Larceny

53.

B 

I let myself inside, greet G and then unload. First I take off my shoes, then my hat and jacket. I set my keys down and go directly to my home studio with G in toe. I take a seat at my grand piano and he lies down at my feet. I pull a few pieces of blank sheet music paper and spread it out on in front of me with a pencil nearby. I start by playing some scales then, the some favorite songs of mine with embellishments of my own then the performance versions of some of my own songs. I close my eyes and let my hands wander the keys as I hum each note until a string of notes stands out to me. I play them again and again, vocalizing until I pinpoint the rise and fall of each note. I write them in on the staff and before I know it, I have a two pages written. I keep playing with my eye closed and let the notes come to me. As my thoughts thin, my hands keep going.

El.

She enters gracefully walking to the center of the floor. She reaches upward and notes every beat with a pulsing action of her chest. She leans backward as far as she can nearly folding her body in half. She steps then leaps into the air then turns back on herself letting her arms stretch dragging along.

As I play she dances translating what I put to the keys onto the floor. When I open my eyes, I notice that I'm breathing heavily. I pull my hands from the keys and being writing in the notes I was playing. I set the pencil down then and run my hand over my face. When I touch my lashes my hands come away wet. I dry my eyes quickly. Just then I hear the muted sound of my phone ringing. I stand take a deep breath and then follow the sound of it to the living room. I answer it and press it to my ear.

"Hey Bruno," Brandon replies.

"Hey."

"I'm sorry about the interviews but you know how quickly things move in the business. How are you?"

"Alright. What's up?" I shift my weight from one foot to the other than lean up against the couch then I hear G's claws on the hardwood.

"I've been working on creating opportunities for you acquire other ventures since I presume, you won't be performing any time soon."

"Right," I comment.

"I just heard back from Adele's people, she wants to work with you. I have her private line so the two of you can talk. If it's not something you're interested in, we can cancel." 

Adele...hm.

"I'll do it. I'll let you know the details after I speak to her."

"Great." I say goodbye to him and as soon as the line goes dead I receive a text with Adele's number along with a general outline of her schedule for the next two weeks. I tap the number and put my phone back up to my ear then make my way back to my piano. As I hold the phone between my ear and my shoulder I look and play the music wrote.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"Bruno, my manager passed your number on to me. I hope I'm not disturbing you." There's some talking in the background followed by the a door closing.

"No, not at all," I was just catching the evening news. It's good to hear from you...I wasn't sure you would get back to me so soon." She becomes quiet.

"I'm ok, getting better. Spending time in music helps. I've been working on something I think you might like."

"Yeah?" She asks. "I'm gonna put you on speaker, ok?"

"Ok." I set my phone down on the piano and play the music I written so far as I vocalize what I have in mind between the bits of lyrics I have written down." I improvise an extended intro and then go into the first verse and lastly the chorus. When it's finished I pick up the phone again, turn off speaker mode and press it to my ear.