Chapter 35: Finale - Langsam. Ruhevoll. Empfunden.

The moon was overhead when the first hint of eastern glow touched the horizon. Jupiter was close by, accompanying the hemicycle as it fled from the coming sun.

Closer to the earth, strains of music tentatively began to sound; quiet hours were coming to an end. All around, the Wexford dormitory was stirring. The banal sounds of students trudging to the restroom to bathe were merged with the footfalls of early risers, who were already headed to the conservatory to find a better practice room.

None of this was enough to wake the sleeping trio.

All was peaceful inside their room. Ruddy light filtered in through the glass, and the morning breeze surged and waned like surf, occasionally slipping through the open window to sway the blinds gently.

They slept deeply, like they hadn't slept in months. At first, their dreams had been filled with the music of the performance. It was no longer the imposition it had been during the restless nights leading up to the concert. Now, it was a reward to experience the event again in slumber.

Later in their rest, when the quietest part of the night was reached, the recital was replaced by older memories. They were younger for a while, reliving those moments when concerts had been just dreams themselves: times when the shining lights and the applauding audience had been a goal, rather than a reflection of hard work, and love.

And then, they dreamt of each other, and how the music they made individually was just a part of that which they made together.

As the trio slept, and their minds found tranquility, the threads they had worked so hard to intertwine over the past year were slowly pulled tighter and tighter...

It was close to lunchtime when the first hints of movement came.

Richard's eyes opened slightly. For a moment, he wondered where he was, since his father's voice echoed in his thoughts. It didn't look like his bedroom at home.

He opened his eyes further.

Finally the disorientation vanished, and he looked to either side of him, smiling. Memories of the previous night flooded back into his thoughts, as he watched his peaceful lovers continue to sleep.

This is my life...

Happiness welled up inside of him.

He felt like he hadn't looked at them in a very long while. He took his time, gazing at every detail of their faces. The curve of Emily's eyelashes, the smoothness of Sandra's cheek ... Sandra's beautiful hair, and Emily's cute nose...

At last he couldn't resist, and he touched Emily's cheek with his fingers. Her eyes fluttered open. For a moment, she just looked at him, her face expressionless. Then she softened into a smile, as she too realized where she was. Richard kissed her on the tip of the nose.

He turned to Sandra, and also caressed her face. Emily laughed as Sandra let out a slight murmur of protest. She was not so easily roused.

"Rise and shine, love," Richard said.

Sandra remained still for a moment, and then sighed deeply. As she woke up, she found Emily and Richard smiling at her.

"Let's just stay in bed all day..." she said dreamily as her eyes closed again.

Richard laughed gently, kissing her cheek.

"You have German in a half hour," he said.

Sandra's eyes popped open, and her content look turned into a frown. "If it's really seven-thirty, I'm going to — " Then she saw the impish grins, and she let out a disapproving breath.

"I'm hungry," Emily said, stretching her body against Richard's.

"Let's call room service," Sandra answered.

Richard laughed. "We should have gone back to the Concorde for the night, then."

Sandra murmured in agreement. "Yeah. Why didn't we? That was the life. Big bed, food and drink in the room, dancing ... Lots of yummy sex..."

Sandra grinned and turned to stretch, and promptly fell off the edge of the bed with a surprised cry. Richard and Emily couldn't help but start laughing.

"Ow! How come I'm always on the outside?" she wailed, as she appeared in view again. Richard held out a hand, and Sandra swatted it away. After trying to hold a stern look for a few moments, she started laughing as well.

"Are you all right?" Richard asked, when she finally got to her feet.

"Oh, I'm fine ... Okay, let's get up. I guess I am hungry. Whoa, it's almost noon."

Sandra stretched luxuriously, and Richard took in the sight of her body. It was intoxicating. She went to the mirror and tried to get rid of some crazy hair.

"Come back to bed," he said gently.

"Yeah," Emily agreed.

Sandra looked at them suspiciously. "What about breakfast?" She glanced at the clock. "Or lunch..."

"We can eat food later."

Sandra came closer. "I'm not lying on the outside again."

