Chapter 25: Hymn

"I can't believe finals are just a week away," Richard said, as he walked to the conservatory building alongside Sandra and Emily.

"I know. This semester just flew," Sandra agreed. "That also means we're just a couple of weeks away from break," she added, pouting.

"I know. Too bad we can't find an excuse to all stay here," Emily said. "We thought a few days at Thanksgiving was tough..."

"I'll probably be coming back a week before classes start," Richard said.

"Really?" Sandra said, brightening. "I could probably have my dad drive me back here earlier too."

"I just talked to Dave this morning," Richard said, "and if I want to help with the editing for Mrs. T's album, that's the time to work on it."

"Is that for sure?" Emily asked.

"I think so. My dad wants me to come home right away after finals so I can spend a few days with my Aunt, since she's still around. But there's nothing happening in January to keep me home."

"Let me know, because my dad wants to book my plane ticket soon," Emily said. "If you two will be here a week early, I will too."

"Are the dorms even open?" Sandra asked.

"I don't think so," Richard said. "Dave said something about staying at his place."

"We'll figure something out," Emily said. "We can probably stay at my teacher's house, Sandra. Or we'll break into the dorm. You can sleep with Joey, or whatever. Anyway, are we still meeting after your theory class?" Emily asked her, as Richard chuckled.

"Yeah, I can still meet. Sleep with Joey?" Sandra made a face.

"Kidding. I'll try and find a room for this afternoon. If not, maybe I can get into one of the horn studios."

"Just don't get room K or L. Those pianos suck," Richard said.

"Picky, picky," Emily said, sniggering. "I'll get what I can."

"I'll go pick up the orchestra horn for you to use then," Richard fired back.

"Fine, fine. Point taken," Emily said, grinning at him. "I know you don't like those rooms anyway."

Richard stopped as they entered the lobby. "All right, I'm off to another round with Dobra. Have fun in piano class," he said.

"We'll try," Sandra said.

Richard pulled the door open and climbed the stairs to the next floor, and then knocked on Dr. Dobra's office door.

"Come," came his voice.

Ethan Deerfield, the class delinquent, was just leaving. I can't believe he's still in the class, Richard thought.

Ethan closed the door behind him as he left, and Richard dropped his bag onto the chair near the piano.

"How are you, Richard?" Dobra asked.

"All right. A little tired, but..."

"It is that time of year," Dobra agreed, stretching for a moment. "I'll be glad when the semester is over, too."

Richard nodded. The Doberman was much more human in his office than in the classroom, Richard had discovered in the course of twice-weekly tutoring sessions.

"How's Sandra doing in her class?"

"Extremely well. Don't you speak with her?" Dobra asked.

"Sure, but I was just wondering what you thought. She doesn't sound as confident."

"She's a natural. She'll have no trouble on the final. She's learned the conventions we impose on the music very quickly. She's had to work hard, though."

Richard sat in his chair with pencil and staff paper at the ready. "Cool."

"How are you feeling about the final?" Dobra asked him.

"Better," Richard admitted.

"Good. We only have today and Thursday left, so let's not waste time. Melodic dictation, three-four, in F. Treble clef, beginning on the F above middle C."

Richard notated the details on his paper as he had a hundred times before.

"First time," Dobra said, and then played the melody.

Richard decided to try to apply a comment that Sandra had mentioned that weekend. 'Think of it as music, ' she had said, when he was complaining about the difficulties.

Think of it as music... Richard listened to the melody with new ears, and imagined Sandra singing it to him. Actually, it sounds more like a horn part, Richard thought. Emily slipped into his thoughts.

He replayed the melody in his head, and then began to write down the notes. It seemed to flow much easier than before, and he found himself outlining the entire melody on the first go. There were still a couple of notes he was not sure of, but the ending he had written looked promising, with the cadence on an F.

"Second time," Dobra intoned, and played again.

Richard filled in the missing notes, and then changed a few rhythms he had notated incorrectly. For the first time ever, he found himself waiting for Dr. Dobra. He looked up expectantly.

"Third time."

