Disclaimer. I don't own the characters. There is no more gain than the writing practice that is done here.
And I would like your reviews.
CHAPTER 4: NORA
As Thanksgiving approached, Monica asked Chandler what he wanted them to do that day.
"Mon, we will do what we always do, your parents, Ross, Rachel and the family will come, we will eat the delicious turkey that you cooked... and the kids will play with their cousins"
"Baby, I thought you weren't in the mood to celebrate..."
"Mon, my mourning for dad cannot affect my enjoyment with you and the children... it's something I have to accept, the current pain will transform into nostalgia over time, and as for mom, the anger is with her and it's with her with whom I have to fix it, and you do not have to suffer for a moment for that matter "
On Thanksgiving day, shortly before they sat down to eat, the phone rang at Chandler's house, he asked Ross to answer it, Ross answered and it was Nora, he said she "wait for Chandler" and covering the receiver he told Chandler that it was his mother so Chandler told him to tell she that at that moment he had gone out to buy something that was missing "
Indeed, it was Nora who believed the apology and left Ross greetings and kisses for everyone.
They all felt bad for Chandler, but Chandler kept talking and making jokes like it was nothing.
Around Christmas, Nora called again, but this time on Chandler's cell. He recognized her mother's number and decided to attend to her.
It had been a while since he had spoken to her, her last meeting was a quick dinner when they were in London 8 months ago, and they had only spoken on the phone before going to Disney with their children.
Until now he had never told her of his father's illness, nor of his death.
"Hello son, how are you …"
"Good and you …"
"Okay ... I'm fine...I wanted to send you a Christmas greeting and ask you to give Monica and the kids a hug for me"
"well, thanks… I'll give it to you"
"Chandler, something's wrong, I feel you're a little tense..."
"Well dad passed away on October 4th…"
"Oh, I didn't know, an accident... a cardiac arrest...?"
"No, he had cancer, it was a rapid development of about 6 months, but it was very painful."
"Oh, I never spoke to him, I didn't know he was sick, you already knew when we met in London"
"Yes, mom, but I didn't want to ruin the meeting with painful stories..."
"Oh sorry, I hope you're okay…"
"grieving... but thanks to the support of my family I am fine…"
"Chandler I have to cut, I'm in Australia, now in Sydney, but I'm touring various cities in the country to promote the latest book…. After the holidays I will call you with more time…"
"Yes, of course," Chandler said coldly.
"Well son, despite what happened to your father I hope you spend the holidays in peace, and send kisses to Monica and the children"
"Thank you, I'll give it to you…. "
Chandler cut in, and Nora on the other side noticed Chandler's cold demeanor, but she told herself, "he always takes everything in stride, in the end Charles wasn't the father of the year."
The Christmas holidays passed in which Chandler decided to be in the best mood for the good of his family and friends.
He continued therapy and by the beginnings of March he felt strong enough to face his mother.
"Hi mom, this is Chandler...
"Hello son, who else would call me mom..." Nora said laughing on the phone "How long has it been since we spoke, I think, since Christmas, how are you..."
"I'm fine, we're all fine, ..." Chandler answered and continued talking "I wanted to know when you're coming to NY, we need to talk about some issues"
"At the end of the month I have a book launch in Washington and Philadelphia, so I can make a run to see them in New York…"
"Mom, I ask you to give me some time, a little more than you usually do, I repeat, I need to talk to you..."
"But is there something wrong, Chandler?"
"No, I just need to talk about a couple of things"
"Okay, let me see my schedule... we can meet after the introductions, if you'd like on April 5, since on the 6 I'm leaving with Samuel for Italy..."
"I don't know Samuel, plus I want to talk to you alone"
"Son, you don't need to meet Samuel, it's not worth it" Nora said laughing and then she added "Do you think you're going to dinner…"
"No mom, I prefer a quieter place, just the two of us, we can meet at your apartment in Madison around 2:00 p.m., I don't want to come home late and I don't think it's going to take us long either"
"Wow,…it must be important if you need so much peace of mind,…. Is everything alright with Monica and the kids, son?
"Yes mom, we're still married, in love and happy and your grandchildren are perfectly fine, don't worry about them…. Well, then, April 5 at 2:00 p.m. is scheduled, in Madison's apartment, until then."
"Kisses son, take care and greetings to all, see you as agreed"
"perfect."
Nora found Chandler's attitude and his insistence on speaking strange, she thought that it was surely related to the death of his father and some economic issue related to the inheritance.
Chandler talked about the encounter in therapy and the doctor gave him some tools to be relaxed and to be able to talk calmly about everything, especially the feelings he now had towards his mother.
Monica also tried to reassure him, "Love you just have to say that you know everything about Elizabeth's birth, listen to her explanation, and tell her how you really feel. - It's not worth getting angry with her, what's done is done, I honestly don't think Nora is aware of the seriousness of what she did or that she's sorry, she'll give you explanations that she'll surely be convinced of and you'll tell her how you feel when you find out the truth, go no further"
April 5 came flying, Nora was waiting for him. -
"Hello son, how are you! Always handsome, although I notice something serious about you."
"Hello... I'm fine, we're all fine..."
"What do you want to drink? I'm going to serve myself a bourbon, what do you want, I have beer, wine…"
"Thank you, just water… a glass of cold water…"
Each one with her drink went to sit in the living room, Nora sat on the sofa to make room for Chandler on hers, but he sat in an armchair across from her.
