Chapter 8 #2
“I’m definitely in the right place,” Aurora told them. “I can’t believe it, but my professor really believes in me. He thinks I have a shot of really making it.”
Lorelei smiled. “Of course you do, honey. You’re brilliant.”
Roberto grunted in response but seemed distracted. Soon, he left the call to make another, leaving Lorelei and Aurora alone.
“Mama, is everything okay?” Aurora asked, surprising herself. Maybe she could ask her mother more about Lorelei’s life, now that she was away from it.
“Everything’s great!” Lorelei so clearly lied.
“We’re so happy you found a program that speaks to your heart.
You know, when I first made a real shot at performing as a pianist, it was because I met an agent who really pushed me.
Maybe this professor of yours, Sebastian, is your version of my Raffaello. ”
“Tio Raffaello?” Aurora had met him when she was a girl, but she hadn’t known that Raffaello had been her mother’s piano agent.
“Of course. Oh, how I miss him sometimes.” Lorelei chewed her lower lip, and Aurora remembered that Raffaello had died of cancer several years ago. But by then, Lorelei hadn’t been a world-class pianist any longer. Why had Lorelei’s career dried up?
Before Aurora could ask, Lorelei admitted she had to go help Roberto with something.
“We love you!” Lorelei cooed. “Call us again soon.”
But over the next few months, Aurora dropped deeper into the world of Berlin art.
She went to parties. She met fancy people who were willing to spend pretty pennies on paintings and sculptures.
She presented her work, and she worked on a more individual basis with Sebastian, who’d taken an active interest in her development.
It didn’t occur to Aurora that she was in love with Sebastian until Christmastime.
She was supposed to head back to Rome to celebrate with her family, whom she’d hardly spoken to since November, but there was a massive snowstorm over Berlin, and none of the trains left on time or at all.
Because of this, she decided to stay in Berlin and work.
Sebastian called her to check in. There was a sweetness in his voice that wasn’t usually there, and Aurora spontaneously asked if he wanted to celebrate Christmas together. She knew he didn’t have any family nearby. His mother lived in Bavaria, and his father had left long ago.
Aurora bought a bottle of wine and several pastries and rang Sebastian’s doorbell on Christmas Eve. He flung open the door, his cheeks ruddy and his eyes alight. He no longer looked like the moody genius she knew from class. He just looked happy to see her.
That night, over wine, they listened to music and talked about their childhoods. They sat on the sofa and held hands and watched as the snow fell outside. When Sebastian first kissed her, Aurora didn’t hesitate. It felt as though their story had begun the moment she’d gotten to Berlin.
During spring semester, Aurora and Sebastian didn’t bother to hide their love from the other students.
Because it was a more progressive school, and because Sebastian wasn’t so much older, not many people batted an eye.
But when Sebastian recruited Aurora to show some of her paintings at his upcoming enormous gallery show, people began to pipe up with disdain.
They thought Aurora was getting preferential treatment. The truth was, she was.
But Aurora didn’t care. She knew her stuff was good, and she knew Sebastian thought it was, too.
Being in love with her didn’t make his eye any less discerning.
During March and April, they worked tirelessly, often forgetting about the university entirely, and put together a gorgeous and thought-provoking show that was covered in multiple newspapers, including The Guardian and The New York Times.
During the closing party, which was held at the end of May—a full year after Aurora graduated from high school—Sebastian gave a speech, thanking Aurora for coming into his life and helping him broaden his work.
Aurora wanted to make a speech, too, but she felt too shy, and she knew that most of her classmates now hated her and didn’t want to hear a thing from her.
Aurora’s parents wanted to come to the show, too, but they got held up with restaurant responsibilities. Aurora’s little sister, Nadia, who’d just graduated from high school herself, came to Berlin to celebrate, although she said that she didn’t get the art. “It’s weird.” Nadia shrugged.
The days immediately following the closure of the exhibition were some of the happiest of Aurora’s life.
She was gearing up for a beautiful summer in Berlin, after which she would begin her second full year of art school.
She was considering dropping out after that and maybe doing an artist residency in Japan or Mexico, somewhere she could broaden her craft without being held down to a specific place.
When she mentioned this to Sebastian, he suggested that they go together, and she threw her arms around him.