Opus One

Chapter 23: Moderato

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“He’s actually going to come,” Emily said distantly, as she replaced the receiver.

“Oh, that’s great!” Sandra chirped, giving her a little hug.

Richard just smiled through a mix of emotions.  Every positive thing would help Emily.

It was easier to smile than he thought.  Last night, when he had reached the point where he had to decide what he would do about Emily’s confession, he was distraught.  It would have been so easy to give in to the feelings of disappointment and betrayal that had been his first reaction.

He knew he had made some bad decisions himself, this semester.  And yet, his friends had not rejected him.  Rather they showed him love, and for that, he had offered Emily forgiveness.  It was not without fear, but when Sandra followed his lead, he knew it was right.

“You didn’t mention your horn,” Richard said gently.

He saw Emily look for a long moment at the black case that stood on the floor by her bed.  The pawnshop tag was still tied around the handle.

“No, I didn’t,” Emily murmured.  “Some other time.  I can’t believe he’s actually coming…”

Richard and Sandra smiled gently.  “Now I’m nervous,” Richard said with a little laugh.

Emily’s eyes narrowed.  “Why?”

“Um, I know he’s ‘just your dad,’ but he’s also a famous conductor.  And he’ll be listening to us play.”

Emily shrugged.  “He might still change his mind about coming, so you might not have to worry.”

“No, I hope he does come,” Richard said vehemently.  “But there will be a part of me thinking about him there listening, when we play.  I actually think it’s cool.”

Emily turned and slumped down on her bed, and stared at the floor.

“How are you feeling?” Sandra asked, delicately.

“Small,” Emily replied. 

“Don’t…” Richard said gently.

“I can’t help it.  I’m exhausted, too.”

“Why don’t you sleep then?  Sandra and I will go to class, and we’ll come by and see how you’re doing in a few hours.”

Emily shrugged.  “Okay.  What time are you finished?  I barely even know what day it is.”

“I have theory and then vocal ensemble until five,” Sandra said.

“I’m out at four-thirty,” Richard added.  “We’ll come by after Sandra’s done and check on you.  For now, just rest and don’t worry.  Everything is okay.”

Emily fell back onto her bed.  She made no further movement, so Richard pulled the covers over her. 

“Can I have some music, maybe?” Emily asked.

“Sure.  What do you want?”

“Something calming, just on really quietly.”

“I have a CD of arias which I like to relax to,” Sandra offered.

“Okay,” Emily agreed.

Sandra found the CD and set it to play.

“We love you,” Richard said, standing by the side of the bed. 

Sandra echoed the sentiment.

Then, for the first time, Emily smiled a little.

Richard quietly closed the door and followed Sandra into the stairwell.  Neither of them said anything until they exited the dorm and started towards the conservatory building.

“Wow, what a day,” Richard said at last.

“And night,” Sandra added.

“Could have been worse.”

“Yeah.”

Richard turned to her.  “How are you?”

Sandra searched his eyes for a while.  “Relieved, but also a little worried.”

Richard nodded gravely.  “We’ve done what we can do for now.  Maybe a little sleep will help.”

Sandra looked up at the dorm room window behind them.  “I hope so.  I really hope so.”

“Do you want to talk about anything?” Richard asked.

Sandra regarded him again.  “I think we feel the same way…”

Richard nodded, and glanced up at the room again.  “She’ll bounce back.  We’re talking about Emily, right?”

Back in the room, Emily lay still for perhaps twenty minutes with her eyes closed, vaguely listening to the arias Sandra had chosen.  The swirl of thoughts in her head was overwhelming.  She never knew confusion like she felt at that moment.  Her mind played back the events of the night before, dim and convoluted as they were…

After waking from the strange dream with her father early that morning, the sound of Richard and Sandra’s breathing beside her made Emily shiver.  Despite having their warm bodies beside her and all the covers on, she felt like she was lying outside on a field of fresh snow. 

I’m sorry.  Please come back…

Richard’s words echoed in her head.  What did he mean?

Something was wrong. 

I was with Joel.  She had told them, at least twice.  But they had misunderstood, given the late hour.  No one would sweep aside such lack of faith and trust so easily.  It was a dream, or a joke, or a misunderstanding, but it was not reality.  Morning would come, and the truth would be bright and ugly.  There was no coming back.  How could she accept an apology when she had been the one to go so wrong?

