Nothing Less

Chapter Twenty-Four.

"Hmm," she lets out and I catch her looking at my wine glass. It must be occurring to both her, and her husband, that I'm not old enough to legally drink in their house. And now they have not only let in a random college kid living in Brooklyn, they've broken the law for him.

"I must have misunderstood," Stausey looks pointedly at her younger sister. "Anyway, what do you think of New York? It's a beautiful city, always something to do. But sometimes I hate the crowd. We live back and forth between here and Washington and I love it there more."

Nora tells me that her sister always moves and Stausey says they are lucky that her husband is such a good surgeon and real estate investor. How nice. Is this the part where I mention that I can recite almost every line of the first Lord of the Ring's movie?

My qualifications and his are polar opposite. I don't really have much to add the conversation. "I can see why you would," I tell her, agreeing with everything she says.

She talks of vineyards and benefits and a symphony that they had to wait a month to see. I nod along and Nora adds in a few words here and there. This Stausey, she's quite the talker. I clear my plate and fill it up again, finishing it all. When I'm done, Nora asks if I'm full and the second that I nod, Stausey stands up from the table and brings back a cake. It's good, marshmallow icing and marbled chocolate cake. I ask Nora if she made it and she nods.

"This is the best cake I've ever had," I tell her not once, but twice.

"Sophia is the best baker. Isn't she? I used to think she was crazy for turning down medical school. It's such a difficult program to get into and she had a way in. I thought she was crazy, saying she wanted to go to cupcake school." Stausey's tone is one that could pass for passive-aggressive at best. She delivers the blows with a such a sweet smile, you would never know what hit you. But Nora knows, she's rolling her eyes at her sister.

"Looks like the family is doing just fine with one less surgeon," Nora says. Her plate is empty in front of her and she's on her third glass of wine. Or was it fourth?

I don't want this evening to turn sour so fast. I want everyone to be as comfortable as possible and of course I want her sister and her husband to get the best impression of me as possible. The energy in the room is tense at best and I can feel the four of us walking on a tight rope, one slip up and we all fall.

Before anyone can say anything, I speak up. "She's a good Chef, yes." I take a page from Leo as Gatsby and raise my glass to my lady. Nora's gaze turns to me and she pulls her lower lip between her teeth.

"it's pretty impressive what she can do. My roommate Tessa works with her and told me she's the first pastry chef that's been promoted so fast." I continue to talk her up. I remember her unimpressed reaction when I referred to her as a baker before.

It's Todd who speaks first. "That's awesome Soph. I knew since you were a girl you were a hell of a cook. Remember when you had that little oven and would make cakes all day?" He takes a gulp of red wine and looks between Nora and me. "One time she got me to give her twenty bucks! For one cake." Nora's brother-in-law looks at her with a sense of pride. This is good. He must be a decent guy if he's willing to admit that impressed with her, as he should be.

"Always sneaky," I tease her, poking at her thigh. She reaches for my hand under the table and I weave my fingers through hers.

"Her and my brother used to get in all kinds of scamming business ventures. They once asked me to buy them a little cart to sell their stuff out of," Todd tells me. He's gifted with being able remembers parts of Nora that I would love to be a part of.

I take another drink of wine, knowing I wouldn't dare to ask for another glass when I finish this one. "How long have you known Nora?" I ask Todd, but Stausey answers.

"Since she was ten. We were high school sweethearts." She holds her husband's hands and he looks at me. I remember Nora telling me about his little sister who she made friends with, Pedra was her name? But she didn't mention his brother. Did I mishear her?

"Yes, but it took us a while to figure that out," he adds, reminding her that they aren't perfect, despite the fact that Stausey seems like she really needs to be perceived that way. I don't know her well. I don't know why I'm judging her at every turn. If I wouldn't have looked at her Facebook, I wonder how I would think of her?

Nora's thumb rubs circles into my hand and I wish I could have a few minutes alone with her. I want to ask her how I'm doing, how she's doing,

"When do you fly back to Washington?" I ask whichever of them wants to answer. To my surprise it's not Stausey. She has been quieter in the last few minutes than she has been the entire night.

"Tuesday. Stausey is staying here while I go to D.C for a conference. I'll swing back by and get her Tuesday and we will take a red-eye back to Washington in time for the benefit that next evening. It's going to be a busy ass weekend," he smiles, looking a little worried, and it makes me like him more. The idea that "swinging" back by to get his wife in an airplane is as casual as taking the Subway makes me laugh to myself. Nora looks over at me but I pinch my lips closed.

"Do you have time to do some baby shopping with me, Soph?" Stausey asks her sister. It's weird hearing them call her Sophia, let alone a pet name. 

What would happen if I called her that? And what is with everyone having double names around here?

Nora-Sophia and Todd- Ameen. What's with that? Should I ask them all to start calling me Matthew? That's my middle name and I could easily start asking my close friends to only call me Matthew. I wonder if it would confuse Nora the way her name switch confused me?

Nora nods at her sister and looks genuinely interested in baby shopping. Whatever type of relationship Nora has with her sister clearly doesn't effect Nora's admiration for the coming baby. 

(Guys, Nothing More is coming out in SIX DAYSSSSSSSSS!! )