Pieces of Your Heart

Friends

By the time Elodie had delivered the news to her friends about her parting of ways with Ian, they had already signed a lease on a two-bedroom apartment in the Inner Sunset district of San Francisco. She stayed with them on the couch for a few weeks as rehearsals commenced, and eventually found her own place in the Outer Sunset by Ocean Beach. Her apartment was small, but perfect in its way. It had dark hardwood floors throughout, a small bay window that overlooked an almost-ocean view, and a larger-than-expected black and white tiled bathroom complete with a claw-footed bathtub. She filled the apartment with her mish-mash of belongings: posters of punk bands she'd taken from her room at home, the old Persian rug from her sister's room, funky colorful furniture she had found at a flea market in New York and had been in storage the last several months. Scented candles stood on most of the free surfaces; an old red teakettle lived on the stove; her Crosley four-in-one record player sat on top of a glass chessboard atop her cherry nightstand, and on top of that, a black sugar skull figurine scowled. Everything about the small space mirrored her personality.

"Whoa, dig the new digs!" Angel said as he threw himself into the velvet fuchsia armchair. He tossed the skull pillow aside as he kicked his sneakered feet up on the matching ottoman. "Sorry we didn't end up being roomies."

Elodie laughed. "It's all good. Truthfully, I'm probably a drag to live with at this point anyway. You want some tea?" she asked as the kettle whistled.

"Sure dude," he replied, looking around from the chair. "So have you heard from him?"

"Nope. Probably never will again," she said, using a tiny wooden spoon to sprinkle loose-leaf tea into an orange octopus-shaped tea infuser.

"I doubt that," Angel said, taking the mug from her. "He'll show up eventually, in some form."

Elodie sat cross-legged on the Persian rug, facing him. "It doesn't really matter anymore. He's there, I'm here; I chose to stay but he wanted me to go. It's like he didn't want me around anymore. Maybe he just got sick of me or something."

"Oh come on, Elle," he said, leaning forward. "You know it wasn't like that. He loved you so much he couldn't stand the thought of holding you back. I'd give anything for some great guy to do that for me, to love me that much."

Elodie shook her head. "You're such a romantic," she mused.

"So, congrats on the seat audition by the way," he said, changing the subject. "Second chair, that's like, unheard of for a newbie."

She smiled. "Thanks dude. You didn't do so bad yourself."

"Oh please. Eleventh in the second violin section is a far cry from Concert Master. But truthfully, I didn't expect to do as well as I did. Trying to get over that whole big fish, small pond thing."

"Totally," she said, taking a sip of her tea.

"I feel kinda bad for Rems."

Elodie groaned. "I know. Is she still beating herself up about it?"

"Fuck yeah she is. She placed last. There's no consoling her."

"Tell me about it. She barely talks to me these days."

"Dude, it's probably better that way. She's like a green-eyed monster."

"What? Why?"

Angel rocked his trademark eye roll, "Because you're one of her best friends and you totally outshone her. On the upside, I've never seen her practice this hard."