Over the next couple weeks, Corbin and Penny spent most of their free time together. Not only did they meet at the club whenever Corbin played, but they often went out afterwards. They also met for lunch several times, dinner twice, and caught a concert at the Kennedy Center. When they weren’t out on the town, they spent most of their time at Corbin’s apartment. Though Penny’s apartment in Old Town was equally nice, she lived with her sister, which limited their privacy, so they tended to end up at his place. Tonight, they were wandering through Pentagon City Mall. Ostensibly, they were waiting for a movie, but the movie had long since started without them.
“Let me get this straight. You liked my dress, but you didn’t want to tell me because of what some coworker told you?”
“I know, it sounds stupid. But it was one of those random thoughts that just hit me at the wrong time. Just as I was about to say something, I had this vision, and I didn’t want to become your version of Shoe Guy.”
Penny laughed and shook her head. “I would never do that. So you liked the dress?”
“Absolutely. You were stunning.”
“I got it at my sister’s shop.” Penny’s sister owneda vintage clothing store in Fairfax, where Penny got many of her clothes. Penny let go of Corbin’s hand and spun around, causing the skirt of her white polka dot dress to twirl around her knees. “I got this one at her shop too. You like?”
“Sure do.”
They joined hands again and kissed. Penny needed to stand on tip toes to reach his lips, despite the extra few inches her shoes gave her.
“You know, you never did tell me why you brought the flower?”
“Oh, we’re back to this pink rose mirage again?” Penny teased Corbin, rolling her eyes in an exaggerated motion while pulling away from him, though not letting go of his hand. “You know, I’ve never admitted to being this mystery girl that has you so fascinated.”
Corbin laughed. “Fine, don’t tell me.”
“Isn’t it more fun trying to figure it out?” She poked him playfully in the side.
“So you admit it then?”
“I admit nothing.”
As they passed a music store, Penny stopped again. “You know what we should do? You should let me photograph you for an album cover!” Penny was a freelance photographer and a graphic design artist. She worked for four local ad agencies on commission, though any one of them gladly would have hired her full time.
“An album cover? There’s no album,” Corbin protested.
Penny grabbed the loops on Corbin’s brown corduroy pants and pulled him toward her. “There will be.” She stepped up to kiss him again. “Seriously, let’s do a photo shoot. I’ve done album work before. How do you feel about nudes?” she said as seriously as she could, but then broke into laughter.
“I’ll pass,” Corbin said, grinning with embarrassment. “But if I ever do an album, you can definitely shoot me, just not naked.”
As they continued, they came to a high-end jewelry store.
“Look at those diamonds,” Penny said, pulling Corbin toward the counter. Penny pointed to a diamond-encrusted silver necklace with a price tag in the mid-six figures. A sign said the necklace was from 1934. “They’re so pretty. I love the colors. The necklace is beautiful too.”
“Fine, I’ll buy it for you,” Corbin joked.
Penny laughed. “I had no idea you were so rich?”
“I’ve been putting my spare change into a huge jar in my kitchen. I think I just might have enough.”
“I thought maybe you were going to remind me that you’re a rich lawyer,” she teased him.
“Sure, rub it in.”
She smiled. “That’s ok, honey, I like you anyway, even if you are a lawyer.” She looked at the necklace again. “It is pretty, but I honestly wouldn’t want it. I love shooting diamonds, because they play some of the greatest tricks with the light, but they’re not my style. Now vintage clothes, that’s a completely different matter!”
“What the heck are you doing?” Corbin asked after hearing the clicking noise for a third time, followed by yet another “thunk.” He was sitting on his couch with the television on mute.
“I’m putting,” Alvarez responded through the phone.
“You’re what?”
“Putting.”
“As in golf?”
“Yeah. I thought I’d teach myself golf. So I bought a club and I’m learning to putt.”
“You’re indoors,” Corbin said skeptically.
“Yeah.”
“You’re playing on hardwood floors.”
“Yeah. So?”
“Golf is played on grass.”
