Page 37 of Play Me

“What’s it of?” I open it and see a DVD. I’m burning with curiosity.

“You’ll see. Or hear. We hope you like it. I chose it specifically for you. I hope you’re not disappointed for believing in us.” And then, she leans in, and grazes my cheek with her lips. “You’re a really good guy, Sebastian.”

I’m frozen to the spot. I’m torn between wanting to run to my laptop and put the DVD in, and pulling her back for another kiss.

She makes the decision for me.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow! Great rehearsal today!” She calls across the room as she walks away from me, lingering at the door for a moment for one last look, and then closing the door behind her.

“Hey! What’s that?” Jez comes over to me, and takes the disc from my hands.

“Oi! Give it back. It’s private.”

“Oooh, private with our Cadey. We want to know!” Marius pipes up and jumps on the couch.

“Jez, give it the fuck back. It’s none of your business!”

“Come and get it, piss ant!”

I pretend to give up and just as he turns away, I run over, leaping over the couch, and wrestle him to the floor. He grunts and tries to knee me in the groin as I straddle over him. He throws the DVD over to Marius before I can grab it from him. I punch him in the shoulder and he grabs my hand and twists it.

“Ah fuck!!! Let go, dickhead!” I scream, which just makes him twist harder. I manage to get my other arm free and give him a right hook to the left cheek.

“Motherfucker!” He grunts in pain, loosening his grip for a moment given me a chance to grab his throat with my hand.

“WHAT DO YOU PICKLEDICKS THINK YOU ARE DOING?!” Dennis’ voice booms over us and we stop wrestling, still holding each other tight, but turn so we’re both on our backs looking up at his face, so red it looks like it might just pop off his neck in a cloud of steam.

“Erm. He started it!” Jez nods to me.

“Did fucking not.” I pout and tighten my grip around his neck and he pretends to choke.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me. Do you KNOW how much I pay in insurance for those girly hands of yours? And hire people to do everything from your laundry to your dishes to practically tying your shoeslaces, for fuck’s sake? It’s so you don’t hurt them doing anything more strenuous that jerking off. NOW FUCKING LET GO OF EACH OTHER!”

“Count to three and we’ll do it at the same time.” Jez tells him.

“Good lord, I should just let you kill yourselves and take the life insurance and go live on an island where I never have to listen to any string instruments ever again.” He moans and presses the ball of his hand against his temple.

“You better do it or else they’ll still be there in a week’s time. Remember that time Jez didn’t change his shirt for two weeks because no one laughed at the joke printed on it?” Brad reminds him.

“Oh, yeah! That was a good one! Hey, Dennis, knock knock.”

“I’ll knock knock your fucking heads together! Fucking hell. On three, OK, willywankers? One, two, three.”

“Ooooof!” We let go and push each other away, biting back smiles.

“Guys, shut up and look at this.” Marius waves to the laptop screen. He’s put in the DVD.

We go over to the couch just as the video focuses.

It’s Cadence. She’s dressed as she was at rehearsal today. A long, sleek, sleeveless V-neck black dress and black ankle boots. She comes to the front of the lens. The camera shakes a bit and she laughs and reaches out, stabilizing it. Then without a word, she goes and sits down at the baby grand piano, where I first heard her play.

The cameraman walks over to her and zooms in on her face. She closes her eyes and places her hands on the keys. Taking a deep breath, she opens her eyes, and starts to play.

It’s a beautiful melody that I think is from the soundtrack of The Truman Show. I don’t know if there’s any meaning behind her choosing this song, but it’s a simple, gorgeous piece that sounds angelic coming from her talented fingers. Everyone is just as mesmerized as I am. It’s hard to focus too much on each other during our rehearsals because to some extent we’re all trying to work on our own parts, but here, unencumbered by our own need for perfection, we can really sit back and enjoy her performance.

Then, as the piece comes to a soft, gentle end, the camera zooms out and the rest of the room comes into view. Her entire orchestra is sitting there, instruments in hand and without missing a beat, as soon as she plays her last note, the orchestra lifts into song.

Cadence runs from the piano to the middle of the room and climbs onto her conductor’s box, arms lifting, fingers alive, already directing her band to create their best sound.