Marie
Okay… could she be any
more dense? I’ve been telling her that
she has talent for years and she refuses to believe me. Anyway, being that it was no secret to me
that this separation was tearing both of them apart, I had contrived to do my
best to stop this nasty downward-spiral.
I’d had an idea for a while… okay, call it a fantasy… but I decided it
was time to put it to action.
I was panting by the time I reached Stietler Auditorium, having run up a hill and up two flights of stairs to get there. Erik was there already, absently plunking Heart and Soul out of the piano.
“Hi, Erik.” I greeted him, determined to be cheerful. “What would you like to work on today?”
“Nothing.” He said softly, staring at the sheet music I had set on the piano without really seeing it.
“Nothing?” I repeated. “Erik, snap out of it! We have a concert in a few days that I have to sing alone in and I need your help!”
He finally regarded me as more than a figment of his imagination. “Oh, yes… the concert. You’re singing Think Of Me, Greenfinch, Notre Amour, and The Jewel Song, yes?”
“That would be me. What do you think I need to work on?” I nodded.
“In all truth, you really have no problems with any of those songs…” he drifted off again, glancing down at the keys of the piano sadly.
“Erik?” I sat down on the bench next to him, my hands on his shoulders. “Is something wrong?”
“Lisa…” he murmured, sounding as though he were near tears. “I don’t know what to do, Marie… I had hoped that she would calm down and come to me, but…”
“She’s avoiding you.” I finished for him, well acquainted with Lisa’s coping tactics. “I don’t know why she’s being so pig-headed, Erik… but I do know that she cares for you as you care for her.”
“Then why is she putting me through this pain?” he turned on me angrily, demanding an answer. I shrank away from him, afraid of being struck or of receiving some less-than-complimentary words. At my recoil, he seemed to regain his senses staring at his once clenched fist with bewilderment.
“I’m sorry…” he whispered.
“No apologies needed.” I was quick to comfort him. “I know you’re stressed and that your nerves are shot from these past few weeks. It’s only natural to lash out at anything that can’t hurt you back.”
“I shouldn’t lash out at you, however.” He shook his head. “What am I to do, Marie? I can’t win her heart if she’s set her mind to never being within ten feet of me.”
“I have an idea… it’s been bouncing around in my head for a while now.” I offered, fishing my POTO CDs out of my bag. “Lisa adores the song Music of the Night… if you were to sing it to her, complete with blocking and stuff… that might give her some major incentive.”
“How can I get her alone to sing to her? She won’t even agree to meet me for lunch in the dining hall.” He asked, looking slightly hopeful nonetheless.
“We go for walks most every night and on Wednesdays we use that walk to trek up here so that I can practice my music. Next week, I’ll just make sure that I get you invited along and that I tastefully disappear at some point. Then you can sing to her.” I explained, excited with my plans despite the ill of heartsickness.
“That could work…” he mused. “But I’ve not seen the show… I don’t know the choreography.”
“Ah… but you are talking to someone who’s seen it seven times and has the music video of it!” I proclaimed.
“Teach away, maestro.”