Christmas or Bust

by A. M Burke

  “Yeah probably since he was the one who taught me all the naughtiness,” Nora teased watching the steering wheel and sure enough there was a change in the grip. “Wow Marine, you rattle easily,” Nora grinned. “I’ll have you know that while I did live down the street from just such a boy and we did date there was no naughtiness involved, he was a perfect gentleman.” Elliot looked at her skeptically. “Alright, maybe not a perfect gentleman but minimal naughtiness was involved.”

  “Hmm,” Elliot mused and Nora sighed, adAlexg her position in the passenger seat, folding her legs underneath her.

  “Do you give Claire such a hard time?” Nora asked him.

  “What do you mean?” Elliot asked confused but Nora just shook her head and remained silent. She was wondering if Elliot was as hard on Claire and all the men she’d ever been with. Claire wasn’t much of a party girl, it was part of the reason the two had originally gotten along so well when Nora moved to New York for her residency and Claire had been starting at NYU. From nearly the moment they met Nora had heard about the illustrious Elliot who could do no wrong, was like a big brother to her, and was clearly Claire’s standard for the ideal man. For ages Nora had believed there was more between them then just friendship and brotherly-sisterly affection. She hoped now more than ever that she was wrong.

  Chapter Nine

  By the time they made it to the hotel Nora was exhausted and cramped from sitting for so long. She had never understood why long drives were always exhausting but at the moment didn’t feel the need to question it as she collapsed onto one of the two queen beds and told Elliot he could have the shower first. Elliot only chuckled at her and went into the bathroom. Nora hadn’t meant to fall asleep but was awoken when Elliot picked her up and pulled the blankets back.

  “What are you doing?” Nora asked suddenly fully awake and moderately panicked. He was holding her up so easily, one arm curled under her backside, her upper body supported by his second arm that was pulling down the sheets. She knew he was strong but she was no lightweight.

  “Putting you to bed, though you seem wide awake now,” Elliot observed as he set her down in the now turned down bed. “Shall I help you change?” he asked tugging at her sweater. Nora scowled and knocked his hand away.

  “I’m taking a shower,” she said standing and pushing past him. She wasn’t feeling playful now. She was feeling tired and messy and sick of being in a car. A shower, not interrupted by a blast of cold water, would probably do wonders at getting her in a better mood. Grabbing her pajamas from her bag Nora looked anywhere but at him and shut the door firmly behind her. Nora took her time in the shower and stretched her nightly rituals out as long as possible, giving her teeth a good brushing and moisturizing every inch of herself she could reach. After blowing her hair dry and filing her nails a bit Nora realized that unless she wanted to get out her complete manicure kit she’d have to bite the bullet and go back into the main room. The room was dark, lit only by the lowest setting on the desk lamp at the other end of the room. Elliot was already asleep under the covers of the bed she’d previously passed out on.

  Smiling at his sleeping form Nora tiptoed across the room and shut off the light before finding her own bed and crawling in. Sighing happily as she settled against the pillow Nora was already starting to drift off when she was rudely awakened again.

  “Move over,” Elliot told her pulling the covers up and slipping in beside her. Nora shot up and gaped at him.

  “What are you doing?” she asked incredulously.

  “Trying to go to bed? You?” Elliot asked looking up from her as he settled back against the pillows.

  “But, you were in the other bed,” Nora told him lamely.

  “And now I’m here, I’m guessing you changed your mind and decided you liked this one better,” Elliot said and then glanced around. “I don’t know why, they seem the same to me but you’re the boss.”

  “But,” Nora started to protest before Elliot cut her off.

  “Bed, sleep, now,” Elliot told her reaching out, grabbing her wrist, and pulling her down with him. Nora let out an ‘umph’ as she hit the bed; half sprawled out against his chest. “There are those strawberries again,” he murmured against her hair.

  “Elliot,” Nora scolded pushing back. “Why are you trying to share a bed with me?”

