Unmuted

Unmuted- Chapter 19

"So you're the Jourdin Bion, the violinist?" Duncan says.

I hum, wishing that I wasn't. I wish that Attilia actually existed and that I could take her life and her uncomplicated past that began the day I was checked into that mental facility.

Duncan and I lay on the ground underneath the grand piano in one of the studios. The fringes of the velvet piano cover hovered a few inches above the ground, so that it wasn't completely dark in our improvised fort. My eyes trace the smooth wood paneling and random stamped words on the underside of the piano.

Duncan sighs deeply beside me and turns his body sideways in my direction. "I have a confession," he breaths. I remain quiet, my eyes staying in the same spot of the under belly of the piano, trying to make sense of the stamped words. "I didn't look you up," he continues. "I still don't know who the world believes Jourdin Bion is. I mean it's been really hard trying to avoid it all. The press around it..." Swallows. " 'Jourdin Bion, Prodigious Violinist Comes Out of Hiding'," he recites.

I turn to him then and he shoots me a sheepish look. "It's been difficult, okay? I did good, all things considered. That's really the only thing I heard. I promise," he reassures me after I turn away.

I exhale deeply and stuff an arm under my head. "Just google it," my voice says in a monotone.

"Yeah, I don't think that that's a good idea anymore, now that you're the latest hot topic in pop culture. I wouldn't know what was true or not, anyway," he explains. "Plus, I have the real Jourdin Bion, right here. If I need to know anything about her I have a VIP pass," he chucked bumping my shoulder with his elbow.

Moments pass before I nod as the soft music playing in the background stops. "When did all of this start?"

"Two days after the dinner with my parents," he tells me as he rolls back onto his back.

"Wow, they work fast."

"Yeah, I feel partially responsible," he coughs. "Everyone wanted to know who the beautiful girl the handsome and successful, Duncan Nils was hanging out with at the mall."

I laugh softly and he joins me. I scoot closer to his body so that our sides were touching. My hand searches for his on the carpeted floor and I entwine our fingers together.

"It sucks being Jourdin Bion, right now." It's always sucked being Jourdin Bion, the thought quickly flashes in my head before disappearing completely, leaving without a trace.

His turns to me. "Even now?" He squeezes our hands lightly. "Even while holding hands with the oh so handsome CEO of Monster Music Productions?" he asks through a cage of grinning teeth.

I pretend to think about it. "Mmm, okay maybe it's not so bad."

He smiles. "Well, it certainly doesn't suck being Duncan Nils these days. I've been living with a super famous person for over a week without even knowing it."

"Says the famous person," I shoot, but then I groan. "You still do not even know who I am."

He brings our hands up to his chest. I feel the rise and fall of his breathing and the faint pounding of his heart. "I do know you. I didn't know your real name, but I know you Jourdin."

My heart beats a faster beat and I feel a warmth spread throughout my whole body. I move even closer to him. I release his hand, deciding that I wasn't close enough, and hesitantly I place my head on his chest.

"Yeah, it really doesn't suck being me right now," he mumbles as he runs his fingers through my messy curls.

We're quiet for a few minutes, lost in our own thoughts. I thought about how my day started. I got out of bed simply because I had missed Duncan. I wanted to spend time with him, to laugh with him, I just wanted him, and in the end, I got what I wanted, along with a whole bucket of complicated.