I Fall Apart

Nora

           

I should have known Aunt Shannon had ulterior motives.  She was my mother's sister after all.  It's not like she really needed the money; she and her husband made a good living.  Maybe she wanted 15 minutes of fame.  It was pathetic.  I didn't contact her yet because I knew I'd just go off on her.

I kept myself busy in L.A.  I was on set with Dad sometimes, and other times I stayed home and did homework or hit the beach.  After a few days, the hype seemed to have died down.  There was talk about the fact Dad had me from a 1-month relationship was scandalous.  I didn't see the big deal.  It was 2018 and it wasn't like there weren't scandals all over the place.

I loved how Dad had defended me and told people to back off.  He wanted me to be able to be a kid and not have to worry about stuff I did ending up in the news.  I'd never had to worry about it as a little kid, obviously, and now as a teenager it was possibly the worst timing.  Luckily, I hadn't done anything too terribly stupid.

The whole experience had brought back up my name change again.  It had fallen by the wayside because we'd gotten busy, but now it felt more important.  We were heading back to New York in a little over a week, so I'd remind Dad I wanted to do it again then.  I knew he was thrilled I wanted to do it.

I sat in Dad's director chair, working on some homework, watching Dad work.  He had an easy way about him, and I could tell the actors and everyone else really respected him.  He never got upset or frustrated or yelled.  After a take, he yelled 'cut' he told everyone to take a break.  He walked my way and he smiled at me as he approached.

"Who said you could sit in that chair?" he had a mock-pissed look on his face and swatted me with his clipboard.  I kicked him in the hip as he laughed and crossed his arms as he looked at what I was working on.

"How's it going?" he asked me.

"Fine," I sighed, tapping my pencil.  "Are we going to lunch soon?"

He checked his watch and sighed.  "Probably in an hour or so.  You can go get something whenever you like though," he told me, reaching for his wallet.  He handed me $40 and I pocketed it.  I was starving, so I decided to head down the block where there was a row of restaurants.  I'd get take-out and bring it back to the studio.

I thought the hoopla had died down, but I became aware that there were cameras on me.  I tried to brush it off as paranoia and put my head down and started walking faster.  More flashes.  Now I knew I wasn't being paranoid.

"Nora!" someone shouted at me.  I furrowed my eyebrows and started walking even faster.  "Nora!"

I heard someone running up behind me and soon they were in my face.  "Nora, are you here with your dad?"

I ignored them, feeling my face reddening, but they kept going.

"Have you bought more pot while you've been here?" the dude asked.  I stopped, shocked.  How did he know about that?

"Excuse me?" I asked, exasperated.

Shockingly, the dude held out a couple joints to me.  "Let's see you smoke 'em."

"Are you crazy?" I asked and decided I needed to turn around.  I started running back towards the studio, feeling like my privacy had been completely invaded.  I ran to Dad's office, out of breath.  He was on the phone and looked at me worriedly as I came in and plopped down on the couch.

"I'll call you back," he told whoever he was talking to.  "What happened?"

"They were following me again," I told him, tears threatening to spill over.  He stood and came to sit next to me, putting his arm around me.