The breathing grew louder in the dark.  The scrapes and bruises that had settled down to being mere aches suddenly stung and felt red.  Nausea crept over her, and she felt overwhelmingly stifled between Richard and Sandra. 

Suddenly she ripped the covers off and struggled to climb over Sandra to reach the floor.  She had to leave them here sleeping, before they woke up and realized the truth.  As the room spun, her ears filled with a roaring sound, and the edges of her vision faded away.  All she could see was some vague stains on a white rug, which suddenly were closer.  Noises…  Lights…  She was free of the bed now, and running somewhere.

Richard and Sandra were calling after her.  “Emily!”  Their voices were far behind now.  Where was she running?  Even as the voices trailed away, she felt their arms on her shoulders.  Were they running with her?  It was unfair that they should catch up so easily. 

“Let me go!” she cried.

They had found the truth; why not let her go?

For a moment blackness took over, and then vision slowly returned.

The stains… 

“Emily…  Emily!”

She heard uncontrolled crying.  It sounded like her mother, on the night that her father had left her for another woman.  Then Emily realized it was her crying, before firmly rejecting the idea.  It had to be another dream, since her mother was dead now.  Even such a great heartbreak as hers could never penetrate the silence of the grave.

Emily listened to the sobs, hearing them from beyond a closed door in the large, cold house.  She carefully pushed the door open and stared at her mother, curled up in a ball in front of a cold, dead fireplace.  It was such a familiar scene, and yet something was wrong, or missing.

“Mommy?”

There was no response.

“Why are you crying?”

Emily knelt over her now.

Only crying answered her.

“Mommy, I’m scared,” she said urgently.

Her mother looked up at her, her body still shuddering.  The red stricken eyes looked older and more tired than Emily had ever seen them.

“I’ll be all right,” her mother said hoarsely.

Emily nodded vigorously, trying to comfort her and show strength.

Oh, Emily!  Why?  Why?

Her mother hadn’t spoken, yet Emily had heard her voice, and it sent a chill down her spine.

Why?

The scene faded as Emily realized her father should have been there kneeling over her, instead of herself.

Instead of me...  Oh, god, no!

The nausea and blackness overwhelmed her again.

“Emily…  I’m scared…  Please…”

Something in those words suddenly marked a turn towards calm.

Gradually the world returned and Emily opened her eyes.  She realized that she had not been running, but rather was pulled into a tight ball on the white rug of her room.  The overhead bulbs blazed like surgical work lights and were never more unwelcome. 

Richard and Sandra were still holding her shoulders.  Reality came crashing back in.  She could feel the bed linens wrapped around her legs.

“What happened?” she managed.

“You jumped out of bed and then fell down,” Richard said softly.

“Lights… bright…” she gasped, pointing at the offending bulbs.

Richard hopped up and turned on the corner lamp, and then rushed to turn the room lights off.

Emily visibly relaxed. 

After a few deep breaths, she tried to get up.  Everything was unsteady and unfocused. 

Gentle hands pushed her back down.  “Just relax, Emily.”

“We’ll take care of you.”

Gentle fingers in her hair reminded her of hot summer nights months ago when everything was easier. 

Emily woke up on the rug to the sight of early morning light.  Her pillow was under her head.  She saw Sandra watching her as she leaned back against the side of her bed. 

Sandra tapped Richard, who was snoozing behind her on the mattress, and then she was near her in an instant.

“Hi,” Sandra said.

“Hi,” Emily said.

Richard was up and moving in the room.

“I’m parched,” Emily said hoarsely, just as Richard appeared with a glass of water.  “Oh, thanks.”

Guilt flooded her as she drank and avoided their eyes.  From the light, it was not past seven.  I wonder if I’ve even slept three hours tonight, she wondered.  Then she saw the red-rimmed eyes of her friends and squashed the thought.  They had been watching over her, and probably not slept much at all.

“Do you need anything else?” Richard asked.

Emily shook her head.

“Let’s get you on the bed,” Sandra said.

Emily let out a slight moan at the thought of moving.

“It’s all right.  You’ll sleep better.”

Emily nodded after a moment of thought.  The rug was thick but no substitute for a bed.  Her shoulder bruise was quite sore from lying on it, she noticed.

