Nora Goes Off Script

by Annabel Monaghan

I ache, and I’m a little mad. You can’t just go around kissing lonely women for no reason. It’s irresponsible and borderline cruel. It’s like giving a dog a steak one day and then switching back to kibble the next.

We are in the middle of a days-long conversation that winds around the most inconsequential and most monumental details of our lives.

My desire to put on an apron and roast this man a chicken is profound. I don’t even own an apron. I just want him to be close enough to me that I can hand him a plate with chicken on it.

They call it “thoughtful” and “powerful,” which is funny because I just call it “what happened.”

“I’ve given this some thought too,” I say, which is the biggest understatement of all time.

There’s more of an ordinariness to Luke, which I find refreshing. Like Luke’s been to Costco.

I’m going to France. I’m going to take a full month off to read and eat delicious things.”