Symphony in Blue

by M. J. Duncan

  “See, G,” Jay piped up with a grin. “You two will be perfect for each other.”

  Gwen nodded and looked down at Storm. “I hope she likes the cello.”

  “Here.” Heather reached down and picked up the carrier Gwen had brought. “Oh, good, you put a little towel in there,” she said as she opened the door and turned the crate toward Gwen. “Just go ahead and slide her in there. Better to do it now before she sees it and tries to take off running.”

  “So how am I supposed to get her into this thing when it’s time to take her to the vet?” Gwen asked as she scooped Storm from her lap and carefully moved her into the crate.

  “Treats sometimes work,” Jay offered.

  “Yeah. And just leaving the crate out for her to explore whenever she wants doesn’t hurt either,” Heather said as she closed the door and, with one last look through the wire, handed the crate to Gwen. “Snug as a bug in there. She’s all yours.”

  Gwen glanced at the momma cat—Trixie, Heather had called her—who was staring at her, and grimaced as she looked back at Heather and Jay. “I kinda feel like I’m kidnapping her right now.”

  “I assure you, you’re not. I’m honestly surprised Trix is letting those two sleep so close to her right now; she’s been getting antsy around the monsters for the last week and a half or so. She’s pretty much done being a mom.”

  “Do those two have families already?” Gwen asked.

  “Yep. They’ll be getting picked up this afternoon.” Heather smiled at the kittens. “I’ll miss having the little ones around, but it’ll be nice to get back to normal around here, too. We only meant to adopt Trix,” she shared as they started making their way back down the hall to the front door. “But when we took her from the shelter to the vet for her first check-up, we found out that she was pregnant, so…” Her voice trailed off as she edged past Gwen and Jay to open the front door. “Next week the big girl goes in to get spayed and then we won’t have to do this again.”

  Gwen hovered on the threshold and offered Heather her hand. “Are you sure I can’t pay you for her?”

  “No way.” Heather shook her head as she gave Gwen’s hand a firm shake. “You’re family to Jay and Luke, so we’re not taking your money. We got enough for the other kittens to pay ourselves back for the unexpected medical bills for Trix, so we don’t need it. This was never something we did to try and make a buck.”

  “Well, thank you.” Gwen smiled.

  “My pleasure.” Heather chuckled as Storm woke up with an annoyed sounding cry. “You better get that one home.”

  “I will. Thank you,” Gwen repeated as she stepped onto the porch.

  “We still on for dinner tonight?” Jay asked Heather as he followed Gwen outside.

  “Absolutely. Mike and I will bring the salad and dessert. You’re in charge of the carne asada and margaritas.”

  “So, same as usual, then,” Jay replied with a laugh and a little a wave. “See you guys later.” He fell into step beside Gwen as she made her way down the walk, being exceedingly careful to not jostle Storm’s carrier, and bumped her with his shoulder. “She won’t break.”

  “Says you,” Gwen sassed. “I’m just being careful.”

  “Never a bad thing.” Jay squeezed her shoulder as he tugged the car keys that were half hanging out of her front left pocket to unlock her car. He opened the passenger door and smiled. “Set the carrier down and we’ll thread the seat belt through the handle to hold it in place.”

  “Okay,” Gwen murmured as she gently set the carrier onto the seat.

  Jay leaned into the car to snap the belt into place, and sighed when he pulled back and slammed the door shut. “She’s nice and secure,” he said as he handed Gwen the keys he’d stolen from her pocket. “A little pissed to be crated, but she should relax once you get her home.”

  Gwen nodded. “Got it. Tell Luke I missed seeing him.”

  “Trust me, he needed the sleep. He threw up all over the driveway last night when we got home.”

  “Eww.” Gwen shuddered.

  “Exactly,” Jay chuckled. “So, you go have a fun day getting to know Miss Storm while I get to deal with Luke’s crabby, hungover ass. Call if you need anything, okay?”

  Gwen pulled him into a hug and nodded. “Of course. Thanks for everything, Jay.”

  “My pleasure, sweetie. Tell Dana we say hi next time you see her,” he added. “I really liked her.”