Between the two of them, Richard and Sandra got Emily back on the bed, and then caressed her hair as she drifted off again.

Endless thoughts filled her mind again.

A phone ringing broke into Emily’s dreams, slowly pulling on her senses.  She woke up on the second ring, and saw Sandra pick up the phone and answer quietly. 

“Hello?”  Sandra peered over at Emily.  “Uh, no, this is her roommate…  Yeah, Sandra…  She’s in bed resting…  Oh?  Can you tell me?”

There was a long pause, and then Emily saw Sandra’s face melt in relief as her eyes closed.

“Oh, thank you, thank you!  Oh, my god…  Yeah, of course, hold on.”

Sandra fumbled with a pen and paper. 

“Okay, go ahead.”  Sandra jotted down some information.  “Okay, I’ll tell her.”

Suddenly it dawned on Emily what was happening.  She stared wide-eyed at Sandra as she started to sit up.  Sandra caught the movement and turned to her with a smile, pointing to the receiver.  Richard was stirring from a deep sleep.

“Yes, well, thank you so much.  I know this will be a huge relief!” Sandra said.

Emily staggered over to the other side of the room and glanced at the paper as Sandra ended the call.  Richard was groggily looking around, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“They found your horn!  They found it!  It’s okay!”

Emily felt her knees give way.  In an instant, Richard was before her and caught her in his arms, and Emily found herself crying uncontrollably into his shirt. 

“That was one of the pawnshops,” Sandra said, life returning to her voice.   “They have to take care of some paperwork with the police, but they have your horn!”

“But how?” Emily stuttered between sobs.  “How did they find it so quickly?  How did they find me?”

“Richard called all the pawnshops in the phonebook an hour ago,” Sandra said gently.

Emily could do nothing else but cry.

Later that afternoon, Emily was riding in the front seat of a taxi, with Richard and Sandra in the back.  She clutched her horn case on her lap, having dismissed the driver’s offer to stow it in the trunk. 

Upon returning to their room, Emily had reached for the phone before realizing it. 

“Who are you calling?” Sandra inquired.

Emily paused, receiver in mid-air.  “My dad,” she said, surprised at the words.

“Do you want us to leave?” Richard asked.

“No.  You can stay.”

The arias Sandra had selected had ended.  They had been comforting; it felt as though Sandra had still been in the room, singing to her.  But now, Emily found herself filled with guilt at how Richard and Sandra had helped her for the past twelve hours straight.  She closed her eyes, but sleep was still evasive, despite her exhaustion. 

There was a knock on the door, followed by the sound of a key turning the lock.

Sandra and Richard came cautiously into the room.  Emily could hear the sound of plastic grocery bags rustling.

“Oh good, you’re awake,” Sandra said cheerily.

“Couldn’t sleep,” Emily said.  “I thought you had class.”

Sandra glanced at her.  “We did.  It’s almost six.”

Emily looked at the drawn shades.  “Oh.  Maybe I did sleep then.”

“You did,” Richard confirmed.  “We came in an hour ago and checked on you.”

“Then we went shopping.  Are you hungry?” Sandra asked.

“Starving,” Emily admitted.  “But…”

“But what?”

Emily turned her eyes to the ceiling as Sandra began pulling out their limited appliance selection from the closet.  Richard and her got busy cooking.

“Why are you doing this?” Emily asked, after watching uneasily for ten minutes.

“Doing what?” Sandra asked.

“Cooking for me.  Helping me.  Everything.”

“You’ve been through a lot.  We’re trying to help you feel better.”

Emily sighed.  “But after everything that happened…”

“We just want to help…”

“Stop!  Stop saying that!” Emily suddenly cried out in anguish.  She swept the covers from her body and stood up abruptly, running a frantic hand through her unkempt hair.

“Emily,” Richard said gently, moving towards her.

Emily held up a hand.  “No.  This is wrong!  I messed up.  This is not what should be happening.  I haven’t told you everything.”

Richard and Sandra looked at Emily and then each other.  “Okay,” Sandra said.  “What else do you want to tell us?”

Emily closed her eyes, bracing herself for having to admit being unfaithful for the third time. 

“I didn’t just watch a movie over at Joel’s house.”

“Okay.”

