Page 31 of Heart Strings

Chapter Fourteen

Alejandro

I had no idea how this would go when I knocked on the front door of the sorority house. But I missed Abigail so much that I was willing to try anything and everything - including following a plot her two best friends had hatched.

A couple days ago, Abigail had called me - or so I had thought. When I answered hesitantly, a different voice greeted me, one I recognized vaguely. It had been Zoe, one of Abigail’s friends, and she had an idea.

“Abigail’s been feeling really down,” she had told me. “She really misses you, and she wants to be with you. But she believes there is no way it can happen.”

“So why are you calling me? I know how stubborn she is. Or how strong her fate is.” I hadn’t wanted to hope.

“Because I think there’s a chance for you two, and even if there isn’t, I’m pretty sure Abigail still has some things to say. You two broke it off so abruptly, and I know she feels bad about how she treated you. Her audition was a couple days ago, and our graduation ceremony is four days from now. Could you possibly come to New Orleans for graduation, and to talk? I can’t promise anything will change, but….” Zoe’s voice had grown low and insistent. “She likes you a lot, and I’ve never seen her like this. I think you should at least talk. In person. And I know it would mean a lot if you came to see her get her diploma.”

Zoe had been very persuasive, and I had ended up agreeing to fly to New Orleans two days before all the girls graduated.

One more thing had helped me decide to come down for one more try at a future with Abigail. That crazy idea I had a while back had gotten crazier a few days ago…but maybe, just maybe, a little more possible.

So, again, I had no clue how this would go. Abigail had told me we couldn’t be together, hung up on me and not contacted me since. All I had was the word of her friend that she would be receptive to my visit.

I didn’t expect her to squeal, vault over the couch and fly into my arms in a wild storm of red locks and tears. Startled and thoroughly concerned - these tears couldn’t possibly be for me - I looked to Zoe and Maggie for advice. Maggie gave me a little “Go on, you’re doing fine”wave.

I maneuvered us around, breathing a little shallowly under the tightness of Abigail’s grip, and sat on a chair. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t know what to say, and I didn’t do anything because I had no clue what to do - I just held her and let her do whatever helped lessen the storm of tears.

“I-I’m sorry,” she said finally, sitting up and wiping her eyes. Loud sniffles rocked her back and forth in my lap. “I d-didn’t mean to c-cry.”

“It’s okay. What’s wrong?” If she wouldn’t tell me, I would shake it out of her friends so I could fix it.

“I didn’t get it,” she told me, her voice so heavy that she had to sink back into my chest. “The position.”

I should have felt sad for her, but…. Damn it. I was a selfish man at heart. I knew what I wanted, and I wanted Abigail, and this might have been my only chance to get her back.

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something.” I used a corner of my sleeve to wipe her eyes. “You remember Jake, the drummer? He was pushing for Vaporized to stay the same, keep doing what worked. He didn’t want us to change our sound.”

Her tearful eyes told me that she did remember that and didn’t understand at all how that could be my response to what she had just said.

“He left the band,” I told her. “A few days ago. He had an argument with me and Marcus, said he’d had enough, and quit on us. We’re already talking to a new drummer, but…we want to try a new sound. And we need another instrument to do it. A piano - not a keyboard, a real grand piano. And of course…” I smiled, pinning all my hopes on this pitch of a lifetime. “We need a pianist. A talented, beautiful one. With blue eyes, red hair and freckles. Maybe one with Irish parents-”

“Okay.” She sniffed, and a tiny smile broke through her devastation. “I get it. But, Al… I’m meant to be a concert pianist. Not a band pianist. It just wouldn’t be the same. It wouldn’t be right.”

“Abigail,” Zoe butted in, “do you remember how you told us your great-grandmother would play the piano softly to get your grandmother to go to sleep? She loved the piano so much that she wanted to play it instead of sing a lullaby.”

“Y-Yeah,” Abigail managed.

“Maybe - and I can’t talk to your great-grandmother’s spirit, so I wouldn’t know for sure - but maybe she just wants you to play the piano and be happy doing it. She wants you to love the instrument as much as she did, and play it the way that makes you happiest. She didn’t just play the piano in a great hall in front of thousands of people. She played it for her little girl because she wanted to.”

Abigail had the look of someone who had just been rocked to the core of her being. “But…but she was a famous concert pianist. It was who she was.”

“But she was also a mother. And a grandmother. And she’s a great-grandmother, and her great-granddaughter deserves to find her own piano pathway.” Maggie smiled at her unintentional wordplay.

“Maybe you’re right,” Abigail said slowly. “Everything happens for a reason. I didn’t get the position.” She looked at me, the light was slowly returning to her eyes. “Maybe you’re the reason.”

“I think you’re right about fate.” The hope in my heart blossomed. “But I think you were wrong about your fate. Why else would we have met at your bar that day? Only fate could have designed that.”

Abigail giggled weakly. “I guess you’re right.”

I gently scooted her off my legs, disentangled myself, and stood up, holding out my hand to her. “Then, will you come with me to talk and figure out the new Vaporized? A Vaporized that incorporates the grand piano into its music?”

Abigail looked one last time to Maggie and Zoe. They both made shooing motions, grinning widely. “Yeah. I’ll come.” Abigail stood up, showing some of that energy I loved about her, and dashed upstairs to grab a few things.

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