The Piano || 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘣𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬

|34| This better be worth it.

The next day, her sore throat fortunately hadn't gotten any worse. Jerry forced her to stay home and relax but she couldn't keep herself from going over the video for the thousandth time, looking out for minor mistakes, which she did find.

Jerry left in the evening to get them something to eat. She walked around their apartment, searching for something to do, when her phone chimed. She picked it up and glanced at the screen, not expecting anything special.

It was Sam.

He had texted her a quick and simple, "Hey."

Ashley froze in her tracks, staring at the message. Sam never texted her. She never texted Sam. Not since they'd planned the first trip. What did this message mean? And would it be weird if she answered immediately?

Sam
Hey

Ashley
hi?

Sam
okay, i know that this is weird, but i just found out something interesting

Ashley
and what's that?

Sam
i don't want to tell you over text. it's not about you or colby, i swear. can you come over?'

Ashley
no, why would i randomly come over like this?

Sam
ashley, please.

Ashley
what, sam?? why tf would you want me to come close to colby again right after i got over it?

Sam
it's about the goddamn hotel

Ashley
hoffman hotel?

Sam
yeah

Ashley
what about it

Sam
i won't tell you if you don't come over.

Ashley
screw u now i can't not come

Sam
it'll take half an hour max, then you'll never have to see us again, i promise
colby's said yes as well, he agrees that we need you here

Ashley
fine. i'll be right there.

Ashley sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. This was a bad idea, and she had made plenty of those in a very short time span. But she couldn't just ignore what Sam had said. Something about the Hoffman Hotel. They had found out something that no one knew yet.

Jerry would be home any minute now, and because she knew that he wouldn't let her go, she got up from the couch and headed to her room, changing in warm and comfortable but also presentable clothes. She was about ninety-nine percent sure that the boys would be filming her, so she put on more make-up than usual, trying to cover up the sick look on her face.

Knowing that riding her bike wouldn't be smart in her state, due to the dizziness and dullness in her mind, she ordered an Uber and waited for it to arrive in front of the apartment complex.

Arriving at Sam and Colby's place made Ashley's heartbeat slow down. She put on a fake smile as she got out of the Uber and stood on the sidewalk, but it didn't look convincing, so she let her face drop again. I can't do this, she thought, staring at the house. All the drama with Colby... She couldn't repeat that. She couldn't.

It was too late to go back. Sam already opened the door, greeting her with an apologetic smile.

"Hi Ashley," he said a little timidly as she walked to him into the house. "I'm so sorry to drag you back here, believe me. But this is too important." She could sense his excitement and involuntarily gave him a crooked smile.

"This better be worth it," she sighed as he led her to the living room.

Colby was already there, sitting on the couch. He looked up as Ashley entered but immediately turned away as she caught his gaze.

"Hi," she greeted him silently. He nodded curtly.

There were already a camera and a laptop set up on the couch table, pointing at whoever would be sitting on the couch. Ashley looked at Sam and he gestured to the middle of the couch for her to sit down. She obliged reluctantly, not wanting to be this close to Colby. Sam walked behind the camera and turned it on.

"So," he began as he sat down to the right of Ashley. "We thought we were done with Hoffman Hotel, didn't we?"

Ashley nodded slowly, tilting her head.

"Well. I got a call some time ago. But let's let her explain it herself." Sam reached forward and revealed that on the laptop was an open Zoom call with a black woman in her thirties. She was smiling and gave Ashley a little wave.

"Hello, Ashley," she greeted her with a thick accent Ashley couldn't quite define. She smiled back.

"Hi, you are?"

"Ronja Miller, a German historian. I work at a university in Berlin. Nice to meet you." Ashley smiled confusedly, with a hint of expectation in her eyes. "I was informed by your friend there, Sam, that you would like to know more about Ernst and Ilse Hoffman?" She ended the sentence with a question, looking for confirmation.

Ashley had never talked to Sam about wanting to know more, but she nodded, nonetheless. "Yeah," she said slowly. "Did you... Do you have any, um, information?"

"I do, actually," Ronja said with a wink. "Watching the video got me interested in the hotel's history. I began researching Ernst's and Ilse's lives, but I'm sure that's not the part you are interested in."

"No, please tell me more," Ashley quickly said. "I'm interested in anything that has to do with them, to be honest."

"I can send you a file later. For now, let's get to the most exciting part," the woman stated. "So, you had a theory. That Ilse's lover might have been a woman and not a man."

Ashley felt her breath hitch in her chest and her eyes widened. "There's no way," she breathed, scooting forward until she was sitting on the edge of the couch.

Ronja smirked slightly. "I believe there is. Helene Schneider was born in 1903 and played the piano for a large part of her life. We don't know much about her youth, but we know that she kept most of the letters she was sent," Ronja told Ashley. The redhead's eyes were glued on the screen, and she could hear Sam and Colby chuckle behind her. Well, mainly Sam.

"And you're telling me that the letters..." Ashley hesitated to finish the sentence.

"They were signed with the initials I.H. They were directed at Helene in a very romantic way."

Ashley leaned back until she felt her head hit the couch. She took a deep breath. "What. The. Fuck. I'm sorry. But that's insane. And you're telling me you found that out because of our wild guess?"

"Yes, that was our impetus to look further into Ilse Hoffman's life," Ronja confirmed.

"Do you have like a copy of the letters you could show me? A scan or something?" Ashley asked. She needed to see those initials.

"Yes," Ronja simply said, pulling out a piece of paper to show it to the camera. There, in deep blue ink, were two ornate letters below a full page of dense, tight handwriting. And Ashley recognized those letters.

"Oh my god," she breathed, her voice thin. "That's exactly the same handwriting as on my ring."

"Yes," Ronja said, smiling slightly. "I saw the clip at the end. I must say, had I not been the first one to find out about the letters, I wouldn't have believed you that the initials were real. But now that we've confirmed that they were in fact written in the same handwriting as Ilse Hoffman's, I don't doubt what you showed in the video."

"Ashley," Sam said, making her turn around. "You know what this means, right?"

She was grinning widely but still avoiding looking at Colby. She could feel him shift next to her, trying not to be too close. Sam, on the other hand, jokingly hit her arm as she said the next words.

"We're going back to Hoffman Hotel."