Page 60 of Absolutely Not in Love
Felix: You don’t like it either? That surprises me. I thought you might, just for the cello solo.
Gracie:Trust me. I know. I’ve argued with so many cellists about this. But despite the solo, overall, the piece is just boring.
Felix:And a little repetitive, right? It feels like it takes forever to get through it.
Gracie:Fun fact about Brahms. He wrote his second piano concerto twenty-five years after he wrote the first one. I love the first one. It’s big and bold and gorgeous and interesting. Especially the third movement. But by the time he wrote the second one, I don’t know. Maybe he was taking himself too seriously by then? It’s like he forgot how to be brave.
Gracie:Or maybe he was just heartbroken over his unrequited love.
Gracie:By the time he wrote it, he’d probably been in love with Clara Schumann for decades.
Felix:Clara Schumann? As in the composer Schumann’s wife?
Gracie:YES. She was a composer and performer of note in her own right. And she was brilliant. Also fourteen years older than Brahms. Clearly, he didn’t care. I’m probably not being very nice to poor Brahms. I stand by the brilliance of his first concerto. The second one just makes me tired.
Felix:Give me more reasons to like you, Gracie. I’m not sure I have enough. ??
Gracie:Question. Is there anything in your fridge I can’t eat?
Felix:Have at it. My food is your food.
Gracie:Your food looks like it was shopped by a professional and arranged by one of those organizers on TikTok.
Felix:Organization keeps me calm.
Gracie:I can see that. Your food matches the rest of your apartment. In a good way. Your apartment is really beautiful.
Felix:That’s thanks to my sister. She loves interior design. I gave her free rein.
Gracie:I don’t buy it. This apartment looks just like you.
Felix:Vivie has a good eye. And whenever I had opinions, she listened.
Gracie:I didn’t know you had a sister. She’s older? Younger?
Felix:Older. Vivian. She’s married. Her husband is my father’s CFO. She’s very much the perfect daughter.
Gracie:A contrast to the rebel son?
Felix:You have no idea.
Gracie:I want all the stories!
Felix:It’s mostly just the hockey. I went to Loyola to play on scholarship instead of going Ivy League. I don’t work with my dad. I don’t have a high-paying job.
Gracie:You’re also a business owner. An entrepreneur.
Felix:But I didn’t do it Dad’s way. So.
Gracie:I know a little something about that.
Felix:Here’s to finding our own way?
Gracie:And to building bridges wherever we can?
Felix:I’m trying, actually. We’ve been talking more since the Great Pipe Explosion. And it hasn’t been terrible.
Gracie:I love that you refer to it with capital letters, like it ought to be commemorated in history books or something.
