FEBRUARY 1915
GUSTAVE
I missed her! Although I wasn't quite sure why; we had spent the afternoon together the day before with William and the rest of our friends. We were supposed to be doing homework, but the two of us just ended up chatting and laughing away like the others weren't there. I wanted to see her again but Papa didn't know yet and Monday seemed so far away and-
"Gustave? Hello?" I blinked hard as my father waved a hand in front of my face. "Are you still here? If you have no interest in paying attention to the lesson, we can stop," he said. "I have work I could be doing. One of my clients is already getting impatient with the wait for their home design."
"No, no! I'm listening!" I insisted as I adjusted my posture before he would have to tell me to. "Where were we? Practising one of Chopin's compositions, right? I'm ready to play it for you."
"Gustave," Papa sighed and ran a hand over his hair. "We were practising one of Mozart's pieces; we have been for just under an hour now. Or at least I have been. What have you been up to?"
"Daydreaming, I suppose. My mind is on someone...something else." I cursed myself silently for tripping over my words as I watched my father's brow crease into a frown. "Just thinking about something. Not anything in particular."
"You said 'someone'. Who is the someone in question?"
I sighed, but couldn't help but smile as I got to my feet and started to pace a little. "So I met someone..." I started. "I met a girl."
"A girl? Another one?" Papa repeated, already the slightest bit wary of the scenario at hand. "Do you really want to put us through that again?"
"Us?" I laughed. "I was the one who dealt with the heartbreak!"
"And I was the one who had to deal with you as you dealt with said heartbreak. I never realized just how related we are until I saw how much you cried over that young lady," he replied.
"But Papa, this one is different!" I cried, practically whining to defend the girl who had captured my heart.
He chuckled. "Of course she is. They're all different at the start, mio soldatino."
"How would you know? You only ever truly loved one woman," I said with a frown.
"One that you know of."
That was the comment that threw me for a loop. "What?!" I exclaimed.
"Oh, nothing. So, this new girl. Tell me her name," Papa prompted, sitting back in his chair and crossing his legs at the knee, all the while never wiping a small smile from his face.
"Lara." My father's past lover quickly forgotten, my heart fluttered just saying her name - she truly did have me head over heels for her. "Lara Thomas. We met at the beginning of the school year in the music practice room at lunch. I ducked in there because William had gone off for a sports tryout with our friends and my anxiety was kicking in, so I escaped to the music room. Little did I know, but I had a guest at my private performance."
~
Dear God, Will, why did you have to leave me before the busiest transition of the day? I thought. My heart started racing; there were far too many people here for me to be comfortable with. My mind flashed back to the crowds on Coney Island; even though it was such a long time ago, it still came back to me like it was yesterday. My only thought was that I needed to get out and fast.
Once I had myself grounded enough in reality to know where I was, I made a mad dash for the music room. Nobody was ever there, so I figured I would be able to calm down in there. When I arrived, I made sure to close the door behind me so that the people passing by couldn't see me. I proceeded to curl into a ball with my back keeping the door closed. I couldn't see straight, but one thing was certain; the last thing I needed was everyone seeing me in that state. I would be made fun of for who knew how long. My heart rate still hadn't slowed down, but it was then that my eyes darted to something that I knew would help. I slowly peeled myself off the ground and made my way to the piano in the corner by the window. I started to play a song that I knew by heart, and no matter where I was, she could always bring me back down to Earth.
"Think of me, think of me fondly when we've said goodbye." The words poured out with the notes as I played. Mother could always calm me down; Papa had learned over the years, but sometimes I needed her.
When I had finished the song, my heartrate had calmed down and I had my vision back; she may not have been with me, but even the thought of her brought peace to my heart.
"You play beautifully." A quiet voice rang through my ears like a bell and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I jerked around to see a girl sitting in a chair across the room and I could feel the heat rushing to my face. How had I not noticed her before? I had never played in front of people, let alone sang!
She must have realized how much she had scared me as she immediately continued: "I'm so sorry. I was here already when you came running in. You didn't look like you wanted to be bothered, so I just let you be. I usually come in here to read just because it's the quietest place in the school."
So not only had she heard me play, but she had also seen my panic. Things couldn't get any worse, could they? For a long time, we just looked at each other, trying to figure each other out. I had seen her in the halls before, I realized. She always seemed to be with Jane, that girl William was hopelessly pining for. But now that I was looking at her, I can't believe I hadn't noticed her sooner; she was absolutely beautiful.