“I fooled around with him!”

Richard nodded.  “Okay.  You already said so last night.  Several times.”

Emily let out a cry.  “But why then?  Why are you helping me!  I cheated on you. Cheated on you both.  Don’t you see?  I didn’t just kiss a little, even.  I was drunk and I… I…”

“Emily, we told you last night.  We’re not mad at you.  We forgive you.”

Richard glanced at Sandra.  “I told you, I was sorry for everything I’ve done this week.  This month.  Maybe you fell asleep and didn’t hear what we said?  You were pretty out of it.  What do you remember?”

“I gave him a blowjob,” Emily blurted out, still trying to get past the surreal moment.

“Yes, you told us everything, last night…”

“I never told you that,” Emily said, confusion on her face.

“You said you did, and that you didn’t sleep with him.”

“I didn’t,” Emily confirmed.

“Then we talked, remember?” Sandra said.

Emily frowned and looked around at the room.  “I remember waking you up when it was dark.  And then you got into my bed.  And you said something like ‘Tonight wasn’t your fault,’ and then I remember waking up again and trying to get out of the bed.”

Sandra smiled sadly.  “Well, before you tried to get up, we had a talk.”

“I guess you missed my long monologue,” Richard said, laughing a little.

“What monologue?” Emily asked, confused.

“It was a good one,” Sandra said.

Emily’s shoulders sagged as she sat on the edge of her bed again.  She wondered why she was angry at them.  “I’m so confused.”

Richard sat next to her.  “We thought you were awake.  Well, you seemed to be.”

“What did I say?” Emily asked meekly.

“You told us about how you met Joel after your class was cancelled, and then hit the bar with him, got really drunk, ended up on his couch, um, reliving old times, and then sneaked out after you both passed out.”

“Oh.  And what did you say to all that?”

“Well, Richard went on about all the stupid things he’d done lately,” Sandra said.  “Went on and on, really.”

“Then we told you that we weren’t mad, just scared that we didn’t know where you were, and worried about your horn.  And you said you understood, and that you wanted to talk more in the morning.”

“I don’t remember any of that,” Emily said.

“Well, that’s what happened,” Richard said.

Emily sighed.  “And why exactly are you not mad?”

“Why should we be mad?”

“Um, usually when someone does something like what I did, the other person in the relationship is mad.  At least.”

“Perhaps,” Richard said, thoughtfully.  “But in this case I feel like it is my fault.”

“No, I went out and acted stupid.”

“Em, you were acting really strange that afternoon,” Richard said.  “I knew something wasn’t right.  If everything was cool, you would have wanted to come back to the dorm and hang with us.  Look, I think we all agree we’re none of us experts at this relationship we have.”

“It is harder,” Emily admitted.

“But it’s also been incredible,” Sandra added.  “The two of you mean the world to me.”

“I love both of you,” Richard said quietly.  “And as much as I love Sandra, it’s not the same without you, Emily.  We both need you.  When we didn’t hear from you all last evening, do you think we said, ‘Oh, cool, now we have some time alone?’”

Emily shrugged.

“Of course not!” Richard said.  “We worried about you.  We hardly slept, hoping you were okay.  All we did was talk about you, and think about you.”

Emily let out a deep breath, and then stood up and paced the room for a minute.  Richard and Sandra gave her the time she needed.

“I don’t know why I feel so strange,” Emily began.  “I mean, the two of you have been so caring to me today.  Last night too.  And it seems wrong for me to let you be that way.”

“But we do care about you.”

“And I’m having a hard time with that.  I hurt you by going to Joel’s.  And yet you welcome me back and want me back.  You stayed up all night watching me.  You got up early and found my… my horn!  You brought all this,” Emily waved a hand at the food that was cooking, “for me.”

Tears welled up and began to run down her cheeks.  “I never saw anything like this when I was growing up.  My dad had his first affair when I was young.  My mom never forgave him.  That was the end.  She would never trust him again.  When I saw how it left her, crying on the cold hard floor, I swore I’d never do that to someone.  But here I am!  And yet you care for me instead.  Why?  I should be happy, but it makes me so… so sad!” she cried out.

Sandra and Richard moved to her and took her into an embrace, comforting her. 

“It’s love, Emily,” Richard whispered.  “I don’t know much about love, but this has to be it.  We love you.”

