The Maestro | RusAme |

Fourteen

The next Monday, Roderich pulled Amelia aside and asked her if her friend Gil had mentioned what it was they'd do.

"He didn't tell me, but he said you'd help."

Roderich let her in on it. "Well, Gilbert said he'd keep intel on Yan, since she works by the restaurant. According to Ivan, she works a lot of overtime and gets back around the time Gil takes break."

Amelia nods, "Okay. So, what else?"

"Well," he continued, "I'm trying to get closer to Ivan, so I can get him to confide in me, and meanwhile I have to ask you some questions."

She cocked her head to the side slightly, "Whaddaya wanna know?"

He hesitated for a moment, and then asked, "Are you good at writing?"

She scratched her head. "Well, I guess you could say I am... I had to be, to get through school to be a teacher."

"Okay. And do you play an instrument, by any chance?" He asked her hopefully.

Amelia couldn't help but laugh at the question, because she knew exactly what he wanted her to do. And her answer was actually surprising.

"I've played guitar a bit, since Arthur played in a band and showed me some chords... But I'm not that great. So whatever it is your asking me to do, I'm not sure if I'm really your person."

He reassured her, "Don't worry, guitar doesn't require a lot of effort to learn, it would take a maximum of three months to learn a song, or maybe write one," He winked, "And it would give us enough time to assess the 'situation'. So it wouldn't hurt to give this plan a shot, right?"

Amelia shrugged, and weighed her options. She could just go ahead and wiggle her way into Ivan's life again and convince him to leave Yan, since she was oh so eloquent. But maybe she could try this plan and use a little less force... Writing him a song would be a lovely gesture, and, with him being a musician, it would earn his appreciation. And if they look at Yan's actions when Ivan's not around, they could find some real dirt that would get him to leave her.

She was starting to warm up to Roderich's plan.

"We can try it."

Roderich exclaimed, "Yes!! Thank you, Amelia. I can't stand to see the two of you stuck in your own miserable lives when you could be making each other happy again."

She blushed, rubbing the back of her neck. "I appreciate your consideration, Roderich. Thanks."

He was about to return her thanks, but his phone rang in his pocket and he pulled it out.

"Speak of the devil... I guess I have to take this, for 'phase one' of our plan. See you, Amelia." He waved, and walked to his car as he answered the phone.

"Ja?" Roderich greeted.

Ivan answered, "Hello. You called me, what is it?"

"I wanted to ask if you could help me out, I did another concerto competition this year and I picked two winners this time. We're having them play their solos, but I wanted another solo piece; so I decided to do a violin quartet with the winners, and I wanted to know if you wanted to fill in for the fourth violin..."

Ivan considered for a few seconds, but asked a question first. "Who is the other violin? Since I would only make three."

"Me."

"Okay... What quartet is it? If I can't guess what it is already."

"I don't know, guess." Roderich joked.

Ivan replied rather quickly, "Vivaldi in B minor."

Roderich laughed, shaking his head. "Yep. Figured you'd know."

"Yeah. I love that piece, I'd love to play it with you guys."

"Right answer, my friend. Our first rehearsal is after school next Wednesday, since we have early dismissal. 2:15."

Ivan answered uncertainly, "Well, how long would we rehearse?"

Roderich assured him, "Only until 3:30. You wouldn't have to stay, if you got busy. What do you have going on that day?"

Ivan sighed almost inaudibly. "Yan wants me to do stuff for her so she can go to a company party, I guess. I can manage if it is that quick, though."

"I won't even ask. But if you ever, uh... want to talk about your predicament, I'm all ears." Roderich said, a sneaky grin on his face betraying his sympathetic tone.

Ivan dismissed it, saying he was fine and that he would do anything for Yan, though very disenchantedly.

"If you say so. Listen, I'm about to get in the car, so I'll see you Wednesday if we don't talk before then. Bye." Roderich sits in the car, turning the key in the ignition.

"Yeah, I'll see you. Bye." Ivan hangs up.

Ivan was in his room, turning off the phone and continuing to fold laundry. It was quarter after four, and he had an hour until Yan would be back from work. He was hoping they'd do something, since he didn't want to cook and they ate all the leftovers.

So he decided he'd take her out for dinner, since they had some time to spend with each other now that he wasn't busy and Yan was off early tonight.

He wished he could fall back in love with Yan, or with someone else. Anything at all! He was desperate for human contact, and it was becoming an issue for him. Just someone to hold, or someone to talk to about anything. Not this. Late nights and overtime, while he's here alone, left to his own devices when he isn't practicing.

However, for Roderich's favors, he was thankful. Even if Yan would be upset if he didn't get to doing the laundry or for forgetting to dust, it was still worth it, since he was getting out of the house and seeing people.

Hell, even if he was hanging out with his ex he'd be happy...