"Please don't tell anyone what happened," I finally stuttered. Stupid brain; that was all I could come up with? Really?"
Luckily, she smiled and laughed it off. "Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me," she said. She stood up and placed her book on the chair she had been sitting on, then made her way over to me and sat down on the bench. At that point, we were both visibly nervous, but neither of us said a word for some time.
Someone needed to break the silence, or else she'd eventually hear my heart beating through my chest, so I took it upon myself to speak up: "I hope I didn't interrupt your reading."
"Well you did, but I wouldn't worry too much about it," she replied. Her eyes were glued on the piano, I noticed, and her hand grazed over the well-worn keys with a sort of longing. "It was a worthy distraction."
"Well, I guess that's cause for some relief on my part," I smiled at her but I didn't think she noticed with her eyes still fixated on the instrument. Her distraction gave me time to think of a way of continuing the conversation, though in all honesty, I found that I was quite distracted myself; in the afternoon light, her blonde hair seemed to shine like gold, and her striking green eyes were like emeralds.
Eventually, I was pulled back into reality, knowing that if she caught me staring, it might not go over well. Finally, a question formulated and my mouth and brain started working together again: "Do you play?"
She dropped her hands to her lap and her cheeks turned a rosy colour. "Oh, heavens no. My mother never approved of me learning music," she replied.
"Well, she isn't here now to stop you," I pointed out, and with that, her gaze shot up towards me. Clearly, she was starting to put the pieces together. "I could teach you something small."
Without a word, she nodded eagerly and a small smile spread across her face. Within a fraction of a second, I could tell that hers was a smile I wouldn't forget.
I positioned my hands on the right keys for the beginning of the song. "Here, place your hands over mine. We'll play it together."
She looked at me with some skepticism. "Are you sure this will help me learn?" she asked.
"Well, this is how my mother taught me. She told me the best way to learn an instrument is to play it." I could tell by the look on her face that she still didn't seem to understand. "Just trust me, okay?"
She gave in and gently put her hands on mine, her sudden warmth enough to make her touch feel electric.
"Alright, now relax your hands so they will fall with mine." My voice was a little shaky from nervousness and it was taking all of my effort to get it to stop. "I'll play the first few notes and then you can give it a try. Then you can judge my teaching strategy," I proposed.
The look on her face was evidence enough that she would certainly judge me, but I swallowed hard and began playing anyway. Slowly the first few notes rang out, her hands following mine. Concentration was the only way to describe her expression, as her eyes followed our hands while they moved like she was studying them. I soon stopped playing and put my hands back in the first position.
"Now I'm going to remove my hands and let's see how you do," I said as I smiled at her. "Unless you'd like to go over it with me again."
"Let's see how this goes, then we can determine that," she replied. There was a certain confidence in her voice that told me that she was a girl who was quite sure of herself.
I pulled my hands out from under hers and she began playing. Her precision was astounding; she was definitely a fast learner. She made it all the way through what I had shown her without missing a note.
"Looks like my mother was right," I said with a triumphant smirk, knowing I had won.
"I suppose so," she replied as she looked at me smiling, undoubtedly overjoyed with her accomplishment.
I put my hands in a resting position on the keys and without a word her hands joined mine. "Is this your way of telling me that you want to continue?" I inquired.
"Why don't you find out?" she prompted.
With that, the song went on the same way, with me leading and her following without hesitation. It was like a dance, as if we were talking without saying anything. To me at least, it felt like something the poets wrote in the books we read in class.
It was at that moment that I realized that we had been in that room together for God knew how long and I still had yet to ask her name.
"You know the bell is going to ring soon," I said as she finished playing the last bar of the song. "And I actually feel quite embarrassed about this now, but I realize I never introduced myself. I'm Gustave Destler."
She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and looked down at her feet. "It looks like neither of us have any manners, now do we? My name is Lara," she said.
"Is there a last name that goes with that?" I asked, unsure as to why she seemed more nervous then she had been a moment ago.
"Yes, yes, of course there is. It's Thomas," she stammered, but I knew better than to ask; I knew from experience that when someone was visibly nervous, you didn't ask them why.
