These Four Thin Walls

chapter 2

The cool breeze suddenly hugged Nora as she stared into the distant illuminated windows of the buildings surrounding her own. She brought her knees up to her chin, the position on the chair of the balcony not the most comfortable but at least it warmed her up a bit. The white wine was also helping maintain that warmth and it was enough for her not to feel the need to interrupt her peaceful evening to go grab a coat or a blanket.
She always did this after a family hangout. It was a sort of cleanse from their soul sucking, nerve wracking energy and if there was leftover white wine for company she was set to gain her sanity back in an hour. That night was no exception, although, the dinner hadn't been the worst, aside the usual questions about how her "job" (they didn't see it as a real job) was going as a pretext to criticize it, Nora was able to keep her mouth shut and mind quiet, like closing the blinds of a window to keep the uninvited from looking at what was none of their business. One of her uncles drove her home and the only thing she wasted time on was taking off her boots, serving herself a glass of the half full wine bottle and getting settled in the balcony.

The night was so silent Nora was able to hear the bared feet footsteps approaching her from inside the apartment, and before the person could announce their presence, she turned around already knowing it was Tommy. The pace of his walk was something so randomly characteristic of him, it was impossible to not know it was him.
His shirtless torso surprised her, and she was hoping her star eyes weren't noticeable when he leaned against the doorframe slowly, making eye contact with that soft look Nora liked to believe he had just for her. She wasn't sure which part of him was glowing the most under the moonlight and the yellowish reflection of the city lights covering his silhouette, but it was a very nice sight. And a dangerous one, especially considering her lack of sobriety.

It wasn't fair. Nora felt lucky she got to see a man like that everyday. She got to live with that man. But said man had a girlfriend and that not so tiny detail crushed her heart in ways she never felt before. She would take every crumb available but there were limits she wasn't willing to hate herself for crossing, for more tempting they looked.
"Hey there." as if the looks weren't enough, his voice just needed to be raspy. It was probably a good thing Tommy used the fake british accent, as if to (innocently) tone down how delicious he looked.
"Hey you."

He lifted his arm up and the remains of the white wine Nora brought home shone under the same light spotlighting Tommy.

"Found this in the kitchen," he lightly moved the bottle in a circular motion, "mind if I join you for a glass or two?"

"I don't think you'll be able to keep up with me but sure, help yourself."

It was when he sat down on the chair adjacent to hers that Nora noticed he had brought a wine glass with him as well. As Tommy poured himself the greenish golden drink and filled Nora's glass again, he asked, eyes focused on the liquid filling up the glasses.
"How was the dreadful dinner?"

"Dreadful."

Tommy snickered.

"What aspect of your life did they choose to taunt you with this time?"

"Eh, you know, same bullshit as always. My aunt kept trying to guess how much I was getting paid for this commission." the girl took a long sip of the wine, "At this point I don't know if they think I'm actually poor or if they want me to be poor so badly so they can think they're right and say 'I told you so'."

Tommy gave her a sad smile, an usual response to her tales about her family. He admired his roommate for constantly pushing through the negativity her family, purposefully or not, he still couldn't figure it out, kept trying to drown her with. Were they even aware of how talented she was? Of how hard and passionately she worked? Of how impressive it was that someone so young could call themselves successful in a discriminated field and actually love what they do? They should be proud and brag about being related to someone like Nora. Tommy wouldn't shut up when his friends asked about her work or for pictures of it, he would talk about her as if she had discovered the solution to every world problem.
It wasn't fair that Nora didn't get the support and enthusiasm from the people in her life that were supposed to be her biggest fans. Good thing Tommy was there to make up for it.