  “I will,” Gwen agreed softly, a small smile tugging at her lips. She waved absently at the car. “She’s supposed to come over later to see that one.”

  “Ah, well, in that case, I will let you go.” Jay grinned. “Talk to you later, Harrison.”

  “Later, Bonita.” Gwen waved at him as she skipped around the front of her car and climbed behind the wheel. Storm was mewling pitifully on the seat beside her, and she looked over at the carrier as she started the car. “We’ll be home soon, Storm.” She stuck two fingers through the gaps in the door and just barely managed to ruffle the little kitten’s fur. “I promise,” she added as she pulled her hand back and shifted into drive.

  Storm was as upset about her confinement as Heather as said she’d be, and Gwen glanced anxiously at the kitten as she switched to the CD player on her car’s stereo system and turned up the volume. Storm, thankfully, quieted by a fraction as Sara Bareilles’ voice spilled through the car’s speakers, and Gwen sighed with relief as she turned out of Luke and Jay’s neighborhood and started making her way toward the freeway.

  Traffic was predictably clogged on Ventura and Coldwater, but the freeway, once she managed to merge onto the 101, was wide open. Gwen stuck her fingers back through door of Storm’s crate to try and calm her as much as she could as she eased into a gap between a Tesla and a Prius into the second lane. “It’s okay, sweetie,” she tried to reassure her in a soothing voice. Storm, for her part, wasn’t having it, and only cried louder. “God I hope you are happier when we get home,” she sighed as she continued to wiggle her fingers inside the crate, meeting nothing but air as Storm was out of her reach.

  Of course, her phone rang through the car’s bluetooth just as she reached the 134-split, interrupting the music that didn’t seem to be doing much until it was gone and Storm’s heartbreaking mewling cries became instantly louder.

  “Oh fuck me,” Gwen muttered. She pulled her hand from the crate since it didn’t seem to be doing anything anyway, and pressed the call button on the steering wheel with her left thumb. “Hello?”

  “Hey, Gwen. It’s Dana.”

  Storm fell silent as Dana’s voice boomed through the car speakers.

  “Oh my god, I love you right now,” Gwen replied as she turned down the volume to a more comfortable level.

  Dana laughed, low and sweet. “Not that I don’t appreciate the sentiment, because I do, but dare I ask what I did to deserve it?”

  “Storm was crying her poor little head off and just breaking my heart until she heard your voice, and now”—Gwen glanced over at the crate to see two little blue eyes looking curiously out the door—“she’s not.”

  “Well, I’m happy to be of service,” Dana replied warmly. “Hello, Miss Storm. Are you giving your mom a hard time?”

  Gwen dared one more quick glance at the crate beside her as the freeway curved past Universal, and smiled at the way Storm cocked her head to the side and mewled softly in response. “If you could just keep talking until I get her home, I will buy you dinner tonight.”

  “I would have done it for free just to help,” Dana chuckled, “but far be it for me to pass up free food. Okay, Miss Storm, you wanna hear what I did to torture my swimmers yesterday morning?”

  Gwen smiled as she listened to Dana launch into sharing about her practice from the day before. She had no idea what a threshold set was, or what “fifteen one hundreds on the one-thirty” meant, but just listening to the smooth, smoky timbre of Dana’s voice relaxed her just as much as it did the little kitten, and before she knew it, the drive home t
hat had seemed like it was going to be interminable was over.

  “We just pulled into my garage. Thank you.”

  “My pleasure.”

  “Are you still coming over later?” Gwen asked as she killed the engine but left the car on so that she wouldn’t risk dropping Dana’s call as her phone switched off bluetooth.

  “Of course. You promised me dinner. Is there a time that’d work best for you? I don’t want to get in the way while the little one is settling in.”

  Gwen smiled as she unbuckled hers, and then Storm’s, seat belts and carefully lifted the kitten’s carrier over the center console and around the steering wheel. “With how she settled down for you just now, you might be better for her than I am. So please, come on over whenever you want. We’ll be here all day.”

  “Oh, well, in that case,” Dana drawled, her smile evident in her voice, “I’ll head out after I switch this last load of clothes into the dryer. Do you want me to pick up lunch on the way?”

