Unending Nora

Chapter 29

Julie Shigekuni 255 Chapter 29 Elinore invited Melissa to lunch, and this time she named the spot: Tommy’s hamburger stand on Roscoe Boulevard because she remembered eating there once and it would be convenient for Melissa, whose appointments that day were along a stretch of the 405 freeway in the Valley. The Anheuser-Busch plant across the street contributed a yeasty thickness to the midsummer heat, and Elinore arrived with a sick feeling, like the heaviness of the air had settled in her stomach. It didn’t help that the only people at the hamburger stand were workers from the beer plant, and that Melissa was late. Fifteen minutes passed on Elinore’s watch before she saw an arm waving out of a down-turned car window as Melissa sped into the parking lot. “I’m sorry I’m late,” she yelled over the nearby traffic as she approached the cement block table where Elinore sat waiting. “Have you eaten?” “Two chili-cheeseburgers.” Elinore patted her stomach facetiously . “I heard they were great here.” Elinore nodded to confirm the stupid lie that she was too worked up to care about. She had picked Tommy’s at the spur of the moment, combing her memory of the Valley’s dining establishments for neutral territory and, having done so, she refused to explain to Melissa that she hadn’t eaten even one burger in recent history. Unending Nora 256 “Mind if I order real quick?” Melissa seemed distracted, eyeing the burgers, hot dogs, and fries that appeared out the side door by the armful as men made their way past in grey coveralls. “Not at all.” Melissa took her place in the lunch line, and from the safety of the cement block table, Elinore scrutinized the woman to whom she was mysteriously related, intent on making comparisons. The paper-thin skin alongside Melissa’s tall nose wrinkled when she grimaced at the pasteboard menu, causing Elinore to touch her own nose. She had long legs for a Japanese, but were they longer than Elinore’s? Sensing that men in every direction had taken notice of them as the only females around, Elinore imagined conducting a poll. Who was the more desirable of the two, and why? Was this craziness? If she told Melissa they were sisters, would Melissa lie awake fearing that Naoko would want to call her Aunty? But on re-approach, Melissa’s mood seemed to have lightened. She strode confidently back to the table, oil already saturating the orange paper that held her burger, her eyes inward looking and ravenous. “How are you?” she asked, grabbing her burger with delicate fingers and opening her mouth for a bite. “Fine,” Elinore stretched her jaw, forcing a yawn. “You?” Across the table, Melissa chewed and nodded as if agreeing emphatically to some hidden conversation. “You met Mark, didn’t you?” she asked between bites. “No.” Her question surprised Elinore, who guessed Melissa didn’t remember asking her the same question the first time they’d had lunch. “Really? He was at Caroline’s wedding, remember?” “I saw him at Caroline’s wedding, but we weren’t introduced.” “No?” Melissa, who looked genuinely puzzled, squinted into the glare behind Elinore’s head. “I wish you had met him.” “You two are engaged, right?” Elinore said, at the same instant looking down at the empty spot on Melissa’s finger where the diamond engagement ring had vanished. Julie Shigekuni 257 “We’re not engaged anymore.” Melissa took another chunk out of her burger. “I broke up with him.” “I’m sorry it didn’t work out.” Elinore shifted in her seat, aware of the hard bench beneath her and that an undesired subject seemed to be edging its way in. “No,” Melissa waved her pity away, recovering. “I didn’t really break up with him. Maybe you could still meet him sometime.” “Okay, that would be nice.” Elinore lied, angry that the conversation could slip so quickly from where she’d intended it should go. “What am I saying?” Melissa corrected herself. “Right now he doesn’t even want to see me.” “Oh?” Elinore groaned. “Here’s the thing.” Slowly, Melissa licked each one of her chilistained fingers, the slight tremor Elinore had perceived causing her to wonder about a neurological problem. But perhaps the symptom was emotional rather than neurological, or Elinore had simply been looking too closely at...