Chapter 36 Nora
Chapter 36 NORA
2 AM.
Headlights shone through the window pane as Nora thought of Aiden, of her coworkers, of her father.
When tossing and turning became unbearable, she resorted to her phone. Just then, a notification from one of the gossip portals she had visited before popped up: “Aiden Elliott makes his entrance at the premiere of Indigo Eyes with Consequat co-star Anna Rheims. Friends to lovers?”
She read on.
Tonight, at the premiere of Indigo Eyes , Aiden Elliott had on his arm a stunning Anna Rheims. What can this mean for the couple?
The pair, along with the rest of the cast and crew of Louis-Alphonse Verdier’s Consequat , will soon be sequestered together for months in Jordan while they film.
Verdier is known for his strict isolation rules while filming on location—and he’s also known to have unwittingly brought many celebrity couples together because of it.
Elliott and Rheims—who have been friends for years—seem eager to escalate their relationship as they prepare to leave for Jordan next week. Mark our words: there will be a public announcement very, very shortly.
Nora dropped her phone. “Next week?” she shouted. The filming could last for months. Aiden would be on that closed set in Jordan—inaccessible, unreachable, locked up with the gorgeous Anna Rheims and who knows who else.
She curled herself into a ball and sobbed. Who knew losing a man who had never been hers could be so painful.
Despite last night’s thoughts, on Friday morning Nora woke with a distinct feeling—a hope, an expectation. Put on makeup. Wear that dress you know you look amazing in. Brush your hair—no, damn it, wash it and blow it dry. Maybe she’d had a good dream and couldn’t remember it, because something inside her had shifted.
On the bus to work, she listened to “Baby, Look” on her headphones. Hearing the soft jazzy tune made her fidget. She could almost smell Aiden’s scent and feel his skin against hers. When her stop came, Nora had to drag herself out of her daydream and off the bus. Throughout the morning, she kept smiling for no apparent reason.
“Last time I was joking, but today I’m pretty sure you’re in a good mood,” Yeong said as they had lunch together again. Nora wondered if it would become a regular fixture in her work life. They talked about programming, The Beatles, how ridiculous the CEO looked with a toupée that didn’t even match his hair color, how disgusting the cafeteria smelled. Yeong never asked about Aiden. He didn’t try to flirt with her or mention their hookup. Yeong was a nice person. She regretted the one-night stand but, in hindsight, at least she had it with someone she later discovered was decent.
“Yeah. You could say that,” Nora said.
Yeong slurped his soda. “Any particular reason?”
She just shrugged in response.
Aiden hadn’t texted her back and Nora didn’t know how to interpret his silence. Her traitorous mind kept nagging her with an impossible idea—perhaps he had forgiven her and would surprise her again later that day. She knew he was fond of surprises; he had left a diamond for her in her bathroom. She let herself hope that he wouldn’t leave for Jordan without at least trying to settle things.
Then she remembered he wasn’t necessarily single anymore. “They’ve been friends for years, like Kate Winslet and Leo DiCaprio,” Dipa had said about Aiden and Anna Rheims. But friends for years could become lovers. Hadn’t it happened with her and Jay? Aiden would spend months isolated with the cast and crew. He and Anna—or any other woman, for that matter—could very well get romantically involved during that time.
Still Nora’s fertile—futile?—imagination somehow convinced her that Aiden would show up. She could feel it in her bones—the anticipation, the desperation, the need. And it was driving her mad.
It had started raining when the clock hit five and it was time to go home. Nora grimaced, looking out the window at the overcast gray sky, realizing she had, again, forgotten her umbrella. As the elevator took her to the ground floor, she had a ridiculous thought—what if Aiden found out where she worked and was waiting for her outside with the Goofy umbrella, ready to apologize, ready to hear her apology, and ready for another round of questions and answers, dinner and wine?
“Aiden? What are you doing here? Aren’t you missing your flight to Jordan?” Nora would ask, not caring if he knew she’d been keeping tabs on him. And he would answer, “I couldn’t leave without making things right with you, love.” And she would forgive him then and there, and she would somehow lock him in her house and never let him go.
Her hands trembled as the elevator door opened to reveal a bustling foyer.