“Hey, you’ve got your hobbies, let me have mine. Get back to the story. What happened next?”
“She looks me straight in the eyes and she says, ‘you’re not a jerk are you?’”
Alvarez laughed. “She’s perceptive!”
“Very funny.”
“What was her name again?”
“Natalie. She’s Penny’s older sister.”
“Whose idea was it for the three of you to go to lunch?”
“Mine actually.”
“Then you got what you deserved.”
“Ha ha. Actually, we had a good time after we went a couple rounds. I felt bad for Penny though, she looked like she was going to die of embarrassment when her sister started smacking me with questions.”
“Is this Natalie cute?”
“I’d say yes.”
“Did you mention you had an uber-successful friend named Vez who just happens to be single at the moment?”
“It slipped my mind.”
“Maybe you should write a note to remind yourself or something? That seems like a pretty critical detail to forget.” Both friends laughed. “Seriously, I would- oh shoot!”
“What?”
“I just overshot the cup. My ball bounced off the balcony. I hope there’s nobody in the pool.” Alvarez lived on the fourth floor, overlooking the apartment building’s pool.
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah.” Alvarez walked over to the balcony. “Oh good, the pool’s empty.”
“Why are you putting with the door open?”
“It’s hot in here, and I wasn’t putting toward the door. It ricocheted off the wall.”
“How hard did you hit it?”
“Too hard, apparently.”
“You’re a menace,” Corbin said.
“So how did lunch end? Did you two become fast friends?”
“I think so. Penny called later to tell me her sister really liked me, despite her attitude.”
“She’s just trying to make you feel better. She’s probably trying to figure out how to dump you right now.”
“Thanks.”
“Any time.”
“How’s work going?”
“Dull.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“I know.”
Corbin and Penny were in the park.
About a hundred people were scattered about enjoying the afternoon sun. The wind blew gently toward the Potomac, which raced silently by a few hundred yards from where Corbin and Penny sat on a blanket under a large Yellow-Poplar. Their bikes leaned against the tree. The Lincoln Memorial stood across the wide river, and Roslyn rose out of the trees behind them. Between Corbin and Penny sat a picnic basket. A chocolate lab watched the basket intently from a distance.
Penny covered her mouth with her hand. She was blushing. “Oh my God! I can’t believe I told you that! I’ve never told that to anyone before.”
“I can see why! You’ve got a dirty mind.”
“I do not!” Penny responded defensively, reaching over and mussing Corbin’s hair.
Corbin playfully tugged at the knot Penny had tied in the yellow cotton dress shirt she wore. Without the knot, the shirt would have been way too large, as it belonged to Corbin until a few days ago, before she borrowed it after getting caught in a rainstorm on her way to his apartment.
Penny pushed his hand away from the knot. “All right smarty, your turn! Favorite instrument other than guitar.”
“The noble cello. I’ve always thought the cello was the sexiest instrument.”
Penny giggled.
“What?” Corbin asked.
“I play cello.”
“You’re kidding?!” He’d seen the cello at her apartment, but assumed it belonged to her sister because Penny never mentioned that she played.
“No, seriously,” Penny replied. “Maybe I’ll play for you next time you come over.”
“You’re seriously not making this up?”
“I swear,” Penny pledged. She smiled involuntarily at the look in his eye. For several days now, she’d noticed a soft sparkle in his eyes, which gave her a warm and comfortable feeling. She couldn’t quite describe it, and her sister told her she was crazy, but she was sure it was there.
“When was the last time you played?”
“Last night.”
“After you went home from the club?”
“Yes.”
“So, if we went to your place right now, you could play something for me?”
“Yes,” she said softly, looking away from Corbin for the first time.
“What did you play last night?”
“The piece you opened with,” she replied cautiously.
Corbin stared at her in silence, as she watched some children throwing a frisbee back and forth. “Girl, you are making me fall hard.”
“I guess we have something in common.”
