Page 24 of Petrify

Ms. Wilder finally arrives as I straighten the sheet music and put it away into folders. Henri avoids looking at his father at all costs. I wait by the piano, watching them leave.

And even though I’m completely still, Leo calls my name. “Stay for a second, won’t you?”

Only then do I look at him, and I find him staring right at me with that calm smile.

“Mallary Doyle.”

He gestures to the velvet couch in the center of the room, motioning me to sit. So I do, because I don’t really have an option.

I clear my throat. “Is something wrong?”

He steps a bit closer, as though to sit across from me, but he remains on his feet. I have to crane my neck back to look up at him.

“No. Nothing's wrong.” And then, “You’re very nice to him.”

I don’t know how to respond.

“His last tutor was a bit more… harsh.”

“Are you telling me you’d like me to be more strict?”

“No.” Leo glances around the room casually, as if it’s his first time really noticing the space. “Not necessarily. As long as he is doing what he’s told, then I suppose it’s no issue.”

I clasp my hands together in my lap. “Henri is well-behaved. He has more discipline than any other child I’ve met. I will let you know if we start to have trouble, I assure you.”

Leo laughs. “He’s not always been that way.”

“He’s a child.”

His lips press into a line. “His last tutor was quite regimented.Sheinstilled that discipline in him that he carries even now. As an eight year old, no less.” A muscle ticks in his cheek. “He may only be a child, but one day he will be an adult, and the better he is now, the better he will be then.”

I stay silent, unable to look away, but equally uncomfortable meeting his stare. “I understand.”

“I’m sure you do,” he says. He’s staring at a point on the wall. “Your own training was just ashard, wasn’t it?”

Against my will, my face burns red at the implication I swear I hear in his words. But there’s no possibility that he knows anything about that.

And then I remember this isn’t a job I applied for. They reached out to me. They found my information.

“Not at his age,” I hear myself say. “I was self-taught until high school.”

His gaze gleams with something like interest.

“And those were weekly lessons. Only at university did I get real, formal training.”

“While you were up against all those other students?”

“Yes.”

His gaze flickers to the wall again, just briefly, so quickly I could’ve missed it. “Then it’s a testament to your talent.”

I’m sure pink still stains my cheeks. He’s trying to flatter me.

I know the playbook: a few well-timed compliments, lingering glances, feigned interest in my ability, inme. Then, a brush of his fingers on my arm, escalating, eventually, to wandering hands where they shouldn’t be.

“We want someone who knows what they’re talking about teaching Henri.” Leo continues. “It’s why we chose you.”

I was a substitute piano player for the symphony. The most Jason had procured for me before he left me to rot.