TWOSETVIOLIN • Little Ship Moments

Lover's Lie

"Chloe!" Brett called out as he struggled to get out of his chair. 

"Yeah, Baba?" she replied from the other half of the room, having a wall separating them with an open door at the side.

"Where are we?" He looked around as he looked at the cream-colored walls that surrounded him, they were far from the traditional Chinese curtains he was used to. Nothing felt familiar.

"Oh, Baba...you forgot again?" she answered lovingly. "We're at the music store, their emptiest storage room, at least. The staff just led us here because the TwoSetViolin fans of yours spread the news 15 cities per second! Everyone came here as fast as they could just so they could see my Baba. The staff are trying to line them up so it'll be more orderly."

He looked at her, as if she was saying something out of this world. "TwoSetViolin...? What is that?"

Her eyes started tearing up. What else could she do when her own Baba forgot about the legend he had made together with Dad? The same legendary videos that she always enjoyed as she grew up, watching them film together. 

"Something, Baba. I'm sure it'll all be fine." She looked away as the tears fell uncontrollably, struggling to keep her voice from breaking. She had to go warn the staff and ask them to ward off the fans as gently as they could. It would break their hearts to see him like this.

When she returned, she saw him staring at a violin case right beside him. Her Dad's violin case.

"Can you hand me that, please?"

She was terrified. What if it would break? What if it would make her Baba spiral into insanity when he realized he didn't remember what it was? But she pushed those fears away, her Baba never really asked her to do anything. And this one moment was one she would treasure forever.

"Okay, here you go, just be careful..."

She handed him the legendary Eddy Chen's violin as gently as she could. She expected him to drop it, not knowing what a shoulder rest was for, how to hold it, how to play it, not remembering what he had once been passionate about. It was the one thing that broke her the most. 

But none of that happened. He held it with utmost care, placing it on his shoulder gently as he placed his chin down. She could see the admiration in his eyes, the spark of hope from seeing something familiar. And it gave her some acceptance, some certainty that it was okay to give her Baba the bow.

So she did. And he held it in his hand, the correct bow hold just registering in his mind. It was the first time in a long time to see him hold a violin and have that much love and passion in his eyes. 

She didn't want to cry, not in front of her Baba. But what else can you do if you see your father look at something he had once loved but forgotten with the same glint in his eye, telling you how much he would do anything to reach his dream?

She closed her eyes, telling herself to stop being so emotional, but that idea was thrown out of her head when she heard the familiar notes she had slept to, rewatched multiple times on video and live, and deemed her Baba's.

Tchaikovsky. 

Oh...how she missed the old days. She opened her eyes, checked her Bachpack, and saw the sheet music her Dad had so carefully arranged. She reached for her violin and began playing the accompaniment. They reached until the end, but her Baba didn't stop there. 

She was suddenly brought to the cold place Sibelius had always made her imagine. But it stopped abruptly, and her Baba faltered, tears in his eyes as he held the violin in his hands.

"Why am I crying, Chlo?"

She couldn't tell him the truth. Not when he had looked so happy only seconds before. "You're just happy, Baba. Maybe the people are still out there, I think they'll want to take pictures with you..."

"But we'll go home next, okay? It's late, and Eddy will be wondering where we are," he told her, and she felt her heart shatter into a million pieces.

"Yeah, Baba. Just 10 photos, maybe, then we'll go home."

He nodded in agreement and let her help him up the chair, leading him outside of the room. When he saw everyone, he smiled and approached the people in front of him, finding a way to let about 20 people in one photo, so he wouldn't let the strangers weirdly waiting for him down. 

She could only sigh. He had forgotten again. She looked at the picture that was taken during her Dad's funeral as guilt started weighing down on her. She didn't have the heart to tell her Baba that he was dead. For now, she had to keep up this lover's lie. 

-Val (Nutellingyouwhome)