"Okay son, what is so important that you want to talk about"
Chandler was silent for a moment with his eyes fixed on the water in his glass, he relaxed and looked his mother directly in the eyes.
"Dad died, and in his last moments he told me about Elizabeth …"
Nora was startled, made a disgusted face… "Son of a bitch, He swear he would never talk, it wasn't his business …"
"Mom, firstly, I don't want you to insult him, secondly, knowing that I have a sister is your business and mine, … the one who should have told me was you… and you shouldn't have forced him to keep silent by blackmailing him with telling all his sexual condition, because the confidentiality agreement that you made him sign was an extortion taking advantage of the fear that he had at that time regarding coming out of the closet…"
"I was scared too Chandler; I had gotten pregnant..."
"But you were married to dad!" Chandler said, raising his voice somewhat "nobody had to know it wasn't his, dad was willing to admit that baby, don't come telling me no…. you had an excellent cover… he was the most normal, he was your husband's bebe"
"I'm sorry, I didn't want to tie myself to your father with one more children …"
"One children, two children, ten children, they would have divorced the same, nothing would have stopped them, what happened to you did not go through the children, it is true that he led his life, but you also led yours, you were not a sacrificed wife that you had to keep up appearances, you had fun with every male you found…"
"Chandler, I won't let you talk to me like that! scream Nora
"Look, you're not in a position to prevent me from saying what I feel..."... "it's evident from your behavior that you never wanted to be a mother, neither mine nor Elizabeth's... You couldn't give me, you didn't get rid of me just because the grandparents intervened and you had to have me, but nobody heard from Elizabeth and you went to Boston to leave her there..."
Chandler continued non-stop... "Actually I don't know which of your two children fared worse, maybe Elizabeth found a home where she was loved and cared for, I was the one who got screwed, I was abandoned in a boarding school, where you never went to search, it depended on the babysitter remembering to pick me up, you didn't spend any parties with me, you didn't go to parent meetings, and for my birthday all you had to do was make a phone call and give the babysitter money to buy me something."
"You know, mom, Elizabeth probably had parents, like my children who have a mother and father who love and care for them, I didn't have parents, I grew up alone, with money, but alone, and I had a hard time getting that backpack off my back"
"Chandler, I was young, immature, I didn't want responsibilities..."
"Okay, you didn't want to raise your daughter, but you didn't want to hear from her either….? "... "The adoptive parents got tired of sending you letters and photos of Elizabeth for years that you never looked at or read, you got rid of them..."
"How the hell do you know that…?"
"Because dad rescued almost all of them from the trash, he put them away and give them to me half an hour before he died..."
"Son, do you think that giving her away was not painful for me, that's why I didn't want to see her grow because it would hurt more..."
"Please mom, don't lie, you just got rid of the problem, you threw it aside and you didn't want to know anything more about the girl, you probably even forgot about her existence…. "
"With Erica, the biological mother of the twins, we made an open adoption, we always send her photos of the kids, and she sent us photos of her marriage and the birth of her son, to whom she wants to tell when he grows up that he has two brothers, and we are going to be happy that they meet. Erica is a mother who had no choice but to give her babies, but it does not mean that she did not want to continue knowing about them "
"Chandler you can't judge me..."
"Yes I can, because you abandoned Elizabeth and you abandoned me, you are a selfish woman who never thought of anyone but herself..." "You know, the day dad died I was orphaned, since I never really knew who my mother was ... I always believed that you were better than him, now I have finally realized, although late, that you were always much worse than him ... "
"Chandler by God, your father never took care of you and now he's a saint..."
"Of course he wasn't a saint... but you know you lied, he tried to take me with him, and you told me he tried to kidnap me, but evidently what he always wanted was to take care of me, he was going to see me at the boarding school, although sometimes I was ashamed of his clothes, but you never went to see my competitions and you weren't even at my graduation, and later when I came out of seclusion, to which you sent me for your exclusive comfort, he always tried to contact me, and the fact that I was an idiot who didn't notice and avoided him is another story, the one who put me in boarding school and went from party to party, the one who never called me or went looking for me was you"
"Chandler, I worked a lot to give you the life of a prince..." Nora stressed.
"Yes a rich prince, but only as an ugly toad…"
"Mom, the only thing that matters to you is writing your books, earning money, doing interviews, signing books to feel flattered, going out to have fun with young people who, according to yourselves, you consider "worthless", everything, all that is what you love the most in the world. - I was never your priority, and Elizabeth even less "
"How many times have you come to see my children, you met them a year after they were born and you were home for exactly 45 minutes, I remember it well, and then hopefully you came back once a year for the next few years. Dad came to meet the twins a week after they were born, and he returned regularly to visit us every three or four months and stayed four days to play with them, this is how a committed grandfather behaves and a father who tries to repair the relationship with his son"
"You came just to talk about this, …to tell me all this…. what sense does it make... no explanation of mine is enough for you..." Nora said smugly, with indifference, making an annoyed gesture regarding a conversation that she was not interested in continuing any further.
"Mom, you don't have any valid explanation that implies some empathy with the rest of humanity, you are first in your life and there is no one else behind" Chandler said with obvious disgust.
At that moment Chandler exploded at Nora's indifference….
"Look, I came to tell you that now I really know you and I don't like you…"
"I came to tell you that, and I don't think we'll see each other again"
Chandler got up and headed for the door, slamming it shut.
Nora stayed seated on the couch and downed her bourbon in one gulp. She knew that she had been left alone….