Highly Strung: Prelude Series - Part Three

by Meg Buchanan

  Natalia sighed, then nodded. She stood and opened the piano seat and searched in amongst the sheets of music and debris of old strings and replacement pegs. She found what she was looking for and handed the small packets over to Eva.

  “Try these.”

  Eva studied the little packets. “They’re perfect. How do you have them?”

  Natalia shrugged. “I bought them by mistake years ago.”

  “But only one set.” Eva fanned the little paper parcels like playing cards.

  “Your instrument or mine?” Noah asked her.

  She handed the little packets over to him just as her phone dinged. “You do it. I’ll make coffee.” She picked up her phone, looked at it and read the text. “Lenny says he’s almost at the gorge. If he gets here before we’ve tried this, he’s going to have to wait.”

  Noah restrung the violin while Eva made three mugs of coffee. She used the little machine the way Natalia did. So many things reminded him of her mother. The way she moved and way she did things. Except for the freedom. He’d never seen Natalia bubble with excitement the way Eva did.

  She took the music off the stand, lay the sheets on the coffee table then put the two mugs on them. He could just imagine how Isaac would react to coffee rings on his music. He liked things pristine. If the coffee spilled, he just wouldn’t let Isaac see the mess.

  “Finished?” she asked.

  “Nearly.” He wound the final peg. The ends of the strings hung out from the pegs like spider legs. If this idea worked, he’d tidy them up later.

  Eva put Natalia’s coffee on top of the piano on the folder he’d left there, then kissed Natalia’s cheek. “Be happy, Mama. Noah and I are going to make beautiful music together.”

  Jesus. He gave the last peg its final turn and then tested the tuning. Sexual innuendo wasn’t really what this situation needed. He stood up and got ready to play. “Right, let’s see how this idea of yours goes.”

  He drew the bow across the strings. The wail of the train whistle sounded even more haunting a tritone higher. Eva had been right. He hit the strings the way she’d shown him, and the train wheels were there in the sound. Then the other violin came in under his, playing what he did with the old tuning. It sounded even more amazing than what they’d done before. They played ‘Train Wreck’ to the end.

  He flopped onto the couch when they’d finished. His heart beat like he’d been running and sweat streamed down his face. Playing like that took energy.

  “Thanks,” he said. “I think we’ve found the sound.”

  Eva flopped down beside him flushed too. She nodded. “It’s good isn’t it? Does anyone else in Stadium play the violin?”

  “Yeah, Adam and Isaac.”

  “Will you do what we just did?”

  “I think so. Want to do it again and record it?”

  “Yeah.” Eva stood up and got ready to play. He set his phone to record and put it on the coffee table then stood beside her.

  “Ready.” It wouldn’t be a brilliant recording with no interface but should show the others what could be done.

  Eva nodded. He led in and she followed.

  When they’d finished playing, Eva sat down again. “I’d love to hear what you come up with.”

  He sat beside her and picked up his phone. “Give me your number. I’ll send it to you.” A car pulled up in the drive. He heard the door open and close. Lenny must finally be here. Eva handed him her phone.

  Chapter Eleven

  When Lenny knocked on the door, Natalia answered it. “Lenny, it’s lovely to see you again. Come in. Eva and Noah have almost finished.”

  Lenny stood nervously in the doorway of the studio and looked at Eva and Noah sitting on the couch together exchanging phone numbers, then at the two violins and the music stand with the music. He stood up straighter.

  Noah had the feeling Lenny thought someone had been trespassing on his territory. He couldn’t believe someone as vibrant and beautiful as Eva would want to spend time with the pale, nervous weed Lenny had turned out to be.

  Eva went over to the nervous boy/man standing in the doorway. “Lenny, meet Noah. He’s one of mother’s pupils.” Lenny nodded briefly in the Noah direction. “Lenny and I met years ago at a music camp when I lived here. He wouldn’t approve of what you and I’ve been doing all afternoon.”