“I can’t believe Thanksgiving is in less than a week,” Sandra said between bites.

“I know.  I still wish I was going with you two,” Richard said wistfully.

“Staying with your teacher will be fun.  It’s really cool that she asked you,” Sandra said.

“Yeah.  I’m a little nervous though.  Not sure what to talk about, since I don’t really know her outside of lessons.”

“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Sandra said.

“We will miss you,” Emily added, and then pointed to her empty plate.  “Thanks for making this food.  It really was good, in more ways than taste.”

“You’re welcome.  We thought you probably wouldn’t be up for the cafeteria tonight,” Richard said with a grin.

“No, probably not,” Emily agreed, with a little laugh.  She then turned serious.  “I don’t know what I’d do without you two.  I’m still amazed… but also very grateful for everything you did.  I’ve never had anyone in my life like the two of you.”

Richard and Sandra smiled warmly, and lifted their glasses.  A splash of clear water landed on Richard’s cheek, startling him for a second.  They all laughed easily for the first time in days.

Later that night, the trio had split up to practice.  Despite wanting to work on the Serenade and be together, Emily had a lesson early the following morning, and was determined to go to it.  Richard had managed to secure one of the large piano practice rooms for his session. 

As soon as he had adjusted the bench and pulled out his books, there was a knock.  He turned to find Sandra entering.  She came in and closed the door, sitting in the chair near Richard.  Her eyes looked tired, but there was a serene quality about her that Richard understood.  Things have finally calmed down, he knew.

“Hey,” Richard greeted.

“How did you get this room?  You said it was always full.  I made three circles before thinking to check here.”

“I guess the piano mafia took the night off.”

“Piano mafia?” Sandra asked.

“Those five or six girls who occupy the room in shifts.  Every time one is ready to leave, one of her friends comes into the room and then takes her place.  There’s no getting in, since there’s always one of them in here.  They usually have two or three of the rooms taken most of the day.”

“You should complain.”

“To who?”

“I don’t know,” Sandra admitted.  “Doesn’t seem fair that they can hog the rooms, though.”

Richard shrugged, and then caught a face peeking in through the window in the door.

“Whew, just made it!” Richard said quietly.  “That’s one of them.”

“Do they practice all day?”

“As far as I can tell.”

Sandra stood and leaned on the edge of the piano.  “Do you think Emily will be all right?” she asked earnestly.

Richard nodded slowly.  “Seems like she finally calmed down.”

“I agree, but I just wanted to see how you see it.  I thought after last night’s talk we were okay, but then she flipped out again.”

“Seems like she was feeling really guilty and ashamed.”

“Yeah.  It was like she didn’t want us to forgive her,” Sandra mused.  “It was so out of character.  She always seems so unaffected by things.”

“She had a tough time growing up, and she didn’t expect what we did, I guess.”

“It was the right thing to do, right?” Sandra asked.

Richard nodded.  “For some reason, after she told us what really happened, I didn’t feel angry anymore.  Earlier, when she had disappeared and then showed up at the dorm,  last night, I was feeling a little... strange.  Not mad, really, but everything I thought of asking her seemed like I would be accusing her.  Jealousy, I guess.”

“I had the same feelings in my head when she said she was at Joel’s,” Sandra agreed.

“But after she told us what had happened, I just felt bad because of the way I was acting.  I just wanted to be there for her,” Richard said.

Sandra nodded.  “I’m glad she understood tonight.  For a while there, I was really worried about her.  But she seemed to be mostly back to herself during dinner.” 

“Mm.”

Sandra paused for a long time and then spoke again.  “Do you think what we have is real?”

Richard looked up at her.  “How do you mean?”

“I mean, the three of us have only known each other for less than three months.  We’ve been through some things, and it’s still sometimes strange to think I’m involved with both of you.  But when I really, really look at you and Emily, I feel like you are my best friends.  Soul mates.”

“I know.  I’ve never had a relationship like this one, even with one person.  Not even close.”

“I always thought that there was one right person out there for you, the one true love.  Now I’m not so sure,” Sandra said.

“So we’re messing up your romantic ideals, huh?” Richard said with a grin.