  “Because I liked it so much last night I thought we’d try it again tonight,” Elliot explained pulling her back and kissing her quickly. “Yeah, yeah, this was a good idea.” He pulled her up so she was straddling his lap and Nora knew she was in trouble but she liked the way he was kissing her and the feel of his hands sliding up her back under her shirt.

  “We should be in different beds,” Nora finally managed to mutter. She was on her back and Elliot was shirtless over her.

  Elliot’s smile was bright in the dark. “Where’s the fun in that?”

  xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

  “How can you be up so late and still be a morning person?” Nora asked grumpily. They were back in the car, coffee in hand and driving in the early light of the morning, the rising sun at their back.

  “I’m not a morning person,” Elliot assured her.

  “Could have fooled me.”

  “What’s your definition of a morning person?” Elliot asked.

  “Not homicidal,” Nora grumbled and then took another sip of her coffee. Elliot had put it together for her again this morning while she’d been staring blearily into the mirror, trying and failing to wake herself further. For some reason the coffee always tasted better when someone else made it and Elliot’s coffee seemed particularly tasty. After a few more sips and a few more miles Nora knew she’d start feeling human again.

  Thank goodness for coffee, the great equalizer.

  “Which you are clearly feeling at the moment,” Elliot observed.

  “Getting better,” Nora said. “But yeah, I’m cranky this morning.”

  “Hope that isn’t a reflection on myself,” Elliot said dryly and Nora blushed which was enough of an assurance for Elliot.

  xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

  The rest of the trip was, thankfully, uneventful. They took three more days to reach Nora’s parent’s home, taking their time and enjoying the scenery. Or at least that was the excuse Nora thought up for herself if her parents asked about the length of time it had taken. Nora asked Elliot about his plans for the drive back, where he was going to stop and what he wanted to see, making suggestions and secretly being jealous that they couldn’t have scheduled some stops along the way.

  Elliot suggested she should make the trip herself some day and Nora had smiled and agreed, naming off her own dream stops, while silently thinking she’d rather be making the trip with him. She had no reason to think about things like that though. Sure they’d slept together the past few nights and conversation was flowing between them now easier than Nora could ever recall it flowing between her and anyone else but that didn’t mean so much in the grand scheme of things. They’d probably be talking just as much even if they hadn’t slept together. Sure the easy flirting, the quick but meaningful kisses, and the warmth of his body pressed against hers at night wouldn’t be there but they would talk still. Of course if they hadn’t slept together there would be the guilt Nora suffered every time Claire called or texted or the unspoken questions of what would happen when they reached her parent’s home. Did they just act like nothing happened? Would they go back to being cool but civil to one another and nothing else?

  She couldn’t even call Claire and lament to her with the old worry of ‘will he call me?’

  Every time she thought of it she’d internally grimaced. She sounded like she was twelve again and wondering why Alan Gnapoor wouldn’t call her back after their awkward first date at the movie theaters when they’d said about three words to each other the entire time. Shouldn’t these things get easier with time? Wasn’t it supposed to be easier as you got older or did you just get more us
ed to embarrassment?

  Nora glanced out the window. As they headed north the landscaped changed and became more familiar. She was quickly barreling back to the place that had been her home for seventeen years but she was getting more and more nervous. She’d been an outsider even when she was living here and coming back now, though she’d been excited before, suddenly seemed daunting.

  Elliot glanced at Nora out of the corner of his eye. She’d been quiet now for nearly an hour, lost in her own thoughts, as he now recognized she often got. She was pretty now in the dappled sunlight that made it down the canopy of the forest they were driving through. With her hair pulled back he had an unobstructed view of the face he’d gotten to know quite well the past few days. Soft face, full lips, and pretty round blue eyes framed by long lashes. Pretty girl.

  He wondered what she was worried about now. Career choice? Going home for the first time in a long time? Or him? He knew she was worried about what was going to happen when they finally reached her parents’ home. He was curious about that too. As of now his plan was to pull her bags from the car, see her inside, kiss her quickly and promise to call. It all seemed horribly cliché, even to him. If he was going to be perfectly honest what he really wanted to do is drive on past her parents’ home, rent a hotel room, and get to know her a little better. But after nearly six full days on the road he wondered when he’d get a chance to know her better than he did now. She looked like she was dozing off and Elliot knew that he should let her fall asleep and get her rest but he felt the need to be selfish.