  He saw Lenny bristle. Was Eva really so naive she didn’t know how that sounded? And it didn’t look like Eva needed to make Lenny jealous. His eyes followed her around like a wounded puppy’s.

  He finished putting her number into his phone and put her phone on the coffee table. Natalia had returned to her place on the piano stool.

  “Lenny’s a purist like mother when it comes to the violin,” said Eva. Lenny shrugged. “I’ll put this away and get my stuff then we can go.” Eva tucked her violin under her elbow and picked up the bow. Lenny nodded, and Eva went out of the music studio.

  Lenny hadn’t said anything since he came into the room, and even without Eva there he stayed silent. Natalia did the talking.

  “How are your parents, Lenny? I haven’t seen them for ages.”

  “They’re fine.” Lenny’s voice sounded as weedy as the rest of him. Noah leaned back on the couch, shoved his hands in his pockets, and stretched his legs out to their full length. Lenny looked irritated again but still didn’t say anything.

  The silence settled in the room and the seconds dragged out. Noah couldn’t think of anything worth saying as he waited for Eva and Lenny to leave. Natalia had to be waiting too, and Lenny looked desperate to escape.

  Finally, Eva arrived back carrying a stripy beach bag. “It was nice to meet you, Noah. Don’t forget to send me the recording.” She kissed him on the cheek.

  “I won’t.” He held up his phone. “I’ve got your number.”

  She bounced over to her mother and kissed her too. “We’ll be back later this evening, Mama.”

  “Goodbye, darling,” said Natalia.

  “See you, Noah.”

  Eva left. He heard the back-door slam. It seemed to take an age for Lenny’s car to back out of the drive, go along the street, and turn onto the main road.

  Then he pulled his hands out of his pockets and leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “You should have told me.” He turned enough to face Natalia

  Natalia touched a few keys on the piano. It sounded like the tense background music in an old film.

  “Told you what?”

  “About Eva.”

  She shut the piano suddenly, stood up, walked to the window. “I told you about Eva when I first took you to my bed.”

  He couldn’t have this conversation sitting on the couch. He stood up too. “No. You didn’t tell me she was my age.”

  Natalia pushed the curtains back and studied the road. Maybe she was checking to make sure Lenny and Eva weren’t coming back for something. “How old did you think Eva was?” she asked eventually.

  “I don’t know.” In the picture she looked about six, the age he imagined her. But he’d known Natalia for seven years and the picture had always been there. If he’d thought about it, he’d have added those years. He did the addition. “Twelve, thirteen?”

  She puffed out a breath. “Noah, Eva is twenty-five.”

  “Twenty-five? Four years older than me?” She’d looked younger than that to him. But twenty-five?

  Natalia nodded. “She has always been four years older than you.”

  That was obvious. But it still took a moment to digest. And really didn’t change anything. He still loved Natalia, however old her daughter was.

  Natalia moved away from the window to the middle of the room. “I should have known better. I’m too old to be with you. Even my daughter is too old for you.”

  “No, she’s not. Who made that rule?” He watched Natalia moving about, as highly strung as he’d ever seen her. “It doesn’t matter. Eva will get past it. We can be friends.” But he could see why she didn’t want Eva to know the truth. He tried to ima
gine how he’d feel if his mother took a lover who was four years younger than he was.

  Then he dismissed the thought as ridiculous. His mother would never do that. “And, it’s not Eva I want. It’s you.” For one thing his mother didn’t look like Natalia did. “I’ll stay the night. We’ll cook dinner. When she gets back we’ll tell her.”

  Natalia released a breath. “It’s that simple is it, Noah?”

  “Yes.” He went over to her and put his arms around her. He felt surprised by his own size and her smallness again. He engulfed her. “How old was Eva when she went to New York?” Maybe if he just kept talking and asking questions, Natalia would calm down.

  Natalia leaned her forehead against his chest. “Seventeen. She left just before you started coming for lessons.”

  He rested his chin on her hair. “Where’s her father?” He knew Natalia had to have been with other men apart from having had a kid. Some of the things she’d taught him, and had done to him, he hadn’t even seen in porn.

