Stevie heard herself say yes.
Grayson walked Stevie back to his old Manhattan building, a place with a doorman and an elevator operator, both of whom greeted Grayson by name.Grayson introduced her as Stevie and said, “She’s going to be someone someday.”Stevie blushed and said hello.She could tell that the doormen didn’t take Grayson seriously.They probably knew his parents, knew that he was a rich kid pretending to be cool.Still, there was something about him.She wanted to be near him.
When Stevie entered his apartment, the first thing she saw was the instruments: a baby grand piano, a Gibson guitar, a D’Angelico XL, and a Gretsch.Stevie’s mouth watered.As Grayson prepared cocktails with names Stevie had never heard of, she sat at the piano and moved her hands over the keys, amazed at the emotion that rolled through her.It felt like going to church.Because she couldn’t help it, she closed her eyes and let her voice swell.She sang and played for nearly ten minutes, unable to stop.When she finally pulled herself away, she found Grayson sitting behind her, captivated, his eyes wet.She’d never seen a guy like Grayson almost cry before.
“You’re so talented,” he said.“I’m sorry.I feel so many things when you sing.”
Stevie sat on the sofa five feet away from him.She’d never been on a piece of furniture that took up so much space.Outside, it was autumn, and she could see the wind flutter the red and orange leaves at the treetops.She felt as though she could hear Grayson’s heart beating.She told herself to keep it together.She couldn’t get involved with a wealthy man like Grayson, a man who was set to take over his father’s business.He probably had a girlfriend, anyway.
“You live here alone?”she asked him.
Grayson nodded.“The rest of my family is back in Paris.I grew up between here and France.They’re sort of miffed that I came here.”
“Wow.”Stevie had never left the country before.Moving to New York City from West Virginia had felt like enough of a trek.“Why are they displeased?New York is great.”
“It is.But now that I’m twenty-four, they want me to slip into the story they’ve been telling themselves.They want me to get married and have a family and work myself to death.”
Stevie’s stomach twisted.She imagined that all of that really would happen to him.Maybe he’d even enjoy it.
“But that’s why I love going to gigs in New York,” Grayson said dreamily.“So many of your lyrics, and the lyrics of your friends’ bands, echo this discontent I’ve been feeling for years.When you sing ‘What am I doing here?’, I feel it here.”He touched his chest.
“It’s a simple lyric,” Stevie said.She’d considered changing it many times.
“It’s simple, but it’s true,” Grayson said.“I never knew what I was doing in Paris.I had a girlfriend from a wealthy family.I had wealthy friends.I had my parents and my job.But I needed to get away from all that.”
Stevie frowned.“You and your girlfriend broke up?”
“We did.We both agreed it was for the best.I think we want different things.”
“What does she want?”Stevie asked.
Grayson chuckled.“Honestly, I don’t know.But I showed her some music from New York.I think your friend Ella was playing on the track?And she wrinkled her nose at it.That was when I knew we had no future together.”
Stevie felt strangely jealous of the fact that Grayson had known Ella’s music before he’d ever met Ella and Stevie.Ella hardly gave him the time of day.Often, Ella forgot Grayson’s name, and when Stevie brought him up, Ella had to be reminded of who he was.Stevie was vaguely sure that Ella was waiting for Stevie to tell Grayson to get lost.Ella wanted Stevie to date one of the other rocker boys in their clique, maybe one of Will’s friends, Kenny or Logan.
But Stevie couldn’t get Grayson out of her head.
Nothing happened that first night at Grayson’s place.But after that, every time Grayson invited Stevie over to his apartment, Stevie couldn’t resist.The musical instruments were too inspiring, and the view out the window was like nothing she had in her awful apartment, which she shared with four other people.She loved how he looked at her after she finished singing.
When Grayson first kissed her, Stevie’s heart swung wildly out of her chest and back in again.Tears filled her eyes.They pulled away from one another.For a long time, they were quiet.Tension spilled between them.And then, Stevie couldn’t take it anymore.She pressed her lips against his and let herself feel everything she wanted to feel.She let herself think the wordlove.
For a little while, Stevie dropped out of the scene and spent days, then weeks, then more than a month with Grayson.It terrified her to feel so in love with him.It terrified her that it felt so natural, as easy as breathing.They never spoke about the future, but Stevie couldn’t help but think that a future was coming for them, that their hearts were beating as one.
But then one week, Grayson’s father came to Manhattan for a visit to “check on his son.”Grayson was pained by it, especially since his father gave him only a day’s warning.He went into the burger place to tell Stevie about it and explain that he “was going to tell his father” about their relationship, but that he needed to wait for the right time.Stevie smiled and kissed him and told him that everything would be all right.She naively believed that.
After Grayson left to prepare for his father’s arrival, Ella came over and asked Stevie why Grayson looked so glum.Stevie shrugged and said his father was coming into town.
“Are you going to meet him?”Ella asked, wiping down the bartop.
“Probably,” Stevie said.“But I get the feeling that his family is really intense.”
Ella grimaced.“As a person from a messed-up family, I say, be aware.”
Stevie’s head rang.It was rare that Ella spoke about her messed-up family?—
about her father in prison and her mother, locked away at home.But the pain that echoed from Ella’s eyes frightened Stevie.She wondered if getting involved with Grayson and his father was too much trouble.She contemplated whether it would distract her from her true mission of making it as a musician.
In the days that followed, Stevie threw herself back into the music scene.She performed three nights in a row and made more money than she was used to, most of which she spent on rent and guitar strings.Each time Grayson called her apartment to ask where she was, she was out at a music venue or practicing with her friends.When he came into the burger place to complain about his father, he never once mentioned Stevie meeting his father.
