I chuckled. “I think I can handle it.”
“Okay. Are most of your students advanced?”
“No, I, uh, I haven’t taught in a while. Quite a while.”
“Yeah? And something changed?”
“Actually, it’s been too long. I enjoyed it when I taught. Immensely. I sort of put that behind me when ... Well, I changed my life a lot and gave up teaching. I think I’d like to get back into it.”
“Yeah, okay. I don’t really know anything about this. How often should she get a lesson? Once a week? And ... You know, I really should have opened with this. Uhm, I appreciate the offer and everything, but how much do you charge?”
“It’s on the house.”
“No, seriously. I can’t accept that. How much?”
“Really, if I want to get my chops back as an instructor I need a beginner student and it wouldn’t be right to charge you when I’m not on top of my game. How about $25.00? And twice a week? My schedule is pretty flexible. Let me know what days and times work for you.”
“Tuesdays and Fridays? Say, four-thirty or five?”
“Four-thirty works. Do me a favor?”
“Uh, yeah, sure.”
“If she brings any more cookies to sell, be careful where you unload your car. The red zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only. There is no stopping in a white zone.”
She laughed.
I looked at the time on my laptop. It was still early. “Do you guys have an hour free now? Might as well get started.”
“I think so, but we have to leave right after so I can head over.”
“Over where?”
“Over Macho Grande.”
It was my turn to laugh.
“No, I don’t think I’ll ever be over Macho Grande.”
They arrived in less than half an hour, Leia clutching her guitar. She was a hugger and I’m definitely not, so I turned as if we were going to walk back to the studio, forestalling any full-on hugging attempts. As I turned to her, she looked almost hurt and I felt like shit.
She grabbed my forearm, which was a little weird. “Where’s Mr. Mike?”
“His office. We have to pass right by it.” I turned to her mom. “Em, did you want to join us? We can pull in a chair from the snack room or grab mine.”
“Sure.”
When we got to Big Mike’s office Leia walked in and stood there patiently as Mike spoke on the phone, his back towards us. I cleared my throat loudly and he turned around.
Looking down at Leia, he almost smiled and continued. “Hey, I gotta call you back.” He paused. “Yeah? Well, what if I don’t give a fu ... crap, dammit ... a darn. What if I don’t give a darn? Don’t like it, I’ll find someone else that wants our money.” He paused. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
He hung up.
“Hey, darlin’. Here for a lesson?”
“Yup, and I brought these for you.” She handed him a brown paper lunch bag.
“You did? What is it?”
“A sleeve of Thin Mints, but I froze them. They’re the best that way and you like Thin Mints, so ... And I put them in the bag to keep them cold.”
YOU ARE READING
NO STRINGS ATTACHED #Jiminfanfic (COMPLETED)
Fanfiction[Completed] Haunted by the past, can a legend & a single mom find love? . . "I have concerns about this," he mumbled, but he didn't stop kissing me. "They don't seem too pressing," I murmured back. "Em ... Ember." I stopped what I was doing and lo...
CHAPTER 5
Start from the beginning
