Page 56 of Crescendo

Still, she brightened a little when she saw my face. “Oh, you still look the same! I thought you’d be all pale and withery from the cloudy rainy… black cloud gloomy sadness.”

“It’s London, not Siberia.” I opened the door and stepped out into the hall, but I didn’t shut it fast enough before Natália brightened further.

“Oh—is that the girl you’re seeing?”

“What—” I shut the door. “My god, I’m not seeing Hannah. She’s my mortal enemy’s loyal sidekick.”

She scrunched up her face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Lydia.”

“That’s okay. You don’t need to. So what are you calling about? What’s wrong?”

She frowned. “I can’t believe you’re sneaking off with another woman while you’re seeing someone.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “We’re working on music together. I’d invited somebody else, too, but he was busy. Also, did Melinda tell you I was seeing somebody?”

She nodded, brightening. “She said it was a hot girl who liked to straddle you.”

“Melinda did not hold back with the details. I guess maybe I’d neglected to tell her that we’re trying to keep itquietand perfectly private.”

Natália nodded thoughtfully, miming zipping her lips shut. “I won’t tell anybody about the hot girl in your lap.”

“Uh-huh. Appreciated. So do you want to talk about why you’re calling?”

“Oh yeah. It’s just… a lot. I don’t know what I’m doing. I wish I could go to a music program in London and do all these fun things… I’m just stressed and it’s a lot. What’s London like? What’s your girlfriend’s name?”

“Natália. Darling. Precious baby angel whom I love with all my heart. Have you gotten into an ADHD spiral and forgotten to get your meds refilled?”

She flailed a little in that way that implied she was kicking petulantly at the couch. “They get in the way of my creativity!”

They also kept her from going off on manic spirals and crashing into deep wells of self-doubt. Natália had been like a daughter to me ever since I started mentoring her fresh out ofcollege—she’d come from São Paulo to Berkeley College of Music and had applied to a mentorship program I’d signed up for on a whim, and I’d never been left wanting for her as a mentee. She was a genius, even if she was a little… capricious. After the mentorship program had run out, I’d retooled the LLC I ran my work through to hire her as a very loosely-structured employee, just to let her do her work without worrying about her visa status in the US, and at this point, I’d have fought anyone who remotely inconvenienced her.

The only problem was that her biggest inconvenience was herself, and I couldn’t fight her. She was so small. It wouldn’t be a fair fight.

“London’s great,” I said. “And she’s not my girlfriend. It’s just casual. But her name’s Ella.”

She beamed again. “Send me a picture?”

“Absolutely not. You’ll go showing everybody and sayinglook at Lydia’s girlfriend.”

She huffed in that way she did when I called her out and she knew I was right. “At least give me a detail to picture.”

“Heterochromia… one green eye and one brown. It’s very striking.”

“That’s so cool.”

She paused in that way she did when something was wrong. I realized my mistake too late. “Oh, for God’s sake, Natália, don’t look her up!”

Natália beamed. “I won’t,” she said, in that way she did when she was full of shit.

“Ugh—justdon’ttell anybody about this. Anyway—do you want to tell me what’s wrong with the score? What part of it isn’t going well?”

She scowled. “It’s all been going all right except for this one part… the scene where Hedson takes the throne.”

“You’re struggling with that? That seems like it should be right in your wheelhouse. They’re probably wrong with whatever their criticisms are.”

“I don’tknowwhat their criticisms are. They just keep saying it needs to bestronger, more dramatic.”

“Seems like a classic setup for a standard 2/4 piece with a strong march character, discordant melodies coming together for a grand minor sequence.”

---