Even though he and Ondine were estranged for a moment, he never stopped communicating with her. In fairness to Ondine, after a few days of silence, she did start replying to Jared's texts and calls. They haven't talked about their scare yet, both just skirting around the issue, especially since they had just gotten back into good terms again. She set her phone on her piano with the screen facing her while she played a Beethoven tune for Jared. He missed moments like that, when she would play for him just as he laid in bed ready to fall asleep. After she finished and closed the lid of her piano, he took a chance and broached the subject they haven't talked about.
"Ames, babe, I wish I was there with you through the fear."
Ondine let out an audible sigh. "Jay."
"I'm serious. You weren't the only one affected. I was affected, too. I was worried about you, first and foremost. The moment I saw your face, I wanted to fly over there and wrap you up in my arms. Babe, I was so scared that something bad had happened to you."
"Babe, I was scared to death. For me, for you...I knew neither of us were ready, but I was terrified of what your reaction might be."
"And your fears were validated," Jared hung his head in shame. "Ames, I love you; had you been pregnant, I wouldn't have ran from my responsibilities."
"Had I been pregnant, it would have torn us apart. We were so immature about the whole thing, Jay. We acted like this wasn't a possibility, like we were immuned even though we slept together all the time. We just wanted to have our cake and eat it, too."
"Babe, we're gonna be okay, right?"
"I hope so."
"You don't know how guilty I feel for not being there for you."
"That's okay. Brady was here to help me."
Jared grew quiet, just looked at Ondine's face on his screen. "That's another thing: he's there, I'm not."
"Please, Jay, he has nothing to do with whatever problems we're facing right now."
"Ames, I'm trying to fix our relationship, but you're being so stubborn right now. I want to come see you. I want to see for myself that you're okay."
"Babe, I'm okay. We'll talk when I get home. Four more weeks...we can survive four weeks. And I'm not being stubborn. I'm just trying to be sure...sure that we're gonna be okay, that we're not just compatible in bed, but in other aspects of our lives as well," Ondine said quietly. "We'll definitely have to sit down and have a long conversation when I get home."
"I love you," he said. He couldn't argue with what she said.
"I love you, too. Okay, you go to sleep now. I know you have an early day at the studio tomorrow."
"Have a good day, babe. Take care of yourself for me, okay?"
"Okay," she smiled at him, her toothy grin that somehow made him feel at ease that slowly he was getting his Ondine back.
It had been tough, but they were muddling through. As long as Ondine was willing to communicate with him, he believed that they can get over this hurdle placed in front of them. He was 22; the only forever he's thought of in his life was that he would be a successful and world famous drummer with his band forever. But now, that seemed so trivial; what did success forever mean if he didn't have the most important person in his life to share it with?
***
Brady, Ondine, and some of their other close friends in the orchestra decided to throw a party at Brady's apartment to celebrate the successful six month run of playing Beethoven's symphonies. It was late, planning their impromptu party after the final curtain, where they all received a final standing ovation from the crowd. They were still in the clothes they wore to work, the men taking off their bowties and coats, while the ladies removed their high heels. Brady had ordered a few pizzas, and he and Ondine picked up a few beers and wines from the liquor store they passed by on the way to work. The others offered to bring some chips and desserts. Brady played whatever the Top 40 station was playing, not caring to hear another note from the master Beethoven for the time being.
The small group of ten were having a great time, dancing and laughing, feeling free for the first time in six months, but admitted that they would miss each other as well as all the blood, sweat, and tears poured into their performances. Brady observed Ondine, yes, she laughed with them, yes, she mingled with everybody, but he noticed that she was not herself; in fact, she hadn't been herself ever since she was hospitalized. He saw her bring her glass of wine and headed to the small balcony of his apartment and followed her outside. She didn't bother to put a coat on, so he grabbed the throw on the back of his couch and wrapped them on her shoulders. She gave him a small smile.
"It's freezing out here...where are your shoes?" he asked her worriedly, noticing that she only wore his house slippers she found by the doorway.
"Don't worry, I won't be out here for long. I just needed some fresh air," she said before taking a sip of her cabernet sauvignon.
"You okay?"
"Yup, never better."
"Excited to go home? Just one more week."
"I am. I'm gonna miss Vienna, but I'm ready for a southern California winter," she winked at him.
"Lucky. I'm headed to just as blistery New York," he pretended to pout. "Do you think you'll ever find yourself back in the City?"
"Maybe. I don't know yet. I'm actually looking forward to a bit of a break," she shrugged.
"You excited to see Jared?" Brady nudged her.
"Jared and I are going through something right now," she answered easily, not looking at the tall man beside her, just drank some more of her wine, finishing the rest in one gulp.
"I'm sorry," Brady mumbled to her; that was not the answer he was expecting.
"I guess you can say I am excited to see him; I want us to fix our relationship, and being 6000 miles away from each other isn't helping," she finally turned to Brady and looked up at him.
"I'm sure you guys will get over it. You two are so in love with each other; I'm a man, and men don't notice such things, but I know you two genuinely love each other."
She smiled at him. "I do love him. So much."
"Then there you have it."
"But is that enough?"
"I don't know. Do you want it to be?" he looked deeply into her eyes. "Now I'm freezing, and you look like you could use a refill. Shall we?" he held out his hand.