“No, I don’t want to go back,” Sandra said, smiling back.  “But it’s changed my perspective.  Once, I thought Billy was my soul mate.  We went out for two years in high school, you know.  But then we grew up, and realized we wanted different things.  He wanted to take over his family farm, have a farm wife and farm kids and farm tractors.  I wanted to sing at the Met.  Those don’t go together very well.”

“No, probably not.  There are definitely no farms near Lincoln Center.”

Sandra laughed.  “True.  But for my whole life, everything always pointed to finding that one person.  Books, movies… even operas are about a boy and a girl, most of the time.  So even if it wasn’t Billy, it would be someone else.”  Sandra sighed.  “Do you know what I mean?  Maybe it was just a girly dream.”

“No, I don’t think so,” Richard said.  “I know what you mean.”

“So now I’ve found two of you.  Is it for real?”

Richard stared at the keyboard for a few moments.  “Maybe we belong to a pool of soul mates,” he said pensively.  “There are a small number of people on this earth that we are intertwined with, not just one other.”

“Hmm.  I like that… But then it has to be more than a small number.” Sandra said.

“Why?”

“Because what are the chances that my roommate is one, and that another lives on the floor below?  And that we meet all at once?  Then there must be a hundred soul mates on this campus, a thousand in this city!”

Richard thought for a moment.  “Then again, maybe we were drawn here by the same things.  As mates, we all love music.  We love to play it, and we’ve chosen to do it for a living.  That cuts out a lot of the potential people you said.  Then there’s the fact that we haven’t found anyone else.  The main reason we’re here now is because Emily was nice to me when I met her, and a bunch of other people ignored me the first day.  Although having Emily as your roommate is probably luck.”

“Or fate.  Or whatever.”  Sandra was lost in thought.  “I really like that picture, Richard.  More than one soul mate.  It somehow makes some things I’ve wondered about our relationship more clear.”

“Well, it was your idea,” Richard said. 

“Sort of.  We should tell Emily about it sometime.”

“Sure.  Though when it comes down to it, I still love you both, all that philosophy and shit aside.”

Sandra laughed.  “I know, but still, it’s interesting.  Makes you wonder who else is in our pool.”

“Getting bored with us already?” Richard said, amused.

“Hardly,” Sandra replied, sliding onto the bench next to him for a kiss.  “What are you working on?” she asked, after withdrawing her lips at last.

“I was going to peek at one of the Chopin Etudes Mrs. T. thought I should learn for the recital.  We are working on two of them that I sort of learned on my own, but tonight I was thinking about the recital again and getting excited.”

“Really?” Sandra said, her voice happy.

“Yeah.  I’ll admit that for the last few weeks, I wasn’t really into it.  But now, I’m looking forward to it again.”

“Me too!”

“So I was going to look at one of the new Etudes,” Richard said.

“Play a little of it for me?”

“Sure.  I’ve never tried to play it, though,” Richard said.

“I don’t mind.  I’d like hearing you play anything at all.”

Richard smiled, feeling comforted by her presence near him. 

He flipped open to the page in the manuscript, and then settled his left hand on the piano.  After a few slow, deep breaths and a smile at Sandra, he played the opening melody slowly, trying to feel each note.  Before the right hand entered with the accompaniment, he stopped.

“That’s a short one,” Sandra said, elbowing him gently in the ribs.

“Funny.”

“That part looks crazy,” she said, pointing to a long, dense string of small notes, later in the piece.

“There are a few technical moments in this Etude.  Well, fast technical.  The rest of the piece is about phrasing and tone, Mrs. T. said.  She played it for me in the lesson, and it was really beautiful and sad.  That’s the kind of thing I need to work on most.”

“Play some more.”

“I’ll try.”

“Think of Emily,” Sandra said.

“Hmm?”

“How beautiful she is, and how sad that she had to go through some of the things she’s been through.”

Richard nodded.  He then turned to Sandra and embraced her gently.  “I never really considered how hard things must be for her.  After she hung up with her dad this afternoon, I felt like crying.  I felt foolish about my family, too.  I mean, she’s had neither parent, really, for so long.  And here I’ve been complaining all semester about my dad calling every day.”

Sandra didn’t say anything.

“I’ve been pretty insensitive,” Richard added.  He caressed Sandra’s hair gently.

“Maybe she can fix things with her dad, just a little.”

