Sarah followed me into the kitchen, and once she was set up at the bar, I poured her a glass of water and handed her my phone to play her choice of music. She was still thumbing through my playlist as I started pulling ingredients out of the pantry.
“So, I have some exciting news.”
“Oh?” she asked, eyes on my phone as she swiped. She landed on Debussy, and I smiled when La Mer floated through the kitchen.
I nodded, filling a large pot with water before placing it on the stove. I clicked the burner on, crossing the kitchen to stand at the island with her. “I do. Are you ready for it?”
She set my phone down, bracing her hands on the granite with a look of resolution and a confident nod. “Ready, sir.”
I smiled, but the longer I looked at her — at this amazing, resilient woman — the more my gaze shifted to one of admiration. Not just for her unspeakable beauty, for her bold, unapologetic way she carried herself, but for every scar she wore proudly.
I reached forward, taking both her hands in mine as I leveled my eyes with hers.
“We’ve been working together all summer long,” I said, smoothing my thumbs over her wrists. “I’ve watched you take not just steps, but leaps and bounds overcoming your injury. Your technique was good when I first met you, but now? It’s spectacular. You are spectacular,” I amended. “And strong. And vulnerable. And now, when you play, I am held captive from beginning to end. I don’t even feel like an adequate teacher anymore,” I confessed. “Because I can’t find a single thing to critique. I am just completely enamored by you, by what you can accomplish, what you can bring to life when you sit at the piano.” I shook my head. “I am so proud of you, Sarah.”
Her brows tugged together, and she squeezed my hands. “Such a softie.”
I laughed. “I know. I blame you.”
Sarah chuckled at that, tilting her head to one side as her eyes searched mine. “So, what’s the news, then?”
I bit my lip. “Well… I have this friend. James Conroy. He was a grad student when I was a freshman at Juilliard, and one of my greatest mentors. The man is a legend, an absolute anomaly when it comes to the piano. I’ve never seen anyone play like him before. He’s played at Carnegie several times, is one of the most sought-after concert pianists in the city, and is, in my opinion, the best teacher and connection anyone could ever ask for in our industry.” I paused, squeezing her hands as my grin doubled in size. I couldn’t help it, the excitement was killing me. “I called him today and told him about you.”
Sarah’s face fell, dark lashes fluttering over her cheeks as she blinked several times.
“He wants to work with you, Sarah,” I said, practically buzzing. “I told him about you and where you want to be and all the work we’ve done. He wants to help. He’ll be your mentor. In New York City.” I said every word slowly, making sure it was all sinking in. Judging by Sarah’s stunned face, I knew she was just as excited as I was. “This is it. This is what you’ve worked for. And I truly believe that it won’t take you long working with him before you’ll be on that Ronald O. Perelman stage at Carnegie Hall.” I squeezed her hands again, lifting them to my lips to press a kiss to her knuckles. “And I’ll be in the front row, if you’ll have me.”
Sarah stared at me so long I thought she hadn’t heard me.
“Sarah, did you hear what I said?”
She blinked, tugging her hands free from mine and sitting up straight. “I heard you.”
“I know it’s a lot,” I said, smiling. “But, you earned this. You have worked so fucking hard — not just this summer, but before you even came here. Before I even knew you existed. And now, you’re one step closer to making your dream come true.”
Her nose flared, tears flooding her eyes before she brought her gaze to where her hands rested in her lap. She shook her head, silent for a long while before she lifted her head again. And when her eyes found mine, I found I couldn’t breathe.
Those weren’t tears of happiness.
“So, that’s it, then?” she asked, little shoulders lifting in a shrug before they fell again. “You’ve had enough of me? You get me naked in your bed and then magically, you have this connection in New York?”
My face fell. “What? No, that’s not it at all, Sarah,” I said, reaching for her.
She yanked away from me, nearly falling off the stool before she stood to catch herself. She wrapped her arms around her like a shield, backing away even farther.
“Hey, Sarah. Thanks for the fun. I got you this connection in the city. See ya,” she mocked.
“That’s not—”
“I can’t believe this,” she said, shaking her head as two tears slipped free. I ached to wipe them away, to pull her into me and quiet her anxiety. But she stepped farther and farther from me, like I was everything causing her pain in that moment.
Perhaps I was.
“This is exactly what I said I would never do,” she choked, finally looking at me again. “This is what he wanted. It’s what I walked away from. And now here I am. I slept my way up the ladder, just like he said I would.” She sniffed, shaking her head. “It has nothing to do with my talent.”
“It has everything to do with your talent, Sarah,” I argued, holding my hands out like she was a cornered, wild animal and I was the tamer. “And your drive. And your passion.”
“Yeah?” she asked, gaze hardening. “Then why didn’t you make the call before you had your hand inside me?”
I shook my head, mouth gaping like a fish as my head spun. This was the exact opposite reaction of what I’d expected, and I was so caught off guard, I couldn’t keep my head above water to figure out what to say, how to explain what I thought was so obvious.
“You weren’t ready then,” I tried to explain.
“And I’m suddenly ready now?”
“Yes,” I said, but then I shook my head, pinching my eyes shut. “No. No, that’s not what I mean. It has nothing to do with us, Sarah. With what happened.”
She scoffed, throwing her hands up before storming across the house to the foyer just as the water boiled over behind me. I cursed, running to cut the burner off and remove the pot before I chased after her, and when I caught up, she was already ordering an Uber ride on her phone.
“Wait,” I said, beating her to the door and standing against it to block her from leaving. “Just, wait a fucking second. Please. Listen to me.”
Her gaze was seething, and she crossed her arms over her chest like I was wasting my breath. Maybe I was. But I couldn’t let her leave — not like that, not with those God-awful thoughts in her mind about me and what she meant to me.
“I didn’t see it then, okay?” I tried to explain. “You were shut off, locked up. The technique was there, but you wouldn’t break yourself down enough to show me what you could really do. You didn’t show me your vulnerability until recently, and it was then that I saw it — all of it. You, your talent, your drive, your passion, your endurance, your strength.”
“You saw me naked,” she argued, spitting the words like venom. “That’s why you made the call, Reese. You got what you wanted, you got your student in your bed, your nice little distraction from the woman who broke your heart. And now, you’re done with me, aren’t you?”