Page 39 of Rock Me

CHAPTER TEN

Jez

She's playing it.

Like I knew she would.

I knew she'd understand. If not the meaning, she'd be compelled, just as I am, to know what that song would sound like coming from her. From her own fingers.

She's playing it.

And it's everything I thought it would be, and more.

I lean my head against the wall outside the family room, holding my breath, hoping nothing disturbs this moment.

Her shadow across my glass window as she'd tiptoed down the hall had promised me something special. I'm glad I’d followed my instincts and followed her.

Autumn, she said she always loved autumn. Autumn the season, Autumn the word. This song is perfect for her.

I brace for the familiar chorus, wondering how she'll interpret it, hoping she doesn’t disappoint.

And the notes lingering in the air, one by one. Giving my ears the space to enjoy it, before it begs for the next one.

Perfection. She understands the pleasure of anticipation. Music is nothing but a reflection of humanity.

Who is this woman? How can she read me with her eyes and write my soul with her music?

Noémie, my brain whispers, rolling the letters of her name over in its cortices.

I finally have a name for her. To go with the face, the laughter, the body, the memories.

Noémie.

How can you not remember me, Noémie?

The memory of her face, completely blank at meeting me again, flashes in my brain, the way it has a hundred thousand times since yesterday.

I don't know what's happened.

But I'm going to reverse it.

She will remember.

The song finishes at her touch. And she sighs.

Play it again, I want to beg her. But I can't. Not yet.

I hear her shuffle inside and I quietly push away from the wall and jog back to my room.

And play the song over in my head until I fall asleep to the scent of cinnamon and the sound of leaves falling.

***

"Robbie, my man," I say to him, as I wave him into my room the next night.

His eyes narrow and I imagine his hands would be on his hips if he wasn’t busy tidying up around my room. "What do you want?"

"So jaded for such a young soul," I say, hoping he's forgotten the times I've teased him for his graying sideburns.