Chapter 10 Nora
Chapter 10 NORA
N ora couldn’t stop laughing. Maybe it was the wine, or the way Aiden’s dimples appeared to be showing off just for her. He didn’t look like a prism anymore—his sharp angles had softened. He was a crystal sphere, a star, his light shining all over her house and herself.
“Right, right. I’m glad my story amused you so much,” Aiden mumbled, not looking at her.
She wanted to say it was one of the most amusing stories she’d ever heard, but the words wouldn’t come, because she was taken by another thought: Had Paola been beautiful? Was she still? Nora had never met her. Her contact with the Márquez family had been through Gabe and his parents, the actual owners of the property. Maybe Paola was still single. Maybe she would end up with Aiden, and they’d tell the story of how he had been in love with her since childhood.
The magazine—now a little crumpled—rustled as Aiden took it from the table. “Before you make me tell you other embarrassing moments in my life, shall we move to question twelve? Perhaps it will finally lead to you telling me one of yours.”
I can tell you one right now , Nora thought. Not long ago, I sniffed the neck of a man I’m terribly attracted to, and he smelled goddamn good. What was I thinking?
A fierce clap of thunder shook the house, and Nora jumped closer to Aiden.
He wrapped an arm around her, his touch soothing her nerves.
Nora took a few breaths to calm down, then slowly disentangled herself and slipped further away from him, recalling what had happened with Yeong. Which led her to think about work and the lives she would indirectly ruin. Don’t shoot the messenger , she selfishly hoped, even though she would give up her job for everyone else’s, if she could. Trying to take her mind off of this subject, Nora waved her concerns away and gestured for Aiden to go ahead.
“Question twelve: ‘If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be?’”
“It’s your turn to answer first,” Nora said.
He nodded. “At last, an easy question! I don’t even have to think about it. I would love to be able to fly. In fact, it’s a recurring dream I have. It feels so real.”
If only. “In my dreams I’m always falling or running away from something. I wish I could dream of flying, that would be nice.”
“Do you have trouble sleeping?”
“Not exactly, although if I could gain any ability, it would be to never sleep. It’s such a waste of time.”
The shock on Aiden’s face startled Nora.
“Are you quite serious?” he asked.
“Yeah. Why?”
As if making a statement to the skies, Aiden looked up. “Sleeping is the best thing in the world.”
“No, the best thing in the world is...” Nora pursed her lips as she realized what she was about to say. She didn’t want to give him the wrong—but very right—impression.
Aiden rested his elbow on the back pillows of the sofa, and his face on his fist. “Is what?”
“Is . . . eating, of course.”
“Oh.” Aiden said, and she knew he was trying his best to look innocent, as if he didn’t know what she really meant to say.
Nora wanted to hide under the table, but instead she grabbed the magazine and motioned for him to fill their empty wine glasses. “Okay, we’re now entering the second set of questions. Do you need a break?” She had noticed how he kept looking out the windows.
“I’ve never seen a tornado. My years here in Nashville were blissfully quiet.”
“This isn’t a tornado yet, and I sure hope it won’t come to it,” Nora said. “Nothing good can come from such a disaster.”
She stood and approached the window gingerly, a bit afraid of what she would see outside.
“Well,” Aiden said, still looking at the pelting rain, “at least we got to meet each other.”
Her cheeks warmed with happiness, only to turn cold again as the house seemed to shake with a particularly strong gust of wind. She yelped. Aiden jumped up and was by her side within a second.
“Hey, it’s all right,” he said, snaking one arm around her shoulder. “You tend to the fire. I’m in the cave to protect you, remember?”
Nora raised her eyebrows. “And how would you protect me from the wind, Mr. Neanderthal?”
“I would stab it with my very sharp spear and draw some utterly frightening cave painting to scare it away, of course.”
Nora chuckled, and he gently drew her back to the sofa.