Richard shook his head and moved to the edge. "Nah, you get in between us this time."

She grinned as she slid her body over Richard's. "Now I really wish we had room service..."

Putting clothes on to go to the cafeteria was as unappealing as the grub they would have to eat there, so Emily dug through her closet with hope. She found some soup and dry rice, left over from a less busy month when they still had time to make a meal in the room. Emily held it out to Richard and Sandra, and they nodded hungrily from the bed. She fired up the steamer and water heater, and after some time had a lunch of sorts prepared.

"Rather anticlimactic, I know," she said, as she passed out spoons.

They greedily ate the meal, nonetheless.

"Still better than going to Crapler," Richard announced, after he had inhaled the food.

The girls agreed. It was still too early to venture into the world.

The phone rang, intruding on the end of their lunch.

"It's your dad, Richard," Sandra said immediately. Even though Richard had managed to lessen Vittorio's phone calls to only two or three per week over the course of the year, the girls still occasionally teased him about it.

"Probably wants to know what time we're eating dinner," Richard said.

Emily answered. "Hello... ? Hey, William. You're up early."

She laughed. "I'm not going to comment on that. Here, talk to Richard. I'm still eating."

Richard took the phone. "What's up?"

"What time do you want to get together?" William asked without preamble.

"I think we said dinner would be around six."

"I wasn't talking about dinner! Did you want to talk about the Etudes this afternoon?"

"Um. We can," he said slowly. He glanced at the girls. Their state of undress made him pause. "Or tomorrow... ?"

"It's now or never. I'm taking Arlene to Baltimore, and we're going to get on the road tomorrow morning."

"What's with that? I thought you were here until this weekend."

"A little getaway. Clark invited us to come observe the Mahler Three rehearsals."

Richard laughed. "I suppose you got a photo from him, too..."

"Not yet. We'll spend a few days there. Maybe we'll see something at the Kennedy Center on Friday night. Arlene has to get back; otherwise we'd stay for the actual concert ... But that's over a week away."

"Ditched!"

"Sorry," William said, laughing.

"Nah, don't be. I'd go too, if I could. Let's meet at three, then, in the lobby."

"Excellent. We'll see you then."

Richard hung up. "William and Arlene are going to go to Baltimore and hang out with your dad, Em."

Emily looked at him. "Really?"

"He invited them to observe a rehearsal or two."

Emily smiled. "That would be good reason to go. Wish I could see that concert."

Richard nodded at her. "Go for it."

"It's the weekend after this one. If you haven't noticed, the semester is still going."

"So? Just go for one night." Sandra said.

Emily considered. "I don't know. Juries and finals are coming up."

Richard dismissed that with a wave of his hand. "You're not really worried about that, are you?"

Emily shrugged. "No, I guess not. Hmm ... I'll think about it."

"You could even surprise him. Just show up at the concert, unannounced..."

"It's just that I haven't seen him conduct in ... many years."

"Even more reason to go, Em. Especially now."

Emily stared off, her mind elsewhere.

After a brief cleanup, they retreated to the comfort of the bed again.

"I realized something at the party," Sandra said, after they spent some time just relaxing.

"What's that?"

"I don't know what I want, with Suzanne."

"What do you mean?"

"I love her ... But last night I realized that besides kissing her, it can't go any further, in that way. Not right now, anyway. I don't know why, but it felt like I'd have to force it to happen."

"Hmm..." Richard murmured.

"What?"

"I kind of thought the same about Viktoriya, when we went to the garden. I couldn't see anything happening either."

"I thought you kissed her, though?" Emily asked.

Richard nodded. "Yes, I did. But beyond that ... Maybe it's just the way we three came together so strongly, or maybe it's just too hard to bring someone else into our relationship right now. Even she knew, last night. I feel a spark with her, but it's not the right time..."

"I know," Emily said. "It's probably because we haven't all spent enough time with her, or with Suzanne. But also, there's something right about the three of us."

"So you feel the same too, Em?" Sandra asked her.

