Page 31 of Not So Casual

Soft music rouses me, my eyes blinking open slowly. Darkness coats everything, with only the bright moon outside lighting the room.

Knowing I must have only been asleep for a few hours, I close my eyes to fall back asleep, when the soft music plays again.

The piano.

That’s the sound that woke me up. Getting out of bed, I walk over to the discarded clothes on the floor and pick up Alexander’s sweatpants. They’re a little too long on me, so I roll the waistband down until they are a better fit.

I slip out of his room, my feet padding softly on the wooden floor. The music starts to get louder the closer I get to the living room. Stopping in the doorway, I watch as his hands glide over the keys on the piano. With quick motion, his hands move from one side to the next, a beautiful melody sounding out. He’s sitting on this little bench, shirtless, his eyes closed as the music flows through him.

I’m in awe. I thought I knew everything about him. But I was wrong. This is a side of him I’ve never seen before. And I really like it.

“You can come over, ya know?”

My body jerks at the sound and a squeak escapes. “Guess I wasn’t as stealthy as I thought.”

Smiling, I make my way over to him, my hand sliding against the cool top of the piano. Alexander pats the seat next to him and I plop down, my fingers gently touching the keys in front of me.

“You play so well. I didn’t realize how good you are.”

“Well, I would hope after playing for years, I would finally be good at it.”

“How come I’m just now finding out about this secret talent of yours?” I ask, bumping my shoulder into his.

“I guess there’s still a lot we don’t know about each other,” he says, absentmindedly playing on the keys again.

“I guess so.” My fingers touch the keys again, my hand gently pressing against his as they hit the same key. “Will you teach me to play something?”

He nods his head then says, “Okay, I’m going to count out a tempo, one-two, and I want you to keep that tempo in your mind while you hit this key and this one here.”

Guiding my hand to the specific keys, I count the tempo in my head while pushing down at the right moments. Alexander moves his fingers to a different set of keys, skillfully playing a melody that blends with the beat I’m playing.

“Wow,” I breathe out. “This is amazing.”

Chuckling, Alexander doesn’t stop as he says, “Imagine when you can learn more than two keys.”

“I don’t know. I think I’m making some pretty amazing music with only these keys.”

“Your two keys plus all the extra keys I’m hitting.”

“Semantics,” I joke. Alexander takes over, playing a completely new song. I rest my head against his shoulder, closing my eyes and listening to the sounds of the piano. “So, what else don’t I know about you?”

“You know most things about me.”

“Well, I didn’t know about the piano. So, what else might I not know?”

“Hmm.” Alexander seems lost in thought for a minute before he continues, “when I was younger, I used to want to be a singer.”

“Oh my god, can you sing?” I ask excitedly, rocking on the seat.

“No.” He laughs. “Which is probably why I should stick with the piano.”

“Tell me about your family.”

“Well, you’ve already met Samantha. My sister. My parents, Marie and Tim, met when they had worked together. My dad says it was love at first sight, my mom doesn't have the same memory.” We both laugh, my body leaning into his. “I had a pretty good childhood. My whole family was supportive when I came out. Honestly, they’ve supported every decision I’ve made. What about you? What’s your family like?”

“Well, I’m an only child. My parents are high school sweethearts who married right after high school. Growing up, I lived a comfortable life. Both my parents worked, but they made sure we spent a lot of time as a family. I didn’t have to come out to them, they already knew. It was more like, ‘we can’t wait for you to bring a boyfriend home,’ and that was that.”

“Seems like we’ve both been lucky in the family department.”

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