As she sat, Nora took a deep breath to calm her racing heart. The storm must be messing with her head. She absentmindedly took the magazine to continue the questions. “Here’s number thirteen: ‘If a crystal ball could tell you the truth about yourself, your life, the future, or anything else, what would you want to know?’ Ha, that’s easy. The biggest mystery in the universe. Why the hell are there so many farmers in Tatooine if it’s a desert.”
Aiden rolled his eyes. “ Star Wars , really? Star Trek is so much better.”
She looked at him with a stern face. “You can leave my house now.”
He stared at her for a few seconds, then stood up and mumbled, “I’m sorry, I know I’m—”
It was funny, if a little heartbreaking, to see Aiden squirm in distress.
“Good God, Aiden,” Nora said, grabbing his hand. “I’m kidding. Sit down, please. I mean, I’m not kidding about Star Trek , don’t ever say it’s better than Star Wars inside my house again, but you’re welcome to stay if you abide by the rules.”
He sat down with a puckish smile on his face. “A lady of many rule s, aren’t you?”
“Don’t ever say I’m bossy. That’s another rule.”
Aiden sipped from his wine glass. “I would never say such a thing.”
“Great. Now, your answer. What would you want to know?”
“Again with this ‘you can only choose one’ thing. It’s too hard to decide. It feels so final. I mean, what if I waste the chance on something inconsequential?”
She couldn’t help but think they balanced each other—she knew what she wanted, he had trouble making choices. “Come on, you do understand it’s a hypothetical question, right?”
“Well, yes, but I’m taking this exercise seriously.”
Even with her “no one-night stands” policy in the back of her mind, it was hard not to be herself. Cheeky remarks kept popping into her head. “The questions themselves or the part where the questions should make me fall in love with you?”
“Nora, that question is not in the list, so in the spirit of playing by the rules, as you so fervently insisted, and considering that all my debts are paid, since I told you about my first kiss, I reserve my right to not answer.”
It was the fucking sexy accent. Or maybe his expression—eyes squinted, glued to hers, the corners of his lips slightly tipped upward as he spoke. Nora’s pulse pounded in her ears and she felt like she couldn’t catch her breath. If he intended to make her fall in love with him, he was on the right track.
He continued. “Since this question—the one from the questionnaire—doesn’t set clear boundaries, I would like to know everything major that’s going to happen between now and the end of humanity. How about that, huh? And then I may or may not place bets on everything I know will happen, and make myself filthy rich,” Aiden said and cocked a brow.
“And then everything would happen differently because people would act differently to avoid unwanted events.”
Aiden reflected on the matter. “I know. But I also believe some things are meant to happen, and they will happen no matter what we do to avoid them. We may try to run away, but something will make it be.”
“Then you are a fool.”
“Why, thank you,” Aiden said. “I hope you don’t mind me saying, but your opinions are quite black and white sometimes, aren’t they?”
“Yeah, yeah. I’ve been called out for that more than a few times. Eight or eighty, is how we call it in Brazil. Years of therapy, and I’ve accepted it about myself. I know it’s jarring for some people—”
“Oh no, not at all. I find it quite attractive. You have strong opinions. I love it.”
Nora smiled. “Anyway. I mean it. We make the future as we go. There is no such thing as fate or destiny. That notion was created to resign people to whatever happens to them.”
“I think you’re wrong, and I believe fate will prove it to you real soon. But please, go on.”
He motioned for her to read the next question. But the universe had other ideas. Nora’s phone flashed with a text message from her cousin Karol, popping the warm, cozy bubble they’d created in her living room. Nora excused herself to read it.
This ending, OMG. RIP me! The final scene was just heart-melting!!
Nora gasped, attracting a curious look from Aiden. Her favorite telenovela, Pink Flamingo . She had completely forgotten about it, thanks to her charming guest. She’d have to catch the rerun tomorrow evening.
She had another text message, from Dipa.
