Page 43 of Beyond the Blues
“Ophelia, baby.” She walks into the room, falling into my arms. This is not the Nora I’m used to.
“You can’t call me baby anymore, Nora.” I sniff, trying to hold back tears.
She falls to her knees and wraps her arms around my waist.
“I’m sorry.” She cries into my stomach.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“I think this hurt me a lot more, Nora.” My words silence her, and she just continues to sob into my stomach. She then stumbles backwards onto the floor and puts her head on her knees. I’ve never seen her so sad.
“I just can’t do the loneliness of it all, Ophelia, all my bandmates’ phone home and I’m stuck there, with no one to phone. My family hates me.”
“You could’ve phoned me.” I say.
“I didn’t want to disappoint you. I am different now. Look at me, I’m a complete mess.” She’s swaying all over the place and I’m pretty sure she has vomited on her clothes. But she could never disappoint me. I’d never want anyone to go through something alone. I can’t lose another person I love. Lowering myself to her level, I gently lift her face to meet my gaze.
“Nora, I just want you to be okay. You wouldn’t have disappointed me. I love you too much.”
“You still love me?” She cries harder, her eyes filled with sadness. “Always.” Then Nora falls into me again, and we stay there on the hotel
room floor for a good ten minutes, Nora letting out every emotion she’s probably held in for the past five months. The stench of vomit and vodka filling my nostrils. I drag her up, flinging her arm over my shoulder. Taking off her clothes and placing them in the basket behind me, I get her in the bath.
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Turning on the shower head, making sure it’s warm enough, and I slowly place it over her body and hair. Her crystal like eyes stare up at me through her eyelashes, water droplets clinging onto them.
“You’re so beautiful, Ophelia.” I smile, but don’t answer. Despite still being hurt, my priority is to make sure Nora is safe. I wrap a towel around her, and she shivers dramatically, her teeth chattering. Rummaging through my suitcase, I find a random over sized t-shirt and shorts and get her dressed. Her legs struggled to find the holes and almost fell over multiple times. I finally get her into bed and help her sip a glass of water. Before I know it, she’s passed out on the bed, mouth peeking open. I open my phone and text Scarlett.
Nora’s with me. She’s okay.
I wake up to an already awake Nora staring at me from the chair opposite the bed.
“What are you doing?” I sit up, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.
“I’m so, so sorry, Ophelia.” I shrug, unsure of what to say.
“Lately, I’ve been finding it really difficult to come to terms with the reality of it all. I feel really lonelybeing out here, no one to speak to back at home. I’ve tried to rekindle with my family, despite the things they’ve said and done, but they just blocked me. So I get really drunk and sleep around, trying to find any lousy connection I can. ”
“And I wanted to reach out to you more, but I was so scared you’d reject me because of my drinking and my antics. So I found Katie, the blonde girl you saw, but as soon as I heard you were her yesterday, I left her. Got the details of your hotel and paid the receptionist a lot of money to tell me your room number. I want you Ophelia, I need you with me. Please come out here with me,” Nora begs. I want her too. I want to run over there, jump into her lap and make love to her. But I have my life back home. I can’t just follow her around.
“I have to think about it.” I say.
“But first you need to sort out this drinking before it’s too late.” Nora nods.
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CHAPTER 25
“Can I please kiss you?” Nora asks. I nod. Nora shoots up from the chair and comes over to me, crashing her lips onto me, starved from each other.
“No one is quite like you, Ophelia.”
“I know, a certain someone told me that before.”