[Mister the Tall Pianist]

Part 5

What if it was to see you again?

Do you think the Gods will allow me to?

Even for a brief second?

Your heart fluttered at the three post-its that were neatly placed on the door.

He wanted to see you again. You could barely believe it. You were so excited you just wanted to go sit back to the same place you were at on your first encounter with him.

Just as you started making your way to the 7th row after picking up the notes, you stopped in your track, suddenly remembering his uneasiness of playing in front of a public. You didn't want to make him feel nervous and you really needed today's study lesson as it was for an exam for the next day. You couldn't let yourself get sidetracked, even when your heart was screaming at you to show yourself, that something good would happen if you did.

Of course, you took for the rational part of your brain and made your way upstairs instead, settling in your usual spot.

When Berthold came in and saw nobody in the music hall, his mind was relieved, but his heart dropped as it also meant that you weren't there.

Maybe that was too fast? You probably wrote this second message just to be nice...

But your question... you understood his music so well, it was as if you felt it just like he did, though you were able to put words on it while he could just put notes and measures.

So he tried to look out for your early departure (as you would always leave him a note before he finished practice and not before, he deduced that you had to be leaving before him). However, he ended up feeling overwhelmed by his emotions as soon as he had laid a finger on a pale key.

The resulting melody was heavy with sadness, every note falling like lonely raindrops and flooding the room with solitude.

This unusual and never before heard tone in Bertholdt's music concerned you. Yet, it mesmerized you all the same, just like all the other tunes he had played before. Though, instead of lifting your spirit to a state of peacefulness, it felt like the notes seeped right through you like cold water, drenching your soul and making your body feel tense and heavy as you slumped deeper in your chair. Even the room seemed to darken as the notes filled the room, thickening the air as they had no means to escape.

You stared blankly at your notebook, the lines and words still as clear as day, although you couldn't read them anymore.

... So much for wanting to study for tomorrow's exam...

But you couldn't help but wonder what could have saddened the pianist so much. Maybe he had a bad day or an argument with a friend or maybe it was family issues? It couldn't possibly be because you didn't show yourself... right?

You tried to shake off the questions from your mind to focus again on your studies and though the music made it slow and painful, you still got through your notes twice and told yourself that you could study more once at home.

So you closed your books and shut your eyes and relaxed in your chair for a few minutes, basking in the music for the time being... You wondered what you were going to write him in today's Post-it. For sure, you were going to ask him what made him so sad all of a sudden, but what else could you add?

You straightened your back to look over the railing only to see the tall pianist with his eyes clenched shut, as if he refused to accept reality. His lips were drawn into a thin line, his jaw probably as tense as his shoulders. His back was also beginning to arch, his head slowly falling towards the piano with the desire to disappear into the crease of his shoulders as if he were a turtle.

That's when you realized just how tall he was...

That's when you knew exactly what to write into his next Post-it.