Hope you’re having fun
it said, followed by emojis of a mouth, an eggplant, and some drops.
Shut up
Nora responded.
As if she had nothing better to do, Dipa answered immediately.
Outside thunder goes boom, inside Nora goes boom-boom-boom.
SHUT UP
was Nora’s answer.
She was mortified just thinking of the possibility of Aiden seeing the texts.
Nora noted the time. 10:17PM. How could the hours have gone by so fast? As soon as the lockdown was lifted, Aiden would leave, and tomorrow he’d be on a flight to LA. Was it weird that she didn’t want him to go? They still had more than half of the questionnaire to finish. There was still so much more she wanted to know about him.
Nora set her phone aside. “Question fourteen. ‘Is there something that you’ve dreamed of doing for a long time? Why haven’t you done it?’”
“Besides flying?”
“That doesn’t count; it’s not feasible!”
Aiden tapped his finger on his thigh. “Come to think of it, I achieved so much more than I dreamed as a boy. What’s left to dream?”
“That’s inspiring and sad at the same time,” she said.
“Sad? Why?”
“‘What’s left to dream?’” Nora shook her head. “There’s always something to dream about, no matter how intangible.”
“In this case, I’ll stick to flying, and thank you so much for proving my point.”
Nora huffed in defeat.
“Now you. Something you’ve dreamed of for a long time and haven’t done yet.”
The first thing to come to her mind made her cringe inwardly. Nora stood and went to the bay window, looking out at the furious weather. Then she turned to him and asked, “Can I refuse to answer?”
“What’s wrong? Is your answer something too serious? Or is it...” he gave her a sideways glance, his eyes implying something improper.
“What? No!” It’s not a fetish , she wanted to say, yet the words wouldn’t come. “It’s just... you’re going to laugh.”
The screeching wind, loud as it was, wasn’t enough to muffle her words. Nora should have invented something bizarre or poetic, instead of putting the truth under the spotlight.
“You’ve had your fair share of laughter at my expense, and yet you don’t see me editing the truth. Out with it, woman.”
She sighed. “Okay... I want to get my driver’s license. I’ve failed three times already, and it bugs me I can’t fucking drive when everyone else can!”
“It’s because you drive on the wrong side of the road. When you drive on the left side, things will make much more sense.” Aiden took a sip of wine and looked at the fire.
“I strongly disagree, but from now on that’ll be my excuse for not driving. I refuse to drive on the wrong side of the road! ” Nora said, impersonating a British accent, which seemed to amuse her guest.
“Are you mocking my accent?” He looked back at her, theatrically pretending to be offended.
Nora tried in vain to hide a smile. “No, it’s just so cute.”
“Oh, I’m cute? Thank you, my darling. That’s most generous of you.”
“Your accent is cute. I said nothing about you. In fact, your accent reminds me of someone. I have this British friend, Martin Bottom. Maybe you’ve met him?”
Aiden scoffed. “You do realize Britain is not that small, right?”
“And you do realize the United States is much, much bigger, and still I live in your best friend’s house?”
“Yes, you have a point. Continue, let’s see if I’ve met this Martin Bikini Bottom.”
“If I’m not mistaken, he was born in Brighton.”
“I’ve been in Brighton!” Aiden said in what appeared to be mock-delight. “My sister even dated someone from there. What a coincidence.”
Nora glared at Aiden as she went back to the sofa and sat as far as possible from him. “I’m sure you’ve heard about the six degrees of separation theory, right? I mean, if there are only six degrees separating Han Solo and me, I’m sure there are fewer degrees between you and Martin.”
“Who says there are only six degrees between you and Harrison Ford? Maybe you know someone who has met him.”
She tittered. “My word, bloody hell, you could be right!”
Laughing with her, Aiden stood up, and insisted on taking the cups and the bowl to the sink. Nora didn’t fight it. She appreciated his effort.
Seconds later, his voice came from the kitchen, “Nora, I think we have a problem.”