"Yeah. Ever since the thing with Joel, I've known. Like, I find Kyle to be an interesting guy, and it's sweet the way he treats me, but it's not something that I would go after. It's weird, because we understand each other, especially after what happened with Billy. It's one of those things I can't really explain. It's probably how you feel when you play music with Suzanne, Sandra. Or how you share the piano experiences with Arlene and William. Still, I keep realizing that the best thing I have is right here, next to me."

"Yeah," Sandra agreed. "That's true."

Richard sighed. "I guess our connections really run on so many levels. It's ... I don't know ... kind of sad that we only live one life. How many interesting relationships and events have we missed? But then again, I wouldn't trade us for anything, either."

Sandra squeezed his hand.

Emily said, "But what if it does feel right, sometime later?"

"Then it will be," Richard said. "It will probably take just the right person, though. I don't know, maybe it is Suzanne. I liked playing with her on the recital, and she's really fun ... But I don't know her that well. Maybe that will change that this month."

"I'm sure it will," Emily said quietly.

"What's with you and Viktoriya, then?" Sandra asked.

"She's going to be in Hawaii for a week, and then she'll be back in New York. I'll get to see her when I go back for the summer, but it'll be as friends. That's really what I want, anyway."

"Yeah right," Emily said, elbowing him.

Richard just chuckled at the dig. "Not everything can be, that could have been."

Sandra sniggered. "Deep thoughts, by Richard..."

"All right, sounds like we've reached the end of serious conversation," he said, tickling them.

There were a few shrieks, and a feeble attempt at tickling back, but they soon fell quiet again with comfortable sighs.

"I does kind of feel like the semester is over," Richard said after some time.

Emily snorted. "That's bad thinking, Richard!"

"I know," he said, grinning. "But I already missed all my classes today ... Are you going to class?" he asked Sandra.

"I think I will, just to see if Dobra is back." Sandra glanced at the clock. "Oh. Guess I should get moving, then."

Sandra started to rise.

"Wait," Emily said.

"What?"

"One more kiss," she said, pulling her close.

Richard smiled as he watched their lips touch and part.

"I'll walk over with you, since I'm meeting William and Arlene," he said.

"I'm going to take a nap," Emily said, not moving to get up after they vacated the bed.

"Lazy shit..." Sandra whispered, laughing.

"Hey, I was the one who slaved in the kitchen while you two chilled!"

Everything in the conservatory was the same as it had been before the recital. The same students chatted and went about their business. The practice rooms were as busy as ever. Classes went on as usual...

Sandra took her customary seat in class.

The recital really is over...

The thought didn't dampen the elation she still felt, though.

At three minutes before the hour, Ms. Connelly arrived. Sandra felt a flash of disappointment. Maybe he's not back...

The class proceeded as always. Sandra was distracted as she watched her fellow classmates work on dictations. She pretended to write out the examples, but her mind was really elsewhere. Dobra's appearance at the recital now seemed like a dream.

But I did see him. Maybe he did sneak in just for the recital.

Ms. Connelly called on her close to the end of class. Sandra didn't register her voice until the second attempt.

"Come on Sandra," she said sweetly. "Just one more example, then you'll be rid of me."

As she went to the board, Sandra looked at her quizzically, wondering what she meant. Before she could worry about it, Ms. Connelly played the harmonic dictation example. Absentmindedly, Sandra wrote it out, starting before Ms. Connelly had even finished.

Rid of her? He's back then, or what?

She didn't even remember putting the chalk in the tray.

"Very nice," Ms. Connelly said.

Sandra looked up at her work, pulled back into the classroom again. Then she went back to her seat.

When the end of class approached, Ms. Connelly addressed the class, with her usual good natured smile.

"Today is the last day you will have me. You may or may not have heard that Dr. Dobra is returning from his leave of absence."

There were a few murmurs, and a few groans. Connelly was definitely more lenient than Dobra was.

Sandra felt a smile spread across her face as the news was announced.

"He will continue from here, tomorrow. I still have my office open to you, should you wish assistance outside of class, naturally. That's all, then. Have a great day!"

Sandra immediately grabbed her things and ran out of the classroom.