Richard straightened up out of the hug.  “I hope so.  And I need to do the same with my dad,” he said, with sudden energy and life.  He was looking at the piano keys, but seeing something else.

“Give him a call tomorrow,” Sandra said.

“I will.  But I also just had an idea.  Come on, let’s go find Emily for a sec.  Do we have anything this weekend?”

After dinner, Emily had found a practice room quickly.  Though she had made Joey, the dorm director, promise to not spread the word about her incident, she still expected people to find out, somehow.  News in the music world could never be contained for long.

None of the students Emily encountered acted differently than normal, and Emily’s apprehension began to subside.  The reality that she had her horn back and was returning to her normal schedule was still surreal. 

After setting up her music and preparing her instrument, she stood to stretch.  Her bruises and scrapes were still sore, but were not anything to complain about.  She momentarily visualized being dragged towards the car against her will…

A knock startled her.  She opened the door, expecting to see Richard and Sandra.  Instead, Joel Brent was there.  Emily just looked at him.

“Can I come in?” he asked.

Emily nodded, and Joel came in and closed the door.

“I rang up to your room, but no one answered so I came over here to see if you were practicing,” he said, glancing at her.

“Here I am,” Emily said evenly.

Joel averted his eyes and scratched at his head.  “I’m really sorry about last night, Em.  I was stupid.”

Emily said nothing, and stared at the floor.

“Why did you leave my place without waking me?” he asked suddenly. 

Emily shrugged.  “I was drunk, and just wanted get back to my bed.”

Joel sighed heavily.  “Bad choice, for both of us.”

Emily looked at him.  “Both of us?”

“The cops came to my house today, Em.  They told me what happened.”

“Oh.  I didn’t know you knew.”

“Yeah.  I know,” Joel said, his voice tired.

“It was… dumb of me to leave,” Emily said, “but luckily I got my horn back.  I’m not hurt, really; just a few bruises.  For some reason it didn’t end up a lot worse.  I’m not blaming you, Joel.  I left when you were sleeping.  Not much you could have done.  Luckily, everything will be okay.”

Joel looked at her with wide eyes.  “Everything will be okay?  Fuck, Emily, the cops told me you said I bought you some drinks at a bar!  Why did you say that?  They are probably going to charge me with buying alcohol for a minor!”

Emily stared at him in shock.  “What?”

“Yeah, you heard right.  Since I got you drunk, and with what happened to you later, they weren’t very friendly.”

Emily felt her heart in her throat.  “But Joel,” she stammered. 

“Why did you give them my name?  Why would you say you were drinking?” Joel said, his voice heating up.

“I… I don’t know!  They were asking where I was walking from and I just told them.”

“You could have said a party or something!”

Emily breaths came labored.  “A party?  Where?  I was just attacked.  Someone stole my horn!  I was in no place to even think to make something up.  And you did buy me drinks, Joel!” Emily said, her voice raised as well.  “None of this would have happened if you didn’t.”  Emily suddenly slumped down onto the piano bench.

“Oh, and I forced them down your throat, right?  I suppose I forced everything else on you too?  Are you going to tell them that?  Do you even know what the punishment is for what I did?”  Joel moved close to her, standing above her.

“No,” Emily said.

“Two-thousand dollars!  And jail time, even, if they want to be firm.”

“Oh my god,” Emily said hoarsely.  A familiar nausea and darkened vision was creeping up on her again.  She felt her body swaying on the bench, so she turned to lean against the piano.

“Everything’s going to be okay, huh?  Emily, I’m screwed!” Joel said despairingly.  His voice was distant.

“What the hell?” came a new voice.  Emily’s resolve melted at the sound, and then arms were around her.  Are they Joel’s?  No, they were comforting.  Emily felt an immense wave of relief at realizing Sandra was beside her. 

“What are you doing?” Richard demanded of Joel. 

“I was just talking to Emily.”

“Just talking?  Emily, are you all right?”

Emily nodded slowly, but she was clearly distraught.

“Is he bothering you?” Richard asked.

Emily didn’t answer, so Richard turned to Joel.  “What’s going on here?  You’re Joel, right?”

“This is between me and Emily,” he said.

“Whatever it is, it’s making her upset,” Richard said, keeping his voice as even as he could.  As he looked in Joel’s face, he saw a desperation he didn’t like.  Why is he here bothering Emily?

