Chapter 24 #3
Michelle was spared having to comment by the music starting. She felt self-conscious for a few seconds, wondering if all the women at her table thought she had a thing for Theo or something, and then the music swept her away.
Wow, she thought. I guess it really is easy to enjoy Theo’s music when I let myself. They sound amazing.
She closed her eyes, enjoying the sounds, and didn’t even realize their pizza had arrived until Audrey tapped her on the shoulder to ask her what kind of slice she wanted first. The women munched their pizza and sipped their wine while they listened, and around them, the other guests of The Brick Oven seemed to be almost as entranced as Michelle felt.
Almost. She had a feeling that no one was quite as captivated by Theo’s quick-fingered guitar playing as she was.
“This next one is an original song,” Theo said, speaking into the microphone with a precise tone he didn’t normally use.
Michelle knew she could have teased him about that if she wanted to, but she found that she had no desire to do so.
She held her breath, feeling excited about what the song would be.
“The lyrics are mine, and the band helped me out with the tune.”
The band members shook their heads behind him as if to say, “Not really,” and a few people in the audience cheered and whistled.
The song started, and it was more hauntingly beautiful than any of the other songs had been.
Michelle felt an ache in her chest that she couldn’t explain.
She shut her eyes tightly and listened, not thinking about the pizza on the plate in front of her, or the half-full glass of wine that she’d been enjoying, or the fact that the women around her might notice how moved she was by the music.
She listened with her whole being, as if she couldn’t do anything else.
When the song was over, everyone cheered loudly and Theo’s grin was quick and radiant.
His eyes traveled over the crowd, and he spotted Michelle sitting in the corner.
It seemed as though it was the first moment he’d realized she was there that night, because his expression shifted in kind of a funny way.
His smile faded a little but the light in his eyes got brighter.
He announced that the band would play one more song, and as soon as it started, Michelle remembered it from the time she’d paused outside the music studio, listening to Theo’s band play. It was a good song, she thought. It made her feel excited and hopeful and nostalgic all at once.
Once the show ended, Michelle began to squirm.
She wanted to see Theo and congratulate him on how wonderful his performance had been.
The thought of paying him honest compliments made her jittery, since she didn’t know how he would take it.
Would he think she was being sarcastic, unable to accept genuine praise from her after so many years of teasing?
The band members stepped off the stage to wild applause and stepped through a doorway into a back hallway.
Michelle tried to listen to everything that Harper, Penelope, and Audrey were saying about the concert, but she kept glancing at the door, wondering when Theo was going to walk back through it.
Should I just go right up to him? she wondered, wishing her palms weren’t sweating so much. Or should I wait and see if he walks up to our table and then talk to him?
Two members of the band stepped through the doorway, and a few seconds later they were followed by one more. Michelle waited for Theo, nibbling her fourth slices of pizza half-heartedly.
When two more minutes had passed and Theo still hadn’t appeared, Michelle stood up abruptly.
“I’m going to use the bathroom,” she announced, a bit louder than perhaps was necessary. “I’ll be right back.”
“Okay,” Audrey said with a smile, and Michelle wondered if her mother suspected that Michelle secretly had other plans.
Michelle walked toward the hallway where the bathrooms were, where she could see two of Theo’s bandmates standing in the doorway. She did her best to sound casual as she stepped up to them.
“Great show,” she said, smiling and hoping they’d forgotten all about the music studio eavesdropping incident. “Where’s Theo?”
“Aw, he had to go home,” said the drum player, who had a big brown beard and was wearing red flannel and looked unmistakably like a lumberjack. “He had something with his family, he said.”
“Oh, okay cool,” Michelle said. “Well, great show.”
She almost turned around and went straight back to her table, but then she caught herself. She hurried forward into the women’s restroom and paused in front of the mirror. She took a deep breath, got her hands wet in the sink, and stroked water along her temples.
Gosh, I feel so jittery, she thought. She paused and stared back at her reflection. There was a light in her eyes that she’d never seen before. I might not have gotten a chance to talk to Theo tonight, but I will soon, I’m sure. I can tell him how much I enjoyed his performance then.
She smiled at her reflection and then went back out into the restaurant to rejoin her mother and their friends.