He’s avoiding me.
Tears sting my eyes, and I drop my phone on the couch next to me, leaning my head back against the cushions and staring at the ceiling. I don’t know what to do. And with him gone? The likelihood I’ll be able to make this right seems even more unlikely.
My prediction proves correct as the days progress. I text him once a day, but I get minimal responses.
It gets to the point that I actually watch his games on TV—the first time I’ve ever sat down on purpose to watch any kind of sporting event other than the Olympics—just so I can hopefully get a glimpse of him.
Marissa’s right that live games are so much better than watching on TV.
The last game of their away stint, I go over to her place to watch it, grateful for the company.
“Hey!” she greets me when I arrive at her door. “I’m so glad you came over. I sometimes get together with Maggie while the boys are gone to watch games, but her son has something tonight, so she’s unavailable.”
“Parents,” I say, shaking my head. “It’s like their whole lives revolve around their kids or something.” Good parents, anyway.
She laughs. “Right?Sooooridiculous.” Closing the door behind me, she rattles off a list of drink options, and as she’s pouring me a glass of wine, she grins. “Actually, some kids are pretty great. My brother has a little boy. He’s the most adorable little guy ever. They live over in Spokane, which is about a five-hour drive from here. I don’t get over there a ton, but I try to make it at least once or twice a year, and I’ll admit it’s more to see my nephew than it is to see my brother or his wife. Although, they just announced that Abby, my sister-in-law, is pregnant again, so I’ll need to go over and help with a baby shower in a few months. I told Gabby, my sister, that she needs to adjust her schedule so she can be around sometime near the end of her pregnancy for it too.”
Sipping her wine, she makes a sound like she just thought of something. “Oh, I should actually introduce you to her. I think I mentioned previously that she also plays violin? I probably didn’t give you more details, though, because it’s one of those things I tend not to volunteer until I know someone’s not going to be a psycho about it.”
My brows pull together. “About what? Who would be psycho about your sister playing violin?”
She waves a hand airily, then leads me to the couch, where she has a spread of snacks set out on the coffee table. “Well, it’s notthatshe plays violin. It’s who she plays with.” She sets her glass down on the coffee table and looks at me, tilting her head to the side. “Are you familiar with Jonathan Brasher?”
My eyebrows raise. “The pop star?” At her nod, I nod too. “I’m not like a super fan or anything, but I’m aware of his existence. He has some good songs.”
She leans her arm on the back of the couch. “Have you ever noticed that there are a lot of strings playing with his music? Violin, specifically?”
My brows pull together again. “Uh … maaaaybe?”
Chuckling, she straightens. “Well, that’s all my sister. They’re married.”
Now my eyes go wide. “What?”
Marissa nods. “Yeah. She was on the classical track like you, but then she met Jonathan and …” She shrugs, leaving theblanks unfilled. I suppose that meeting him gave her an in to playing on a different sort of stage?
“Wow,” I murmur.
“Yup. Anyway, like I said. Next time she’s around, I’ll be sure to introduce you.”
“Cool. Thanks.” I’m not entirely sure that’ll help me, but I certainly appreciate the thought. In the meantime, I have an audition coming up here, and while I finally found an audition coach a couple weeks ago, now I feel bad about spending Jason’s money when he’s so upset with me.
I’ve still been buying groceries and things, but I’ve also been working harder while he’s been away at promoting myself so I can book some gigs. I recorded new pop covers, and I went back to that list I made of bars and restaurants that frequently have live music that’s like what I offer. “Oh, hey. You mentioned wanting to come out with me to scope out places I might want to gig. There’s one I wanted to check out tomorrow. You up for it?”
“Of course! Let me know when and where. Do you want to meet there or go together?”
“Going together sounds fun. There’s a saxophone playing starting at six.”
She wrinkles her nose. “Saxophone, huh?”
Shrugging, I give her a lopsided smile. “I figure if they’ll hire a sax, they’d potentially be open to solo violin.”
“Makes sense. Six works for me. Want me to pick you up? Or do you want to drive this time?”
“I’ll let you pick me up, if you don’t mind. I’m still not entirely used to driving around here.”
She gives me a meaningful look. “And you never will be until youactuallydrive yourself around.”
“True. And I’m sure there’ll be plenty of times no one’s offering to drive me. And then I’ll figure it out.”