Richard followed his notes as the music went by, and didn't think he needed to change anything. A feeling of elation began to grow inside of him. Maybe it was an easy example, he cautioned to himself.

"I think I'm done," Richard announced right after the last note was muted by the damper in the piano.

"Very well, let's have a look," Dobra said, nodding.

Richard passed his sheet to the outstretched hand, and Dobra placed it on the music stand before him. He played from the paper. Richard grinned as the melody played out just as the original had sounded.

"Good, Richard. Very good. A tricky example, too, in the middle there."

Richard suppressed a whoop as Dobra handed back his paper.

"Weird ... I had it after the second time," Richard said proudly.

"What changed?"

"This will sound dumb, but a few days ago Sandra said to think of it as music."

Dobra laughed out loud. "Well, it is! Isn't it?"

Richard shrugged. "Yeah, I guess..."

Dobra just smirked. "Let's try another one."

Richard started a new staff with the details of the next example, and kept the optimism he felt in check. Still, he sent Sandra a silent thank you.

"I basically only have two finals," Emily said, as she prepped her horn. She had secured one of the horn studios for their rehearsal.

Sandra paused in the middle of her warm-up exercises. "How'd you manage that?"

"Well, since we don't have one for piano class, and my art class just has a project, I just have the two theory finals."

"That's lucky," Richard said. "I have to write some essays for English at the final. That's going to suck. I hate having to write fast."

"No sympathy from me. I have all that, plus a German final," Sandra said. "And my theory test won't be a walk in the park."

"Like ours?" Emily said.

"Well, relatively speaking," Sandra said.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Dobra said you'd do fine," Richard said.

Sandra turned to him. "He did?"

"Yeah."

"How did that come up?"

"I asked," Richard said, shrugging.

"He said I'd do fine?" Sandra pressed.

"Yeah. Said you were a natural. Not to worry."

Sandra seemed at a loss for words.

"Well, I have orchestra in three hours, and I do want to eat," Emily said. "What movement are we working on?"

"The Hymn, I think," Richard said.

Sandra snapped out of her thoughts. "Yeah, the Hymn."

"Let's just read it through once. It's been a while since we tried it."

Richard flipped to the page in his score, and then Emily put the horn to her lips. She gave a slight movement and took a rhythmic breath, and then started. Richard came in late.

"Sorry," he said. "I missed it."

Emily led off again, and they played through the intro. Richard felt like he was ragged on the rhythm, but didn't stop. The movement was a challenge to keep together with the pulsing accompaniment, filigree horn part, and uneven vocal lines.

Sandra entered lightly, and the three of them forged ahead. Several times he realized he had gotten off from Sandra and had to quickly figure out where to return.

When they reached the end two minutes later, they looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"God, that was awful!" Emily cried.

"Good, I didn't want to be the first to say it," Sandra agreed.

"Sorry. I was all over the place," Richard admitted. "I thought I had it when I was practicing earlier on my own, but I obviously need to know your parts better."

"It was bad all around, not just you," Emily said. "Well, let's just try the intro, before Sandra sings. If we can get that solid, it will help the rest settle into place."

Emily put the horn to her lips, and Richard followed her entrance better. After a few bars, Emily stopped and leaned in to Richard's score.

"There," Emily said, pointing to one of Richard's notes. "I think we need to accent that note more. That's where I start my run up."

"Mmm," Richard murmured, his eyes on her chest right beside him, rather than on the music.

"Richard..." Emily scolded.

He leaned his head against her and nuzzled her.

"What's the punishment for getting caught messing around in the horn studio?" Sandra asked with a laugh.

"We won't ever find out," Emily said, pulling back from Richard and giving him a stern look.

Richard just laughed and Emily joined him after trying to hold the look for a little longer.

"All right, what were you saying?" Richard asked, regaining composure.

"Is this what Nelson is teaching you about accompaniment? To ogle the soloists?"

Richard laughed. "If they were men, maybe! He does say I should watch you carefully. For cues. Signals, you know."

Emily rolled her eyes. "All right, let's try again. I was saying that we should accent that beat, and then listen to my run..." Emily played the seven ascending notes. " ... Catch the top note."

"Which beat was it? Can you point it out again?" Richard asked impishly.

