On Sunday, when Juliet and Thomas showed up at the rehearsal space, people were already settling into their seats. Juliet counted no more than ten people on hand, and she could tell by their animated conversation that they were mostly friends.
"Well, I guess we should grab a couple of seats," she said to her brother. They each picked up a program from a stack by the door, and made their way to the rows of chairs.
Juliet noticed sheets of paper lying on two front row seats with the word RESERVED penned on them. She had a look. The paper included their names. Juliet Langford written on one, and the other, Thomas Langford.
"Well, what do you know," Juliet exclaimed proudly.
"Somebody has pull," Thomas smirked, knowingly.
They removed the signs from off their seats and sat down. Juliet hoped to get Adrienne's attention, but her cellist friend was preoccupied with some business or other at the piano with Nadia. And so, Juliet turned her attention to the program. In addition to the list of pieces, there was some text about the composers and some of the compositions. "Do you know any of these pieces," she asked her brother, who was the knowledgeable one when it came to classical music.
"Uh, yeah, a few. I know the Beethoven Cello Sonata. And the Bach Cello Suite, of course. But I don't know this Benjamin Britten piece. Or these Russian folk tunes."
"Hey, look, she's doing Chopin." Juliet interrupted her brother. "I thought he wrote music for the piano?"
"Mostly, though he did write for other instruments," Thomas explained. "She's doing an arrangement of one of his Nocturnes."
Juliet checked out the other audience members. Most had dressed quite casually, but she and her brother had decided to dress up. "To help create a concert atmosphere," Juliet had decided. They were well used to dressing up for pretty much everything, so it was hardly an imposition.
Juliet had brushed out her blonde hair and opted for a light blue dress with a pattern of tiny white flowers. Thomas wore some knit trousers and a cream dress shirt set off with a boldly patterned tie.
After a moment, "Thomas leaned over to Juliet and whispered in a suggestive voice, "I'm really looking forward to hearing your girlfriend play."
"My girlfriend...?" Juliet replied with narrowed eyes. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"She's cute, Jules," he said with a playful nudge of his shoulder. "Definitely cuter than that Jenny girl you were into."
Julia rolled her eyes. "Thomas, you know I hate when you do that. I was just a kid."
"I'm just saying..." Thomas replied in a sing-song voice.
Juliet knew her brother was giving her shit. When she was fourteen, she fell in love with her classmate, a girl named Jenny. Or least she believed she was in love, when one day, she announced proudly to her family, "When we get older, Jenny and I are going to move to France, and live together."
Her brother and dad thought the announcement pretty funny, but Juliet's mom did not. The lecture Juliet received for her "impractical notions," squashed any romantic aspirations the young teen held, impractical or otherwise. "Water under the bridge," Juliet would often say.
Problem is, it did make Juliet question where things with Adrienne were heading, especially after Adrienne confessed that she harbored more than platonic feelings for her. And she was fine with that. She liked Adrienne and felt they shared a special bond. But taking their friendship to that next, intimate level was simply not an option.
Juliet quietly studied Adrienne, watching her talk to Nadia over at the piano. The way Adrienne's eyebrows were lowered as she concentrated made Juliet smile. It was an expression she'd come to know well, occurring whenever Adrienne was concentrating on her music or struggling to formulate a thought during a conversation.
She then checked out Adrienne's ensemble. It consisted of a very sleek black concert dress that was supported by a wide strap off her right shoulder, and that wrapped across her breasts at a slight angle. The skirt fell to just above her low-heeled black shoes, and Juliet wondered how the fabric allowed Adrienne to position the cello between her legs. Adrienne's dark hair was pinned up, which was normal. But she also noticed that Adrienne had applied some liner and shadow as well as a reddish-toned lipstick. "She's going for 'glamorous.' I like it," she noted, approvingly.
Juliet had to admit Adrienne looked good, and that led her to consider that this talented, attractive young woman was interested in her. Juliet looked about at the other people and realized she'd been accepted into a select group of friends. She felt a sense of pride that Adrienne was her friend, and was very excited to hear her play.
Adrienne came forward to address the small crowd. "Welcome everyone. Thank you so much for being here." As soon as Adrienne saw Juliet with her brother, she gave a quick wave before continuing with her intro.
"To help us get ready for my May 17 recital, Nadia and I—you all know Nadia," Adrienne gestured over to her colleague who was sitting at the piano. A few of Nadia's friends whistled and applauded. "Nadia is not only a brilliant pianist, but a lifesaver. I cannot tell you how relieved I am to have her as my partner for this program. Thank you, Nadia." There were more cheers from the small crowd.
"Anyway, we're going to play the program for you, as a tune-up for my actual recital. It lasts just under an hour. I'm not going to say much about the pieces, as that's all in the program. So, we'll basically just play the music."
As the musicians got set, Juliet realized it was the first time she'd seen her friend wearing a formally styled dress. For the musical, Adrienne wore more of a tuxedo get-up, with pants and a white shirt. In most other settings, her friend always dressed down somewhat, sometimes in ratty tops and worn jeans. She knew Adrienne didn't have much money to spend on fancy clothes, and probably didn't spend much on make-up and hair styling either. Which is why Juliet loved to treat her to dinners. It was a way of doing something nice for her friend.
