ANGIE
We’ve been walking for longer than I realize. When I left Brandon’s office, I knew I planned to see if the piano in the district was unoccupied. To my surprise, it was. And I wanted to see if being out in the open would inspire the music to flow freely. Luckily, it did. Maybe a walk outside was all I needed to get the creativity flowing. Maybe it’s because I chose the time toward the end of the workday and I wanted those coming out of buildings to have a soundtrack. Or it could’ve been seeing him inspired me to play.
If the corporate people were annoyed by my playing interrupting their day, I was none the wiser. After hours of playing at the piano with my butt going numb and fingers aching from sudden use, I was shocked when I looked up to see he found me. My heart skipped just a little, and that’s bad because he’s supposed to be off-limits. It’s not as simple as a boy befriends a girl, they talk, feelings develop, and a relationship begins. If it were, then I don’t think either of us would hesitate. Our story is a little more complex than a simple meeting.
“You’re really good,” Brandon says, knocking me out of my thoughts about how the future we think either of us can have is unreachable.
“What?”
“At piano,” he says slowly. “I didn’t know you played so well.”
“Oh. Thank you.”
“Can I ask you something personal?”
Our walk has taken us further and further, so we veer off toward a bench that overlooks the river by one of the many museums in the city.
“Something personal—sure,” I tell him after we’re settled and I set my bag next to me.
“Why are you working in a TapHouse?” He doesn’t ask it in an accusatory way, but it’s the curiosity that coats his words.
“I—they’re my family,” I begin and cross my legs. “When the news broke about the accident, they were there to catch me. I’ve thought of doing other things, but I like what I do. I like the regulars, I like the tourists, and I like staying busy.”
“You’re still in school, right?”
“Yeah. But I have no clue what I want to do with my degree. Or if I even want to use my degree,” I admit sheepishly.
“Let me guess. Teacher?”
“No way. Music performance and business management.” I adjust and recross my legs, angling myself toward him. “I’ve been taught for so long that I need time to be the one not doing the teaching and just be the one performing because I’m told to.”
“Why business management?”
“I have secret plans.”
I see him look at me from the corner of my eye with asmile, but refuse to turn in his direction. When I left his office all I thought about was kissing him. Or even asking him to kiss me so much that I actually sped walked out of his building because the need was too great. Brandon has been flustering me for the last month and I don’t see that ending anytime soon.
“Is that why you post your piano playing online?”
My head whips around to him and whether it’s from the sun or from being caught, but his cheeks have taken on a pink-ish hue I find adorable. His embarrassment is adorable.
“How do you know I post my piano playing online?” I bait him to see if he takes it.
With the sun angling toward us, I can see his eyes move in my direction through the lenses of his sunglasses. “I may have stumbled across your page and watched a time or two.”
“Is that what they call it? Stumbling?” I ask and I can’t keep the smile off my face or amusement out of my questions. It’s my first, true smile in a very long time. The feeling is foreign, but good.
“Yes,” he answers, but doesn’t take it any further.
“To answer your question—yes, that’s why I post my videos online. The house is quiet and I like to fill the space with noise. Or at least noise that I like. I’m not a big television watcher, so I figured I might as well fill the space with noise that makes me happy.”
I notice a scrunch in his forehead, but it disappears just as quickly as it appeared.
“What do you mean that your house is quiet? You still live at home, right?”
“Yeah. Well, my parents aren’t big on living in the house where their son lived.”
Brandon turns his body to me and my knee ends up resting against his thigh. “But you live there too.”