"Well, Lara Thomas, hopefully we can do this again. Maybe even tomorrow, perhaps?" My palms were getting sweaty and I wasn't sure what to do with her lack of reaction so I kept talking: "Unless of course you're busy, I completely understand. We cou-"
"Tomorrow works perfectly," she replied, "I look forward to it, Gustave"
She packed her things into her backpack and began her way to the door. She had almost made it out when she turned and came back to me, then did something I never could have dreamed of: she hugged me. Once she let go, she left the room quickly.
Taking my heart with her.
~
I was almost giddy just thinking about how we met; any thought about Lara made my heart swell three sizes, for that matter. "So that's how we met. She was beautiful then and is even more so now. We were just friends for a time, but...we've recently started courting. I'm actually going to her home tonight to meet her mother and father," I said. "Please don't freak out, Papa. I would have told you sooner, but everything was still so up in the air and-"
"I'm not upset about that, don't worry," my father said. "I figured that a young lady would come around eventually. What I am upset about is that you only mentioned this dinner now! You are nowhere near ready to go out. You still can't tie your own tie properly, for goodness' sake! When do you have to leave?"
I glanced at my pocket watch. "Half an hour..." I said with a sheepish smile.
"Oh, dear god. Go to your room and pick something out to wear. You have people to impress tonight."
I smirked as I walked to the door of Papa's study. "You never met the parents of a young lady. How are you supposed to coach me through this?" I inquired.
"I've no idea. We'll figure this out together. Now go!" he said as he got to his feet and ushered me out of the study, busying himself with clearing up our sheet music.
I walked into my room and opened the closet door, looking at each pair of dress pants, each jacket and shirt, trying to formulate an outfit idea. Papa was right; that night was to be my first impression on Lara's parents. I had to make it a good one if I wanted our relationship to move forward. The outfit had to be clean, sophisticated...handsome.
I was quickly distracted from my task at hand when a sparkle caught my eyes from the end of the closet rack. I pushed aside the other hangers and felt a smile creep onto my face when I pulled a black cloak with crystals on the shoulders and down between the shoulder blades out of the closet. The black, wide-brimmed hat sitting on the closet shelf caught my gaze soon after, and I assumed they came as a set. I slipped the cloak onto my shoulders and put the hat on my head, then looked at my reflection in the mirror and laughed.
"Papa, come here!" I called.
"Gustave, you had best be dressed or I- where did you find that?" Papa began as he walked in.
I whirled around to face the doorway, feeling the cape billow around me. "It was in my closet! It definitely isn't mine, so by process of elimination, it was yours. When on earth were you wearing this?" I asked.
"As you should have gathered by now, my outfits went through interesting phases over the course of my life." Papa walked over and snatched the hat off of my head, then set it back in the closet. "Not that you'll be wearing it, so you can just put that back into the closet now."
I smirked and pulled the cloak off of my shoulders and threw it over Papa's instead, then shoved him in front of the mirror. "It still suits you," I said with a laugh.
Papa sighed and straightened the cloak on his shoulders. "It doesn't work if it isn't a complete set," he mumbled as he stepped towards the closet and retrieved the hat, placing it on his head.
"You actually wore this?" I asked.
"I had my reasons," he replied quickly.
"Which were?"
"None of your business." He slipped the hat off and tossed it onto my bed, then pulled the cape off of his shoulders with a quick flick of his wrist; a gesture that told me that he had done that many times before, but I kept that thought to myself for now. "You aren't dressed yet - why?"
"Well, I've been having fun with your sparkly cape." I shot him a wide grin, but that didn't do much to deter an eye roll from Papa. "But I won't take long!"
"You better not be. I won't let you be late to your first dinner with this young lady's parents," he said as he stepped out of the room. "Now, get dressed and get downstairs."
"Right." I gave him a nod and shut the door behind him, then turned back to my closet.
Now. What would Lara love?
~
"Papa, does this look alright?" I asked as I walked into the sitting room, fixing my collar and straightening my shirt all the way. "I want to look formal and all, but I still want Lara to like it and I want it to fit the style I like and...oh, I just want everything to go alright tonight."
"And it will. Just be yourself, be respectful and act as you would around any other adult the first time you meet them," Papa advised, putting down the book that he had been reading - Arabian Nights, I noticed - and walked over to me to straighten my tie. "You'll be fine. Now, all the best. Get out of here before you end up later than you are already."
