Nothing Less

Chapter Twenty- Five.

Songs for this chapter:

Coloring- Kevin Garrett

Refuse- Kevin Garrett

Secret Love Song- Little Mix

Assassin- John Mayer

...

Another half an hour of small talk passes and the table is cleared. The sisters have disappeared into the kitchen and I'm sitting on the couch with Todd and an army of decorative pillows. One has small foxes on it, spread out like polka dots. The rest are solid colors. Why are there so many? Does anyone actually use them? I push my elbow into the fox pillow to test how soft it is. My elbow sinks into it. So maybe they are comfortable....

"Having fun?" Todd's Disney prince smile makes me slightly jealous of this guy. I mean, he has known Nora since she was a girl and he's a surgeon and a husband who has an empty apartment in New York City just in case they decide to go to the city. I share a tiny apartment with my friend and just now starting to understand how to separate my laundry. Nora is used to being around these kind of people. People who have their shit together and are old enough to have mortgages and airline mile programs.

I situate my body and put the fox pillow on my lap and nod.

"She loves her pillows," he points to the one sitting on my lap.

"I think it's a woman thing. My mom is the same way."

My mom? Really? I'm sitting in an apartment on the fifteenth floor, overlooking downtown Manhattan and talking about my mom.

This whole night is totally out of my league. I think about my mom's old house and the way the carpet never looked clean. My mom would rent one of those Rug Doctor's from Odd Lots and she would spend two hours cleaning the carpets, but the years of stains just wouldn't come clean.

How would it be having Nora in my hometown? Would she shine too brightly for the cloudy Mid-Western town? I look around the spacious living room and count the number of chandeliers suspending from the high ceiling. There are three just in my peripheral vision. I look at the decorations lined perfectly on the mantel above the electronic fireplace. A little metal statue, a piece of wood cut into a triangle...

"They will probably be in there a while," Nora's brother-in-law rubs his hand over his neck.

"I'm just glad they are talking again," he sighs and grabs a bottle of liquor from a cart next to the couch. It's full of different types of alcohol and different mixers. There's a lime, a lemon, and even little straws. I guess that's what it's like to be an adult, you get to have a mini-bar in your house and your wife gets to buy all the weird pillows she wants to.

Should I ask him why they weren't talking? Or would that look like she doesn't tell me anything- oh wait, she doesn't. It bothers me that she didn't even give me enough of herself to keep a conversation with her family.

I choose to play it cool. "Yeah, me too."

Todd pours himself a drink, he calls it a giblet and I really don't understand why these people use so many double words. He offers me one, but I decline. No need to break the law twice in one night.

"Stausey really does love her. I know she can go about it the wrong way and come off a little too strong," he takes a bigger swig. "But she's just worried about her little sister. She barely sleeps anymore and not just because the baby is the size of a fucking watermelon." He smiles and I find this comparison funny. His wife does look like she's smuggling a watermelon under her dress.

I continue to bullshit my way through the conversation. The only other option is telling Todd that I don't actually have any freaking idea what's going on between the two sisters.

"I'm sure Nora appreciates her worry. She's just not that great at taking sympathy from people. You know how she is," I tell him, even though I clearly have no clue how she is.

"Yeah, you're right." He agrees, resting his back against the chair. He looks around the living room like he's searching for something. I look around too, staring at a huge print of one of their wedding photos. Nora is there, in a beautiful pink gown, her hair curled and laying down across her shoulders. The guy next to her looks familiar, and so does the guy next to him. My mind is clearly ready to mess with my judgment. I'm imagining things now.

"Look, I know we just met and I'm completely overstepping here but we are all hoping you being around will be good for Nora. You know, she hasn't brought anyone around us since the accident and we were starting to think she would never date. It was starting to look like she would never sign those papers."

Papers? Accident? What the hell is he talking about?

"Um," I clear my throat. Why did I turn that drink down? "I'm glad to hear it."

My throat is on fire. I lean up and look down the hallway. Where is Nora?

"We are on her side. That's why we want her to sign them. My family is up in arms over this," he runs his hands over his facial hair and his eyes are strained.

I'm out of resources here. I can only play pretend for so long. He's getting too specific now and I'm as clueless as ever and I can't believe Nora would bring me into this place without a warning. Though, she did tell me it was a bad idea to meet her sister. I didn't think it was anything like this, where there would be family drama and papers and talk about some mystery accident that I'm completely unaware of.

"I can talk to her." I offer, not knowing what else to say.

"Really?" His face lights up. "Anything will help. We just don't understand why she won't sign the papers? They were already separated before any of this. It doesn't have to be this messy and honestly," he takes pauses, takes a deep breath, "I would love to have this all resolved before the baby comes."

Yeah? So would I. I would love to have just a hint as to what the hell is happening around me. Clearly Nora wasn't ready for me to have one.

"Yeah, I get it. I'll see what I can do," I stand up. I need to find Nora before my head explodes. "Do you have a bathroom I could use?"

"Yeah, straight down and to your left," he points. I thank him and the words burn in my throat. He doesn't move from the couch when I leave the room.

I go to the bathroom and splash cold water on my face. It always works in movies when people do that. I dry my face off on a monogrammed towel and I feel even more out of my element. There's too much going on. Nora, this fancy apartment, all the secrets it holds.

I pee and wash my hands. When I stare at myself in the mirror, I look different. Is it the lighting or the missing patches of hair on my face that make me look younger?

I don't really belong in this place, with these people. To add to my horror, my shirt has small white flakes all over it. I must not have noticed the napkin was bleeding onto me. Great.

Itake another breath and leave the bathroom.     

(Author's note- Nothing More is out today *sobs* this is our SEVENTH book guys *sobs again* If you get the book send me your pictures of it, they make me sob and I just love seeing them. I'll update again on Thursday. Tell me how you are feeling in the comments eek.)