Page 71 of Everything After

No matter what Delilah thought of herself, her genius and depth of understanding of music shone like the brightest beacon. It crossed my mind to warn her to revel in her personal obscurity because she wouldn’t have it for long.

I had nothing to teach Delilah that would enhance her musical knowledge and delivery. In fact, after listening to the piece she had played, I figured she had plenty that she could teach me.

Delilah’s cheeks pinked and the way she averted her eyes demonstrated how modest she was about the enormous talent God had given her. “I must thank my grandpa next time I see him. I’m about half as good as he is.”

“For real?” I muttered in awe.

“Yup, growing up, he was a stickler for making me practice— constantly stopping me, making me perfect every tempo, pitch and note until I could recognize the key played in any song I heard on the radio. He even made me record the notes onto music notebooks while I listened.”

“Then grandpa deserves to see you shine… which believe me, is gonna happen. I don’t think there’s much I can teach you, but I can help you network.”

Delilah’s eyes bulged. She blushed again and stood, glancing up at the clock on the studio wall. “Are we done for the day? It’s just that I’ve been here since 6:00 a.m., and the timed session I booked out is almost finished.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry I thought we were meeting later,” I said as a text alert sounded, and I glanced at my cell phone. “I was at the recording studio with my wife. Her band began to cut their new album today.”

Lily: We’ve wrapped up early due to the vibe with the band. We’re grabbing a quick bite to eat.

Delilah stopped stuffing her music books into her large bag and stared excitedly toward me. “XrAid? I love their music. Lily’s…” She looked lost for words for a moment then made a French chef’s kiss with her fingers. “Perfection.”

I grinned. “That she is,” I agreed, then had a thought. “That text was from her,” I remarked, waving my cell phone at Delilah. “Would you like to join us for something to eat?”

“You and Lily?” she asked, sounding incredulous.

“Not just us, she’s eating with the band. I’m sure they’re in McNaughten’s Sports Bar near the recording studio. It’s only a ten-minute drive from here.”

Delilah slung her bag over her shoulder. “Oh. My. God. Me hanging out with XrAid? Thank goodness I didn’t wear my pajama pants today. Lead the way, I’m there already,” she replied, grinning.

“You never said he was coming back,” I heard Lennie say to Lily, as Delilah and I approached the table they were sitting at. Lily glared at Lennie’s remark as he stood and eyed the girl beside me and raised his brow.

Lily’s eyes narrowed as she dragged them the length of Delilah, making no secret of checking Delilah out before her gorgeous gaze settled on me. She smiled.

“Hey, baby,” I said, as I began to lean across the table. Lily partly stood from her chair and met me halfway. Taking her head in my hands, I planted an intimate, unhurried kiss on her lips.

When we eventually parted, Lily sat back down, sighed wistfully and her gaze was much more heated than before. I flashed her a knowing smile, held her gaze for another beat then realized all conversation had stopped. I turned my attention to Delilah and waved her closer.

“Lily, this is Delilah, the student I told you about.”

“Lennie,” Lily’s bandmate interrupted and held his hand out toward her.

“Delilah,” she responded, turning beet red, and looking starstruck. “But Alfie said that already,” she mumbled awkwardly.

“Shawn, Cody, Digs, and you know who Lily is,” Lennie said, taking charge of the introductions, and pointing in a counterclockwise direction from Shawn, who was sitting next to him on the other side of Lily.

It was only then that I realized Digs was seated on Lily’s other side, and not Cody, like he had in the past when I’d visited them. Part of me wondered if they’d switched seats once they all knew I was going to be there. However Lennie’s surprised reaction to seeing me made me disregard that thought.

“Let’s grab an extra couple of chairs,” Shawn stated. Once we rearranged the seating so that I was on one side of Lily and Delilah was on the other. “Are you the chick that’s been in all the papers… the one in the pizza joint with Alfie?” Shawn asked, acting tactless as usual.

Delilah looked a mixture of starstruck and embarrassed at being put on the spot. “What a huge mistake that was,” she muttered, facepalming. “Poor Alfie was kind enough to feed me after his tutoring session and the media jumped to their own conclusions. It must be so hard for you guys to do normal things without the narrative being twisted to suit some sensational story or other in the tabloids,” she replied.

I loved how unfazed she was at Shawn’s challenge and how confidently she dismissed the incident.

“So, Delilah, what have you been doing with my husband?” Lily asked, giving the student her full attention by pivoting a little in her seat to face her.

“Just collaborating a little and polishing a few pieces I’ve arranged for my finals. He’s been very gracious about allowing me to assault his ears by butchering some iconic songs.”

Lily turned, caught my gaze and looked lovingly into my eyes. “I remember when Alfie mentored me, we weren’t in the best place in our relationship… hot and cold, is how I’d best describe it. I was head-over-heels, but it was a complicated time for us… a real rollercoaster of a ride back then.”

“Actually, you were the one who lacked trust,” Alfie corrected me.