it was the weirdness of waking up with a stranger. Nora didn’t want to feel that awkwardness ever again. She wanted romance, affection, and love. Without that, all that was left was basic biological instinct, and that was not what she was looking for. No matter how attractive the stranger downstairs might be.
Nora knew Yeong was trouble from the moment he walked into her workplace’s cafeteria, shaking his head to sweep his straight, black hair off of his forehead. Wearing a white button-up and looking much more polished than everyone else in their crumpled t-shirts and jeans, they bonded over their love for technology and The Beatles as soon as they were introduced. Being on the same level as Nora—a team leader—Yeong understood the responsibilities and pressure that she dealt with daily. The new data scientist was nice, smart, and too handsome to be ignored when he asked her out later that week. Nora knew going out with a coworker was a recipe for disaster. But something about him put her at ease. Besides, she hadn’t dated anyone since her split from Jay, and her aunts kept pressuring her to find a new boyfriend. After a couple of drinks and a pleasant conversation, Yeong dropped her at home, and Nora invited him in for a coffee. He accepted, flashing her a gorgeous smile.
When she woke up the next morning by his side, Nora’s heart was heavy. They barely knew each other. Sure, she knew his full name, his age, and his job, but that was about it. And the sex hadn’t been what she expected—maybe because she didn’t really have strong feelings for him. Nevertheless, it hurt that he didn’t call her in the following days. So she decided to act on it herself, and texted, asking him out.
Sorry. Not really looking for commitment right now
he answered.
Nora appreciated the honesty—she’d much rather have the truth than to be led on. But the rejection left a bitter aftertaste in her mouth. Since then, she tried to avoid him at work, but it was impossible. She seemed to run into him everywhere. In the cafeteria. Leaving and entering the building. Staff meetings.
Earlier this week, the HR department organized their usual happy-hour. Embarrassed just to look at him, Nora sat as far away from Yeong as possible and tried to strike up a conversation with loner-Dave from her team. Later that night, a short brunette arrived and introduced herself as Yeong’s girlfriend. The woman smiled at Nora, and Nora tried to smile back. He avoided eye contact, pretending Nora didn’t exist, pulling his girlfriend away to greet the next person.
It all made sense: he wasn’t looking for commitment because he was already committed. Nora had unintentionally been the other woman, and it triggered all kinds of bad feelings in her.
No, she would never have another one-night-stand.
With this thought in mind, Nora went to find Aiden, and found him with a black hoodie on, by the fireplace fumbling with the logs—all clumsy and confused and...
Oh, no.
Those green, sparkly, doe eyes.