Please please give me some feedback! And happy new year!!!
3 weeks later
“I guess I could do that… You know that is bit out of my comfort zone but I guess I have to say yes to you so you don’t fire me, bossman”
“Thank you so much! The performance you did at Nathan’s birthday was perfect, and I really want to surprise Kai”, I heard Joss saying at the other end of the line. I had just agreed to sing at his wife’s birthday party. I performed a silly little musical medley at Nathan’s party a couple of months earlier and got a lot of undeserved praise from that. I had always been aware of the fact that I was alright singer, but nothing special, at least not in my eyes – the talent was probably inherited from my father who had been really musical. When I was a child I wanted to sing and perform all the time, usually with the help of my father. But when he died, I was so crushed that I stopped my piano lessons and sang only if I was literally forced to. I had agreed to do it at Nathan’s birthday just because I had already consumed a couple of glasses of champagne. And the crowd there was really intimate, consisting of only people I knew. I knew the crowd at Kai’s birthday would be totally different.
“Just text me the song you have in mind and I will rehearse it”, I said. Joss agreed to do so later that night and we ended our conversation. I would have 2 days to rehearse before the birthday. Thank god, knowing Joss, the party would still be laid back even though they have probably invited a quite high number of guests.
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“Yeah, of course I will come”, I said to Joss at the end of our lunch meeting. He had just invited me to his wife’s birthday party which was to take place later that night.
“I have a treat for Kai which I think will also delight you”, Joss said, winking his eye at me.
“Well, I am intrigued and looking forward to it”, I said and smiled.
“Okay Tom, I will see you tonight. The party starts at 7.” Joss said whilst he got up from his seat.
“Cool, I will see you there”
The thought that entered my mind the moment Joss mentioned the party was that will Mira be there. I had been tempted to call or text her since the date 3 weeks ago, but the whole “good luck with your future” fiasco had kinda made me realize that she probably wasn’t that interested. I had been thinking about her daily. Mostly I was bothered by the fact that I did not really know why she was not interested – the date was probably the best date I had ever been on and it seemed like she was having a good time. I hoped she would be at the party, just to get some type of closure to the situation.
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“I am so pleased to introduce you to my dear friend and colleague, Mira Warner. The ones who were lucky enough to attend Nathan’s birthday might have seen her hilarious musical medley. This time she is singing something a bit more serious. Kai, this is from me to you”, Joss said and flew a kiss to his wife. I stepped to the little stage they had put up just for the occasion and went to sit by the piano.
“Kai, happy birthday! This is Endless Love”, I said and put my fingers to the piano keys. Once the first note became audible, I forgot the audience and got through with the song. As I hit the last note, the audience was quiet for a while and then started to clap and hoot. Kai was in Joss’s embrace and Joss winked at me with a grateful face. Nathan was fist bumping in the audience, holding his phone in his other hand; of course he had filmed everything. As I stood up and started to join the party crowd, I saw him – Tom. He was smiling, but it looked like he had cried. I wanted to talk to him – I had been dying to talk to him since the date. I felt like I somehow had to explain myself and the whole “good luck” thing. I feel like I might have left him hanging without any kind of explanation. But just as I started to walk towards him I was pulled to the crowd of people, telling me how beautiful the song was.
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When I saw her by the piano, I knew this was the treat Joss was talking about. I had heard her sing at the restaurant, but this seemed like something lot more personal. When the first note hit the air, she went to her own little world. By the time the song was finished, I realized I was crying. Her version of the song was so filled with love and longing and it made me crush on her even more. I felt like a school boy crushing on someone I did not really have any chance with.
When she left the stage, she turned to my direction and saw me. A sad smile spread to her face and after a while she started to walk towards me, determined. Maybe now I would get my closure. But suddenly she disappeared from my sight when the other guests started to pull her into a little puddle of people.
The goal for the night was not to lose the sight of her.