Corbin played Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Fridays were generally the busiest, but Tuesdays and Sundays were catching up. Today was Friday, and the club was packed. In fact, the audience had grown so much lately Blue needed to buy more chairs to accommodate them, though the extra money he made from drink sales more than offset this new expense. The extra money also allowed Blue to fix up the place. Gone were the burned-up lights that made everything brown. In their place, he’d put silvery lights that shone indirectly off the cherry wood paneling on the walls. This highlighted the accents in the wood, rather than casting them in shadow as the browning lights had done, and made the bar feel a bit like an ancient library, though the crowd noise and the ever-present smell of fried foods reminded people of the room’s true purpose. Blue also replaced the glaring white stage lights with softer, golden lights which gave everything on stage a dreamlike quality.
Corbin made his way to the bar, where Penny and Blue were talking. Corbin walked up behind Penny and kissed her on the back of the neck. Without turning around, Penny swatted him away. A huge grin lit her face.
“Not now, my boyfriend’s going to arrive any minute.” Penny laughed and turned to hug Corbin tightly.
“What you playin’ tonight?” Blue asked Corbin.
“I’ve got something special planned, Blue.”
“Are you finally playing the piece?” Penny asked, releasing Corbin.
“That’s the one,” Corbin said.
Penny clasped her hands. “I’m so excited! Blue, I’ve been dying to hear this piece, ever since Alex mentioned it. He wrote it himself, and the little I’ve heard is incredible, but he won’t let me hear the whole thing. He keeps telling me ‘it’s not ready yet’,” she said trying to mimic Corbin’s deeper voice.
Corbin backed away from the bar, toward the stage. “You’ll still be here when I get back, right?”
“I can’t make any promises,” she said, closing her eyes and blowing Corbin a kiss.
This was the first piece of music Corbin ever wrote. It was an incredibly complex piece, but years of practice let him play it perfectly. Indeed, he’d played it thousands of times, just not for anyone else. It was also a deeply emotional piece. In fact, it captured his emotions perfectly because every time he played it to himself, he refined it depending on his mood. He worked on the sad parts when he felt sad and the uplifting parts when he felt happy. It was his release. He recorded each of his triumphs, his failures, his hopes, his dreams and his dreads in this single piece of music, and he’d captured his own emotions so well that sometimes he could make himself laugh or tear up just by playing certain sections. And when he hit one of those moments, where he felt a genuine emotional response, he would study it and use that raw emotion to refine the rest. Slowly but surely he recreated his soul in musical form. This was what he played that warm September night, and no audience at the Bluetone ever cheered so loud. Some cried, some laughed, and some just felt themselves swept away.
When he finished, Corbin made his way back to the bar. As he walked through the still-entranced crowd, several people thanked him and shook his hand. Others stood and applauded.
Penny slid off the barstool as Corbin approached. She’d obviously been crying, as her mascara had run. Now she looked at Corbin with such admiration that it startled him; her face held the same expression as a child’s when they meet their hero.
“That was amazing,” she shouted over the din of the frenetic crowd. She wrapped her arms around him as tightly as she could.
“Thanks!”
Two more patrons patted Corbin on the back.
Penny loosened her grip and leaned back in his arms so she could look up into his face. More tears appeared in her eyes. “God, I could almost feel what you were feeling when you were playing. The whole room just vanished. It was like I was alone with you. It was surreal.” She hugged him again.
Blue joined them after making change for a customer. He smiled broadly. “I can’t believe you waited to play that! People started coming up before you finished. They said, ‘do you have a recording.’ I told ’em ‘no, not yet.’ They told me, ‘can we sign up to get one.’ You got to record that!”
“Did you like it?”
“Did I like it?!” Blue exclaimed. He let out a belly laugh. “I ain’t cried at a piece of music in ten years. I cried tonight. You got to record it! You got to put it out there for the world to hear. You ain’t got no right to keep that music to yourself.”
“Thanks Blue, I mean that.”
Penny continued staring at Corbin. Her pupils were huge and she bit her lip. She ignored everyone else in the bar.
Corbin looked at her and smiled. “What?”
She didn’t answer. She just hugged him again.