Music in the Key of Love

Chapter 32: Soho

Cressida had to block Graham's number because he was texting and calling her so much. She was afraid to talk to him, afraid to read his texts, because of what she might do. She missed him so much it was hard to breathe sometimes.

Christmas was all around her, the city decked out in angels and holly, and she made plans to go home for the holidays. For the first time in her life, she dreaded Christmas. She couldn't help but think about Graham and his competition on the 21st. She hoped he'd do well, and wondered if she could get a ticket to see it.

"Don't do it," Andrea warned. "You'll see him looking all handsome and pianist-y with his hands and shoulders, and then you're done for."

"I know, I know, but he wouldn't even know I was there—what harm would it do? I could see him without him even knowing, it's a win-win, isn't it?"

"It's a lose-lose, girlie, trust me. Don't go."

She came home from school one day in the second week of December to find Katherine waiting for her on her stoop, looking glamorous and model like with her flaxen hair flowing out from under a fur trimmed hat.

Cressida stopped for a moment on the street, and debated just continuing to walk by her own apartment, but Katherine had seen her and had turned toward her expectantly.

"What do you want?" She managed to keep her voice steady, even though all she could think about was what Katherine had looked like the last time she'd seen her, topless in Graham's bed.

"I need to talk to you, please. It will only take a moment." Katherine smiled tentatively.

"Okay." Cressida climbed the steps and stood facing her on the stoop.

"Here? Outside?" Katherine seemed nonplussed. "Right, then." She looked around before looking at Cressida again. "Have you spoken to Graham at all?"

Cressida shook her head.

"I didn't think so. Look, there's something you should know. He went to my mum last week, right after—right after it happened, and told her he was withdrawing from the competition, that he was through with the piano. They had a terrible row, and he packed his things and left that night."

Cressida stared at her. "What?" she was aghast.

Katherine nodded. "Since then he's been kipping at a friend's house, in SoHo, I happen to know.

"But why?"

"He told her it took too much time, that he was missing his own life, and that it had poisoned his relationship with you."

"But it had nothing to do with his piano playing, doesn't he know that?" Cressida was beside herself. "The idiot." She looked at Katherine anxiously. "He can't quit the competition, he just can't! He needs to win, he needs the money, and he's been dreaming of studying in London all his life."

Katherine looked at her. "I know all that, don't you think I do?" She bit her lips together before speaking again. "I suppose you think I owe you an apology?"

Cressida considered before answering. "No. I'm nothing to you, why would you care if I got hurt? I don't think you're a bad person, just weak. You had something and you lost it through your own weakness. Then, when you saw your chance, you tried to get it back."

"Wait a minute, though, I didn't force Graham, you know."

Cressida swallowed. "I know that. I have to live with that every day."

"He regrets it, though, you know that as well, right? He regrets it."

Cressida nodded.

"If the choice is me or you," Katherine went on, "there's no question whom he chooses." She shook her long blond hair back briskly. "Look, I didn't come here to discuss my shortcomings as a human being and a woman with you." She pulled a gloved hand out of her pocket and held out a piece of paper. "This is where he's staying, see if you can change his mind. It's wrong on every level for Graham to give up his music, surely you can see that." She turned and descended the steps, hailing a passing taxi with an elegant wave of her hand.