In the Life of a Rose

April 1, 2020

In the Life of a Rose...

I woke up to the sound of someone playing the piano. At first, I thought I was entering the gates of Heaven until I found myself in my bed. I put on a pair of sweats and a crop-topped sweater before stepping out.

I went through the kitchen and to the dining table to see Chris playing the black piano next to the windows that shined the bright sunlight on him. He looked up at me, smiling, and continued to play the keys.

I laughed, approached him, and leaned against the back stand. I hovered over him as his fingers moved majestically on the black and white keys. He was wearing a blue cable-knit sweater as he did in Knives Out, some pants, and a NASA hat.

"Beautiful," I said as he slowed down to stop.

He was about to say something but instead said, "Good morning."

"One hell of a good morning," I said, making us laugh. "Wanna hear a poem?"

"Sure go ahead. I'll play something."

I pulled out my phone to search for it. It wasn't really a poem but it was an interlude to one of my favorite artists, Sabrina Claudio, for the album About Time. I also did like Jhene Aiko's Define Me, but this one was better.

"'In the life of a rose I've lived and died 100 times You've watched me open, bloom, wilt, rot And start over You watch me again, and again, and again, and again And each time My time, measured in light, final breaths, finding, losing Time, giving so much And then taking everything away And I wonder this time, next year What will it look like? With my guesses so often, so wrong I wonder what beginning, what end waits for me Will I have accepted the things that I cannot change? And will I have changed the things I cannot accept? This time, next time, about time.'"

He pressed the last key and we smiled at each other. "Did you write that?"

"I wish," I chuckled. "It's beautiful, don't you think?"

"Yeah," he agreed. "'Will I have accepted the things that I cannot change? And will I have changed the things I cannot accept?' I could say a lot about that."

"Exactly." I pulled away from the piano and started heading for the kitchen and said, "I'll make breakfast."

He didn't respond and continued to play his piano. I opened the fridge and started my morning with a cup of orange juice before I put some frozen hash browns on a pan. On another, I was flipping pancakes, and when I finished that, I made eggs and bacon.

Chris came in and fixed himself a smoothie and plated himself the food that I had finished making. I dried my hands on a towel and grabbed my plate. As I was moving towards the living room, he stopped in front of me, not allowing me to pass.

"Are you lost baby girl?" he asked, his voice deep and husky.

I furrowed my eyebrows at him, confused as to why he was doing this peculiar voice. It wasn't until a second after that I realized he was impersonating Massimo from 365 DNI, that I began to laugh.

"Did I do well?" he asked.

"I mean, you are an actor," I said, wiping the tears coming from my eye.

"Indeed I am," he nodded as I sat on the couch. "I have a new show coming out soon, you should watch it."

"What's it called?"

"Defending Jacob."

"I think Lilith sent me an email from some Apple folks to review it. They pre-requested even before it came out," I explained. "I usually like to wait for the people to watch it before I write an input. But just for you, I'll do it."