Of course Aiden wasn’t there. Nora shook her head, face burning at her own stupidity. Then fingers tapped her shoulder. Nora’s heart jumped to lightspeed, and she turned around to find...
Dave.
“Hey, Nora,” he said. “We heard José is getting a raise because of the CatWall Project. What you did was... uh... really cool. You’re good people.”
“You give me too much credit,” Nora muttered under a smile. “The merit is all his.”
There was a beat of awkward silence. Dave scratched his head, staring at the pavement. “Uh... So, good weekend, I guess? Any plans?”
All of Nora’s plans for the weekend flashed in her head. Aiden. Kisses. Fireplace. Clothes on the floor. She smiled. “Just staying in.”
“Cool.” Dave nodded several times. “So, see you next week.” He gave her a timid thumbs up and headed to the parking lot.
Nora retraced the steps she’d taken the previous Friday, not quite acknowledging she was looking for Aiden. From work, she went to the grocery store. A normally short visit turned into a twenty-seven-minute foray, as she kept zig-zagging the aisles in the silly hope he would be there at each turn. Frustrated—at his absence, at her own idiocy—she at last headed home in the drizzle.
And unlike the previous Friday, Nora didn’t feel like a damp rat. She didn’t want to feel invisible. She was a goddamn lioness, a tigress, a jaguar. The next time was about to happen, she could feel it.
Nora’s heart pounded as she turned the corner onto her street—this would be it—but no one waited outside her house. There wasn’t anyone on her front porch, either. Her spirit sank. But maybe Aiden would show up later to surprise her. Maybe he would arrive in the middle of the night.
Wouldn’t that be perfect? Nora thought, imagining how she would greet him at the door and what would happen after.
She took a long shower and put on her best silk pajamas. Then she lit the fireplace—it would be a good way to greet him when he arrived. But she needed something to distract herself in the meantime. Seeing that the new telenovela, Fever Dream , was about to start, Nora called her cousin Karol, so they could watch it together as it was their lifelong tradition.
“I just came back from my mom’s place and I heard the weirdest bit of gossip,” her cousin said as she accepted the call.
Nora bit her lip, trying not to laugh. She knew where that was going.
“Mom said you’re dating a famous actor. You! Of all people! I told her she must have misunderstood and—Oh my God. Your face. Is it true? Who is it?”
Of course Nora’s mom couldn’t keep her mouth shut. If Nora ever wanted the whole family to know something, all she needed was to tell her mom.
“We’re not dating, we just—”
“But who?” Karol interrupted, excitement making her voice raise an octave.
“Uh . . . Aiden Elliott?”
“Aiden Elliott, Aiden Elliott . . .”
“ Falling Leaves . Indigo Eyes .”
“Oh. Oh! Nora! That guy is... so... Oof.” She fanned herself, slightly flushed. “But wait. I thought after Felipe you were done with celebs forever? ‘Fame’s the worst disease of the century’ or something, isn’t it what you say?”
Nora shivered. “Yeah, but... We met once and that was it. I’m not dating him.”
Karol raised her eyebrows. “But you wish you were. Wow. I’m in shock.”
“Shush, Fever Dream is starting,” Nora said. “Today’s episode will be on fire.”
Luckily, Karol had a strict don’t-talk-about-anything-else-while-watching-telenovelas policy. After they hung up, Nora saw that one of Aiden’s movies, Scoundrel Days , was playing on cable, and she watched the whole thing. His chemistry with Marcie Jameson was intense. When Aiden slid his fingers through Marcie’s hair and kissed her, Nora recalled their heated kiss in the basement. On screen, Aiden took off Marcie’s clothes and they slid under soft sheets, their hips moving together as sweat ran down Aiden’s back. In her mind’s eye, it was she instead of Marcie who lay under him moaning in pleasure, her nails scratching the soft skin on his back. It could have been her. If only for a night.
At 3AM, when she woke up on the couch, a movie starring Anna Rheims was playing. Of course. Where could Aiden be—LA? Over the Atlantic Ocean? In Nashville, in a cab on his way to her? After dozing off a second time, she woke with a stiff neck and decided to wait for Aiden in bed and smiled at the pun she had made for herself.
So Nora braided her hair—she knew how bad her bed-hair looked—and went to sleep, hoping to be awakened in the middle of the night to open the door.