MOZAIK

16

The moment his hands touched my waist, I began to sob uncontrollably. Everything that had built up inside me since yesterday found its way out. The thick tears I had to hold back earlier in the bathroom at the lobby now streamed down my cheeks and dripped onto Jan's shirt. Another sob shook my body. 

"Hey, everything's fine.", I heard Jan whisper softly. I sobbed loudly once more and buried my face in his shoulder. Apparently nothing was right anymore. "Shhhh," he gently stroked the back of my head. 

I stopped crying only when I had exhausted all my tears. Weary and dizzy, I sat down on the bed. Jan sat down beside me, looking at me with concern. "Come on, what's wrong, Benni?"

I looked up and met his gaze. A deep furrow of worry creased his forehead. Silently, I shook my head. "Benni, please. ",  he placed his hand on mine. "I," I croaked with a hoarse voice.

I cleared my throat. I would refrain from telling him the details of my argument with Vic

"It's all a bit much right now.", I began, putting on an uncertain smile. "You don't need to pretend, Benni. Not with me.", he said.

"Is it because of Vic? What happened between you two?"

"Of course, damn. But it's just girl stuff.", I tried to dismiss. I was aware that everyone had noticed our clash since then, as we deliberately avoided each other.

"Yeah, but some heavy girl stuff. But I can't force you to say anything. If you want to talk, you know where to find me..."

"Talking about that... I was wondering if I could sleep at your place tonight? There are no other rooms available.", I quickly added.

"Sure," he said, shrugging. "I almost figured as much.", he added with a smile, pointing to my suitcases still sitting by the door.

"Thank you, you're a lifesaver.", I smiled.

"No problem.", he said, giving me a friendly pat on the shoulder.

"But now, let's lift your spirits.", he grinned, pointing to the guitar leaning against the wall. "What's better than some harmonic minor noodling when you're feeling down?"

"Not much. It is literally the most beautifully depressing scale." I admitted, grinning.

"Okay, then. Let me her something." He got up to grab the guitar and handed it to me.

I started playing a few notes of the scale and realized how I was slowly drawn into it, the feeling that always gripped me so quickly when playing the guitar and didn't let go until I hardly noticed my surroundings anymore. "Wow, that sounded great." Jan interrupted my playing. He took the guitar from my hand and copied my little riff. "You need to write that down.", he insisted. He was adding some individual notes, whilst I grabbed a napkin from the nightstand and began scribbling the sequence on it. "Alright", Jan brushed his long hair from his face and smiled at me: "I think the accompanying rhythm should be something like this.". He played a chord progression and then the little melody again. "Wow, I really like that.", I praised.

Jan just nodded. He had put a concentrated expression on his face and was still entirely focused on the guitar, so I wasn't even sure if he had noticed my praise. "Okay, okay and for the intro maybe something like that.", he mumbled under his breath.

He played some notes, which formed into a lovely little melody. "I love it!", I put on a slight smile. 

Somehow, the notes I had been playing absentmindedly had turned into a beautiful melancholic melody. Jan was apparently really good at it. I glanced out the window to where the sun had disappeared on the horizon not too long ago, giving way to darkness and pushing away the last rays of sunshine. In the distance, I could make out the restless sea, and suddenly, I felt a bit better.