A Taste of Candor

Chapter 4

~Tahlia.

The musicians' guild did not prove hasty in supplying us a new man to lead our home band's saxophone section, a fact which agitated my mother a good deal. My father, on the other hand, opted to calmly wait it out and advised us to do the same. After all, no amount of fretting on our part would accelerate the process, so why bother?

Three days after my visit to the guild's office, I found myself enjoying fine spring weather, with a pleasant breeze cooling my face and the sun gently warming my back. I sat on our expansive front porch at a glass table, eating lunch with Keene. Our cooking staff had taken some of the cod he'd caught the day before, breaded it, and paired the fish with meaty fries. The resulting meal was certainly a delectable one.

In fact, the food was so delicious that our conversation gradually petered out. The silence between us wasn't unpleasant, however, as bird songs swirled all around and contributed to a cheery ambience I enjoyed very much. But nonetheless, a question trickled into my mind, and I decided not to be tardy in asking it.

"You haven't yet told me, did your father try to talk you into getting a degree again?"

Keene leaned back in his seat and chuckled, staring down at his food for a few seconds before finally meeting my gaze. "He wouldn't be my father if he didn't. We had the same conversation we always do ... you know how it goes."

I smiled and nodded. "I know very well. Which did he push your way this time, doctor or lawyer?"

"Well, this might surprise you, Tahlia, but he opted to point me to engineering this time."

"Really? This is a new development."

Keene smirked. "I suppose he figured since I enjoy working with my hands, it stands to reason I'd appreciate the opportunity to become the next great inventor."

"Have you given it any honest consideration, though? It is true you like to keep your hands busy."

"You're correct, but electronics don't interest me. Using them is one thing, but building them is quite another."

"I can't say I feel any different." I said with a nod.

"There's enough money in the Abrams name already, you see." Keene declared while stretching his arms out, "I have no need to labor for the sake of earning money, but simply to earn respect as a man. If I wish to put in eight hours a day like most men, all I need to do is buy a fishing vessel and hire a crew to man it."

"This is true. We are better off than most."

After I finished speaking, my gaze alit on a man of slender frame who had just stepped through our front gate. In his sinewy hands, he carried a tattered saxophone case and a bundle of papers, and he strode toward the porch steps with impeccably upright posture and determined eyes.

He rested those resolute eyes on me when he'd come into earshot and parted his lips to speak. "Excuse me, Miss, is this the Paige residence?"

I offered a kind smile and rose to my feet as gracefully as I could. Keene remained casually seated and eyed the newcomer curiously.

"Yes," I said, "I'm Tahlia Paige, and you are...?"

"Simon Bale." he answered curtly, "Pleased to meet you."

"I assume you were sent by the musicians' guild?"

"Yep. I was told your band director would meet me at the front door."

I exchanged a glance with Keene before checking my watch. "Perhaps you're early? It is ten 'til the hour, after all."

Simon flicked his own wrist up and rolled his eyes after looking at his own watch. "The early bird can't get the worm if the worms don't show up early too."

I hadn't originally intended on laughing at Simon's statement, given his visible irritation, but when Keene let out an unfiltered chortle, I joined in. Simon's vexed eyes snapped over to us before he huffed and sat down on the stairs with his back to us. One could only hope the man's musical performances were more pleasant than his demeanor off the bandstand.

* * * * *

~Declan.

Locked away in my bedroom with my saxophone in hands, I leaned toward the music on the stand before me. I squinted at the procession of notes on the staff, my fingers reluctantly shifting into the places each individual note dictated. This exercise in reading music brought me back to the days I was new to the horn and knew nothing. I knew my saxophone up and down quite well just by the sound of it, but being told which tones to play by a piece of paper just introduced an extra step into the process I personally didn't find all that necessary. Nobody should be barred from public speaking because they don't know how to read, so why should music be any different?

I sighed and returned my attention to the music in front of me. Another painful aspect I was discovering was that even logical intervals like octaves looked just as illogical on the staff as any other jump, and accidentals only added to the confusion. So many rules to keep in mind all at once when all I wanted to do from the start was play some music and please some ears. And rhythms were yet another layer of complexity I found intuitive normally, but suddenly became so much more complex when I had to consciously think about them through reading.

So I painstakingly worked my way through the eight-measure exercise I'd been agonizing over once more, then with a squint, I closed my eyes and played it again from memory. For all its negatives, I was realizing that was one benefit to sheet music—it made musical phrases accessible almost instantaneously to a skilled reader to then be drilled out and hammered into the subconscious.

Not only that, but if I just did the hard work of reading a passage a few times and practicing it, from there, my memory could take over and I wouldn't have to read it ever again. Maybe this was a challenge now, but hopefully not for long. A few weeks of hard work, and maybe I'd be able to join the guild to get some work.

I leaned back in my seat to take a break and give work some thought. How would I pay my bills in the meantime? After all, freelancing wasn't working out, and it'd be a bit until I could join the guild, so would I have to work some other type of job for a month or two to keep a roof over my head?

While thinking that over, I hit upon a third option I hadn't considered up to that point. Seasoned musicians always told me the two pillars to successful freelancing were a good reputation and extensive networking, and while the first took quite a while to build, I had a way to work on the second. Even if it wasn't work, per se, jam sessions were an option. They could be a good opportunity to meet other musicians and be heard. Some particularly appreciative listeners would even tip individual players who touched their hearts or impressed their ears, so there was a possibility of a little pocket change here and there.

This new idea motivated me to get back to practicing, having resolved in my mind I'd head out when I finished to find establishments where musicians gathered to jam. Maybe I'd find my decision to move to Silverport hadn't been a presumptuous one after all.

* * * * * 

A/N: Alright, not the most eventful chapter, but definitely a step forward for each of our leads; I'm sure we're curious to see how the Paiges' new saxophonist turns out, and how Declan does with his jam sessions. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and if so, please do vote and comment. 😁

I don't have anything particular to ask about the story on this chapter, so...onto the random question, I guess. 😂

Umm...what's a fairly big goal you're working toward? 

(For me, I'm trying to get my driver's license finally. Testing's been hard to schedule for a while because of covid.) 

Have a great week, and I'll see you in the next update!