Chasing Constellations

The evening sky was a lovely soft golden color which created a relaxing feeling that settled deep in her soul. The lace curtains were blowing gently beside her as she sat in the balcony doorway of her bedroom painting the evening ocean view. “Nora Elaine, are you coming down dear? Everyone is here,” says the voice of her grandmother from the bedroom door. Nora turned her head to look at her grandmother and she softly smiled, “yes ma’am. I’ve just finished.”

Everyone said that Nora looked just like her grandmother, who at one point had the same dark red hair as Nora, the same flawless complexion, and look in her eyes that could stop any man in his tracks. Unlike her grandmother’s brown eyes, though, Nora’s were a crystal blue which matched the sky on a perfect sunny day. “You look gorgeous dear,” exclaimed her grandmother with a beaming smile as she inspected Nora’s ivory blouse and beige chiffon skirt and waist length auburn hair pulled back in a barrette. Nora took her grandmother’s hand as they walked out of the bedroom to the staircase.

Below, soft orchestra music was muffled by the congregation of voices that her mother had brought together tonight, making this her fourth social gathering of the year. Nora’s mother loved social affairs and particularly being in charge. Since her father was always out of the country on business, Nora’s mother found it very easy to use her gift of leadership on a regular basis. As they descended the stairs, Nora looked around the room for her best friends, Hadley and Mila, among the crowd. She saw them in a group of teenage boys in the middle of the living room. As she made her way towards them, her younger brother, Brody, came running around the corner brushing her skirt as he raced onward. Nora couldn’t help but just smile at him, she adored her brother with his dark brown hair and eyes and his millions of freckles. He was always so excited and it was infectious.

“Nora!” She looked at her friends who were anxiously waving at her to come join them. She gracefully made her way over and smiled as they began whispering which boys here were single and gorgeous. The boys ventured to other areas of the house when the girls began their whispers. “So Nora, who’s your pick? I already called dibs on Tommy and Mila always has her eyes on Sam” asked Hadley as she flipped back her long blonde curls off her shoulder. Mila smirked and primped her black bob to perfection, “don’t worry Hadley, tonight he will have no choice but to notice.”

“What is it you intend to do exactly, Mila,” asked Hadley.

“Just y’all wait and see,” Mila grinned.

Nora quietly listened to them talk when she heard something crash. From the corner of her eye, she could see Brody, red-faced, standing next to the shattered glass on the floor. The room of people was now whispering. Without hesitation, Nora came to where Brody was standing in shame from their mother who was furiously saying how clumsy he is. “Brody Wayne Clayton! Do you know how much that costs? Oh, what a disaster you are! Can’t you ever just watch where you are going? The rules are simple: NO RUNNING! Every single time, every single time, you have to destroy something!”

Nora slowly looked up into her mother’s face with determined eyes, as she took Brody’s hand, and said to her mother, “accidents happen.” She then turned to Brody, looked into his ashamed brown eyes, and asked softly, “Did you apologize to Mrs. Bertram?” Brody quickly looked at Mrs. Bertram, quietly apologized then ran out of the room. “Nora Elaine, if you constantly want to defend your brother then you can clean up the mess he has left,” her mother pronounced as she turned on her heel and directed the guests away from the area. As they cleared the room, Nora bent down and picked up the shards of glass on the floor into her hand and carried them to the trashcan in the kitchen. She was washing her hands when Hadley came in and said “Mila has cornered Sam. Poor guy never stood a chance! Hey, are you ok? Your mother was kind of rude.” With a small smile directed to Hadley, she answered, “I’m fine sweetie.” Together they walked back to the living room, which was now full of guests again, and all the while Hadley was explaining how Mila and Sam were hitting it off. Apparently, Mila’s plan of action was to trap him in a corner so he had no choice but to notice her, not very subtle Nora thought.