While Adrienne looked sexy in her sleek, black performance dress, Juliet did wonder if pants made more sense for a cellist. However, when Adrienne sat down on her chair, Juliet saw that the skirt was comprised of two independent panels, front and back. This allowed her to sit on the chair with the cello nestled between her legs. Juliet smiled knowingly. "Clever."
Adrienne's thick, dark hair was pinned up on her head to show off her lovely features and make it easier for her to play. It was a similar look as that she wore for the musical, and yet it was just a bit more elegant. Juliet liked the way Adrienne had let her tresses fall down the back of her neck. It dawned on Juliet that she had never seen Adrienne with her hair completely loose and flowing. It was always pulled back off her face.
'I'll ask her to let me see it down,' she noted to herself. Juliet had also never seen Adrienne with that much make-up on, even for their shows. "This girl is full of surprises," she thought with delight.
As the first theme of the Beethoven was played in unison by the cello and piano, Juliet became lost in the music. She'd never remembered hearing such a rich, full sound. Gentle at times, and positively rapturous at others. She wasn't one to attend chamber concerts, the way her brother and parents did, so the experience of sitting close to the performers in a small, reverberant room, was truly magical for her.
And then the playing! Juliet couldn't take her eyes off of Adrienne, which was the point really, as she was the featured player, sitting front and center with Nadia behind, sitting in profile at the rehearsal room's medium grand. Both women were intense and focused, but Adrienne's concentration and energy drew the audience right in.
Juliet would sometimes watch Nadia, but mostly she kept her eyes on Adrienne. She'd watch Adrienne's hand moving up and down the fretboard, and her rapidly moving fingers, and then watch her arm working the bow. But it was her face that was most enchanting. She liked following Adrienne's eyes as they studied the sheet music, then checked her finger work for a passage, or when they closed as if searching for inspiration, or because she was simply caught up in the moment.
After the Beethoven, and a great deal of applause, Adrienne played several pieces by herself. Juliet though that the Russian folk tunes were highly entertaining. They ranged from frenetic to boisterous, from sad to evocative. The melodies conjured images of folk dancers and vast Russian steppes... But the following Bach suite with its dances was absolutely divine. Nadia then rejoined Adrienne for a short Chopin nocturne and Adrienne ended her program with a virtuosic "Moto perpetuo" from Benjamin Britten's solo cello suite. Near the end of this incredibly demanding piece, Juliet watched as a lock of Adrienne's hair came loose from its tie to dangle just to the side of her eyes. Juliet thought the effect quite sexy.
As the last sounds of the cello faded, those in attendance stood up to applaud, whistle and cheer. Juliet also stood, but she would have preferred to remain seated so she could bask in the afterglow of the experience. She had been deeply moved by her friend's performance, and astounded that Adrienne could coax such a range of sounds, emotions and feelings from her instrument. Up until this concert, Juliet had assumed she knew Adrienne pretty well. But she'd been naive to think so. She'd barely scratched the surface of this extremely gifted and complex person. And the duet, though exciting and beautiful, was only a prelude to what remained to be discovered in the course of their evolving friendship.
Her friend had just shared a side of herself that emanated from somewhere deep inside, from a place that was extremely personal. There was no shyness, no insecurity or even modesty on display that afternoon. This was something raw, and pure. Juliet had been gifted a glimpse of the girl's very soul, the wellspring for all the things that made Adrienne who she was. It was a more profound, more intimate side of her friend revealed, and Juliet felt honored to know her. And though she was a bit embarrassed to think it, she imagined that passion as sexual energy, and wondered the sort of lover Adrienne would be.
"She could easily play with any number of orchestras," Thomas noted, jarring Juliet from her private world.
"Uh huh," was all Juliet could say in response.
Juliet and Thomas remained in their seats, waiting for the right time to offer up their congratulations. Eventually, the crowd thinned out, and Thomas made his way over to Adrienne.
"Adrienne, I'm Juliet's brother, Thomas. That was a splendid program. I am so impressed with your playing. And that Britten was incredible."
"Thanks," Adrienne replied with an audible exhale, her body still flushed from the intensity of the performance. "I'm glad you were able to make it, last minute and all. I know you have a dinner to attend."
"Don't worry about it. It's all good," Thomas replied. "Juliet and I have a few minutes."
At the mention of Juliet, Adrienne quickly glanced over to her friend and smiled. Juliet was waiting patiently for her turn, and that stirred up in Adrienne a mix of elation and impatience.
But Thomas wasn't through yet. "Considering this is a showcase for your talents as a cellist, I was wondering what made you perform the complete Beethoven. I'm assuming you'd want to showcase as many different styles as possible. Not that I'm complaining. But what made you play the whole sonata?"
"Thomas!" Juliet scolded. Her brother was questioning Adrienne's program, and to do so right after she'd played seemed a bit rude. But Adrienne seemed to welcome the observation.
"No, it's okay. Actually, I'm pleased with the variety. There's Baroque, Classical, Folk and Modern. But the main reason I included the whole Beethoven was to show my adjudicators that I'm capable of seeing a major composition through from start to finish. It also highlights my ability to play with other musicians, such as a chamber group or an orchestra. And Nadia and I just love the piece. In fact, we hope to record the whole set one day."
Thomas nodded appreciatively. "Well, you two really nailed it. I'd hire you for my orchestra. And now I'm going to turn you over to my sister."