  “Hey Nora?”

  “Hmm?” Nora murmured coming out of her stupor. She blinked at him. “What’s up Elliot?”

  Elliot tried to think of something to say but the only thing that was coming to mind was the reason for their late start that morning. He’d begun to really enjoy waking with Nora, it certainly had its perks.

  “Elliot?” Nora asked again.

  “What exit am I taking? Is it coming up soon?” he asked instead of bringing up what was really on his mind.

  “Not yet, maybe another half an hour or so,” Nora said looking back out the window and Elliot frowned after her.

  “You ok?” he asked.

  “I don’t think I want to be a doctor,” Nora said out of the blue, surprising even herself.

  “Well,” Elliot drew in a breath, “isn’t it a little late for that?”

  Nora gave him a dry smile. “You know what I mean.”

  “Sorry, not the best time for a joke I guess,” Elliot said taking a hand off the wheel and rubbed the back of his neck. “Still, that’s kind of a tough one to work out right now. Maybe you should have mentioned it back before we crossed the Mississippi.”

  Nora laughed. “You didn’t like me before we cross the Mississippi,” she reminded him. “You would have just given me a standard surly Elliot response and told me to suck it up.”

  “I liked you plenty back then,” Elliot argued, “and part of me wants to tell you to suck it up now.” He saw her flush a little bit so he softened his tone. “But that’s not really appropriate I guess. You’re an adult; you made a decision and followed it through. You’ve changed you mind. It happens, nothing to worry about there.”

  “Then why do I feel guilty?”

  “Probably because you think you’d be disappointing people if you did make a career change, and you don’t seem the sort of person to disappoint people,” he observed and Nora nodded her head absently in agreement. “Do you owe a lot of people a lot of money?” he asked.

  “I’ve been able to pay a lot as I went, the loans I have left aren’t too outrageous all things considered,” Nora said softly.

  “Ok, so you’re pretty free and clear on that one,” Elliot told her. “I guess that leaves disappointment. Are you good at what you do? Being a doctor I mean?”

  “Most would say so,” Nora agreed.

  “Some wouldn’t?”

  “I’ve had teachers, mentors, pull me aside and ask if this was really what I wanted. I’m not as passionate as some of my peers.”

  “I have the impression that in a field like medicine you need a certain amount of passion.”

  “Plenty of people get by without it,” Nora shrugged. “I have the feeling I wouldn’t be one of them.”

  “No?” Elliot asked giving her a quick glance.

  “I’m worried I’m headed for a burn out,” she admitted. “So many times a day I see people, kids that I’m working on and I’m at war with whether I should be impassioned because I’m working to save or improve the life of a fellow human being or whether I should be thinking them in a more objective way. Nine times out of ten I end up too exhausted to decide and go with robot mode but I don’t like feeling like that. And the politics, ugh.” Nora rolled her eyes dramatically and Elliot stifled his grin. “That day I first met you, I was scheduled to do surgery on a young boy. I can’t give you the details but I’ll tell you it took some persuading to get it done as pro-bono work because the family didn’t have the right insurance. All the doctors and surgeons involved finally got everything together and we were all prepped and then our surgery space was taken away for a nonessential surgery that could have waited indefinitely but got pushed forward anyway. Do you know how long it took to get that all put together? Months, there was child in pain for months and it all went to hell for a friend of a friend of the hospital’s chief of medicine. I tried to keep everything on track and one old pompous snob from the Board actually told me if I was so concerned with saving the underprivileged I should join Doctors Without Borders.”

  “Why don’t you?” Elliot interrupted.

  “I’ve thought about it,” Nora admitted, “and if I had to be honest probably the only reason I haven’t is because I’m a coward.”

