Heart's Tempo (Wattys2014) [EDITING]

Chapter 18

Days slowly turned into weeks, weeks turn into months, Nisa waited for news, any kind of news about an incident involving one faculty from the music school and Henry, but there was none. Could it be that no one saw it? Not even in the CCTV cameras?

For so many times, Nisa wanted to ask what happened at the music school, but thought it would be better not to get herself involved with anything that has to do with Fourth. Now, she actually believed Henry made the right decision to not take the music school’s management from Aidan.

Nisa has slowly dismissed what Fourth told her the last time, ‘don’t believe in everything Henry says.’ She couldn’t think of any other reason why he would say something like that, except that he wants to destroy their relationship.

For the first time, Nisa heard Henry’s violin again. He was playing Paganini’s caprice for violin solo in A minor, if she wasn’t mistaken. Funny, she didn’t notice him bringing his violin case in the office, oh well…she walked slowly to his office, where almost everyone in the floor can hear him playing, and they appreciate it. Nisa watched him through the glass doors, playing intensely; his fingers flying all over the violin’s fingerboard even with his eyes closed.

It had been years, five years to be exact since Henry last touched his violin. For some reason, when he took over some of the family business, he stopped playing the violin; she actually thought it was something bad. Maybe it was just a phase for Henry; looking at him now, Nisa was sure he hasn’t forgotten what it was like to play music. It was said that Caprice by Paganini is one of the most difficult pieces written for violin. As Henry told her before, he chose to play the piece during their graduation to challenge himself. He described it as a piece that requires advanced techniques, extremely fast scales, high positions, quick string crossing…Nisa was lost in the barrage of technical terms Henry told her. She thought he’d forget how it was to play it, but with the way he was playing it now, he deserved a standing ovation.

Henry stopped three minutes into the piece, as he felt someone was watching him and he was right. Nisa was standing by the door, watching him with a smile. He motioned her to go inside, then set his violin on his desk.

“Why didn’t you finish it?” She asked. Nisa wanted to kiss him at that moment. When did he become more handsome?

“I just thought…I thought I forgot how to play the violin…”

“You haven’t.”

He was gazing at Nisa. For a moment there, he also wanted to kiss her, but reminded himself that they were at the office. Well, just a few more weeks until his birthday and he can break the question to Nisa.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Nothing, I’m reminded again that I’m so lucky to have you by my side…”

“We still have an hour to go before five, are you sure you want to be my boyfriend and not my boss, this early?”

Henry laughed at the comment. Nisa was so used to him now that she even noticed the way he treats her as just an employee during work hours and a girlfriend after work hours. He needed to separate those two so they can do their respective jobs. Nisa had no complains, even when he becomes irritable, short tempered, she had the longest patience he had ever known.

“You know what, let’s go out tonight. You can go home early and do whatever it is you do and become stunningly beautiful, I’m taking you somewhere I know you’d like.”

“Seriously? You’re letting me go home an hour early?”

“Yes, before I change my mind and…” Kiss you right there…was what he really wanted to say, but stopped himself.