Page 4 of Broken Chords
“Not recently.”
She continues to stare at me. “Okay,” she finally says, the word drawn out. “I don’t even …” She gives a shake of her head, like she’s trying to move past that portion of our conversation. “Is something else wrong?”
“Oh, well …” I swallow, considering how much to tell her. My first instinct is to not tell her anything, but I’m supposed to be making friends, and friends tell each other things, right? “My mom called while I was talking to Damian before I left the music building. She left a voicemail about some performance invitations.” I wave a hand like it’s no big deal, not wanting to fill her in on all the convoluted crap that comes with having my mom meddling in my career. Even if she’s not officially my manager, she’s still part of my management team, and she talks to my actual manager more than I do. “I deleted it, but it ruined my good mood. Sorry if I was brooding.”
“Brood away. Are you going to call her back?”
I shake my head. “Not tonight. I told her when I left that I was taking time off indefinitely. I’m not going to agree to play the Super Bowl halftime show. That defeats the whole purpose of taking a break and staying out of the public eye.”
Speaking of eyes, Lauren’s go wide and round, and she visibly swallows. “Right. Yeah. Makes sense.”
A smile tugs at my lips, but I manage not to laugh at her. Since I met Lauren through Gabby, who’s now touring with my old friend Jonny B, I assume she understands more about life as a touring musician than she really does. I sometimes forget that she’s just a normal college student. I’m the weirdo here. Not her. She tries to play off my weirdness like it’s no big deal, which I appreciate, but it’s funny when she doesn’t quite manage it.
She clears her throat. “So you said you were talking to Damian? What about?”
“Oh.” I scratch my nose, thinking over my exchange with Damian and what I witnessed when he was over here a few weeks ago. I don’t think there’s anything between her and Damian, but if there is, or there was, then I should tell her about our date, such as it is. My experience with normal friendships is limited for sure, especially with other girls, but I’ve watched enough movies and TV shows while traveling between cities to know that “chicks before dicks” is a thing. It seems like the sentiment probably applies here.
Lauren’s face is open and curious. Friendly.
I’ll just tell her and see how she reacts. “He was listening to me play at the end of my practice session and wanted to know what I was working on. And he suggested that we play together sometime since we both like to practice later in the evening. So we’re meeting tomorrow for dinner, and then we’re going to play some piano and cello sonatas he’s going to dig up for us.” I say the last part in a rush, my eyes fixed on my cell phone resting on top of the pile of sheet music sitting on the coffee table in front of me.
When I bring myself to look at her face, Lauren’s lips are parted in a surprised O. “Damian asked you to dinner?”
I nod. “He called it a date.”
She covers her mouth with her hands, but the smile hidden behind them is unmistakable. “Ohmigod, that’s awesome.” She claps her hands and bounces in her seat. “Yay! I’m so happy for you. Damian’s a sweetheart.”
Her enthusiasm seems genuine and unforced. “Did you and Damian ever …”
She shakes her head quickly. “No. Well, I mean, we went on one date once, but it was more friends than anything. He asked me for another date, but I turned him down.” Her forehead creases, and her smile falls. “I think he had a crush on me for a while, actually. But I’m not looking for a relationship. Even if I were, I don’t think I’d date any of the guys in the music department. Not seriously anyway.”
That has me curious. And a little concerned. “Why not?”
Her mouth hitches up in a half smile. “Well, for one thing, it’s a small department. If I got involved with one of the guys in my class and then we broke up? It would be so awful to have to see them in class and rehearsals every single day. Especially if it were an ugly breakup. And in my experience, even the supposedly amicable breakups end up being ugly if the people involved are in close proximity afterward. On top of that, I’m not sure I’d want to date another musician. We’re all volatile divas at heart. It just seems like a recipe for disaster.”
She looks at my face, and whatever she sees has her backtracking. “I mean for me. Sometimes it works out really well. Look at Gabby and Jonathan, for example. They’re both musicians. And that seems to make their relationship stronger than normal people’s. So what do I know? And anyway, one dinner with Damian doesn’t mean you guys are going to do anything more than play some sonatas afterward.” She points a finger at me. “And I mean that very, very literally. That’s not some weird music major euphemism for sex.”
I burst out laughing at that. “I never would have suspected it was.”
She smiles with me. “If Damian’s asking you out, that means he’s not crushing on me anymore, so that’s good. And I know that part of your goal in coming here was to experience ‘normal’ college student life. One of those things is dating guys.” Her eyes get an avaricious glint in them. “Find out if he’s a good kisser. I only kissed him on the cheek. I didn’t want to lead him on.”
Heat rises to my cheeks, and a nervous giggle escapes. “I don’t know about that.”
Her gaze turns calculating, and she nods slowly. “I have a feeling you’ll get to find out. He’s shy, so you might have to work on drawing him out.” I open my mouth to say that from what I’ve seen, he doesn’t need any drawing out, but she shrugs and continues talking. “Even if it doesn’t turn into something, like I said, he’s a good guy. He’s quiet, but when you get him to open up, he’s fun to talk to. He’s got this dry sense of humor that cracks me up. And he’s really sweet. Even if you guys are only friends, I think he’s exactly what you need. The perfect entry into the world of normal college student dating life.”
“Okay. Good. I’m glad I said yes.”