  “I don’t agree that you’re a coward but there’s nothing wrong with admitting that,” Elliot told her. “And I’m not taking away from your story. Its sounds pretty damn infuriating and explains why you were in such a piss-poor mood that day.”

  “It can be pretty frustrating,” Nora sighed.

  “Good Old Boys club?” Elliot asked.

  “Something like that,” Nora sighed again. “I think my parents really like me being a doctor though. Their unexplainably brainy kid actually did something with her mind.”

  “I highly doubt that’s their reasoning behind being proud of you,” Elliot guessed. “What do your parents do for a living?”

  “Mom’s a mortgage broker, Dad is in advertising,” Nora answered. “When I was younger they used to joke that they didn’t know where I got my smarts from because they were both average folks. I think they thought it made me feel better but it made me feel like a freak.”

  “If it makes you feel any better I’m of average intelligence and my parents made me feel like a freak too,” Elliot said earning a weak smile from her. Nora knew that Elliot’s relationship with his parents was contentious at best and she didn’t want to pry but a question was on the tip of her tongue and had been for a while.

  “Do you talk to them?” Nora asked. “At all?”

  “About once a year, to let them know I’m alive and to not write me out of the will,” Elliot answered flatly and Nora couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. They were silent again until Nora signaled their exit.

  “We’re only about an hour or so away, depending on traffic,” Nora commented lamely not sure of what else to say.

  “Hmmm,” Elliot replied and Nora slid him a look, fighting down a smile.

  “You do realize that your answer to everything right?” she asked him and it was Elliot’s turn to fight a smile.

  “Hmmm,” was all he said and Nora couldn’t help her grin this time.

  “You are an interesting man Elliot Grimmald,” she commented and Elliot surprised her by pulling off at a scenic overlook.

  “That’s all I’ve ever aspired to,” he told her turning off the car.

  “What are we doing?” Nora asked watching him unbuckle his seatbelt.


  “Come on out,” Elliot told her and slid out of the car leaving Nora to either sit their dumbly or follow him blindly. She scrambled out of the car after him, pulling her pea coat with her. It was just cold enough for her to be comfortable when she slid it over her lightweight short sleeved sweater. Elliot met her at the back of the car and took her hand, leading her to the viewing area. There were a few other people standing looking over the forest below them; a bored looking family, a middle aged couple sharing a cigarette, and a few teens obviously playing hooky. There was another couple down the way, trying to take picture with a smart phone and obviously failing miserably if the giggling was any indication.

  Nora poured over her last thoughts, ‘another couple’. Is that what she and Elliot looked like to everyone else? Just another couple? She tried to discreetly pull her hand away but Elliot responded by tugging her in front of where he was standing, slipping his arms around her, and pulling her back against his chest.

  “You don’t like me much do you?” Elliot asked her and Nora stiffened.

  “What was your first clue?” she asked sarcastically and hated that she couldn’t answer honestly, that she was a bit worried that she liked him too much, too quickly.

  “You suck in your breath whenever I touch you and you certainly never kiss me back when I kiss you,” he listed. “You must hate sleeping next to me because you are constantly pushing up against me, clearly trying to push me out of the bed and you certainly hate looking at me naked.”

  Nora blushed. “Not so loud Elliot,” she hissed when the teen girl who was a part of the bored family glanced up from her phone and in their direction.

  “Should I whisper it softly in your ear?” he asked leaning closer and Nora’s blush intensified as did the excitement that thrummed through her veins whenever he was this close, or touching her, or kissing her. “Let me just say this,” Elliot went on resting his chin on her shoulder, eyes peering forward across the landscape. “I don’t know where I’m going to be in the next year, maybe two, I’ve got some things to figure out and it sounds like you do as well. If you want some help figuring it out then I’ll be happy to offer my assistance but if you want some space I understand that as well. My suggestion is that you concentrate on enjoying the holidays and if you want to call me after then that’s fine. If you want nothing, to never talk to me again and go back to be acquaintances then I’m completely fine with that as well. How does that sound to you?”