Lost Girl

Chapter Three: A Revelation

 Controlled Vibrations was a small and unknown music shop where all of the lost musicians go. That was Mari's first stop. Hames opened the door and gestured for her to go in first. Walking past him, Mari walked toward the counter and rang the doorbell attached to the counter.

A wrinkly head poked out from the beaded curtain. The man was bald and had a braided grey colored beard. The man's face went from disgruntled to gruntled within moments of seeing who was ringing the bell. "Mari! I didn't know you were back."

The man, Mick, came around the large front desk and gave her a quick hug. "Yeah, I came a few weeks ago. We had a lot of unpacking to do," she explained, trying for a nonchalant tone.

Mick raised an eyebrow at her before giving her a smile that showed off his slightly yellowed teeth. "So? How was Paris? Find anyone interesting?"

Mari threw back her head and laughed. "No, I didn't meet anyone that interesting. Just a few friends I can email. Got to brush up on my French though. So that was a plus."

Mick's face fell a fraction before he sighed dramatically. "Next time, maybe." His attention turned toward her company. For a moment, she forgot he was there. As much as one could forget a six-foot-tall redhead.

In all her travels, all around the world, she had never seen someone so beautiful. Or so broken. It was there in his eyes, in his posture, the way he carried himself. He thought so poorly of himself, and she could tell that he was trying to hide it.

"Who is this chucklehead?" Mick asked, looking at a straightfaced Hames.

Mari snapped out of her internal rant to reply, "Mick, this is Hames. We go to school together."

"Chucklehead?" Hames asked with an amused tone.
One corner of Mick's lips turned upwards. "Yeah, you heard me. I figured it would be well suited since you're so jovial." Hames rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.

Mari frowned at Hames' lack of reaction before turning to face Mick. "Do you have my baby?"

"Your baby?" Hames asked in shocked curiosity.

Mick grinned at Hames' reaction. "Boy do I." Going around the counter, Mick picked up the violin case my it's base and laid it gently on the counter. "Here she is. All fixed up."

Mari opened the case and took the violin, bringing it closer to cradle it to her chest. "Oh, how I've missed you." Pulling away, she looked at the original Stentor model. Her very first violin.

With a finish that made the dark brown wooden body of the violin shine, it looked like new even though it was an older model. New strings were strung into place, a little rubber piece on the E string to make sure the tight wire didn't cut into the bridge.

Picking up the bow, all its hairs int he right place, she tightened the hairs and laid them on the A string. Twinkle Twinkle Little Star was the first thing to come into her head. Working through the short little song with little thought, she began and ended the song languidly.

Grinning what seemed like ear to ear, she carefully put the bow back on the lid and placed the violin into its rightful place. As she closed the lid and snapped the locks into place, she saw Hames move closer to her from the corner of her eye. Wary of him still, she looked over her shoulder at him.

On his face was a shocked expression, eyebrows lifted and mouth slightly agape. "You're the violinist from City Hall."

Mari felt rouge on her cheeks as she ducked her head lower and bit her lip. Looking to Mick, she only saw him smiling softly at her before turning his attention to the boy making her his center of attention. "Yes, she performs on the street for money."