Emily just swatted his shoulder.

Richard did as Emily suggested, and after a few repeats, they had established the short introduction with a little more authority.

"I think that's better," Richard said.

"Definitely," Sandra agreed. "The first few lines sing over a similar thing as the intro."

Richard nodded. He penciled in the accents and a couple of counts in his score, and then waited for Emily to start the movement again. This time they went on, and Sandra sang with them. Richard began to make sense of the movement, and things went smoother on his end.

He found that playing accompaniment was quite different than playing solo piano, and was still somewhat surprised by that. He had always assumed accompanists were just pianists who preferred playing in ensembles. Or pianists who were not good enough to play solo, even.

In the past month, while working on the Serenade, he had realized that was not the case. At Irina's suggestion, he had worked a couple of times on the Serenade with Nelson Jackson, the head of the Accompaniment department. Despite his strange behaviors, the man had a completely different approach to the instrument than Irina did, and Richard already found some of his advice creeping into his solo playing.

After an hour of hard work, the trio took a break and sat on the couch to drink some water.

"Well, we're getting somewhere," Sandra said.

"I'm still not really happy with what I'm doing," Richard said.

"Why not?"

"Not sure," he said. "There's something about the music which is hard to play. I guess I'm still new to playing with other people, too."

"You've done fine when we've done some of my songs for fun," Sandra said.

"Probably because I was drunk," Richard said, sniggering.

Emily and Sandra laughed.

"And, those piano parts seemed more like what I usually play for my solo rep," Richard added. "This," he said, gesturing to the score on the piano, "is pretty different."

"It'll shape up," Emily said confidently. "We've hardly played this movement."

"True," Richard said. "Well, let's keep going. I want to get through the whole thing as best we can so I know what to work on this winter."

They took their places again, and began to work on the second verse.

During a pause, they heard a knock on the door. Emily went over and opened it.

"Hello," she said to the person in the hallway.

"Sorry to intrude," the man said softly with his British accent. "Are you... ?"

Richard had moved to the door. "Hi, Mr. Jackson."

"Oh, hello there, Richard. I was just walking by," he said, indicating the hallway. His words came measured and almost shyly. "I heard what sounded like the Serenade coming from this room."

"You're right. We were just rehearsing the Hymn," Richard said. "This is Emily, who's playing the horn. And that's Sandra. This is Mr. Jackson."

The girls waved, and Nelson Jackson smiled and nodded.

"How is the piece going?" he asked.

"Challenging," Richard said. "This movement is difficult. For me anyway."

Nelson nodded. "Would you like me to listen for a moment?"

Richard looked at the girls, who smiled expectantly. "That would be great," he said to him.

Nelson sat on a chair to Richard's left where he could watch the score, and Sandra and Emily as well.

"Let me hear you play," he said.

Richard expected him to stop them right away, but he let them play through the short movement.

Nelson nodded when they finished. "A good start, yes ... Not bad."

The three of them watched him as he stared at the music. For many long seconds, no one moved.

"Have you listened to the piece in the library?" he asked.

"Many times," Emily said. Richard nodded in agreement.

"Yes, of course," Nelson said.

There was more silence. Nelson considered something invisible in his hands. Then he hummed a few notes.

At last he looked up. "Please, play again."

This time, he did stop them after Sandra entered.

"Richard," Nelson said pensively.

"Yes?"

Nelson rubbed his chin. "Playing piano is all an illusion," he said, cryptically.

"Okay," Richard answered.

"It just comes down to how hard you press each key, and when you let it go, really ... In between, you have no control of the sound." Nelson paused for a while again. "Yes..."

Suddenly, he seemed to wake up from his trance.

"This movement is all pizzicato in the strings, is it not?"

"Yeah, pretty much," Richard agreed.

"You must try to play the piano more like that. Your notes are too long, now. It sounds like a piano! I know it is a piano, but try not to let it sound like one! Play the beginning, Richard."

Richard did as Nelson asked, and was immediately stopped.

"Better, but..."

Nelson gestured to Richard, and Richard stood up to let him sit at the piano.