She took his hand and let him lead her back into the warmth of the living room. It would be almost dawn by the time the last of the guests left. Brady offered his floor, but they were all eager to sleep in their own beds, it seemed. Ondine helped him clean up, didn't want to leave all that mess for him to find in the morning. She was drying the last of the wine glasses when she felt him put an arm around her shoulders.
"Thanks, you didn't have to."
"It's okay, I wasn't sleepy anyway," she handed him the glass to put away.
She sat on the couch and stretched out her arms over her head. Brady took a seat next to her, and suddenly she noticed he looked nervous. She looked at him questioningly, and he took one hand in his, his palms sweaty.
"Ames..."
"What is it?"
"You have become such a good friend to me, the best friend I've found here in Vienna. We have the same interests, like the same things..."
"Oh, please don't confess your undying love for me..." she looked at him with a crestfallen expression.
He laughed, his nervousness going away for a moment. "I'll admit, at first I was attracted to you, but you went on and on about Jared; Jared this, Jared that. I knew there was no way you would ever see me that way."
"Sorry. Gah, that sounded obnoxious, didn't it?" she bit her bottom lip.
"Ames, that wasn't it, but I do have a confession to make."
"What is it?"
He held her hand tighter, now cold. "I knew you before our time here."
"What do you mean?" she was so confused.
"Well, not exactly know you know you, but I knew you."
"How? Did we go to the same conservatory?"
"No."
"Then how?"
"It was me," he let go of her hand and leaned his elbows on his knees, his hands covering his face.
"It was you what?" she said, growing more confused with each cryptic word he said.
"It was me in that alley..."
"What?!" she moved away from him.
"It was just a dare, and I had only wanted to scare you, but it turned out to be very real when you kneeled down to the ground and just handed your belongings to me."
Ondine stood up and put the coffee table in between them.
"It was a dare? It was just a DARE? It was JUST a dare?!" she screamed at him.
Brady stood up and walked towards her. "I'm sorry, Ames."
"You knew this whole time?!" her tears started falling from her eyes. She put one hand on her forehead, the other on her hip. "And you just went on like we were strangers who became friends? Gah, Brady! Do you know how traumatized I was about the whole thing?! I trusted you!!!"
"I know! And I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I was scared of losing your friendship," he tried to reach for her shoulders, but she slapped him on the cheek.
"You let me trust you! I treated you like a friend...and this whole time, you were the one person I was most scared of!" she started punching his chest with her fists.
"Ames, I'm sorry..."
"No!" she backed away from him. "Don't come near me. Don't ever come near me ever again!" she grabbed her coat, purse, and shoes and left his apartment with a slam of the door. She locked and deadbolted her door before locking herself in her bathroom. She allowed herself to cry for a few more minutes before calling the airline company and rebooking her flight, fees be damned. She had to get away from that monster as soon as possible. She showered and changed her clothes, quickly packing her belongings, leaving whatever can be left behind, and took a cab to the airport for the first flight home.
***
Emily Jane walked in through the door of the beach house with her fiancé in tow. Aiden kissed her on the forehead, knowing that she had a tough time consoling a weeping Ondine in Aiden's condo. Ondine told her everything, about Jared, about the false alarm, about Brady...the younger woman clearly in a lot of stress and distress. It was one problem after another the last few weeks. She headed to Jared's room and knocked softly on the door. She didn't even wait for an answer, she just peeked in and found her brother air drumming to something playing on his mp3 player with his eyes closed, his ear buds in his ears. She pulled an ear bud out gently, her brother's forehead in a knot.
"Jare, whatever you're doing, do it later."
"What's up?' his eyebrows continued to be knitted.
"It's Ames."
"Yeah, she's coming home next week."
"No, she's at Aiden's. And she really needs you right now."
He stood up from his bed and kissed his sister's cheek quickly, not waiting for further explanations from her. He nodded in acknowledgment at Aiden as he passed by him in the living room. He drove so fast, it was a miracle that there were no police around and he didn't get a speeding ticket. It didn't matter, he just wanted to get to Ondine as soon as possible. He used the key Emily Jane gave to him because she was sure Ondine would not be opening the door for anyone in the state she was in. He called out her name, making his way to her room, but found it empty.
"Ames?!"
Ondine's ears perked up when she heard his voice. Emily Jane had run a warm bath for her and she sat in the tub, letting the scent of vanilla and brown sugar soothe her frayed self.
"Jay?!"
"Ames?" Jared called out again when he heard her voice. "Where are you, babe?"
"Bathroom."
Jared turned the door knob, but it was locked. Ondine got out of the water and wrapped a towel around her body. She opened the door and started crying again at first sight of her boyfriend. He wrapped his arms around her and let her cry into his chest. He dropped kisses on the top of her head, missed her so much.
"Babe, everything's gonna be okay."
"I needed to hear that from you, babe. I love you so much," she looked up at him and pulled his face down to meet hers. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. For everything."
She kissed him again, more heatedly this time. He forced himself to control his raging hormones and emotions, he didn't want to add to her problems. "Babe..."
"Please, Jay. I don't care...forget everything I said to you...we're compatible. I know we are. I trust you. I need you. Please make love to me right now."
That was all it took before he lifted her up and carried her to her bedroom, weeks of pain and doubt erased the moment his body joined with hers.