Chapter 2 [ STRANGER ]

Ivanna

We chatted for an hour. He talked about his graduation, failed attempts at getting a job, new pieces of tunes for this week. I too shared everything I went through the whole week. 

He drops me at my place by the afternoon. I get down from his car which he bought a few months back, it is a secondhand one still works well. I had convinced him to buy one so that he doesn't miss his piano classes since it's a long way from his college to piano classes.

    "Wait for me tomorrow", he says, hugging me gently.

    "I'll be waiting", I smile and we share a short kiss. I hope we will get time a have a deep one tomorrow. I'm craving for it. 

I walk into my home as he leaves for his place.

    "There you are", mum says from the kitchen. I toss my bag on the couch and lay down there.

    "I'm tired", I mumble.

    "What kept you so long? You didn't have lunch either", she comes to me and hands me a glass of water. I get up and drink the whole glass.

    "I went to meet Chris", I tell her.

    "Chris? Did he come here to drop you? Why didn't you ask him to come in?", she panics.

    "He is busy these days", I say.

    "Poor boy. He works so hard. Why isn't he getting any offer?", she asks.

    "It's not easy mum. A lot of musicians are competing in the industry. He'll need time", I say. "Secondly, he has no recommendation to get an offer"

    "I wish one day you both become successful", she smiles as a tiny smile appears on my face too. "What will you eat for lunch?"

    "Anything made by you", I smile at her.

In the evening, I go through my closet and become hell disappointed. I don't have anything to wear. Chris said there will be holding an event. I can't wear my regular clothes. Being disappointed, I sit on the bed and look at those old clothes. I think I should drop the plan of going there. Meanwhile, my phone rings and I pick up.

    "Hey, babe are you done with deciding your outfit?", Chris snaps from the other side of the call.

    "No. I'm not coming", I mutter.

    "What?", he exclaims. "But why?"

    "I've nothing to wear at the event. It's about your image. I don't want people laughing at us because of my casual clothes", I mumble in a sad voice.

    "Hey, don't be sad. I'll buy you one. Should I come to pick you for the mall?", he asks.

    "No", I yell at him. "I didn't ask you to buy me one. You are not doing that"

    "But…"

    "No ifs and buts. You are not gonna buy me anything at this moment", I shrug.

    "Ok. Ok. Calm down, please. I won't do anything like that. But please come. No one will laugh at us. It's just an event. I want you to be with me. Please baby", he requests like a small baby. How can I refuse him?

    "Ok. I'll come", I smile.

We talked for a few minutes and I cut the call. I pick out an off-shoulder white top and black palazzo pants. I think it'll look better. I remind myself that I'm not going there to impress people, I'm going there for Christian. And he loves me anyway, honestly saying, he never noticed so carefully what I wore. 

After preparing everything for the next day I get onto the bed and close my eyes. It feels heavenly when you go for a peaceful sleep after a whole hectic week. I don't remember when I fall asleep but I wake up the next afternoon. Yeah! I slept for more than 12 hours! Thankfully, my headache is gone and I can accompany Cristian without any trouble. I finish my lunch, obviously skipping breakfast. Hence I go for a home spa. I'm so much excited for today that I can't wait for the evening. 

After the spa is done, I wear my top and palazzo, light makeup as he will not gonna show interest if I look different, open my hairs and make half-waves, finally I put my heels and pick out a black satchel. I'm finally ready for the evening. Meanwhile, I hear the horns of his car and rush outside bidding mum goodbye. 

    "There my lady", he beams, standing by the car as I come to him. "You're looking so beautiful"

    "Thank you", I smile at him as he opens the door for me. I climb into the car and he too joins me. 

    "You were taking unnecessary stress about your outfit. This looks so good on you", he praises me as I blush looking down. 

    "Ok. Ok. So I had enough compliments", I giggle.

    "I can never compliment you enough", he locks his hand with mine and places a kiss on the opposite side of my palm. We smile at each other and he drives towards the event. 

