6:49 p.m.: Judith: OMG you got the promotion?!
6:49 p.m.: Nora: yeah you did!
6:50 p.m.: Faraz: who is the hospital’s newest public affairs team lead?
6:51 p.m.: Brendan: which hospital?
9:05 p.m.: Finn: can’t wait! Congrats Queen Bea
BBF (BEST BEA FRIEND), DECEMBER 12, 2022
12:09 p.m.: Nora: I’m implementing some ground rules for New Year’s Eve
12:09 p.m.: Bea: yes you can leave as soon as you like after midnight
12:10 p.m.: Nora: well gee thanks but that’s not actually what I was talking about…
12:10 p.m.: Bea: YOU’RE STILL COMING RIGHT?????
12:11 p.m.: Nora: I’m still coming.
12:11 p.m.: Bea: Good
12:12 p.m.: Nora: you can’t do what you did last year though
12:13 p.m.: Bea: I’m sorry you’ll have to be a bit more specific
12:14 p.m.: Nora: you can’t force me to kiss Finn!!!
12:14 p.m.: Bea: “force” is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence
12:14 p.m.: Nora: listen you just can’t
12:15 p.m.: Bea: Ok! I won’t!
12:15 p.m.: Bea: I’m sorry.
12:16 p.m.: Nora: thank you.
12:17 p.m.: Nora: it was horrible.
12:18 p.m.: Bea: …was it?
FINN COLLINS, DECEMBER 30, 2022
12:03 a.m.: Finn: Happy birthday, Eleanor
2
CHAPTER 2: NORA
DECEMBER 31, 2022
Everyone has interpreted “masquerade ball” a bit differently. Bea’s getting low in a floor-length black satin dress. Brendan has leaned hard into thePhantom of the Operaaesthetic, pulling goofy faces behind the white mask, made sillier by the fractalated light thrown off by the numerous disco balls and chandeliers above us. Faraz and Judith look like they would have been guillotined during the Reign of Terror. Deepti spent way too much money on a Cinderella-esque ball gown complete with black velvet choker and “glass” slippers but has no mask to speak of. Josh just wears a gray suit, passing out drinks and belting out the (wrong) words to whatever song the band is playing.
Despite the discount Bea got us, the tickets were still a hundred bucks each and drinks cost more on top of that, but no one seems to mind that we’re not back at my house, in cheaper clothes, with cheaper food and as many drinks as we brought ourselves. Plus, the new venue and the masqueradeness of it all means I’ll be able to leave whenever I want.
It’s far more difficult to Irish goodbye at your own house.
