Chapter 19
“R aven. Wow.” The woman gives me a big once-over. “Is that a stage name?”
I get asked this question a lot. Raven—it’s an unusual name.
Not to mention my hair is ink-black—the reason my parents named me Raven in the first place.
But this woman is not asking me in a kind or genuine or even curious way.
And when she sneers the words “stage name,” I think she’s actually asking if I’m a stripper instead of the cellist I claim to be.
“Nope. It’s real. Came out with a splash of black hair and my name is the result.”
“Oh. It’s… cute.” Her nose scrunches and yeah, she doesn’t think it’s cute at all. This interview isn’t starting on the foot I had hoped it would.
“Thank you.” Yep, I don’t mean that either and I’m pretty sure she can tell.
“So, talk to me about your experience with music therapy.”
Right. The whole reason I’m here.
Only, I didn’t expect to see this woman and she certainly wasn’t expecting to see me.
You know, since we now live in the same building.
I knew she looked familiar when I passed her in the lobby the first time I was there, and I wasn’t wrong.
Even though I had never seen her in person before until that moment.
No, I’d seen her in pictures with none other than Luca Fritz—the real Luca.
Smiling on his arm as she stared adoringly up at him, splashed across the cover of Boston Landing the day I landed at Logan airport, returning from London.
It was quite the homecoming.
I can’t help but wonder how many times she slept with him. If he stared into her eyes while he was inside of her the way he used to with me. If he made her come with his mouth or just his fingers and dick. If he told her she was beautiful.
Ugh. Liar. Bastard. Heartbreaking fucktwat.
Shaking off all thoughts of Luca, I sit up a bit straighter, folding my hands in my lap and plastering on my sweet smile. “Well, I have a bachelor’s in string instruments from The Conservatory in London and a secondary degree from King’s College London in psychology.”
“Hmmm… how did you manage that at such a young age?”
“In England, a bachelor’s degree is typically three years instead of four, so I doubled up a lot for two of those years.”
“Right. And you’ve done music therapy before?”
“I didn’t realize the position Kaplan spoke with me about was for an actual music therapist. He explained I would come in three days a week, go to different floors, and play music with some of the kids.”
“That’s what we call music therapy here. Just because Kaplan Fritz believes you’re right for the job, doesn’t mean I don’t have to do mine.”
Oh boy. This woman seriously doesn’t like me.
A point she goes on to prove when she asks, “What’s your relationship with the Fritz family again?”
None of your damn business. “My father is their house manager and chief of security.”
That has her appraising me with new eyes. The kind that suggests I’m no longer a threat to her in any way. The fact that she thought I was in the first place has me inwardly grinning, though. Women have always chased the Fritz men. They’re billionaires and they’re gorgeous.
But this woman didn’t like me on sight.
Probably because the news that Luca Fritz put his whatever they choose to call me into an apartment where I pay pennies on the dollar rent in a building full of multimillion-dollar condos spread like wildfire. I heard a few women gossiping about it in the gym the other morning.
They didn’t even bother to stop gossiping when they saw me.
After Luca walked out last week, I sat in that apartment crying my eyes out for who knows how long.
But when I finally managed to pry myself off the floor and wash my face, I decided to go through things a bit.
I sat on the sofa and watched TV. I opened the cabinets in the kitchen and bathroom. They were fully stocked.
The man even had them put a supply of toilet paper there for me.
And I decided I was being crazy by not taking it.
I’m paying a thousand dollars a month for an apartment I’d never be able to afford in ten lifetimes.
Whether I stay there for a few months or even years, it’s too good of a gift to pass up.
And true to his word, I haven’t had to see or deal with Luca.
At least where the apartment is concerned—Sunday night at the game notwithstanding.
It’s been all the management company who was only too happy to give me the keys and have me sign a month-to-month lease.
My father, who helped me move, seemed even less enthusiastic about it after he saw the place, but that’s another story. I know he spoke with Luca about it. He didn’t deny it either. Just said that men talk, and Luca wanted to make sure I was living somewhere safe. Whatever.
“Have I used music to help children who had underlying mental health issues? Yes. One of my rotations was in an adolescent psych ward in London. Not a happy place to be, but the kids all seemed to respond well to music and were able to express themselves through it. That’s what music is, Miss Barnes.