Meanwhile, all around the house people were talking, drinking, and laughing. Nora’s mother was giving a small speech to a handful of people, and her grandmother was having some cocktails with a couple of her friends. There were groups of people located throughout the entire main floor of the plantation home. Most were in conversation, some were dancing, and a few had already drank more than they could handle. Nora knew everyone that came to these parties; in a small southern town like this there were no strangers, everyone knew everyone. So it came as a complete shock when her feet suddenly stopped her in her tracks, completely awestruck when the front door was opened. Hadley did not notice at first, as she continued walking and speaking to Nora, but when she saw Nora was no longer beside her she turned with questioning eyes and asked, “Nora? Nora, what is wrong?” Hadley came over to her and shook her shoulder. But Nora did not move for she was frozen in place, staring straight ahead. “Nora, what are you looking at so intently? You never stare. People always stare at you.”

In the doorway stood the most handsome man Nora had ever seen. He had short dark hair, shadowed gray eyes, and a naturally muscular build that does not come from a gym but from a lot of hard work. He was simply dressed in blue jeans, boots, and a plaid button up shirt. She had never seen someone look so rough and gorgeous at the same time. There was a scar on his lower left cheek that added to his rugged look she thought. Nora was so transfixed she could only whisper, “Who is he?” Hadley turned her head to see exactly what Nora was so astonished by. “Well, I heard Mr. Grady say his son would be in town for a while when we saw him at Cappy’s a few nights ago, that must be him. My isn’t he gorgeous!” Nora said nothing but felt herself blushing yet she couldn’t take her eyes off the strange man. He had stood in the doorway looking for someone and when he began to move away her grandmother was standing in front of her.

“Nora Elaine, I want you to come talk with some friends of mine.” Her grandmother said as she took Nora’s arm and led her towards the windows. “Now dear, you remember Martha and Cletus? And this is my granddaughter Nora Elaine, all grown up isn’t she?”

The couple nodded, “oh my, yes she is. Nora, I think last time we saw you were only a newly teenaged girl. You look beautiful this evening dear.”

Politely, Nora smiled and replied, “thank you Mrs. Ryfus, as do you.” She felt slightly unnerved, though, sure the young man was gone and she would not even be sure of his name now.

“Nancy! Nora! My two favorite girls!” The booming voice of Mr. Grady exclaimed as he came over and hugged Nora and her grandmother. Mr. Grady was always so full of life and very outspoken, needless to say, Nora adored him. “Now Nancy, why on earth could you possibly be laughing,” asked Mr. Grady with a broad smile on his face.

“If you must know, Marcus, you look ridiculous.”

His wavy brown hair was windblown, and his shirts were untucked as usual, but still his appearance was clean-cut. He smirked at her, “well Nancy, I’m glad I could make your night a good one,” and he winked at her. “But, it is Nora I was hoping to see this evening,” Mr. Grady said as he turned his attention to her. Nora just smiled at the man. “Would you come with me, sweet pea? I want to ask a favor of you.” Calmly, she nodded as he placed her hand in the crook of his arm, then he led her away.

She was slightly distracted by Mr. Grady’s constant talking; trying to focus on what he was saying and not the thoughts in her mind that she didn’t look to see where he was taking her. But when he suddenly stopped and said “ah here we are,” she slowly turned her head from Mr. Grady to look where “here” was. Her blue eyes gently skimmed over the broad shoulders she was eye-level with and as they went up the face of the man standing in front of her they locked onto strange gray eyes. “Nora, I wanted to introduce my son, Orion, to you. He has not been here for quite a while and I was hoping if you had some free time these next few weeks, you would do me a favor and show him around. Would you mind, sweet pea?” Orion, broke her locked gaze when he shifted his attention to his father and she saw those gray eyes turn to stone. His face was hard; he was not as big as Mr. Grady but he looked much more powerful. He did not say a word, but Mr. Grady seemed to understand and replied, “Now son, you don’t need to give me that look. Of course, I know you have lived here and already know everything about this place. See, it’s really for your sake Nora.” As he said that last part, Mr. Grady, and his son directed their attention at her. Finally, she spoke to Mr. Grady, “my sake sir?”

He nodded, “yes. I thought you might need a reason to get away from your mother awhile,” he said winking at her. Orion just stood there, solid and unflinching with cold gray eyes and hands in his pockets. So, very slowly, she put out her hand towards him as she looked into his gray eyes and whispered, “Hi. I’m Nora Clayton. It is a pleasure to meet you, Orion.” She thought his eyes seemed to shift and pierce right through her, that he could see what was inside her soul, but then he took her hand and simply said, “Nora.”