Page 55 of Not Another Love Song

Food for her and grandpa.

New shoes.

Once—once—a movie ticket. She’d signed up for a theater rewards card at the concession stand and got a free small popcorn. She rationalized that at least she got dinner out of it.

Gwen swallowed and smiled brightly. “Clothes, candy, and movies.”

Mark chuckled. And she could feel a pair of Ray-Bans turned on her.

“And were your parents supportive of your music?”

And there it was.

It was easy to lie to strangers in the Plaza ballroom as they pried. It was even easy to dodge the magazine interviewer when they asked if there was musical talent in her family. But to be asked point-blank about her parents by the New York Times…

“I…don’t have those,” she said, laughing awkwardly into her iced latte. “My mother died just before my eleventh birthday. She never got to hear me play the violin. But my grandfather loved hearing me practice when…when he was really sick and… yeah.”

She could have handled that better. She winced at her stuttering.

Mark’s eyes roved over her. “I’m sorry to hear that,” he said, with the sincerity of a human person, but the eagerness of a reporter who’d found an angle. “Does your grandfather come to Pops performances?”

“He’s also passed. He died the day before my high school graduation.”

She recognized the pity in Mark’s eyes, but she also felt like maybe he’d known the kind of answer he wanted before he’d even asked the question. He apologized again, and scratched out something on his pad. She tried to ignore the quiet figure next to her.

“Did any of your family ever get to hear you play violin?”

“Was this feature supposed to cover both of us?” said a harsh voice to her right. “Or am I excused?”

She narrowed her eyes at him. While grateful for the interruption, it was an interruption nonetheless.

Mark cleared his throat, turning his attention to Xander. He asked about Thorne and Roses, the recent tour, when they were recording again, and SNL. Xander answered succinctly and without passion. Gwen slurped her latte whenever he was being a dick.

There were times when he started talking about the music that she could glimpse Alex Fitzgerald in his features. She recognized in him the way Alex had searched for words in some of his YouTube videos, like he was afraid to say the wrong thing. When Mark asked a question he didn’t want to answer, Xander pressed his lips together, just like Alex did when he was displeased with his own playing. She wondered what it would have been like to meet Alex first. She was attracted to Xander, but she might have been able to fall in love with Alex, she thought.

“And you’ve been with the Pops for just over a year now?” Mark asked him, breaking Gwen from her thoughts.

“That’s right.”

“And with all the success you’ve had with Thorne and Roses, why stay on with the Pops? It seems like your career is really taking off. What is it about the Pops that keeps you coming back?”

Gwen turned to look at him, wondering the same thing. She stared at his impenetrable sunglasses and watched him swallow.

It was silent. A taxi honked down the street, and tourists chattered in other languages. But at this café table, it felt like a vacuum. She watched him take a deep breath and still say nothing.

“I think…” Gwen squeaked. “I mean, there’s such an opportunity this season to showcase his original pieces.” She smiled at Mark, who was scribbling, probably noting the absence of an answer more than the one she was giving. “This season includes a Xander Thorne original cello solo in our concert program. He played it for the orchestra yesterday, and it’s magnificent.”

“Can’t wait to hear it,” Mark said, smiling tightly. He glanced between the two of them and then asked, “And did you two meet at the Pops?”

Now it was Gwen’s turn to pause dramatically.

“Yep.” She sent him a pained grin. “We met at his first rehearsal.”

He was silent next to her.

Mark wrote something down and asked, “And have you been to any Thorne and Roses concerts? Do you enjoy the group?”

She blinked at him, choosing her words carefully. “I haven’t had the chance yet, but I’ve downloaded every song.”

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