It takes almost 1 hour to reach the event house. I get down from the car and glance at the beautiful wooden cottage. It is simple with an aesthetic vibe, beautifully decorated with floral banners and handmade crafts of instruments.

    "It's so beautiful", I exclaim.

    "I knew you'll love this place", he holds my shoulder.

    "Why didn't you ever bring me here?", I complain him, still staring the beauty of the huge cottage.

    "We aren't allowed to bring anyone during the sessions. Otherwise, I would bring you here", he places his hand on my waist and pulls me close. I can't drive my eyes away from the creation and if I'm not wrong he is staring me now. 

We walk inside the cottage. It is more beautiful inside. In that large hall-room, more than 20 pianos are placed in a circle. I hear beautiful tunes that soothe my mind completely. 

    "This place is so peaceful", I am amazed, I have never seen or experienced such a peaceful place in my life ever. 

He chuckles at me as we step forward. It looks like a palace, a simple yet elegant palace. 

    "This is Nathan", Christian introduces me to a guy as I come out of my thoughts.

    "Hey", Nathan snaps. "You're Ivanna. Right?"

    "Yeah", I smile. 

    "Christian always talks about you", he giggles. I look at Christian and smile blissfully. He makes me feel blessed every time. Sometimes, I wonder do I deserve all this? Do I deserve so much love?

    "So he knows you well", Christian beams. "But you don't know him. He is Nathan. My batchmate in college and also here"

He introduces me with his fellow trainees. Whenever he said 'Here's Ivanna, my girlfriend' my heart skipped over. I felt good, blessed, lucky. Christian is the best thing that ever happened to me. I can't wait for our graduation to get completed. I'm gonna make him my husband soon. I don't care about jobs and career. We can make it later if we support each other like this always. 

    "I wanna hear your music piece", I tell him. "I'm dying from yesterday to hear it"

    "Don't die, baby. I will be single for my whole life then", he giggles.

    "Huh! Don't make fun of me", I pout. 

    "I was kidding", he laughs. "And I'm too dying to convey you that. Let's go"

He takes me to one of those pianos. That classy black colour takes my heart away. 

    "Wow! It's so beautiful. Can I touch this?", I ask him.

    "Of course, baby", he sits by the piano.

I gently place my hand on the black surface. I shiver when my skin touches the cold smooth body of the piano. It's one of my favourite instruments. I always wanted to learn it but the circumstances were not in my favour. Then Christian joined the session. 

    "One day we'll have one in our home", he smiles. Did he just say 'our home'? What does he mean by that? He wants to spend his whole life with me. I can't be happier than this.

    "Will you teach me?", I ask him.

    "Once I bought one, I'll teach you", he beams. "Now should I start?"

    "I can't wait", I place my hand on his shoulder.

His fingers work on the keys as a beautiful tune hits my mind. I close my eyes to feel the melody. For the first time, I'm hearing him, this feeling isn't expressable. I lose myself with the rhythm. I imagine how my mornings will be with him. He will be playing his own piano in our tiny house to wake me up. I'll have a lovely smile on my face before opening my eyes. And when I'll wake up, I'll immediately rush to him and hug him from behind. It's my dream morning with Christian and I can't wait to live it every day.

I open my eyes with a smile and discover someone standing in front of me. My smile fades away, discovering a stranger staring at me. For a second, my glance stuck on him. A man wearing a black suit, 6 feet tall, with a massive masculine body, grey hair, deep brown eyes are still staring at me without blinking his eyes. He has no expression on his face. Piano tunes have taken over the situation while I feel discomfort by his gaze. I drive my eyes away and look at Christian. He smiles at me while playing the piano. I turn to ignore eye contact with that stranger.

    "Excuse me", a husky voice pins against my ears. It's him. My discomfort increases with his call as I turn back to him. He walks towards me and keeping a decent gap he stops.