  “No, I can’t ask you to do that.”

  “You’re not asking, I’m offering. Can I bring you lunch?”

  Gwen nodded. “I’d like that very much, thank you.”

  “Any requests?”

  “Surprise me.”

  Dana chuckled, and even though Gwen was sure that it was not meant to sound remotely suggestive, the deep, rumbling laughter still sent an unmistakable flutter through her stomach. “You got it. I’ll see you in like an hour or so?”

  Gwen cleared her throat softly and nodded. “I…yeah. Okay. We will see you then.”

  “Awesome. Can’t wait. Later Storm!” Dana signed off with a click.

  Gwen took a deep breath and pulled her keys from the ignition as she peered through the door to Storm’s crate. “What are we going to do about her?”

  Storm mewled softly and slapped at the door of her crate.

  “Right. First things first, let’s get you out of this stupid thing, huh?” Gwen sighed as she climbed out of the car. “I hope you like little toy mice,” she said as she stopped at key panel to close the garage door before making her way up to the house. “Because Dana insisted I buy like two dozen of them for you. And I just can’t say no to her, so you’ve got a ton of little mice to play with.”

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  “So, how’s my new best friend?” Luke asked, smirking as he dropped into the empty seat beside Gwen. He had come over to her house after their rehearsal at the Bowl the day before to play with Storm, and was quite smug about the way that, when the two of them were sitting on the floor, the little kitten had chosen to sleep on him instead of Gwen.

  “She’s fine, thanks for asking.” Gwen rolled her eyes. “Though if it came down to you and Dana, I dare say you’d lose, my friend. If anyone’s her favorite, it’s Dana.”

  “Ah, so she takes after her mom then,” Luke jibed, nudging Gwen with his elbow.

  Gwen huffed a laugh and shook her head. “Shut up. Besides,” she added, shooting him a playfully wounded look, “I thought you said Regan was your new BFF since you guys have been texting almost nonstop since Saturday.”

  “Rest assured, dear Gwen,” Luke teased, patting her leg, “you still rank higher than Regan. For now, anyway.”

  “Small favors, I guess,” Gwen deadpanned.

  “Yep.” He grinned, his smile faltering as he glanced at the small huddle of first violinists on the other side of the stage. “So, how’re things with Maleficent?”

  “The same? I dunno. We talked for maybe five minutes on Monday before rehearsal, but otherwise…” Gwen blew out a soft breath and shrugged. She had tried asking Mallory to lunch that day, but Mal had begged off, claiming exhaustion from her weekend getaway and the need to practice more, and she had avoided Gwen completely the day before by arriving to rehearsal just as Rhode was stepping onto the rostrum and all but sprinting from stage as soon as they were excused. “It doesn’t matter. She leaves for London in two weeks, so this whole thing will be over soon.”

  “You should just break up with her self-centered ass and move on with your life,” Luke grumbled, glaring daggers at the back of Mallory’s head. “I mean, I get that you’re trying to do the noble thing here and all, but I don’t think she deserves the effort.”

  “It’s fine, Luke,” Gwen sighed. “Besides, it’s not like I’m really having to do anything besides actually not breaking up with her.” She rubbed a hand over the back of her neck. “At this point, what’s three more weeks of being ignored?”

  “I can’t wait until she’s gone,” Luke muttered darkly.

  “Be nice.”

  “Nope. Sorry. Can’t even fake it anymore.” Luke shook his head. “But, enough with the evil queen. You wanna go grab a quick bite after rehearsal?”

  “I would, but I’m going to head over to campus after we’re done here and meet Dana for lunch before her afternoon practices start and I have to teach.” She shrugged at the curious look he gave her and explained, “We ended up not going to dinner last night because her meeting yesterday afternoon ran long, and by the time she called the freeways were a complete disaster with the evening commute and everything.”

  “Makes sense. You guys living on opposite sides of LA does make things kinda rough.”

  “Exactly. But at least once a week we are literally right next to each other to make things a little easier. Do you have anything going on after rehearsal tomorrow? I can do something then.”