“She should be.  She messed things up big time.”

“She?  She did?  Do you even know anything about what happened to Emily last night, after she left your place?” Richard said.

“Yeah, and now I might be looking at a huge fine since she blamed it all on me!”

“No, I didn’t!” Emily cried.

“You told the cops I gave you the drinks.  That’s as good as blaming me!  Worse, even.  Might as well have told them I attacked you too!”

Richard looked at Joel for a long moment, fighting to restrain his anger.  “Just get out of here,” he said.  If he gives me any trouble, I’m going to…

Joel took a deep breath and then reached for the door handle.  As he grasped it, he paused, staring at the off-white wall.  “Emily, I can’t believe you did this to me – after all this time.  Now everything is messed up.”  His voice was distant.

“I’m sorry, Joel,” Emily said weakly.

“Well, I am too.  I thought we were having fun.”  Joel stood stone still, staring at the wall.

“Everything about last night was wrong,” Emily said after a long moment.

Joel shook his head slowly.  “Fuck,” he muttered. 

For a moment, Richard thought he was opening the door, but instead he turned to Emily again. 

“You better hope they don’t charge me, Em, cause otherwise you’re going to be involved.  I’m going to fight it, and that means you’re going to be involved.”

Richard started detecting the heat returning to Joel’s voice, so he stepped in front of him.  “That’s enough,” he said.

“This doesn’t concern you, man,” Joel said.

“Sorry, but it does,” Richard countered.  He forced his tone to stay reasonable.  “I don’t really know you, but right now I don’t like what I’m seeing here.  Emily is in no condition to talk to you about this now.  She went through a really rough night, no thanks to you.  So maybe after you cool off a little and find out what’s going on, then you can talk.  You might start by finding out how she’s feeling, instead of trying to blame her for telling the truth.”

Joel’s eyes narrowed for a moment, and then he looked away. 

“Have they actually charged you with anything?” Richard asked.

Joel glanced at him, and then shrugged.  “No.  Not yet.”

“Maybe it will just blow over, then,” Richard said.

“I don’t know.  Maybe,” Joel admitted.  There was no fight in his voice now.  “Maybe they were just trying to scare me.”

“I was there when Emily talked to the cops, and she didn’t say anything to make it sound like it was your fault,” Richard said.  “Honestly?  They knew she had been drinking.  There was no way out of that one.  And they asked where she had been.  No way out of that one, either.  It’s not like there’s a library over there she could say she was at.”

Joel shrugged slightly, but did not answer.

“And maybe they were just looking for someone to mess with, since they still haven’t found the attackers,” Richard added.

Joel sighed deeply.  “Christ, this is messed up.  I’m sorry.  It’s just fucking crazy.  I have my recital coming up.  I can’t deal with this right now!”

“And neither can Emily.  She’s been through a lot.  Now if you don’t mind, we’re going to take her back to the room.”

Joel nodded slowly, and opened the door.  He waited for a moment, but Richard just looked at him.  He exited the room wordlessly and disappeared.

Richard closed the practice room door, and let out a sigh.  Will this day ever end? He wondered.  With that thought, he turned his energy to helping Emily.

“Richard…  Are you awake?”

“Yeah.”

“I haven’t been able to sleep yet.”

“Me neither.”

“Too much to think about.”

“I know.”

“Mostly, though, I wanted to thank you.  You and Sandra were there for me all night and all day, and that means more to me than you’ll ever know or understand.  I don’t know if anyone has ever been so kind to me before.”

“…”

“You don’t know how relieved I was that you came in when Joel was there tonight.  I just couldn’t deal with that.”

“He was being a prick.”

“I know.  Thanks for dealing with him.  You were so cool, talking to him.”

“Actually, I was really ready to punch him at any moment.  I didn’t like seeing you like that.”

“Well, it’s over now.  I really hope he doesn’t get into trouble.  He’s not a bad person.”

“I hope he doesn’t either, for your sake.”

“I just want to put this all behind me.  Behind us.”

“Yeah.  Me too.”

“I’m getting sleepy.  Will you hold me a little longer?”

“Of course.”

“…”

“…”

“I love you, Richard.”

“I love you too, Em.  Good night.”

Forward to Chapter 24

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