outbound | haaland

04.

The car came to a stop in front of a cozy-looking home. Lights decorated the railing of the stairs leading to the front door; through the window, Erling could see a partially decorated tree. A few bikes were laying on their sides on the lawn.

Someone huddled on the front porch, leaning against one of the support beams on either side of the front steps. Erling squinted, trying to find a face in the darkness but failing.

Nova patted Erling's shoulder and heaved a great sigh, "Let's go."

Christian and Ingrid were already out and fishing bags out of the trunk. The figure from the porch rushed to Nova with open arms and pulled her down into a tight embrace. The deep affection of the embraced reached Erling from where he stood. This person missed Nova. Then Erling saw her face. She looked like her.  (Did people make that same immediate connection between Erling and his own mother?)

As the mother-daughter hug came to an end, Nova turned and motioned at Erling, "This is Erling."

She smiled at him and took his extended hand into hers. She patted it firmly, "Welcome, I'm Nova's mother. Let's get you two settled in."

Mrs Reyes led them through the house, mostly making comments for Erling's benefit. Nova placed her hand on the small of Erling's back, trying to settle into the roles of Boyfriend and Girlfriend with small gestures - the quiet moments of intimacy that might seem natural to a supposed couple. For whatever reason, Erling felt proud when he noted it, as though Nova was his improv protegee.

They could do this. (Nova still had to formally agree to commit this medium-long con, but Erling was sure that he and Nova could pull it off.)

Mrs Reyes pointed out the kitchen, making specific note that decorating cookies would be on the agenda, so he shouldn't worry about that. She also explained the tree was only half-decorated, and once Jakob got home, they would decorate it all together. She ushered Erling and Nova up the stairs, off-handedly mentioning that it took her only twenty minutes to weave the tinsel and lights through the banister this year - a new record for her!

She stopped in front of Nova's door and lingered for a moment, "We don't have extra rooms to spare, so you'll have to stay in the same room. To be clear, I expect you to be on your best behavior."

"Great!" Nova replied with too much volume.  She gently nudged Erling into the room. She quickly closed the door behind them and promptly hit her forehead against the door, body nearly collapsing in embarrassment.

Erling looked around Nova's childhood room. It felt an act too familiar and too intimate for him to do so as a virtual stranger. The corkboard on the wall above Nova's desk was covered in layers of pictures and notes. Diplomas and certificates framed the doors of Nova's closet. Trophies and medals cluttered the top of Nova's dresser. She had an entire wall of movie posters tiled with other photos and smaller posters of musicians. She bed had sheets with stars on them and a pile of too many pillows alongside a sizable teddy bear.

"Sorry about that," Nova said after pulling himself.  "She thinks she's a cool mom."

Erling waved it off. She began to prepare himself for a giant apology. God, Erling acted rashly, and Nova and her family and friends (that Erling had met) were so nice.

"Um," Nova started, "Thank you?"

"What?"

"For you know, pretending to be... my boyfriend," Nova replied shyly, looking at her feet and scratching the back of her head. "I'm a pretty terrible liar, and you didn't have to help and now you're in my house and roped into spending time with my family. You can totally jump out whenever you want."

Erling shrugged,  "I don't mind."

Nova took a seat on her bed, pulling her legs under her, "Don't you... have plans to spend the holidays with your family or something?"

Erling shook his head, taking a seat next to Nova, "Helping you is my plan for the holiday.  It's either this or being pestered in Bryne."

Nova's brow furrowed, "So, we're doing this?  Duping my family? You and I are... dating performatively for my family for the next few days?"

Erling nodded his head, "If that's what you want."

Nova fell back onto her bed, "I need to tell you what I've told them about you so we can sell this."

Erling numbly brushed his teeth in the bathroom across the hall from Nova's room. He wouldn't have to do much out of character to fall in line with Nova's description. Erling, as Nova had laid out, liked romance movies and pasta dinners; he was supposed to be a big fan of cats, just like Nova. Other than that, Nova had described her boyfriend as blandly and unimaginatively as possible: sweet, caring, funny, hard-working.

Erling took in some water and began swishing it around his mouth.

Nova was a photographer for a travel magazine.  That seemed like something Erling would know as her boyfriend.

She was just as sweet as she seemed. That cupcake that Erling ruined when plowing her over was for her little brother. She had a soothing voice, and the look on her face when she described her made up dream-boyfriend was so breathlessly soft that it made Erling's heart hurt. She felt pressured to lie about having a boyfriend because her mother was worried about her being socio-emotionally fulfilled with her job limiting her ability to make and maintain all types of relationships.

Pretending to be in love with Nova... Erling thought that would be easy.

They agreed to try to be intimate in the small ways that a couple trying to limit public displays of affection would. Sitting a little too close to each other, holding hands, pet names, maybe a small peck on the cheek if they really felt the pressure. Erling confessed that he had limited experience with it, but promised he would think of it as a long improv performance. They just had to do what felt right in the moment. Outwardly, they needed to believe they were dating.