Page 35 of Under His Sheets
Friday afternoon, Pere Ferrer’s father was late again, so we kept going with the lesson. Forty-five minutes after the end of school, Alonso came by with his cart and peeked his head in. I’d been hoping to see him all day to ask about the guitar, which remained on the back table untouched. I waved to him that it was okay for him to come in, but he held up a hand and continued on his way. I sat beside Pere and he played what he’d learned of the song he wanted to play for his father.
“Wonderful, Pere. I’m so proud of you.”
“What wonderful thing has my son done?”
Pere and I both turned to look at his father standing in the doorway.
“Papa! I have a surprise for you for next week’s party!”
Pere ran to his father and he gave him a big hug. The kid came up to his father’s belly button and his father, for once, actually hugged him like he was happy to see him.
Then he turned his attention to me. “Pere, why don’t you meet me at the car?” He pulled out his ID, held it up in his hand with a wink, and scanned it without prompt from me. Pere grabbed his bag and waved to me as he darted out the door.
“Pere is doing great on piano. He’s a natural.”
“Mm, so I hear. According to my wife, he’s been practicing at home with his keyboard and headphones for hours. Do you know what his surprise is?”
I stood from the piano bench and shoved my hands in my pockets. It had been such a weird week. I didn’t think my adrenaline had slowed at all, and I needed to be so cautious around this man, it took all of my remaining energy to keep focused around him.
“I’m not at liberty to discuss,” I said, pretending to lock my lips with a key. Professional, a little humorous, but that was a far as I would go.
“That is all right. I shall find out next week. Speaking of which, I hope you received my invitation?” He gestured to the table with the guitar.
I’d been trying to ignore it all day. Lara told me at lunch that she and Alonso had talked and discovered that it had been delivered to the school and left in the office. Madame Lahlou apparently had placed it in my room and forgotten to let the others know.
“Invitation?”
He smiled and walked closer to the guitar. He reached under the case and pulled out an envelope. I hadn’t even noticed. Had Alonso? “Ah, here it is. Sí. I am having a gathering at my house, and I would love for you to make an appearance. Play some songs, talk to some of the guests. I understood you lost yourguitar in a robbery in Barcelona, so I thought I would offer you one of mine.”
The air huffed out of my lungs. “I can’t…I can’t accept that. I appreciate it.”
He opened the case, picked up the guitar, and then he strummed it, making sure it was tuned properly. It had such a warm, beautiful tone. My fingers twitched.
“It is one of many I have played. I want you to have it. My son talks about you nonstop.” At this, his smile turned sour. “Of course, children like what is cool and hip, isn’t that right?”
“Mr. Ferrer, I appreciate the offer and the invitation?—”
“Senyor Sutter, is this what you want? To be a music teacher?”
“I—I love teaching. I love the kids.”
“But you wish to be onstage, do you not? You may be a quiet, unassuming man in person, but I’ve seen video of your performance. You’re very compelling to watch.” He moved closer to me and sweat broke out along my back, but this wasn’t nerves I was feeling.
It was fear.
“I might be able to help you get back to what you were doing before this…detour.” He looked around the room as he stopped about a foot and a half from me. “I know people in the industry, Randall.” He smiled and placed a hand on my shoulder. My stomach roiled at the gesture.
I cleared my throat and stepped back enough to force him to let go. “I’m afraid it would seem…improper. I’m not supposed to spend time with families outside of school?—”
He chuckled. “You are worried about senyora Trujillo-Perez? Fear not. I have many friends on the board of directors for the school. She will bend to my will.”
He said it so matter-of-factly that my blood ran cold. Did he actually have this much power or was he full of shit?
I kicked up my chin. “Regardless, I’ll have to run anything I do that’s school-adjacent by her. You understand, I’m sure. I don’t want to lose my job and have to leave the country.” I smiled confidently and it was enough to get him to back up a bit.
He nodded finally and smiled. “Very well. Think on it. The gathering is next Saturday in the evening. All of the details are in the invitation. There will be representatives of the music industry in Spain there, as well as members of our school community, of course. It is a formal event. You may bring a guest. I would love to have you play for us, but if this is too much for you, I understand. You are in a foreign country. I would hate for you to be in a precarious situation.”
Something told me that was exactly what he wanted. He was definitely a man who liked to use his position to intimidate people. He was also a man who was so hot and cold with his own kid that I didn’t feel I could respect him.
