Diana

18

The next day, she went to Smith's around noon. As promised.

"We are in perfect sync." Smith said as he opened the door for her, "Half an hour ago Lily and I arrived. She's on the terrace. I was preparing something to eat. I hope you like pasta with red sauce."

"Yes. Sure. I'm not that picky about food. I'm going to say hello to Lily, and if you want, I can come and help you. I like sticking my nose in the kitchen."

"You've got that from me. Your mother can't cook even if her life depended on it."

Diana just offered him a tight-lipped smile and went to the terrace.

"Hello! I've arrived, but I'm going to help Smith in the kitchen."

"Diana!" Lily lighted up when she saw her, "I'm glad you're not like me when it comes to cooking. I'll come sit with you two."

Smith and Diana finished cooking the pasta. Then she and Lily set the table.

"I know from my father that you liked to dance when you were little," Lily said as she sat down at the table. "Why haven't you continue with it?"

"In the first two years of dancing, I had a wonderful partner. He liked to dance as much as I did. But he had to move out of town. The rest of the partners I had afterwards, were some marshmallows that I had to pull after me at every step. So, I gave up on getting myself tired for nothing. It was beautiful while it lasted," she shrugged. "After that, I had a small interest in acting, but I quickly realized that it wasn't for me. I don't really know how to lie. In high school I had a great passion for music. I even formed a band with some of my schoolmates."

"Interesting."

"Yes. My colleagues were playing the instruments and I was using my voice. I never knew how to play an instrument or read a partition, but I used my musical ear."

"And what did you sing?"

"Rock."

"Hmmm, that's exactly what I like. Do you have a recorded song or something? I'd love to listen to it."

"I think I can find a few videos online from back then."

"What was the name of your band?" Lily asked, picking up her phone.

"Some band."

Lily played the first song found online. It was really good what they were singing at the time, even if it sounded a little childish. They were just teenagers singing their frustrations.

"What happened to the band? You were on the right track from what I've heard just now?"

"I started working and I didn't have much time for rehearsals. We were doing one video recording a month, maybe. Then everyone went to college and the band dissolved. None of us took this road, so I don't feel so bad. At least I know none of them can tell me: Look what you've lost."

"And all your songs were in English, or you had some in Romanian too?"

"Me and Vlad, the guy with the bass guitar, were thinking the lyrics in English. We thought they sound better that way. We also tried some lyrics in Romanian but we didn't like the way they sound so we just dropped it."

"Interesting. It means you liked English in school."

"Yes. I even went to the English Olympics in one of the years of high school."

"One can tell." Smith also commented. "Your English is impeccable. If I didn't know you, I'd say you were born and raised in New York, judging by your accent."

"Thanks. In a way, I was lucky that I grew up in Romania. We are not obsessed with dubbing cartoons or movies, as is the case in other countries. We have subtitles for them instead. And that helps us learn English easier."