“A coincidence. I’m leaving again tomorrow and wanted to stop by. I considered just texting you when I got back to Rome, but you seemed so bereft when you left the stage.”
“Well, it means a lot to me that you came.”
“I saw your name on the poster when I walked past this morning. No, that’s a lie. I still sometimes follow your tours. Don’t ask me why; I have no idea myself.”
“Do you want to get dinner somewhere?” he suggested.
“I’ve met someone, Thomas. Someone who makes me happy. I figured this was as good a time as any to tell you.”
“You don’t owe me anything.”
“I know, but it’s better to be open about these things. You aren’t angry with me?”
“For being happy? Why would I be angry about that?”
“Because I was also happy with you. You lifted me up without ever truly sweeping me off my feet, held me without truly possessing me, and loved me without desiring me. Does that remind you of anything? Never mind, that’s life. I have no regrets.”
“César and Rosalie.We watched it over and over again when we were performing in Stockholm. It was dubbed in Swedish, but I recited the dialogue for you.”
“Without recognizing how much those words hit home.”
“Is he a musician, this guy you’re seeing?”
“No. Maybe that’s why we have a real chance at something. He owns a restaurant in Rome. Not very musical, I know, but you and I are like sailors. We’ll drown if we don’t have a port to call home.”
“Maybe you’re right.”
She walked over to him, gave him a tight hug, and gently touched his cheek.
“You deserve to be happy, too, Thomas. When you meet her, don’t let her leave like you did with me. Find the courage to actually want to love her.”
She kissed his forehead, turned to leave, and then looked back from the doorway. “If I’m not mistaken, you skipped a few notes in the adagio.”
And with that she was gone.
Thomas waited a few seconds, then returned to his chair facing the mirror, and to his thoughts.
“A masterful display of feminine genius!” exclaimed his father as he appeared in the mirror. “She must have really planned out her revenge. I have to hand it to her: It was a consummate performance. Such cruelty! And the way she touched your cheek with that hint of maternal affection. Viciousandtalented.” He mimed applause. “Checkmate, buddy, she got you good.”
“Would you please just leave me alone?” groaned Thomas.
“After what I just witnessed? No way. I had no idea I’d neglected your emotional education to such a degree. I hope you’ll remember at least part of the lesson she’s just taught you. It took her just two minutes and a few sentences to let you know you’re nothing but a memory. She came right up to the net to let you hope there might still be something between you, and then she delivered the smash—you missed your chance at happiness, which of course she embodied. There was no way you could hit that one back. Magnificent, I must say. Then, not satisfied with having brought you to your knees, she added insult to injury with her mention of your mistake. A real dragon!”
“Are you done?”
“I said everything I had to say.”
“You’re the reason I messed up my notes.”
“What do you mean? I wasn’t the one onstage.”
“No, you were in the front row ... on some woman’s lap, surprise, surprise. That wasn’t distracting at all.”
“I don’t have much time, so don’t blame me for using some of it to hear my son play.”
“You had something better to do?”
“I could have spent my evening at the Lido,” his father said, speaking of the famous cabaret on the Champs-Élysées, “and taken advantage of my abilities to wander the halls unseen.”
