Parade Des Fleurs

9

"Sophie?" Alistair turned the handle to the Oberlin apartment. Unlocked. Ugh, careless as ever. He called out to her again, and again, but heard no answer. She's hiding from me. 

"Damn it, Soph, I don't have time for this -" He was interrupted by a quivering sound that sliced through the air, cutting his words off - the resonance of a bow gliding across violin strings. It was a sound of fire escapes, and the wind hammering against two people on the roof watching the un go down, dying summers, and crisp autumn. It was a sound that tugged the corners of his mouth into a reluctant smile, although he wasn't happy in the least. He knew what was about to happen. 

"Sophie - " And it happened again, cutting him off sharply. The note was harsher this time, like a signal to shut up, leave this place. A warning. 

" I just want to - ARGH-" A flurry of dissonant notes rang out, rising above his voice. This was classic Sophie - when she wanted to be left alone, she didn't need words to express her feelings. She let the strings of her violin do the talking, and it got the message across crystal clear. This was what she had done all her life - be it arguments with her parents, her grandmother, her friends, or Alistair. If she was angry she would take her violin out and let rip, making it emit screeching sounds that could drive you right of the flat. 

But he wasn't going to give up. 

"That's not going to work!" Sophie began violently dragging her bow across the strings, creating loud ragged sounds that pierced Alistair's brain. But he covered his ears with his hands, and began following the, now fainter, violin sounds through the apartment, stopping outside her bedroom, where the noises swelled and made his head ache. 

"Sophie!" He yelled, banging on the closed door, "I found you!" The noises ceased, and he heard a thump through the wood, like she'd kicked a wall. 

"You - you can't come in! I'm in my underwear!"

" That's a lame excuse - why would you be playing violin in your underwear?"

"Why not? Either way, I'm not letting you come in!"

"Well, I'm coming in anyway!" Alistair barged in only to see Sophie sitting on the floor, violin in hand - wearing nothing but a bra and some briefs. Sophie shrieked, sprinting towards the wall and hiding behind the curtain.

"AH I'M SORRY! I didn't think you actually were telling the truth! You should have told me!" Alistair yelled angrily, covering his eyes.

"I did tell you! GET OUT, you pervert."

"No! if I go you'll just barricade yourself in your room!"

"Damn right I will! But you're still leaving!" Sophie growled, enraged. She suddenly strode across the room, still in her underwear, grabbing hold of Alistair's arm, causing him to accidentally open his eyes.

"hey, what the hell Soph? Just put something on! I was covering my eyes -"

"Well, you're not anymore!"

 "Sophie, you are an impossible little bi-" Sophie dragged him across the room, shoving him into the corridor and slamming the door.  

Sophie had always been attached to her violin. It started off a forced practice, pressed down on her by wildly talented parents. After all, it just seemed right for the daughter of a renowned local cellist and world famous multi talented musician Ari Oberlin to at least try her hand at an instrument. It was no surprise when she could easily string out any complicated piece you placed in front of her at no less than age five. Sophie had been delighted to find a piece of herself hidden in the strings of a violin - until the competition dates came springing up from nowhere. It was expected - her parents knew the circuit better than anyone, her mother most of all. The number one rule? Start out young. From there on, life seemed to read as clearly as a piece of music to Sophie; music and school, with the occasional appearance of the boy next door. For a while, it was fine, she raked in the prize money and scholarship promises as if it were nothing, until something changed. Alistair remembered the day Sophie had decided enough was enough, even going as far to snap her bow in half and cast it out the window. It was when they were nine, and secondary school was beginning to seem closer than before. Her parents wanted to homeschool her for the remaining two years of primary school, to make time for more music practice so she could eventually attend Fitzgerald Atticus Music Academy in Italy. Sophie blatantly refused, for reasons that were still shrouded in mystery even to Alistair, and quit her music lessons. She threatened to abandon music forever, which in turn meant cutting herself off from her parents. Sophie still played the violin, it had become a medium to express herself after all those years of intense training, but the lessons and guidance from her parents had stopped. 

Alistair, on the most part, had agreed with her actions. He'd seen how miserable Sophie had been up until the age of nine. Her life had revolved around competing, interviews with the local radio station, and constant practice. He had grown accustomed to the sound of the violin over the years, as annoying he found it, but the sound he couldn't bear was Sophie sobbing on the fire escape. He wished he could help her, make her parents stop, but the only thing he could do was console her in his own childish way - chocolate stolen from the kitchen and computer games, but it was enough for her. Alistair would never know that, though.

Alistair had stood behind Sophie on most of her actions - be them as crazy or wild as they came. But her leaving for the FAMA, in his eyes, was the ultimate betrayal. Not for himself, although his heart had been breaking in two, but for Mr and Mrs Oberlin. It must have been a slap in the face - although he didn't know which part would have hurt more; the fact she had gone for the audition in the city centre without telling anyone, her being so dramatic over refusing to be groomed and trained to go through the gruelling lifestyle as a budding musician, only to then audition years later for the very school they trained her for, or for their only child to be accepted into the music academy that neither of them had been able to qualify for with their endless hours of practice and competition prep, even after having stopped the intensive training for four years. Maybe he was wildly wrong, but Alistair knew Sophie's parents. Intense, extremely engrossed in their work, and very self absorbed - god knows why they decided to have a child. But he knew that under all the rage they exhibited, there were green monsters of jealousy and hurt. Maybe that was why they had decided to go on a business trip a day before their kid returned from a year long stay in Italy. But as much as Sophie's parents were being asshats, she herself was in no means innocent. Her actions had been the build up of years of feeling abandoned, hurt, and like a disappointment - a great big middle finger flying in the air like a banner. Sophie Oberlin was beautiful, wildly talented, extremely skilled in the sciences ... and a complete mess with no common sense and inhibitions worse than a toddler's. She barrelled through life like a true artists, becoming so intoxicated with the idea of living that she hurtled head first into any activity she could find - only to lose interest a few days later. She had had two constants in her life: Alistair Sharpe, and her violin. Although, it seemed apparent to Alistair that there could only be one sense of stability for her, and it sure as hell was't him anymore. Musicians. Crazy people, that's what Alistair had deducted from living next door to a family of them his entire life. 

Just as quickly as she had kicked her ex boyfriend out her room, Sophie opened the door again. Still in her underwear, which sent any thoughts of Alistair's concerning Sophie having any sense of maturity flying out the door.