The Red House

Chapter 25

Before Matthew left The Red House the next morning, he made sure Feather had given him all the useful information on her father. But she didn't really give him much, arguing that it has been years since she was updated with her father's life. The only thing that Feather could give was the former firm that her father used to own and his name, Ricardo Vincenzo.

It was insane. The way he'd fallen for her out of the blue. He guessed she needs to come with a warning label. Something like;

Feather Heart: To be taken with sex, fortitude and only in small, non lethal doses.

As much as Matthew wanted to start his search that night for her father, he couldn't. Tonight was his first night singing at the new restaurant a couple of blocks away from his house and he was so nervous. It's been a while since he last sang. It's been a while since he's done anything in music. He didn't want his first night on the job and back in music to be such a failure.

The restaurant was called "Bleeker", it was Italian and very sophisticated, per say. Matthew was lucky enough to pass through the audition considering their high standards. It only opens at night, during dinner, but the employees much come in at noon to prepare their special, talk about ways on how to describe their best wine for the night, and pre-cook whatever needs to be pre-cooked. The owner, Rachel, told him to go over his set list and talk to her about it over lunch, which they have together like a family, eating leftovers from the night before.

--

"Matthew, you're on." Rachel called at around 7:30. He'd been hanging around at the kitchen, singing the song in his head, worried he might suddenly forget the lyrics.
At the sound of Rachel's voice, Matthew's heart suddenly dropped. He took a moment and thought of nothing but Feather to calm his nerves. Fortunately, it worked.

"I, uh, hey folks, how you doing tonight?", came in Matthew's voice from the mic.
All he could hear was, well nothing, no response.

And then, then inspiration hit him.

"I have something to say before I sing; I think you're like me right now, in a similar romantic place. In her eyes I see all the other possibilities. The dream-world possibilities. The fairytale possibilities. The seemingly impossible possibilities. And I think that's the same for you for your person that has your heart. One time when I was lying next to her, I had the feeling I had just found something that I didn't even know I'd lost. And also I think you have that same thing. What I'm trying to say is don't let the bad memories of something be your anchor that stops you from being with them. Sometimes I would open my eyes when we were kissing, I would watch her and I could see it. I could actually see LOVE - not words, not an emotion, not an abstract concept or a subjective state of mind, but a living, breathing thing. And one day you're going to experience that with your person too, because thanks to this world yours and your 'one'  relationship built into this great love. My love has the sky in her eyes and I've always wanted to touch the goddamn sky. The love of your life has that sky for you and one day you'll do the same and it's all because every moment of your life has led up to that. Sure it has bad memories for you but it's also the main part of your love story."

And with that he got the crowds attention and sang his first song with ease, unable to make mistakes or anything of the matter. He kept his mind glued on the thoughts of being with Feather, picturing her face, her smile, her laugh, her hair-her everything. Throughout the first half of his set, he had done well.

Feather is like a battering-ram. She's devastation Matthew could see coming from a dozen miles away, nothing subtle but everything complicated. And one that he can barely avoid if he stood to close. One that will relentlessly beat down the doors until they break down. One that will knock the breath out of him the first time it catches me off guard. One that will do him in for good if he doesn't get the hell out of the way. But he's sure she'd be annoyed if she found out that he compared her to a battering-ram. She's also like an asteroid crash. She hurtles through space, heading straight for earth completely unexpected and completely unavoidable. Before the earth is it and the lives of everyone in it change, people hold their breath and watch her spectacular descent with a mixture of awe and trepidation because they have never seen something like her before. And they're not sure whether or not they'll survive her impact.

When he left to have his break-finally eat dinner-the tip jar that was sitting on top of his piano was already half full.
"Matthew, that was amazing!" Rachel smiled.
Her wide smile hadn't changed throughout the night as she greeted costumers and accompanying them to their table. She looked the part being the hostess, having the same friendly smile, matched with her cherry red hair and petite figure.
"The costumers have been commenting about you all night!"
Matthew smiled, pleased with what he's done. "Thanks."
"Okay, now go have your dinner, but be back soon!" she directed.

As Matthew headed for the kitchen, he could already smell the intoxicating aromas of the food being cooked inside. It was only then he felt hungry.
"Matthew?" someone called.
"Yeah?" he turned around the meet a familiar beautiful face.
Her blond hair had gone shorter, coming from beyond her shoulders, they shortened to her chin. Her blue eyes sparkled as she looked up to him with uncertainty. She was still beautiful with her simple outfit and black cardigan.

"Erin..." he said her name with an unknown tone.

It wasn't questioning or shocked. He JUST said it. "H-Hi."
She smiled, friendly.
"I thought-I thought you'd never talk to me again?" he wondered.
She shrugged, "You seem to look decent again. You definitely found your way back."
"It wasn't easy." Matthew smiled. Suddenly, he wasn't so hungry anymore. He forgot everything else.

And everything, meant everything.