Dear reader, this story is a little longer than my usual short stories. It is 100% Fiction. I have had this tale in mind for quite some time. Thanks for reading, enjoy! All characters are twenty years or older.
When she walked into the rehearsal hall it was as if time stopped. Gabrielle was a phenomenon, a prodigy, an ethereal angel. The fact that she was studying music in the same university as me was surreal. How could I be so lucky?
As I stopped and stared a buddy standing beside me spoke.
"Whoa back there cowboy, Put your tongue back in your mouth. You don't stand a chance! Just about every professor, male or female has tried to pluck that flower and she has turned them all away."
Gabrielle's long golden hair and fair nordic complexion added to her angelic, unspoiled image. She had an aura around her like golden halo. She was truly a Norse goddess come to life before my eyes. She had been a child prodigy. She could play violin well enough to play in any orchestra by age six. Her voice was spectacularly lovely. She had many CD's that were big sellers over the years.
That little prodigy had grown into a beautiful woman. In fact her visage had graced the covers of countless magazines, which led her into a side line, modeling. She was worth millions yet here she was, ready to learn more.
The concert master called everyone to order and we took our seats. My orchestral instrument is the trumpet although I an a multi instrumentalist.
"Before we start looking at our first piece for this term I would like to introduce a new member to our school Mr. Ralph Williams, an Academy Award winning composer."
I was happy that he had pronounced my first name correctly. I was named after Ralph Vaughn Williams (pronounced Raif).
I stood up to the applause of the others, nodded and smiled and sat back down.
"Hopefully we can teach you something you don't already know." The students got a chuckle over that one.
I guess I should explain how I won an Academy Award.
I was a high school music geek. I was into composition and arrangement. My pal Graham Stark was a film geek. Graham was two grades ahead of me so he was away at film school as I was in my final year of high school. He sent me a text during his second year and asked if I would be interested in scoring a documentary he was making on homelessness.
I immediately bought into the project!
I received an edited, close to finalized copy of the documentary and watched it through. Graham had done an amazing job. The music came together pretty quickly.
There was one troublesome scene. It was an un-narrated sequence of close up shots of the homeless. It was pitiful and Graham's cinematic genius captured all the pathos beautifully. The natural inclination is to fill the scene with sad mournful music, but being the contrarian that I am I just couldn't do it. Instead, I composed a piece that became known as "The Beautiful Theme."
When Graham saw and heard my score he was over the moon happy with it. He especially liked the music for "The Beautiful."
I graduated but took a year off to work on a few projects that had been nagging me.
The film was nominated for an Academy Award as a documentary. Surprisingly, I was nominated for best score. We both won.
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It was on my second day at university that I was working away in one of the small rehearsal rooms. I was working on a new piece for another project with Graham. I was surprised when the door opened and Gabrielle walked in.
"Oh, I am sorry, I thought the room was empty." She had a definite Nordic lilt in her voice.
"Nah, I just use headphones when writing. You can come in though, I am just finishing up."
"You are Ralph Williams. I am honoured. I loved your composition "The Beautiful." It brought tears to my eyes.".
"I am the one who is honoured to meet you! I have been listening to your recordings since I was a kid."
"I hear that a lot, but thank you. You dont have to leave. Actually, you may be able to help me."
"I ll help you in any way I can."
"Would you listen to me play this particular passage I am working on? I can't quite the phrasing right."
"It would be my pleasure." and I wasn't kidding.
She played the passage so sweetly, with a purity of tone that it raised the hair on my arms and the back of my neck.
"Your playing is so sensual Gabrielle. If anything maybe hold the high A just a half beat longer than you did. Imagine that you are singing the phrase rather than playing the violin. Where would you have taken a breath?"
"Right at the end of the high A." she smiled.
"Otherwise it is perfect."
"Thanks, I will do that. That was wonderful advice, I don't know why I didn't think of it like that!" she packed up her instrument and turned to leave. She stopped at the door and asked me a question.
"Ralph, are you busy tonight? Would you like to have dinner with me?"
Holy shit! The famous Gabrielle is asking me for a date? Pinch me!
"I would love to! Where would you like to go?"
"Somewhere I can wear jeans and a sweater and not feel out of place."
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We went to a wonderful little Italian place a little off the main drag. The wine was sensational and the veal was to die for. It was a very casual vibe and Gabriel seemed to love it.
"So this is your second year here at school?" I asked.
"Yes, I learned so much last year. I love it here. My family and management are not thrilled about me furthering my education. Every day I spend here is a day I am not on the road playing concerts, or modelling, or recording. They feel that this is taking money from their pockets. They tell me that taking time away like this will hurt my career but I want to study, to know music history. I want to experience something normal."
"I get it. You have been a superstar since you were just a kid. I can't imagine what it was like touring like that. I was learning to tie my shoelaces when you were learning the violin!"
"I got pushed a lot by my parents and my manager. When I turned nineteen I was faced by a lot of people wanting to be with me. Men and women, some very powerful people in the industry wanted to date me. What did I know about dating? I was home schooled and spent most of my time practicing so when could I date? I did date a famous maestro but he wanted more than I was willing to give. I lost an opportunity to play with that orchestra, so lost opportunities which means lost revenue so my manager was not happy."
"I spent last year refusing dates high and low. It isn't me they really want, it is fame of being seen with me, the fame of dating me."
"Yet you are here with me tonight."
"Because I asked you. I have admired your work. I also think you are a cute guy. You aren't with me tonight because you want anything from me."
"Oh yes I do want something from you."