  “He died a few years after Eva was born.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Natalia looked up, her eyes as dark and as beautiful as always. “Don’t be. He wasn’t a good man.”

  “Were you married to him?”

  She shook her head “It was just something that happened. But he didn’t love me, and I didn’t love him.”

  “That’s sad.”

  Natalia shrugged. “I survived. And now I have Eva.”

  “And me.” He moved his arms, so he could hold her and still see her face. “Eva would want you to be happy. Let me stay, and we’ll tell her about us,” he said, trying to persuade her.

  She sighed and leaned into him. He thought for a moment she’d relent and change her mind. But then she pushed away a little again.

  “No,” she said.

  “Why not?”

  Natalia looked up and touched the mark on his cheek. “Because, Lion. I am not going to risk it. Even for you. You will leave now, and don’t come back here until I’m sure Eva is safely in New York. If you break that rule again, you’ll never be welcome.” She patted his cheek gently. “Now go and play with your friends.”

  “Jesus, Natalia. That makes me sound like I’m two.”

  Natalia gave a little smile. “That is the problem isn’t it? When I was your age, you were two.”

  He held her chin and kissed the smile. He’d make her change her mind. He felt her melt into him. She wanted him as much as he wanted her. He could tell. The light flush, her shallow breathing, her body tight against his. He caressed the back of her neck and found the top of the zip and started to slide it down slowly.

  Natalia put her hand over his. “No.” Then stepped away and did the zip up.

  He waved outside where Eva had disappeared with Lenny. “But Eva will be away for hours. If I leave now, I won’t see you for nearly half a year.”

  “And you think we should fit in a quick fuck?”

  That just sounded sleazy, He changed tactics. “I love you,” he said.

  She went very still and stared at him before she answered.

  “No, Lion. It’s the fucking you love.” She touched his cheek again. “And you will leave. Now.”

  That sounded final. And she’d just dismissed what he’d said. It hurt. He told her he loved her, and she dismissed it. Well he could draw a line in the sand and do ultimatums too.

  He picked up his violin and bow and put them in the case. “If I leave now, I’m not coming back.” He wasn’t a kid anymore. He wasn’t going to be a secret anymore.

  She turned away from him. “That’s your choice, Lion.”

  He could live without her. If that’s what she wanted, that’s what he’d do. His mates all seemed to be happy enough. He’d live like they did, music, girls, parties.

  He closed the case carefully and did up the catches. He wouldn’t come back ever. When Stadium got ‘Train Wreck’ right and made it big, that would show her. He took the music off the stand and put it in the folder. Both were covered in coffee stains. Bloody Eva.

  He went to the doorway. By then Natalia had moved to the window and was watching the street again.

  He didn’t want to leave things like this. It would be bloody hard to come back from if he did leave. “Goodbye, Natalia,” he said, hoping against hope she’d change her mind.

  “Goodbye, Lion,” she said without turning around.

  Okay, he’d go, and if he decided to come back to her in six months’ time, he’d lay down a few rules of his own. For a start, no more sneaking around. He walked down the passageway to the back door and opened it. He looked back. Natalia still hadn’t moved away from the window. He slammed the door behind him.

  Chapter Twelve

  Noah arrived home with a couple of hours to spare before he had to go to the shed to practice. He couldn’t believe he’d left things the way he had with Natalia. Maybe he should go back around there and put things right.

  He switched on the TV and flopped onto the couch. No, it would be better to let the dust settle. Maybe even let Natalia miss him a bit.

  He pulled out his phone. Anyway, he could live without her if he had to. He scrolled to the recording of him and Eva playing ‘Train Wreck’. He listened to it again.

  Yep, they’d got it right.

  He rang Adam. “Bring your violin around here.” He’d make sure someone had another violin at the shed tonight. He didn’t want to change the strings on his again, and if the others didn’t like what he’d done nobody would be able to practice.

  “Why?” Adam asked suspiciously.

