“Are you sure?” he asked, the conflict evident in his tone.
“I’m sure,” I replied. “And I’ll be out there when it’s time to do our duet.”
My friend came over and kissed me on the cheek. “You better be.”
“I won’t let you down,” I said. Applause rang out for Isaiah’s excellent solo. Evan straightened and gave Sean a pat on the back before walking out to his cello. I waited until the applause died and the first notes of the Schubert trio began before I turned back to Sean. “Thank you.”
“Panic attack?” Sean asked.
I nodded. “And then a flashback. Fun times.”
“How are you feeling now?” he asked.
I held up my trembling hands. “Shaky. But better. I need to move around some.” I stood and wobbled a bit. Sean steadied me with his strong hands.
“Easy now. Want to walk?”
I nodded. Sean gave me his arm, and I paced the floor as I counted my steps and focused on my breathing. I stopped after a few minutes, put my arms around Sean’s waist, and rested my head on his chest. “Maybe you can just sit next to me at the piano.”
I felt him smile against the top of my head before he kissed it. “That wouldn’t look strange at all,” he murmured.
“Nope. Not at all.”
He leaned back so he could look at me. “So what’s this butterfly thing Evan was talking about?”
I stepped back a few paces. “It’s called butterfly tapping. It’s an exercise my therapist gave me as an adjunct to my EMDR therapy.” I crossed my arms over my chest and began tapping each shoulder alternately. “It helps when I’m all up in my head. I just forgot to use it when I should have.”
I spent a few more minutes tapping and fell into the rhythm of the piece Evan, Isaiah, and Greg were playing. After a while, I dropped my arms, took a deep breath in, and let it out slowly. The trio piece was ending, and Evan’s solo, Bach’sCello Suite #1 Prelude, was only about three minutes long.
I straightened and adjusted my cuffs. “How does my jacket look?”
Sean ran his hands down my lapels in a light caress. “You look fantastic.” He leaned in close to my ear. “Good enough to eat.”
My cock twitched, and I groaned softly. “You are incorrigible,” I whispered.
“My mother says that all the time,” he replied with a wicked smile.
Enthusiastic applause rang out, and I heard movement that indicated a standing ovation. That made my heart soar. I was so proud of our work and how Greg and Isaiah had poured their hearts into rising to the occasion.
The applause finally died down, and I heard people take their seats again. Greg and Isaiah decided to sit in the audience with friends and family rather than be stuck in this waiting area for an hour while I played. Evan drew his bow across the strings of his instrument as his nimble fingers danced over the strings. I loved listening to him play. Sean stepped behind me, putting his arms around my waist and his chin on my shoulder. Surrounded by him as I was, I felt the last of my anxiety drain from me.
The final notes of Evan’s solo sounded, followed by applause. Sean tightened his arms around me briefly and then let me go. I turned to kiss him. “Knock ‘em dead,” he whispered. I straightened my shoulders, took a deep breath, and walked out to my piano.
TWENTY-SEVEN
SEAN
I slipped from behind the screens and went to sit with my mother just as the applause died down and Jeremy took his seat at the piano. He and Evan shared a long look before their duet began—something by Chopin. I couldn’t remember the name. Jeremy started the piece, his fingers dancing over the keys with the ease born from years of practice. He looked stiff at first, as if he still carried some of the anxiety from earlier, but the longer he played, the more his shoulders relaxed. By the time Evan joined him in the piece, he was as I had seen him many times before—tranquil, at one with his instrument.
Watching them, I understood why Evan was so emphatic about playing with Jeremy. They were magical together. There was no other way to describe it. They weren’t two people playing together. They were a single entity. They fed off each other, each pushing the other to greater heights. The audience was enthralled. Not one person touched their food. Even the servers stopped to listen.
When the last note sounded, there was a moment of profound silence, as if all the air had been sucked from the room. Then the audience exploded, bursting from their seats with wild applause. Jeremy and Evan rose from their seats and bowed to the audience. Evan then strode over and pulled Jeremy into a fierce hug. Jeremy clung to his best friend for a long time while Evan spoke quietly in his ear. When they finally pulled apart, both men wiped tears from their eyes.
When it looked like Evan was about to walk away, Jeremy took hold of his arm and waved the audience to their seats. “Before I continue with the rest of the program,” he began, “I’d like to invite Isaiah and Greg back up here.”
Once the two men joined him, Jeremy continued, “I’m sure you all know that this was a last-minute affair, and I thank you for changing your Memorial Day weekend plans to be here.”
He indicated the three men standing with him. “These three had only a one-week notice to learn and rehearse all the music you just heard. It shows their level of professionalism and dedication that they all performed so beautifully. It has been my honor to work with them. Please give them all another round of applause.” The audience obliged him with great enthusiasm.