"It still sounds like a piano. Feel the pulse of the pizzicato. That is what you must capture."

Nelson started to play, bouncing his hands on the keys as he played the accompaniment. "See, it's in the attack and release of the keys. You must propel this young lady's horn playing," he said, nodding to Emily. "Brilliant playing, by the way, Emily."

Emily started to thank him, but it was lost as Nelson began to sing the horn part while he played the accompaniment. Then he sang Sandra's first few lines as he continued playing the horn part with one hand and the string orchestra part with the other. Richard found himself smiling as Nelson covered all the parts with aplomb.

"Here," Nelson said, suddenly rising from the piano bench in mid-phrase. "Try it."

The three of them shook out of their stares and played again. After Sandra sung a few lines, Nelson stopped them.

"That's beautifully sung, Sandra. Very delicate, yet urgent." He then addressed Richard and Emily. "The two of you must match that feeling. We've heard your parts during the introductory bit; now you must pipe down and support her. But play with her, too. Play together. Collaborate on the music. Each part alone is of little worth."

For the next fifteen minutes, Nelson was a fount of ideas for how to work on the movement. His suggestions applied to the three of them, not just to Richard, and Richard found himself considering things about the music he had not thought of.

Then Nelson abruptly stood up in the middle of one passage. Sandra, Emily and Richard stopped playing immediately.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I must leave. I am late for a lesson!" Nelson nodded to them. "We will work more on the piece after winter break, I hope?"

"Yes," Richard said. "Maybe we can meet weekly?"

"That would be brilliant," Nelson said, as he opened the studio door. "Until then," he said, nodding again. Then he was gone.

The three of them let out a breath they seemed to have been holding since Nelson's arrival.

"Wow," Sandra said.

"That was pretty cool," Richard said.

"Yeah. Towards the end there, I felt like we were actually playing music," Emily said.

"Well, it is, isn't it?" Richard said, smiling as he thought back to Dobra's comment earlier.

Sandra smiled too. She had been touched when Richard had told her earlier how much that little comment 'Think of it as music' had helped him. It was ironic that their regular sessions with Sandra playing examples so Richard could practice had led to nominal improvement, while a simple comment had caused a great stride.

"Let's keep going," Richard said, excitement in his voice. "I'm feeling this now."

"Me too," Sandra said.

Emily raised her horn to her lips again, and they resumed working with new enthusiasm.

"Look what you did," Emily said, as she pushed herself up from the desk to stand up.

"What?" Richard asked, breathing heavily.

"You knocked all the papers off, and they fell behind my desk." Emily arched a brow at him as she put her bra back on. "You need to pick them up."

"I think that was all you," Richard said, remaining seated on the edge of the bed.

"No, no, no. You pushed me onto the desk and made me thrash around."

"But you kissed me when I came up to the room."

"You wore my favorite shirt tonight."

"You kept leaning over to point out things in my music after Nelson left."

Emily opened her mouth, but she had run out of precedents. She paused, one leg already through her panties. "All right, maybe it is my fault. I guess I should pick them up."

She slipped the leg back out and tossed the panties onto Richard's lap. She gave him a little pout, her eyes flashing mischievously. Turning slowly, she then got down and crawled under the desk.

Richard took in her wiggling behind for a few moments before moving to kneel behind her. Emily's deep and long murmur sent a tingle through Richard's body.

"Thought I'd help you pick up the papers," he said, thrusting hard to push her further under the desk.

"Oh! Really..."

"Yeah."

"What papers... ?"

Richard gave another thrust. "You'll get there eventually." Richard was talking to the empty surface of Emily's desk now, and could only see her butt when he looked down. It was a disjoint but erotic position to be in.

The door to the room opened and then slammed closed.

"Oh my god, what are you doing?" Sandra cried, as she burst out laughing.

Emily was unable to do more than groan.

"Emily dropped some papers behind the desk," Richard explained. "I was helping."

"You need to be more careful. There was a bunch of people in the hallway. If they had peeked in when I opened the door, they would have had quite the show!"

"Sorry," Richard said, feeling a surge of adrenaline at the thought. "Next time I'll hang my tie on the door."