I smiled and gave him a hug. "Thank you, Papa," I said as I pulled my shoes on and opened the door. "I'll see you later tonight. I'll tell you everything, I promise."
~~~~~
ERIK
As soon as the door closed, I turned around and made a beeline up the stairs to my study. My mind was running at a million miles a minute; my son had a sweetheart? He was meeting her parents? I wasn't sure how all of that had happened, but what I did know was that I was too anxious about it to deal with it on my own, so I phoned someone who could.
"Hello?"
"Gustave has a sweetheart," I said quickly.
"Well, good evening to you too, Erik," Nadir replied, already sounding rather amused by the entire situation. "Did you say Gustave has a sweetheart?"
"Yes, I did say that. He has a sweetheart and I just helped him get ready to meet her parents over dinner."
"My, my. What an interesting development. How are you coping?"
"You know I'm not," I said as I glanced down at my desk and caught sight of a pencil, which I was quick to pick up and start twirling between my fingers. "I don't know what to think of it all."
"Do I need to come over?" Nadir inquired.
"Yet to be determined. Never mind me, though - how was your day?" I asked.
"Are you going to drive yourself mad by overthinking the ridiculous ways things could go wrong all night?" He had totally ignored my inquiry, but he knew me well enough to recognize when I was only asking questions to change the subject.
I managed a breathy laugh, amused that he even had to ask. "You know who you're talking to, right?"
"I should come over, shouldn't I? To keep you grounded and prevent you from composing an entire opera out of stress?"
"To compose a stress-induced opera would result in a masterpiece, not a disaster. I should be alright, though. I just needed to talk to you; you're my friend."
"Are you fidgeting like crazy like you do when you're nervous?" Nadir asked.
"No," I said immediately, dropping the pencil onto the floor and starting to fidget with my fingers instead. "What makes you think I fidget with nerves?"
"I don't think; I know. I'll be there in a few minutes."
I heard the line cut off as Nadir hung up the phone, which left me alone with my thoughts again - when did Gustave get so grown up? Was I a bad parent because I didn't know anything about the relationship until he told me? Should I have let him go so easily?
"No, no," I said quietly to myself. "He's old enough. He can make these decisions."
With that, I picked up my pencil again and fidgeted with it all the way to the sitting room. I tried to immerse myself in my novel once more, but even the fictional whimsy of that wasn't enough to keep my mind off of Gustave.
As soon as I heard the knock on the door, I abandoned my book and hurried to open it. "Nadir. Good to see you," I said as my friend stepped inside.
"You as well," Nadir replied he took one glance at my hand before quickly adding, "You are a horrendous liar."
I was slightly taken aback by the abrupt statement, albeit not shocked to hear it from him. "What? Lying about what?" I asked.
Nadir sighed, clearly fed up with me for some reason that he found to be quite obvious. "Erik, look at your hand."
Following his instruction, I glanced down at my left hand, which was still rapidly tapping the pencil against my index finger; totally subconsciously, I might add.
"Ah. That," I commented, only for the fidgeting to intensify along with my anxiety after a flaw of mine was discovered. "I suppose I did lie about that, but a minor thing. Thank you for coming, Nadir."
"You know I would have come either way," he replied as he walked into the kitchen with me close behind. "And by the looks of you and your anxiety, you need me here. Now, do me a favour..." Nadir grabbed the pencil from me and set it down on the countertop. "Stop with the pencil twirling. I can't keep a train of thought when you do that."
"Sorry, I know. I'm not trying to spite you for once. I'm just anxious." To compensate for the loss of the pencil, my fingers started to twitch; clenching and unclenching, balling up into a fist. Any method I could use to calm down, I tried.
"I know you aren't. Now, you need to give me all of the details that you have about this young lady friend of Gustave," Nadir said as he took a seat at the dining table, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to keep still, so I ended up pacing in front of the table. "Her name, what she looks like. Who are her parents, her interests. All of that."
"Well, her name is Lara Thomas, but he didn't say much about her looks besides gushing over how beautiful she is. What I do know is that they met in the music room at school and Gustave is already completely head over heels for her," I explained with a sigh. "A Destler trait, I suppose; when we fall for a woman, we fall hard."
"A shame I wasn't here earlier. I could have mocked him for being so hopelessly in love with this young lady." Nadir smirked a bit, clearly pleased with his newfound way to pester my son.
