Page 94 of Absolutely Not in Love
Gracie
Ihavealwayslovedbeing on stage as a part of a symphony. But being on an outdoor stage when the weather is perfect, the mountains are newly green, and my entire family is out on the lawn listening?
It’s taking my love to an all-new level.
I’m balancing multiple symphonies now, Harvest HollowandKnoxville—turns out my audition wasn’t quite so dismal after all—but today, I’m happy to be playing in my hometown.
Well, mostly happy. I’m also a nervous wreck. My stand partner and former teacher retired last month, and when I auditioned for her principal seat,I got it.That means I’m playing a solo in our next piece, and if I think too hard about it, I might throw up, which, pretty sure that would ruin my solo.
As we finish our first piece and the audience breaks into applause, I look out into the audience, shielding my eyes against the late afternoon sun, and spot Felix standing off to the left. He’s away from the rest of the audience, but he’s perfectly situated in my line of sight. I’m positive he put himself there on purpose.
We make eye contact, and his lips lift in a small smile. His head dips in an almost imperceptible nod.You’ve got this,he’s saying.
I take a deep breath, the nerves swirling in my belly finally settling from an all-out frenzy to a manageable flutter. Felix would know better than anyone because he’s the one who has heard me practicing the last couple of weeks. He’s the one who has been my north star, telling me over and over again that I’m perfectly capable of playing the solo, that I’m not going to screw it up.
My conductor looks at me, baton raised, and I nod.
Then I look at Felix, shut out the rest of the crowd, and pretend I’m only playing for him.
My entire family is waiting for me after the concert, as well as Felix, who pulls me into a hug and kisses me soundly. “You were amazing,” he says. “Every note of your solo was perfect.”
He lets me go, only for Josh to swing an arm around my shoulders. “Not bad, little sister,” he says. “You sounded good.”
After a few more minutes of small talk and hugs of support from both my parents, Felix and I say goodbye and make our way to his car.
His hockey season officially ended last weekend, and I’m soaking up all this uninterrupted time with him. We’re both counting down the weeks to summer when I’ll have a few months off from school and we can be totally lazy and lay around all day reading books and listening to music.
Annnnndteaching private lessons and playing all kinds of wedding gigs and working on the remodel of the creative center. But still. We’ll have more free time than we donow,and that’s saying something.
I honestly don’t even care if we are busy. As long as we’re together more than we aren’t, I’ll be happy.
I drop my cello off at my place and change into sweats, then let myself into Felix’s apartment. We’ve started leaving our front doors unlocked—no big deal since the one downstairs is always locked—because we’re both in and out of each other’s apartments so much.
Felix is already on the couch in the living room, feet propped up on the ottoman.
“Hey, have you seen my glasses?” I say as I kick off my Birkenstocks. “I can’t find them.”
He looks over his shoulder. “Maybe look in the bedroom? I feel like I saw them next to the bed.”
I can’t imagine anything getting lost in Felix’s bedroom because it is as neat and orderly as the rest of his apartment. Literally the only messes that ever exist in this place are messes that I make, but I look anyway. Maybe they got swept into a drawer or something?
There’s nothing out of place on either nightstand or the dresser, but the drawer on Felix’s side of the bed is slightly ajar, just open enough that my glasses could have easily fallen inside. I sit down on the bed and open the drawer all the way. Sure enough, my glasses are sitting inside.
I pull them out, then freeze. Because in the back corner of the drawer, there’s a midnight blue velvet ring box.
I glance over my shoulder at the door.
I shouldn’t look.
It could be anything. His high school class ring. A set of fancy cufflinks.
I mean, itlookslike a ring box, but that doesn’t mean it’s anengagement ring.It doesn’t mean it’s meant for me.
I bite my lip. I can’t resist.
I’m going to look anyway.
With another surreptitious look over my shoulder, I slowly pick up the box and lift the lid.
