Page 56 of Nora Goes Off Script

“I really thought I was drunk there for a second,” I say, because my filter is not working. “I mean you really look a lot alike. Wow.” I shake his hand.

“Congratulations,” he says. “You guys really swept it tonight. We cheered you on from the nosebleed seats.”

“Thanks. I still can’t believe it.” There’s more of an ordinariness to Luke, which I find refreshing. Like Luke’s been to Costco. He’s as handsome as Leo, but he doesn’t seem to expect anyone to notice. He has Leo’s way of looking at you as if you have all of his attention, which I find slightly painful. I wonder if this is something they picked up from their parents. “I’m sorry about your mom,” I say.

He’s taken aback, and I resolve not to finish this glass. “Thank you. Leo never talks about it. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that he told you.”

A pretty, dark-haired woman rushes over to us and puts her arm through Luke’s. “Oh, I don’t want to miss this. I’m Jenn. I’ve been dying to meet you.” She’s out of place in her normalness, like we’re at a barbecue. I like her immediately.

She congratulates me, which isn’t getting old. She says shelikes my dress, which isn’t getting old. And then, “You really got to him. Luke and I never thought it would happen. All these starlets rolling through year after year, and it’s a real woman—a mom even—who does him in.” Luke’s nodding as she says this, like this is the thing they were just talking about on the drive over. And also like this is a fun fact, rather than the saddest thing in the world.

An older man hands Jenn a margarita before turning his smile on me. “Ah, here she is. I’m William Vance, their father. I thought it was a great film, congratulations.” There’s a hairline crack in my heart as I look at Leo’s dad. It’s like looking at future Leo, the one I’m not going to grow old with. Seeing his dad also rounds him out, like he’s a guy with a past and parents. I briefly want him to be held accountable.

“You’re all so handsome,” I hear myself saying as we shake hands.

William laughs. “Well, thank you. Luke and I are just handsome as a hobby. Only Leo makes a living at it.” Luke and Jenn laugh, so I do too. These are some of the easiest people I’ve ever met. They’re grounded and open, like the best parts of Leo. And they don’t think Leo can handle hospice.

Leo appears and gives them each a hug. “Thanks for coming. I see you met Nora.”

“She lives up to your description,” Luke says, and Leo winces. He’s visibly uncomfortable. I wonder if he seriously thinks I’m going to call him out for dumping me, right here in front of everyone. I think we’ve established that I’m not exactly the kind of person who calls people out.

People seem to be inching closer to us as I stand and stareat these two brothers, one who is Leo and one who is not. I must look confused, because Luke laughs and says, “He got drunk at Thanksgiving and told us the whole story.”

“You did?” I’m looking straight at Leo, but he won’t look at me.

“Maybe,” says Leo. “Hard to remember.”

“At Thanksgiving,” I say. What I really want to say isWhat’s “the whole story”? Can you explain it to me?

“Leo brought a bottle of scotch and finished it. Performance of his life,” William says.

“Wish I could have seen it,” I say, mostly to myself.

“It sounds beautiful, where you live,” Jenn says to me.

“Okay, wow, fun that you guys are here,” Leo says, “but we don’t need to do this. It’s fine. What happens at Thanksgiving stays at Thanksgiving, right?”

“I taught Leo how to grocery shop,” I say. “I was like a counselor at Camp Normal Life, and he did pretty well.” I’ve had exactly the right amount of champagne to want to keep this going, as it turns out.

Now he’s looking right at me, hard. “Please,” he says.

A flourish of yellow appears out of the corner of my eye. My parents are standing a few feet away, unsure if it’s okay to approach. The only thing in the world that could make this situation more awkward is Leo meeting my parents. This certainly isn’t how I dreamed of it happening. My dad makes eye contact and approaches, dragging my mom with him.

“Leo,” he says, extending his hand more formally than I’d expect. “Charlie Larson. Nora’s father.” There’s something inthe way he enunciates the word “father” that makes it sound like a threat.

Leo is completely flustered, and this makes Luke smile. “Oh, sir, nice to meet you. And are you Marilyn?” He shakes their hands, holding my mom’s between his for a beat longer than necessary. “So nice to meet you. I’m a big fan of your grandkids.”

“So we’ve heard,” says my dad. I need to make this stop.

I introduce them to Luke, Jenn, and William. And I eye my mom, willing her to fill the space. She delivers. “Well, this has been the single most exciting night of my entire life. My daughter wins an Oscar and accepts it so beautifully. You really did look beautiful up there, sweetheart. And then just now I walked out of the bathroom and right into Dirk Richardson! He was just standing right there, like he was waiting for me. I don’t know what came over me but I said, ‘Dirk, I’m Marilyn’ because I’ve seen every one of his movies and I feel like I’ve known him my whole life. And he took my hand and said, ‘Hello, Marilyn.’ Can you imagine that?”

“And now I’ve got to go find him and punch his lights out,” my dad kids. They’re smiling at each other and I can feel Leo looking my way. I don’t dare look at him in case he can still read my mind. My parents are the happy ending of the romance movie. My parents are what we could have been if he’d just come back.

“Martin wanted to meet you guys,” I tell them. “Let’s go find him before he runs off with a teenager.” Everyone exchanges good-byes and nice-to-meet-yous. William hugs me,like hard. As I usher my parents off to find Martin, or anyone for that matter, I realize that Leo and I are the only two who didn’t say good-bye. I guess that’s just our thing.

•••

It’s nearly midnight,and I’m in the bathroom happily noticing that most of my makeup has worn off. I’m sick of all this hair on my shoulders and wish I had a pencil to secure it in a knot. I check my phone and see that everyone I’ve ever met has texted me, including Ben:I must be a hell of a muse, I’ve got to see this movie!That’s as close to “congratulations” as Ben’s going to get.

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