"Aren't you kind," I said dryly. "The boy's first real time courting and all you want to do is pester him about it."
"I had just as much of a role as you did in raising him, therefore I have earned the right to pester him about romance. Just as I have earned the right to pester you endlessly about the khanum, despite you having a thick skull about it."
I shook my head, amazed that he managed to circle back to that particular conversation topic. "I still don't totally believe you, you know," I said, determined to defend my case.
"Now why would I lie to you?" Nadir inquired, sarcasm lacing every word he said.
"For the sake of boosting my confidence, perhaps? As good friends do?" I suggested.
"Well, let me think...no, that doesn't sound like something I would do, friends or not. You know I just enjoy a good chance to poke fun at you." Nadir smiled to himself and got up to pour himself some water, giving my shoulder a pat on the way. "It wasn't unknown to people - it was a constant chatter among the guards. They all knew. Many wondered if you would get the hint and do it, too."
"Well, we all know the answer to that," I mumbled as I stole Nadir's seat at the table. I was supposed to be ending the discussion! How did he find ways to keep it going?
A smirk formed on the Daroga's face. "Alright then. Whether younger Erik would agree with that outright 'no' or not is up for debate, but if you say so," he said.
"You may as well stop trying to hide your smirk. I know you're amused. And to correct you: a much younger version of me," I replied.
"Your life is amusing, what can I say?" Nadir replied, shrugging and sipping his water. "But with every word that you say, you prove the thought that you would have acted on it! You were younger and you were a virgin. Who was to say if you were in the mood or really drunk that you wouldn't have done anything about it?"
"Alright, alright, thank you for highlighting my romantic inexperience. Now, can we cease the discussion, please?" I requested.
Nadir raised his hand in surrender. "We don't have to discuss yours; we can discuss your son's instead."
I chuckled. "Somehow that's better," I said.
"Much so. Now, did he seem nervous? Or are you more nervous about this than the boy in the relationship?" he inquired.
"Oh, I believe nervous is an understatement, to say the least. Sadly, he seems to have inherited my anxiety about the littlest things," I admitted with a sigh. "That was one of the many things I wish he hadn't taken after me. His mother was so courageous, confident."
"Well, did you talk to him a little? Calm the old nerves?"
"I did, but not that it proved to be all that helpful. It was a conversation that required advice about romance and women; subjects that I am not well-versed in. I got lucky with Christine, and I still haven't the slightest idea how it all happened."
"Yes, pep talks have never been your strength," Nadir said as he took a seat at the table again. "Although you do try your best."
"Thank you for the encouragement. Does wonders for my self-esteem," I sighed as I ran my hand through my hair. "You know how high that is to begin with."
"It will be fine. Gustave will be fine and you will be fine as well," Nadir promised. "While flirting isn't your strength, being relatively charismatic always has been, and Gustave seems to have inherited that as far as I can tell."
"I appreciate that, Daroga. Charisma - one of my few redeeming features," I mumbled. "I know it will all go well for him tonight. I was just hoping I still had at least a little bit of time before we jumped head first into this stage of his life." It was amazing to watch my son grow into a man before my eyes, but it still managed to tug at my heartstrings in a way that I hadn't thought possible.
"Well, Erik, he's a teenager. They tend to get into relationships when they're in secondary school. You needn't worry about it; it's only a step in his life, albeit a big one."
I shrugged my shoulders. "Even with that knowledge, I'm still anxious about it and it is probably going to stay that way."
Nadir nodded. "I know; once you get yourself stuck on an idea, there's no changing your mind. Do try to relax, though He's mature, he'll be fine," he said.
I narrowed my eyes in my friend's direction. "I don't think either of us use the word 'mature' to describe that boy on a regular basis," I pointed out. "He's my son. At the age that I am, I still wouldn't call myself mature, so you can forget my eighteen-year-old son."
"Fair, but false at times. You ought to get used to girlfriends, Erik. Maybe this young lady - Lara, I think you said - won't be the one for him," Nadir replied.
"Don't plant that thought in my head," I groaned as I looked down at my hands, whose fidgeting had finally ceased. "I suppose now we just wait for him to come back and hear how it went."
~
word count - 4888
updated - 09/27/20
i hope you enjoyed the chapter! it's on the shorter side compared to previous ones, but you guys have finally met Lara!! we are so happy with her character and are so glad that she is finally in the story! thank you for reading!