Andante con Brio

XIII

He walked into the house, half of him thriumphant, the other half apprehensive as fuck. Yes, today had gone very well. The teacher who had given him his aural exam had raised his eyebrows in surprise not once, but twice as he sightread the second melody - very definitely harder than the first - that he had given him to sing. 
Still hadn't been that hard, really. 
But now he had to face his mum. How would she react? They hadn't spoken much at all about the audition. He had avoided her where he could these last few weeks but he had seen the disappointment in her eyes anyway, he had heard the sadness in her tone. And even though he knew that she was wrong, that she had no right to expect him to fulfil her dreams instead of his own, the fact that she was sad made him sad too. 
His sister had had a point when she had joked about him being the black sheep, hadn't she? 
He closed the front door behind him, kicked off his shoes and squared his shoulders. 
"Hi mum!" he called in Mandarin - a clear peace offering - as he stepped into the kitchen. "How are you?"
She turned around and a flicker of something that he didn't understand pulled over her face. Then she smiled and gestured over to the table. 
"Hello Eddy. Shall we sit, have a cup of green tea?"
"O... of course."
Fuck, what did she have in mind? He had no idea. He walked over to the table quickly and sat down. The tea pot was already on the table, two little glasses by its side. He poured the tea and watched his mum warily as she sat opposite him and eyed him in silence. 
"Erm, it went well, mum." he said then, his tone so pleasant that it sounded fake even to his own ears. "Really well, I think. Those theory lessons I could follow last year really helped."
There was that flicker again, shooting over her face. His eyes bored into her subtly as if he wanted to reach into her thoughts, see what she was thinking, what she knew, what she understood. 
Then she nodded. 
"Good. And how is your studying going?"
He almost rolled his eyes. Of course, that comment would be next out of her mouth, right? Figured. He looked down at the table as he swallowed the little stab of disappointment he was silly for feeling anyway. Then he looked straight at her, straightening his back, hooding his eyes. 
"It's going fine." 
They sipped their tea in silence for a while. Part of him wanted to tell her everything, from the moment he set foot into the con to the moment he left. But why would he? It would just fall on deaf ears, wouldn't it? And suddenly all he wanted was to be back in his own room, left alone with his violin for company. 
He glugged the last of his tea and softly moved his chair back. 
"Well, I'll go study then?"
She nodded, her eyes narrowed to slits for just a moment. 
"Of course."

He was already at the door opening when she called him. 
"Eddy? Please come play the pieces for the audition down here, at some point. I would like to hear."
He whirled around. Wait, what? Did... did she just say that? And why? 
"Erm, of course, mum. Maybe this evening? I think Brett may turn up for a bit after dinner, maybe he can listen too?"
She nodded as she too got up.
"Okay." Her shoulder brushed subtly against his arm as she walked past him into the kitchen. He walked upstairs slowly, one step at a time, lost in thought. 
What the fuck was that all about?