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I smiled despite myself. “You should have been a saleswoman.”
“So you’ll audition?”
“Well, wait. I don’t know…”
“Oh, sweet baby Jesus, donottell me you don’t want to go because of Lake.”
“Don’t start, Mel,” I said, feeling my hackles rise. “At least with Noah I’m doing something useful. I’m helping him.”
“Yes. You’ve been doing a bang-up job helping him. But who’s helping you?” She crossed her arms. “You cannot put your life on hold—again—for a man. I will not let you.”
The room temperature seemed to drop fifteen degrees. “I put my life on hold for a man?” I crossed my arms partly to look fierce, mostly to hide how my hands trembled. “And which man would that be? My brother whodiedor my boyfriend who tore my heart to shreds aminutelater?”
Melanie held out her hands. “I’m sorry. That’s not what I meant. I just think that this orchestra would be perfect for you, and I’d hate to see you miss a shot at it for any reason.” She glanced over her shoulder. “I mean, how serious are things between you and Lake?”
“I don’t know,” I lied. Well, it was a half-lie. I didn’t know how serious Noah took us, but the thought of leaving him made my insides curl up. “But anyway, it’s a big deal, what you’re suggesting. To leave the country for a whole season and be so far away from my parents and…the city.”
“And Noah?”
“Can I research a little before you decide I’m setting the women’s movement back fifty years?”
Melanie wrinkled her lips. “Sure, sure, though time is of the essence…”
“Why? When’s the audition?”
“Two weeks from Monday.”
“Ugh, Mel…”
“You had your sabbatical but it’s over now. Your time has come. This is it! I can feel it.” She softened. “Promise me you’ll consider it?”
“I’ll consider it,” I said and was surprised to find that was the truth. The idea of this Vienna Touring Orchestra didn’t fill me with dread like I thought it would. On the contrary, it sounded exactly as Melanie had said: something I might have wished for in another life.
No, inthislife. I could do this. And Noah…he could come with me.
Possibilities were floating in my head. I’d probably have to audition with Mozart. That was daunting, as I honestly didn’t know if I’d freeze up, or melt into a puddle of tears, or both.
Or maybe you’d just nail it.
The night rapidly slipped away, and I was ready to go. Or rather, I was ready to be alone with Noah, even if it just meant falling asleep with him in his bed. I was overjoyed that he was rejoining the world but still felt protective. Maybe Iwassetting the women’s movement back, but I wanted to take care of him, keep him safe.
But if he came with me on tour, I could play and he could travel the world he thought he lost.
I started to ask him if he were ready to go when he leaned into me, his breath warm and sending pleasant shivers down my neck. “I’d like to get you home now.”
My breath quickened. “That’s an interesting choice of words,” I murmured back. “And what happens when you get me home?”
“Anything. Everything. I don’t want to wait anymore.”
I closed my eyes as the blood rushed between my thighs, leaving me dizzy. “Me neither.”
We said our goodbyes and I led Noah across the loft that was now much less crowded, past Felicia Strickland’s little corner.
“We need your strings, lady,” Felicia called to me. “‘Time of Your Life.’ Green Day. You know it?”
“It’s late…”
“Please.” Felicia egged on the ring of friends around her, and suddenly I was bombarded with plaintive begging and pitiful faces.
