Tre Ragazzi e Una Ragazza

10 ~ Practice

This morning, instead of taking my time, I rushed through my morning routine. I had so been looking forward to practicing the duet with Lucio ever since he asked me to a one-on-one practice session at dinner. So, this morning, there was no time to loaf around. I rushed while getting ready for the day, rushed to Caffè e Dolci for my morning coffee, rushed back to work my shift at the restaurant, and rushed through my commute until I was finally standing in front of the Solstice Theatre. I took a deep breath before walking in through those majestic doors and into the heart of the theatre. I turned down the hall, walking down the practice room corridor, until I saw one of the practice room doors open halfway. I leaned forward, carefully peering into the room. Lucio was there, sitting at the piano bench, plucking out a few notes on the piano. He must have sensed me there, because he turned around and we made eye contact. His face lit up as he smiled at me.

"Daniela, ciao! Come on in." I walked into the practice room, leaving the door open. Lucio pointed to the door. "You can close it." At hearing what he said, his eyes went wide and he started babbling. "Not in a weird way! Just so that we can practice in peace and not be a nuisance to others and, um, yeah." At the end of his stilted speech he sighed, putting a hand to his face. "I'm sorry." I giggled, going to close the door. "Don't worry, I knew what you meant." I shut the door and walked into the room. I slung my purse across an empty chair and sat down across from Lucio. We both smiled at each other. "You look very pretty today." Lucio complimented, unexpectedly. I had to stop myself from giggling like a schoolgirl. "Thank you. You look nice today, too." Lucio laughed a little, folding his hands together and looking at the piano. "Should we start with warmups?" He offered. I nodded, standing up and joining him near the piano. 

He played arpeggios, scales, and other warmups on the piano, us following along with our voices. I felt a bit self-conscious singing in front of him. I wanted to sound good for him like I wanted to sound good for any audience, so I started holding back a little. I didn't want my voice to crack or to make a mistake. After about a minute of warmups, Lucio came to an abrupt stop. His fingers paused on the keys as he turned back to face me. I stopped singing immediately, feeling a bit nervous. I raised a hand to my throat. "Did I sing something wrong?" I asked. Lucio shook his head. "No, that's the problem." I raised an eyebrow. "You want me to sing wrong?" He laughed. "No, but I can tell you're holding back." I gulped. How could he see right through me? 

He smiled. "I know because I'm the same way. I hold back when I sing in front of others so that I don't sound bad or mess up, but it really impacts my performance in a negative way. I'm not able to be as expressive or even as strong with my voice and performance." He reached up and grabbed one of my hands, making me blush a little. "You have a beautiful voice, Daniela. Even if you're scared your voice may crack or falter, it's better to sing with all your heart than to hold back. Believe me." I absorbed all of what he was saying. It made perfect sense. With how kind and supportive he was being, he brought me out of my comfort zone a little. I nodded. "Okay, I won't hold back." He smiled. "Good." He dropped my hand and went back to the piano, resuming the scales. This time, I listened to him. I didn't hold back. 

Once we were finished warming up, he turned back to me, a delighted smile on his face. "See? What did I tell you? Don't hold back and you'll sound amazing, like you always do." That tugging on my heart came back. It was even stronger now that I knew the reason for feeling this way; I liked Lucio. Although, I had to keep fighting my feelings so that I could concentrate on the song, especially since that's what we both were here for. He stood up, picking up his phone and scrolling through it. "I have the track here." He said, scanning YouTube. He found the track and pulled it up, pausing it before it could start playing. He looked at me, and he seemed a bit nervous. "I worked really hard on my part, so I hope you'll be happy to be singing with me." He was so nervous, it was sweet. "I was happy from the moment they assigned us to duet together." The brightness from his smile was enough to power the whole city. "I was too."