This one life

Roundabouts I

Did you take a wrong turn to pass me by
or did you mean to walk past to catch my eye?
'Cause you were acting kinda shy

"Roundabouts", Michael Patrick Kelly

Serena is a very charming young lady, and intelligent, too. I have rarely had the opportunity to speak to teenagers in the last years because I mostly deal with adults. However, I find myself enjoying her company and listen to her explanations on why she chose Latin although she hates it, why she plays football and does ballet at the same time, and how she would love to have a million other hobbies but fails to squeeze them all into her timetable. When she mentions that she dropped her piano lessons for lack of time, I interrupt her.

„Du spielst Klavier?", I ask her. Stupid question, really. I look around just as stupidly, but of course, there is no piano to be seen.

„Oh, nein. Ich hatte Unterricht. Aber ich bin sehr schlecht. Ehrlich", she ensures me, and when she sees my searching glance, she adds „Es steht oben, in meinem Zimmer."

„Kann ich es mal sehen?", I ask and she answers with a shy smile and a blush, but gets up nevertheless to lead the way upstairs. Her piano is a very simple, straightforward model in ebony. Of course, she refuses to play when I ask her for it, but at least she shows me her music books so I can see what she played last. She keeps saying that it has been over a year since she last played and that she would be unable to even play as little as a scale, but I just laugh it off.

„Aber Sie können natürlich gerne darauf spielen, wenn Sie wollen", she now says while I study one of her music books.

„Oh, Du musst mich nicht siezen. Ich finde das komisch. Schließlich duze ich dich ja auch", I say and she blushes again, but nods.

„Nenn' mich einfach Paddy, okay?"

„Okay", she says, and I cannot help but think back, just for a moment, to how I got rid of the 'Sie' with her mother....

„Also wenn Du noch was spielen willst, dann jetzt gleich, Fabian soll ja gleich schlafen, dann geht es sowieso nicht mehr", she now adds to take up our previous conversation, and I have to admit that this is a valid point. I therefore abandon the piano and look around in her bedroom some more before we go back downstairs. Suddenly, I remember that I still have the DVD with the Graham Norton Show in my car and get out to fetch it. I have a missed phone call by my manager, but he will have to wait until tomorrow, when we meet anyhow. I place my phone and the DVD on the wooden table in the living room and finish my Apfelschorle while Serena seems to be filling the dishwasher and Jasmin is still nowhere to be seen.

By the time Jasmin has tucked Fabian in and comes back downstairs, Serena has almost managed to get the DVD player to operate and wastes no time in telling her mother of our intention to watch the show. Jasmin looks exhausted, but smiles nevertheless.