  Luke nodded. “Sure. We can even just go back to your place and order-in if you’d rather get back to Storm.”

  “We’ll see how she handles today,” Gwen said, smiling at him gratefully. “This’ll be the longest I’ve left her alone.”

  “She probably just sleeps the whole time you’re gone,” Luke assured her.

  “Judging by how hyper she is when I get home and let her out of the laundry room, I think you’re right,” Gwen chuckled. “Yesterday she sprinted around the house for a good fifteen minutes after I let her out before she calmed down.” She straightened as Rhode made his way out onto the stage. “Looks like it’s time to get to work.”

  “Yep.” Luke jumped to his feet. “Have fun with Dana. Tell her I say hi.”

  Gwen nodded. “Of course.”

  Rhode tapped his baton on his stand. “Are we ready to go?”

  “When you are, boss-man,” Luke quipped, pointing at him with dual finger-guns.

  Rhode laughed. “Nice enthusiasm, Mr. Benoist.” Once everyone was seated and in position to play, he said, “Let’s switch things up for our warm up today and go full Williams for this first set. We’ll begin with the theme from Jurassic Park, move from that into Superman, and we’ll end with our usual Star Wars. By then you should all be loose and ready to revisit Handel’s Messiah to begin getting in form for the season.” He lifted his hands in the air as the sound of sheet music being turned to the appropriate piece and, when everyone was ready, counted, “And a one, and a two, and a one, two, three…”

  Gwen put her bow to strings and pulled, her eyes fluttering shut as the first few lines of music flowed from her cello without thought, and when she was forced to open her eyes to find her spot on the sheet music in front of her all of the thoughts and the worries and the frustration she felt but would never admit to had faded to nothingness. Here, now, there was only her and her cello, her bow dragging over strings and the music that had always been her haven, and she gave herself over completely to the flow and rhythm of sounds that reverberated in the air around her.

  By the time Rhode excused them for the day some three hours later, her hands were tired and her back somewhat stiff, and she frowned in surprise when Rhode called to her just as she made to leave the stage, “Gwen, a minute?”

  “Of course,” she murmured, tipping her head in a small nod.

  “See you tomorrow,” Mallory said, smiling distractedly and barely slowing her stride as she passed Gwen.

  Gwen rolled her eyes and nodded, not bothering to even put the effort into any more of a res
ponse.

  Luke stopped in front of her and whispered, “What’s going on?”

  “No clue,” Gwen replied softly.

  Luke shot Rhode a quick glance and nodded. “Okay. I’ll wait for you backstage.”

  “Thanks.” Once the stage was empty save for her and the conductor, Gwen made her way over to him. “What’s up?”

  “I wanted to talk to you real quick about Mallory’s audition.”

  Gwen frowned. “Okay…”

  “As I’m sure you know, the Phil’s board meeting was last night, and as I’m sure you aren’t aware, her auditioning for the concertmaster position in London was the main topic of conversation.”

  “Well, that makes sense since she’s the concertmaster for us and everything,” Gwen said, nodding slowly. “If she wins the London position it’ll leave a rather huge hole to fill in our roster, but I’m still not seeing why…”

  “The board was hoping for some kind of an idea as to what your plans are, should she win the position,” Rhode explained with a sheepish smile. “I know this is rather unusual, but given your relationship with Mallory, I’m sure you can understand their concerns regarding the shape of our ensemble for the coming season.”

  “Yeah.” Gwen nodded. It made sense that, with less than two months before the first official concert of the year, the board would be worried about how many roster spots might be needing to be filled. She pursed her lips and looked around the empty hall to make sure there was nobody listening in, and sighed as she looked back at him. “Between you and I and the board,” she began, letting the thought hang until he nodded his understanding, “I have no plans to leave LA Phil, regardless of the result of Mallory’s audition. And I trust you and the board will keep this information to yourselves until after the audition has been decided and I can tell her myself.”

  “Of course.” He nodded thoughtfully. “So she doesn’t have any idea…”

  “The London concertmaster position is her dream job.” Gwen shook her head and glanced, again, at the stage door to make sure their conversation remained private. “I didn’t want to do anything that would throw her off her game for the audition.”