Richard had taken Arlene and William down to the lower level of the building, where the practice rooms were located, and they were now making a second circuit through the hallways in search of a free piano.

One of the doors ahead of them opened up, and Richard didn't even react.

"There!" Arlene said, hurrying.

"No piano," Richard replied.

"Oh."

"These rooms are so small," William said, peering into the vacant room. "Even without a piano."

As they continued on, the door closed behind them as a viola player hurried in.

"There are a few large rooms for piano majors. They're always taken by the same five or six girls, though. The piano mafia."

William frowned. "Piano mafia? Interesting! Show me."

Richard led them down to the piano rooms. "Of course, now that I said that, I'm sure the rooms will be open."

Arlene laughed. "Hopefully."

They were occupied, however, as always. Richard peered in through the small window, and then stepped aside. "See? There's her friend, sitting in the room, waiting to take over. There's no way to get in until close to closing time. Then you get a half hour, at best."

"How early do they get here?"

"I don't know," Richard admitted, grinning sheepishly. "Before I get up, for sure."

William looked through the glass, and watched the pianist as she repeated a passage over and over again.

"That's a tricky section," he murmured. "Have you heard them play anything? Do you know them?"

Richard shook his head. "No."

William murmured. The music stopped for a second, and he suddenly grabbed the door handle and opened the door.

The two faces inside looked at him questioningly.

"Hello," William announced, nodding at them seriously. "William P. Landman, visiting pianist from New York. Uh, I think I have this room scheduled for a lesson now."

The two girls glanced at each other, neither finding an answer in the other's questioning look.

"Um, okay..." one said tentatively. "Are you sure it's in here, though?"

"This is room ... uh, 16F, right?" William asked.

The girls nodded.

"That's what they told me," he said jovially. "Well, it's three o'clock. Sorry to displace you, but the studio I was promised was double booked. You know, end of semester, and what have you ... Say, will you be attending my master class on Friday?"

The girls frowned at him. "Master class?" one asked, dubiously.

"At one o'clock. We will discuss the proper tone for playing Schumann."

The girls vaguely nodded and said something unintelligible. William smiled at them aloofly as they packed up.

Richard stood out in the hallway with Arlene, trying his best to keep a straight face as the two Mafiosi walked out and disappeared down the hall.

Once they were in the room, Richard closed the door and dropped the music onto the piano.

"What the fuck was that?" he blurted out.

William grinned. "We needed a room."

"And when they find out you were bullshitting?"

"They won't. This will look like a lesson. If they ask anyone about room scheduling, no one will know what to tell them, because we obviously didn't schedule the room!"

"And the master class?" Richard reminded him.

William chuckled and waved a hand loftily. "Who cares? We'll be in Baltimore by then."

"Yeah, but I won't!"

William shrugged. "Not my fault you're not coming."

Richard shook his head and sat at the piano, laughing. "You're more of a troublemaker than I ever knew," he said, fingering some chords. "This piano is really nice, though. Maybe you should move out here so you can pull this trick every day."

William laughed. "No, I think I'll pass."

"We'll take over," Arlene said after a moment. "Start our own practice club."

Richard eyed her, and then smiled. "You're right. We could tag team, too."

Arlene grinned. "It'll just be a matter of securing the room before they do."

"We can alternate —"

"All right, enough with the battle plans," William interrupted grandly. "You two can figure that out later. We only have a few hours before we need to get ready for dinner. Richard, play."

Richard laughed. "Okay, okay ... Where do we start?"

"From the beginning. Opus twenty-five, number one. Here, pass us the music."

He did so as William took a seat next to Arlene. Clearing his mind of the fun, he considered the beginning of the Etude for a moment, and then started to play.

Sandra paused, her hand balled into a fist in front of her. Then she rapped on the door. For a moment, she waited, her ear listening for any sound from within.

The door handle suddenly turned, and Dr. Dobra pulled the door open.

Sandra smiled broadly at him. "I wasn't sure if you'd be here."

He shrugged slightly, smiling back at her. "Here I am. Do you want to come in?"

"Sure."

