They're Playing Our Song

Three Romances for Violin and Piano

"These noodles are amazing," Leo said, twirling the pasta and taking another bite. Nora smiled at him, grateful for the change in subject. On instinct, she reached for his hand under the table and squeezed it over his thigh. Leo placed his hand over hers started to rub his thumb against the back of Nora's hand.

Celie's eyebrow rose as she continued to observe them from her side of the table. Could Celie see their hands?

They finished the meal with devil's honeycomb cake, finished in a torched marshmallow frosting, Nora's favorite. "Another slice, mahal?"

"I'm good," Nora assured her after one, even if she could probably eat more if Leo wasn't around, maybe. "I need to talk to you about the orchestra, though."

Celie nodded turned to her, giving her full attention as she sipped her wine. Nora told her about the opportunity with the New York Symphony and their summer program, how Vince quit the orchestra before she could tell him about it, which ten kids were chosen, how there were five kids that needed help with money and what she wanted to do to raise the funds.

"Nora, you know that any decision you make, I trust. And I trust that this will be good for the kids. So why are you still squirming in your seat?" Celie asked, picking up a bit of toffee from her cake and biting into it.

"Because," Nora said, and found that she couldn't quite find her voice. Leo rubbed her hand with his thumb again, as if reinforcing her need for reassurance. Nora realized that she found the action very soothing. "They want you there to perform Minamahal Kita."

Celie hadn't seemed to have heard what Nora said, but she blinked at Nora once before the words seemed to sink in. Then, her face completely changed. Her lips thinned in a hard, unhappy line. Her face, which was usually so open and unguarded, seemed to take a step back in favor of a more stern, serious one. It was one of those very rare times that Celie became utterly still and serious, and it scared Nora to her core.

"I see Manila hasn't changed one bit," she said.

But just as Nora was about to argue, Celie's softer face was back. She honed in on Leo, asking him questions about his Broadway shows. They apparently knew some people in common, because they kept talking about them for most of the meal. Nora sat back and watched the two of them interact and realized that Celie and Leo were very similar people—both wildly creative, and were the kinds of people that things just happened to. Their exploits and tales could fill volumes.

Nora took a huge gulp of her Rioja. Then she stood up from her seat on the guise of getting coffee, and walked to the deck.

The cool evening wind whipped out at her. Darkness had enveloped the lake, and it made the place seem spooky and mysterious. This lake house had always been her safe place, one of those places in the world where she felt truly happy to be herself.

Surprisingly, even with Leo and Celie in the room, she didn't feel smaller, or less than them, even if she did feel like she was using them.

She heard laughter from the living room, and she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, smiling. This was good.

"Hey," Leo's voice was rough as he stood beside her, his arm around her to ward off the cold. "You okay?"

"Fine," Nora assured him, burying her face in his chest. His skin was a little warm from the wine. "Just...happy you're here. You and Celie seem to be getting along really well."

"She's cool," Leo said like was trying to downplay what she really thought. Silly boy. "You didn't tell me she was a kickass baker. I actually wanted more of that cake, but I didn't want to seem rude."