Sandra giggled and peered over Richard's shoulder at the union. "Quite the show..." she repeated softly. "And how did those papers get down there?"

"Not sure," Richard said, his voice more labored now.

"Right," Sandra said, patting his shoulder.

"You want to have a go?" he asked her.

"No. I need to get to bed. I have an early master class tomorrow."

"Oh, right. We might be a while, though. Just started round two," Richard said, laughing.

Sandra ran a hand over his chest as she moved around him. "Well, maybe just a taste," she said, reaching further down.

Richard threw his head back as Sandra lowered hers. For some time, he alternated between them, and it felt amazing. Emily was growing closer and closer to orgasm as Sandra teased her. Just when he couldn't hold out any longer, Sandra pushed him back into Emily, patted his butt and stood up.

"Take your time!" she whispered into his ear.

"You are wicked," Richard breathed back, before pulling her in for a deep kiss, making Sandra squeak in surprise, before she melted into the kiss.

"You are welcome," Sandra said, finally pulling away.

Richard turned his attention back to Emily.

"Come out from under there," he said. "I want to see your face now."

Emily backed out from beneath the desk, half in a trance, and Richard guided her so that she lay face down on the rug instead.

Before resuming, he looked down at Emily, lying there with closed eyes. A few strands of hair crossed her flushed cheek, and her smile seemed to expectantly await his touch on her body. A wave of pleasure rolled through him as he felt saturated with the way she looked just then. Richard leaned down and kissed her ear gently.

"You are so beautiful, Emily," he whispered.

Emily just shuddered slightly, and then opened her eyes to smile at him.

Richard trailed the kisses down from her ear and across her jaw line, ending on her chin. Feeling warm and full of emotion, he laid his cheek against hers for a moment. He could feel her face alive beneath his, vibrating in time with her still quivering body. She was holding onto the edge of her earlier pleasure, despite his more innocent touches.

Richard rose up and began to slowly massage Emily's shoulders and neck. He was removing her bra clasp to free her back for his wandering hands, when he noticed Sandra watching them from her desk. She was cheerily organizing her books. Richard glanced at the clock and grimaced. Sandra just smiled and waved the thought away. "Don't worry," she mouthed.

Richard smiled back, and blew her a little kiss. Sandra licked her lips suggestively, and then giggled silently before pointing at Emily.

Richard continued his massage, working down Emily's body as he occasionally placed kisses on appealing curves of smooth skin. Beneath his hands, Emily's flesh was warm and soft, and he spent a long time just feeling the arc of her waist, and the curve of her butt.

Eventually he gave in to the excitement that was rebuilding inside of him, and he entered her slowly, still massaging her body. He pulled on her shoulders to meet with her deeply, and then pushed up along her back to move out again. His strong hands worked the full length of her back as he used her body to pull himself in and out of her.

"Oh..." Emily gasped. "This is ... amazing!"

Sandra was in her bed now, watching from the edge of her mattress with a content look on her face.

Richard kept up the deliberately slow pace of the massage and lovemaking for a long time. It seemed to be driving Emily into a fit. Her hands began to grasp at the fibers of the rug, and her legs bent and straightened as she squeezed off the tension.

Just as Richard sensed Emily was about to scream, he placed a kiss on the back of her neck and moved slightly faster.

"Oh... !" she whispered. "Oh, yes..."

Emily's body tensed up and twisted slightly as she suddenly became motionless. For a long time, Richard could see she was on the precipice, not quite able to fall off. She lay there biting her lip.

Just a little faster, then...

Then it happened. Emily let out a long moan, and Richard slowed again to his earlier pace. Now it was heavenly for her.

Richard groaned, and surprised himself. Even though the physical sensations were nice, the slow movements should not have been enough. But it was the exquisite pleasure displayed in Emily's fluttering eyelids and slightly open mouth that suddenly did him in.

The slow movements translated into an equally slow and extended orgasm for him, and it felt like he emptied his whole soul into her.

"That was amazing," Emily said, wonder in her voice. "I wasn't sure if I was going to breathe again, for a little while there."

Emily was draped over Richard's body, a position they had moved to after recovering from the intense pleasure of their slow coupling. Sandra was asleep, having drifted off after watching the climax.

