Nice Work, Nora November by Julia London

Author:Julia London [London, Julia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harper Muse
Published: 2024-06-04T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

Nora had a new outfit from a little boutique where the salesgirl guaranteed she would look bohemian chic. Nora wasn’t sure that was the aesthetic she was going for, but it sounded fun and different. In the Before, she dressed for these dinners like she was headed to a funeral. In the After, she wanted a completely different vibe. Something that made her feel joyful. “It’s in the little things,” Grandpa had said.

Her outfit was mostly pink silk, with a filmy, blousy top that featured full-length, off-the-shoulder sleeves. The skirt was a slim-fitting brocade made from different fabric designs and colors, almost as if someone had gone into the remnants bin and created it from scraps of cloth. It was all very I Dream of Jeannie, and Nora loved it.

She added some dangly gold loop earrings and a small pink bag she’d picked up at the thrift store. She put the finishing touches on her makeup—the blue eye shadow was a definite first—and headed for her parents’ house.

Her parents had bought their mansion after a successful suit against Amtrak. A train had derailed the day before Thanksgiving and four people had died; the suit November and Sons won had made her father rich.

“Or so he claims,” Lacey had once muttered ominously under her breath. “They could be up to their eyeballs in debt for all we know.”

The ten-thousand-square-foot house had more baths than bedrooms and a room with an en suite bathroom for Sharon, the housekeeper, next to the kitchen. Tonight, the Novembers had arranged for valet parking, borrowing a neighbor’s ridiculously long private drive for the occasion.

Sharon answered the door in her formal uniform. She was holding a silver tray featuring a selection of wines in crystal goblets. Her untamed eyebrows rose nearly to her graying hairline as she took in Nora’s outfit.

“Hi, Sharon.”

Her mother swanned up behind Sharon, a cocktail in hand, all smiles. She was wearing a white Chanel dress—classic, simple, and boring. She was about to speak . . . but then she noticed Nora’s clothing and her smile faded. “What in the world? Are you trying to embarrass us?”

“No. I love it. It’s different. Artistic.”

Roberta sighed. “Oh, honey. Why can’t you just act normal? It’s been weeks now since the accident—can you really not shake it off?”

And there it was, the crux of the problem. All her life Nora had wanted a relationship with her mom that went deeper than appearances, but she never could seem to get there. Wasn’t a mother’s love supposed to be unconditional? But Nora upset her mother in every conceivable way, was unable to be tolerated, was made to feel contemptible for not fitting the ideal her mother wanted for her.

Tonight, however, she felt righteously indignant that she had to work so hard for her mother’s love.

A little colony of buzzing bees began to wake in her chest. This house, and her mother’s reproachful expression, was firmly in the oppressive Before, where Nora no longer resided nor had any desire to be.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.