Ghosts we leave behind

chapter 19; birthday

Nora awoke to the sun in her face, prompting her  eyelids to flutter open. Uncomfortably wincing, she almost rolled off the sofa when she stopped herself, suddenly remembering that she was in the living room.

Her hand smoothed down the blanket as she tried to recall how it got there. Turning her head, she felt a pit in her stomach at the sight of the vacant sofa. The cushions were perfectly placed and she began to doubt if he was ever there in the first place. Slowly, she pushed herself up and sat straight. The sound of the clock ticking became background noise. 7.50 am.

His bowl of soup sat on the table, untouched. She stared at it a while. Beside it was her own empty bowl and she felt slightly embarrassed by it. Had it been that bad?

She scratched the top of her eyebrow and put on her slippers before getting up. Folding the blanket, she left it on the arm of the sofa and walked out with the bowls. It was early but not too early for Eleanor. Her day shoes and keys on the holder were missing from the corridor.

Nora wandered into the kitchen. It smelled like maple syrup and tea lingering in the air. Judging by the empty cup by the sink, she presumed Eleanor had finished breakfast before leaving. Approaching the counter, she spotted a covered plate sitting by the microwave. Still eyeing the plate, she poured the cold soup down the drain.

Lifting the cover, revealed cold pancakes sitting inside. Eleanor had left her some breakfast. While heating them up on the stove, Nora made some coffee and finished her breakfast at the table.

The sun streaming into the kitchen felt comforting. Nora loved mornings for the reason that the sun always looked ethereal in the pale rooms. She yawned as she tilted the cup to her lips. She wondered if Eleanor had calmed down. If only she knew what had gotten her that way in the first place.

She wondered what Elijah had talked about with her.

It was cold and she could feel a chill run up her legs now that the heat from the sun was gone. She walked into her room and changed into something warmer. Putting on a sweater over her t-shirt, she glanced at Bernard, the miniature scarecrow she'd bought, standing on the vanity.

"What are you staring at?" she found herself mocking it.

She paced for a bit, casually glancing at it a few times before giving up and striding towards it. Pinching her fingers around it, she turned it around so that it faced the wall. Ready, about to leave the room, she stopped in her tracks.

With her eyebrows knit together in confusion, she looked over her shoulder at the canvas leaning against the bed. How did she miss it? She turned and walked over to pick it up. It took her a moment to realise that it was one of Elijah's paintings. She'd seen it in his studio. The thought of Elijah being in her bedroom at some point after she'd fallen asleep yesterday to drop it off there, she realised.

She felt something poking at her finger and pulled off a bright yellow sticky note from the back of the painting. In his handwriting it said,

Happy birthday Nora. I hope you meant it when you said you liked it. It's yours.
- Elijah.

She stared at the note a little while longer before returning it to the back of the painting. This way she could hang on to it without really, keeping it. She put it on the bed, tilted on to the pillow. Nervousness bubbled in her stomach the more she thought about it.

Eleanor still wasn't back from wherever she'd wondered off to. Soon her thoughts began to travel to the day on the calendar. Without thinking, she found herself anticipating birthday calls or messages.