Sandra followed him in, and took a seat. "I saw you last night."

He smiled again. "A great concert. I should go to more of them, but then again, they might not be as good as last night's was. For me, at any rate."

"Ms. Connelly said you'll be in class again tomorrow."

"Yes, it's back to work. It was a nice vacation, but now it's over," Dr. Dobra said enigmatically.

Sandra suddenly got the feeling she should not inquire about the details of his return, as much as she wanted to.

"I'm glad your back," she said simply.

"Thank you. Hopefully Anita kept things going in my place?"

"She did."

"Good, good ... I do seem to remember asking you about being a theory major some time ago?"

Sandra smiled apologetically. "Yeah, I know. I'll admit I haven't had a chance to think about it since you asked."

"Understandable," Dobra said, nodding. "Registration for next year is open now. I don't expect a rush of students clamoring to join fifth semester theory, but ... it's still a good idea to think about your classes for next year in case adjustments need to be made to class schedules."

"Okay. I'll let you know soon. I really need to sit down and figure out what I'm doing next year."

"Good. If you don't want to add the major, you can still take the class, naturally. It's up to you to figure out how much you can commit to."

Sandra nodded slowly.

There was a brief moment of silence. She felt like he wanted to talk about his hiatus, but she didn't dare ask. Perhaps he was not allowed to talk to students about it.

"Well, I'm glad you're back," she repeated, rising from her seat. "I'll see you in class tomorrow?"

"Yes, of course."

She went towards the door.

"Sandra, one more thing."

She turned towards him expectantly.

"I know it's not what we've done before, but I'll have to have you take the ear training and sight singing final this semester. I need to ... follow the rules."

Sandra nodded. "Yeah, of course. I don't mind."

"No, I know you don't." Dobra seemed about to say something else about it, and then waved his hand. "I'll see you tomorrow."

Sandra went to the door, and turned back to him once more.

He grinned at her, and Sandra felt some relief as she stepped out of his office.

"Okay, enough, you two," Richard protested dramatically.

William had been demonstrating a different way of phrasing one section, when Arlene had moved to the piano to offer a third approach. Sitting next to each other, they had grown suddenly younger, and soon their hands were starting to tickle things other than the keyboard.

"Sorry," Arlene said primly, returning her hands to the keys. William just chuckled.

"I know we've been here for a while, and these rooms do tend to get to you, but there are windows on the doors," Richard reminded them.

"No wild sex on the piano, dear," William said simply to Arlene.

She backhanded his chest. "William!"

Richard drummed his fingers in mock ennui.

"Is this how your lessons with William go?" he asked her, before thinking. "Actually, forget I asked that," he quickly added, noting William's grin.

"It's your fault," William said.

"My fault?" Richard protested.

"You brought it up at my apartment."

"I..."

Arlene's brow raised questioningly, as Richard hesitated.

"He knows," Richard said to her.

She frowned. "Knows what?"

"That you wanted me to talk to William, when we were there in March."

"I know that!" she said.

"Oh, okay."

"But he still won't tell me about that girl you told me about!" she added, laughing a little.

Richard felt his heart twist up. He had not forgotten about Miss Walker, but he had also put her tragic story out of his immediate thoughts. He wondered how often William had to hear Arlene ask about her, or tease him about it, like Richard had done.

But he's the one keeping it secret...

Arlene immediately sensed it. William was a master at hiding that pain, even though his was a thousand times greater that of Richard's. But she read it right off of Richard's face.

"What?" she asked quietly, after Richard and William shared a look.

"Sorry," Richard said. He looked at both of them, and Arlene didn't know to whom he meant it.

"No, it's all right," William said softly. He turned to Arlene, and took her hand. "I'll tell you about her on the ride to Baltimore."

"What is it?"

"Now is not the time, or place. Put it out of your mind until tomorrow. It's in the past, and nothing to worry about."

Arlene nodded slowly. "Okay. Will I be ... mad?"

"No," Richard said.

"It only concerns you in that I didn't want to scare you," William said. "Or hurt you."

She nodded again.

William caressed her cheek, and for a moment they looked at each other.

