Page 38 of Exactly What I Needed
Both pairs of eyes quickly scanned me, and then the man shared a sideways glance with the woman.
“It’s a difficult piece, so how do we know you’re not just lying to try and get into a studio?” the man asked.
“You really have nothing to lose. If you’re out a pianist and this young lady you’re speaking about has her audition today, isn’t missing it worse than potentially having a crappy pianist?” I replied.
The woman sighed and shrugged her shoulders. The man clicked his tongue and then extended his hand. “Carl Davis.” I placed my palm in his and smiled.
“Cosette.”
“And this is Margaret. She’s the young woman’s mom. Nina is waiting in studio five if you want to come with us.” He gestured further down the room and slowly began walking. Margaret eyed me one more time before following behind. I skirted quickly around the couch and joined in step with both of them.
“What instrument does Nina play?” I asked, Margaret’s heels clicking loudly beside me. I already knew simply from the music choice, and the solo they mentioned, but wanted to make small talk.
“The viola,” she answered.
“That piece has one of the most difficult solos written for a viola,” I giddily replied, excited. Most people tried to avoid that particular Concerto because of the level of precision required.
“You’re a Duvaldi fan?” she asked. I gave her a simple smile.
Something like that.
Carl paused, spinning around to face Margaret and me, and spoke before I had a chance. “He’s the greatest classical composer of the twenty-first century, and yet nobody even knows who he is. Publishing a single composition every year, I have yet to be let down. It’s incredible. Someday I’d love to meet him, learn how he does it. Why he does it.” He trembled in excitement.
Margaret shook her head with a grin. “Carl is a major fan, obviously. Being Nina’s teacher, he’s the reason she chose this particular piece to audition with.”
I nodded. “That’s wonderful.”
Carl pointed to the door beside him. “In here. I really hope you can actually play this piece, because otherwise…” His voice trailed off as he turned the golden handle and pushed open the door.
Play it? I smiled to myself. If I couldn’t play it, that would be downright embarrassing.
Chapter 14
Nina nervously tapped her toe, resting the bow and her viola against her thigh as I settled onto the grand piano bench. Tugging the headset over my ears, I pressed a few keys to test the volume. She pushed her blonde ponytail behind her shoulder, raised the viola, and pulled the bow across a few strings. I adjusted the sound on my headset and then patiently waited.
The speaker clicked on from outside the sound booth, and Carl’s voice filled the box. “Everything is set on our end. The rest of the parts will be from a previously recorded backing track. Once the video is live, we’ll signal when it is time to play. Nina, you have one take, one chance with this being live.”
She nodded but said nothing.
“Cosette, are you set?” Carl continued.
I gave him a thumbs up, adjusted the music sheets that I didn’t really need, and placed my hands on the first chords I needed to play.
“Nina, are you ready?” Carl asked.
She nodded and glanced toward me. Nerves laced her gaze, so I motioned for her to take a deep breath. Her chest rose, and she closed her eyes for a brief moment.
Everything around us became still. The soundproofed walls blocked even the most minuscule of noises. With my hands poised in starting position, I stared at the familiar black and white keys. Ivory that my fingers had spent more time dancing across than I’d spent doing anything else, waited with bated breath.
Then, Carl’s signal came, and we were off. (4) My fingers flew across the keyboard, in perfect timing and in tune with the composition. I didn’t have to think as I was transported away. The energy and passion that drummed through me melded in perfect sync with Nina. Each pull of her bow, each note that whispered and shrilled from her strings melded in exactness with the notes from my fingers.
It’d been a while since I’d played this piece live like this. What had once been in my head, now sounded in tune aloud. What had once filled that chasm within my mind, was a piece being brought to life like a storm as beautiful as lightning crackling through a purple sky. Chills spilled across my skin, emotions long since dead pooled within my heart. Wounds bandaged off with some measly tape reopened. Everything shut out, locked behind bars of such a well-kept secret was, for but a moment, center stage.
Her bow crackled across the notes again, and slowly, the final measure was at hand. My last stroke of a key played long and loud as the dissonance from hers eventually rose to meet mine.
Falling into an almost tranquil peace.
Then there was silence.
