Nora tossed up her hands. “I’m blank. I know my name and that I am from Ohio. I am certain I have a husband and kids. But I don’t remember them any more than if I dreamt them. I don’t feel them. A part of me knows I was in New York, but again, it’s like a dream. Real? Not real? That’s how it feels. It’s frustrating because I was one of the first ones awake. Here’s something odd…” She shuffled in her chair. “I keep thinking I’m funny. Like…” she crinkled her brow. “Like I am a really funny person. I’m remembering myself being full of life… funny.”

John cleared his throat. “Don’t take this as an insult. Based on how you are now, that may be the dream portion of your memory.”

“No,” Malcolm snapped his finger. “No, it’s not. It’s not. You are. You are funny. I knew you looked familiar. You do a feature once a week on Late Night with Johnny Cramer. You do insane dares. That portion is a huge part of your life. You are funny.”

Unexpectedly, Nora heard John’s voice in her head.

“Aren’t you just funny,” John said.

Nora looked over to John and she saw him, not at that moment, but in the ballroom, wearing a tuxedo.

She heard her own laughter.

“Pretending not to know the guest of honor,” he said, reaching out, grabbing her arm in a flirtatious way.

Nora stood, her heart raced.

“Nora?” Jason called out.

Instantly, her mind was filled with images, a fast moving pictorial slideshow that played in her head quickly. With each fast beat of her heart, came that sensation of ‘knowing’ and ‘feeling’ that Nora fought to gain.

It was there. She had it. She got it.

Not only was she mentally barreled over, it physically caused her to stumble back and fall to the ground.

Suddenly Nora remembered, she remembered everything.

THIRTEEN – Nora’s Flashback

“You’re crazy, you know that, right?” It was Liza. Her friend of twenty years. Liza always went with Nora when she had her appearance on the late night show.

“This is perfect,” Nora said, placing her outfit neatly on the bed. “I mean, seriously, how often is it that we stay here?”

“Yeah, well there’s that UN Conference in town, so everything affordable is booked, but this is not your excuse to take advantage.”

“Um, hello, yeah it is. Johnny will love it if I pull it off.”

“He knows?” Liza asked.

“Yep. Where do you think I got the dress? Network props.” One arm crossed over her waist, Nora stared at the long black evening dress. It wasn’t what she normally would wear for one of her outrageous dares. Usually she wore everyday clothing.  In fact the dare wasn’t even a ‘dare’ submitted to her, Nora thought of it herself, inspired by the sign when she walked into the Astoria lobby.

The Galloway Award Dinner and Ceremony.

She was going to crash it.

“I just have to figure out where to put the camera,” Nora said. “The dress is kind of  …”

“Skimpy?”

“Yes.”

“Go. Go make a final pass through, I’ll figure it out and then you need to get dressed.”

It was a good idea. Typically Nora had her ‘dares’ set up in advance, but seeing how it was last minute, she wanted to make another rehearsal pass.

She took the elevator down to the lobby, found her way to the grand ballroom, and did a slow inconspicuous walk by of the table.