Music is expression. It speaks to the soul and evokes emotion.
All emotions. And yes, I do believe in music’s ability to heal.
I’ve experienced that myself firsthand. But the bottom line is, I’m twenty-two.
I just graduated and moved back to Boston.
So no, I don’t have all the experience you seem to be looking for.
But I am young, which makes me relatable.
And I am talented and passionate about what I do.
And I do believe I can help kids who are going through what is likely the hardest time of their lives find a little joy or peace or acceptance or be able to communicate in ways they otherwise might not be able to. ”
Pricilla Barnes scrutinizes me with an unreadable expression, her red talons that match her lips tapping gently on her desk.
Finally, she releases a breath and leans back in her chair.
“All right, Miss Fairchild. Kaplan seems to believe in you, so I’ll give you a shot.
Come with me. I’ll show you the floors you’ll be working on. ”
Stunned, I get up and follow her as she leads me to three different floors in the hospital.
I’m not sure what I was expecting. Boston Children’s Hospital has been voted best in the world too many times for them to count.
They are the premier children’s hospital and it’s a job they clearly take to heart.
Kids and families from all over the world travel here with their sick kids for treatment.
But these kids…
Walking through some of the floors and smiling at some of the faces, all while watching the exhausted and terrified parents and not crying is an act of sheer will.
I’m on a cardiac floor, an oncology floor, and a neuro floor.
On each floor is an activity room where I’ll set up instruments and hang out with the kids for an hour and a half, talking and playing music.
Music is my life’s blood, but this is bringing it to the next level, and I tell Kaplan that as I sit with him in the sandwich shop inside the lobby of the hospital, having a quick bite in between his patients.
“See,” he says around a mouthful of turkey sandwich. “I knew you’d be perfect for it.”
“I’m nervous as hell but excited too. I had thought about teaching music to make some extra money, but this is so much better. Thank you again. I still can’t believe you put yourself on the line like that for me.”
Kaplan laughs, wiping his mouth with his napkin.
“Babe, there is no me putting myself on the line. I knew the hospital was looking for someone to come in and do something like this and I mentioned your name to Pricilla, who has been after my junk and every other Fritz’s junk for years now.
She was only too excited about hiring you until you moved into Luca’s building. ”
And just like that, my enthusiastic smile is gone.
“Aw, come on. You look like you just got splatter pooped on.”
“ Splatter pooped ?”
“Welcome to peds. Happened to me this morning, in fact. Newborn babies’ bowels are unpredictable. They like to fire without waiting for the official order. Anyway, Luca hasn’t fucked her, if that’s what you were worried about.”
“I wasn’t,” I lie, and he grins, taking a sip of soda while reading me perfectly.
“Uh-huh. Sure. You obviously saw them in that magazine, but his face or mine or even Carter’s and Oliver’s faces have been all over that magazine and ninety-eight percent of the time, it’s total bullshit.
They were talking at a charity event and the camera captured it and called it something else.
I know everyone believes Luca to be a playboy, but he’s not.
Not anymore. Not in the last four years anyway.
Did you know what always happens is women come on to him, he makes a valiant effort to reciprocate, fails, and then drops them off at home with barely a peck on the cheek? ”
“As a brilliant friend of mine once said, uh-huh. Sure.”
Kaplan rolls his green eyes at me, and I hate how similar all the Fritz boys look.
Well, except for Carter, who looks just like Dr. Fritz senior with his dark eyes.
But all the rest have this incredible variation of green eyes and it’s annoying.
Especially when you’re trying to forget one set in particular and the way they look at you.
“All I’m saying is you can’t believe everything you read or see in magazines or on the internet. If you did, then you’d think I’m nothing more than a coldhearted rake who has sworn off love and dodges every woman’s attempt at locking me down and forcing me down the aisle.”
“You are all of those things. Doctor Untouchable. Boston’s man of mystery.” I take a spoonful of my soup, chewing on a noodle and winking at him when he pouts.
He angles his head, cocking an eyebrow. “But no one knows why. Do they?”
“I don’t know why either.”
“See what I mean?”
I laugh, shaking my head. “Not really.”