"Mm. It was good. I've never finished that way before."

"You liked it then?" she asked.

"Oh yeah. I thought I was going to finish up by going fast. But then I came. It was like slow motion."

"I liked the slowness," Emily said with a smile.

"Cool."

Emily glanced at the clock, and then at Sandra.

"I suppose we should get up, or something," she said.

"Why? We don't have to get up at seven."

"No, I guess you're right. I am tired, though. I'm comfy here."

They lay in silence for a while.

"You never picked up the papers," Richard murmured.

"No, I guess I didn't."

"I tried to help," Richard shrugged.

"Yeah, but then I got distracted," Emily said softly. For a moment, she seemed to be drifting off, but then she started to get up.

"Where are you going?" Richard asked.

"To pick up the papers."

"Now?"

Emily just smiled.

"Okay," Richard said, shrugging. He sat up, and Emily eyed him.

"Is it safe?" she asked shyly.

Richard grinned. "I don't know. Depends on your state of dress."

"Does it, now?" Emily frowned at him, and then found her panties nearby. She put them on, and then glanced at Richard again. Satisfied with his grin, she crawled under the desk and started to gather the papers that had fallen.

Richard watched as she cleaned the mess, and quietly crawled over behind her. He reached out and ran a finger delicately across the fabric of her underwear, right where she would feel it the most.

Emily squeaked in surprised and bumped her head on the underside of the desk.

"Ow... !"

"Sorry," Richard said, suppressing a laugh.

Emily backed out, bringing some of the papers out with her, and rubbing her head.

"I thought you said I was safe!" Emily exclaimed.

"No, I said it depended on the state of dress."

"I put on my underwear."

"That's at least as sexy as wearing nothing. I think to be safe in that position, you'd need to wear a snowsuit."

Emily burst out laughing, and then patted her head and pouted. "My head still hurts."

Richard cradled her head and gave it a kiss. "There, all better."

"Thanks. Hey, you're up!" Emily said, suddenly feeling him pressing against her.

"I guess I am."

"Haven't had enough tonight?" Emily said.

Richard grinned as he saw her eyes sparkling again. She smoothly pulled off her underwear as she turned to him.

"No, actually," he said. Emily slid over to straddle his lap and kiss his neck.

"As much as that slow sex was cool," he said, "I still feel like I need one more go. At speed."

"You mean you want to ... pound me?" Emily said lustily, kissing his ear heatedly.

"Mm, when you put it that way..."

"Pound me hard ... and deep?" Her tongue flicked around his ear and neck. Her breathing was heavier in his ear as she squirmed on top of him.

"Mm hm."

"I guess I might let you do that."

"Will you?"

"What about sleeping beauty here?"

"There's that," Richard agreed, looking over at the deep breathing form on the bed.

"We might wake her."

Richard thought for a moment, and then patted Emily's side. "Up," he said, with sudden energy.

"What are we doing?" Emily asked, as she stood and watched Richard don his jeans, ignoring his underwear.

Richard opened her closet and dug through a drawer. He pulled out a tee shirt and tossed it to her.

Emily looked at the shirt in her hand, and then at Richard, who was smiling expectantly.

She knotted her brow at him for a moment, and then pulled the shirt over her nude form. The bottom hem just covered her privates by a couple of inches.

"Shirt, with legs. Nice legs, too," Richard murmured, looking at her appreciatively.

"Now what?" Emily said.

"Let's go." Richard moved towards the door, shirtless.

"What?" Emily blurted out.

"Shh!"

"I'm like ... naked!" she whispered loudly, pulling up the front of her shirt just slightly to show him the truth of her words.

"I know," Richard said, nonchalantly.

"I'm not going out in this! I play in orchestra with these people!"

"It's late. We're not going far. Chances are no one will see us."

"Where are we going?" Emily asked, after a moment.

"Thought you weren't going out in that," Richard said, grinning.

Emily stared at him for a while, and then rushed at him, thrusting her tongue deep into his mouth. She attacked him in this way for a minute, and then backed away, a rampant wildness streaking through her eyes.