  “I need you to learn something.”

  “What?” He could tell Adam was reluctant. He preferred the keyboard.

  “Just bring it. I’ve got something I want you to listen too.”

  “Did you get Natalia to help you with ‘Train Wreck’?”

  “Sort of. Just come round.”

  He could almost hear Adam shrug. “Fine.”

  While he waited for Adam to turn up, he found the track Isaac had recorded. Maybe he didn’t need Adam after all. He could play the high-strung track over the top of the rest, and they’d get the idea.

  That would be the backup plan if Adam wouldn’t go for this.

  Adam appeared. “What’s this all about. I thought we were practising tonight.”

  “No. I want you to listen to something. See if you like it as much as I do. Want a coffee?” Adam shook his head. “Beer?”

  “No. Just play what you’ve got.”

  They settled in the lounge, and Noah found the recording.

  After a few bars, Adam sat up. “Shit.” Then listened carefully to the end. “Who was that playing?”

  “Me and Eva.”

  “Eva?”

  “Natalia’s daughter.”

  “Daughter? Natalia’s got a kid.”

  “Nope. Eva’s twenty-five.”

  Adam stared at him for a moment. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he said after a few moments. “Natalia’s too young, isn’t she?”

  “Nope, apparently not. Anyway, what do you think?”

  “It’s brilliant. I guess you want me to learn it like that?”

  Noah nodded. “If I’m going to sell this to the others, we should give it its best shot. I’ll show you what Eva showed me, and we’ll practice it up this afternoon then we’ll be ready for the big reveal tonight.

  “I’m not playing the violin in the show though.”

  “Nah. I’m pretty sure Isaac will do it, and you can go back to the keyboard, but I need you to learn it now.”

  Adam shrugged again. “Okay. But I’m not getting stuck with it.”

  “You won’t.”

  They spent the afternoon practicing. By the time they were due at the shed, ‘Train Wreck’ sounded pretty good.

  Luke, Cole and Isaac were already there when they arrived.

  “What’s with the two violins?” asked Luke as they came in the door.

  “We’ve got something to show yo
u.”

  “‘Train Wreck’?” asked Cole. Noah nodded. “Are we playing along? He went to get up on the stage and go to the drums.

  “No. Listen first.” Noah put the case on the stage and opened it. Adam did the same.

  Luke sat on the sawhorse. Isaac leaned back against the bench, folded his arms and crossed his boots. It wasn’t the most open posture Noah had ever seen. Isaac didn’t look receptive to the idea of a duet.

  “Right?” Noah asked Adam.

  “Yep.”

  Noah drew his bow across the strings and the high-pitched wail filled the shed. Adam came in under with the deeper note the way they’d practiced. It sounded as good as he hoped it would. The shed had great acoustics, and today they were exactly what the piece needed. Halfway through, he could see Luke leaning forward trying to hear what they were doing even more clearly. Cole hadn’t moved from the bench. Isaacs arms and boots were uncrossed.

  They came to the end. As usual he was sweating and puffing from the effort he’d put in. He hoped they liked it.

  “Fuck,” said Isaac.

  “Is that good or bad?” Noah couldn’t imagine the piece being played any other way now.

  “Amazing.” Isaac came over and took the violin off him and plucked the top two strings. “Tuned higher. How did you think of that?”

  “I didn’t. I had some help.”

  “Who?”

  Noah hesitated, and Adam answered for him.

  “Natalia’s twenty-five-year-old daughter Eva.”

  “Who cares where you got it from.” Luke leapt up onto the stage and grabbed the mic. “Let’s see what we can do with it.”

  They spent the next couple of hours playing around with the sound. Noah had been right. Isaac wanted to be on the second violin, so Adam was freed up to play the keyboard. It didn’t take Isaac long to pick up the techniques, and they ran though the whole thing a couple of times.

  “Let’s see if it sounds as good as we think it does.” Isaac leapt down off the stage and got the laptop and the interface gear. “We’ll lay down the drum track first and then build on that.”