They've sure bonded this year, Richard thought.

William turned to Richard. "Well ... I suppose we should think about getting ready for dinner."

"Yeah. Do you need to go back to the hotel first?"

"We do," Arlene confirmed.

Richard smiled. "Okay. Thanks for the lesson," he said honestly.

"Not a lesson, so much, but an exchange. I learned, too," William said. "I am envious that you and Arlene will have all next year to discuss the piano without me."

Richard grinned. "Yeah, that will be a good thing," he agreed.

William looked at him with narrowed eyes, but didn't challenge the statement.

As they walked out of the building, William hummed part of an Etude. Richard and Arlene joined in, and an impromptu choral version was born. It quickly disintegrated into laughter when the notes got more chromatic.

"Are you really leaving tomorrow?" Richard asked.

"Yes," William replied. "I can't pass up Emily's dad's offer. Besides, you have plenty of guests to attend to here."

"We'll see you in a month when you come back to New York," Arlene said. "We'll have all summer to hang out."

"Well, most of the summer. I'm probably going back to Italy. Actually, I need to get on that, before it's too late."

"That will be a long time away from your ladies," she said.

Richard laughed. "Not so much. I'm going to take them with me!"

Arlene stared at him wide-eyed. "Really?"

"Yup."

"Oh, they're so lucky! I want to go!"

Richard shrugged. "Have William take you."

William shot him a look. "I'm already taking her to Baltimore!"

"Taking me? I'm the one driving!" Arlene protested.

He considered this. "True," he admitted. "We'll see."

Arlene narrowed her eyes at him. "We'll see what? What's that supposed to mean?"

William shrugged, his face taking on an impish quality. She pressed him for more, but he ignored her questions.

"You are impossible!" Arlene announced, waving a dismissive hand at him. "If you're going to say something like that, and then clam up, then I'm not talking to you."

William turned to Richard. "Let me know when you book your flight," he said.

Richard laughed as Arlene turned back to William, her sudden indifference quickly lost.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she repeated.

William winked at Richard.

"Well, I'm off to the dorm," Richard said, branching off to cross the grass. "See you in an hour!"

William extended his hand in a wave, and Richard quickly left behind a flustered Arlene and grinning William.

When Sandra entered the dorm room, she found Emily sitting at her desk. Her mother's violin case was open before her.

"Wish you played violin instead of horn?" Sandra asked gently.

Emily smiled wistfully at her. "A little. But also not. I never could play any stringed instrument, when I tried a few times. I guess I'm more like my dad in that way."

Sandra nodded. "The horn is your calling."

Emily shrugged. "Yeah..."

She seems down, Sandra noticed. "How are you doing?"

"I'm all right."

"You must still be overwhelmed by the violin..."

"Yeah. It's good to see it again, but also sad to know my mom won't play it ever again."

Sandra put an arm around her shoulder. "When you think of her, can you hear her playing it?"

"Like she is in the room," Emily agreed quietly. "But no one else can."

"I know," Sandra said, understanding.

Emily looked up at her. "Can you play something on it?"

Sandra took a step back, shaking her head. "No."

"Why?"

"I — I don't know anything that I could play on an instrument like that."

"It doesn't matter what you play, Sandra. It's music. There's no rulebook inside the case."

Sandra eyed the instrument warily as Emily stood up.

Emily undid the bow clasp, picked up the violin and held it out to her.

"Em, no..."

"Please."

Sandra relented after a moment, and reached out a slightly shaking hand. She took the bow. Her other hand hesitated, though.

Who else has played this violin?

Her hand moved closer, and at last she closed her fingers around the neck. For a few seconds, she held it at arm's length. Then she slowly settled the chinrest into place, and took a deep breath.

Emily sat down again, waiting expectantly.

Fragments of music swirled around in her head, none of which she wanted to play. She stood there, unmoving for some time.

"Richard said you played something beautiful the day Billy passed on," Emily said quietly. "I'd like to hear it too..."

Richard heard... ?

Sandra shivered, and then put the bow to the strings.

She was completely unprepared for how the instrument responded.