Page 21 of Only You

‘Between Brahms’ Double Concerto and Price’s Symphony No.

1 in E Minor? Nothing,’ she replied. He chuckled at the response as she looked up at the moon.

‘My fingers feel like they’re swollen. My back is killing me most days and I’m reaching my breaking point with my solo.

Younger me who thought grad school would be easier because I could just concentrate only on music was foolish. ’

‘A solo, huh?’

‘It’s nothing.’ Dani waved her hand as if to brush off his awe. ‘Like hell it is,’ he said. ‘Some people would kill for that.’

‘Unfortunately,’ she sighed. ‘Meanwhile, I’ve been distracted, so now there’s less praise and more whispers of my talent “finally” fading.

’ She looked away from the moon, shadows falling on her face as she picked at her nails.

‘I feel… I feel like I’m being consumed by them, you know?

I keep having to remind myself that I’m not one of them when I wake up.

And their emotions feel so overwhelming.

I mean, I dreamed of them before, but to live it is too much. Where’s the room for me?’

‘It’ll come back,’ Jones said. ‘When the memories are done. It’s a headache until then but it gets better. After.’

‘So, you just lived your life completely fine?’ she said sceptically.

‘Oh, absolutely not.’ She raised her brow, silently asking for more.

‘I got the memories in my second semester at Howard. I failed all my finals, could barely get out of bed the first half of the summer and then spent the rest of the time begging my professors to let me retake the tests I missed. Not the adventure I would choose.’

She laughed before quickly sobering up, looking down at her hands.

‘They’re saying that Dr Carver made a mistake when he assigned the solo to me,’ she told him, her voice almost a whisper.

‘They say I’m too distracted, that I wasn’t supposed to have a solo like that anyway.

I’m not obsessed enough. I don’t have extra training…

I practise a lot but not as much as others—’

‘You’re gifted and they’re not,’ Jones interrupted. Dani’s jaw dropped before she burst into laughter. Jones’s brows raised. ‘What?’

‘I’m sorry,’ Dani said between peals of laughter. ‘It was just blunt; I didn’t expect it. No one’s that straightforward other than my friend Riley and, well, she’s my friend so…’

‘I’m usually not,’ Jones admitted. ‘But I’ve seen you play.

And I’ve been there, so I know. Don’t take it personally.

There’s always a genius, always the one with connections, always the one who made it on their own, and at the end of it, none of it matters.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t try but sometimes, the only real difference is luck. ’

She looked at him warily, as if she were right on the cusp of believing him but not quite. He gave her a reassuring smile but didn’t push it. If Dani was already this far into her career, he had no doubt she could handle the performance. A little midnight doubt came with the territory.

Still, he felt his heart warm when she held out her fry box to him. She nodded at his questioning gaze, and he grabbed a couple of fries, luckily still a little warm.

He munched on them as she asked, ‘So, how lucky do you think you are?’

‘Pretty damn lucky,’ he answered, not having to think twice about it.

‘Even the studio session?’

He groaned. ‘Sometimes, you have to pay for it.’

‘Even with…’

The unspoken words lingered in the air and their eyes met.

He could see so much of Sabine in them, the worry and the care.

But like him, the stakes weren’t hypothetical this time.

Yet, his breath still caught as he looked at her, wondering not for the first time what would have happened if they didn’t remember.

As the more sensible of the two, Dani looked away first, sliding off the trunk.

‘I should go and try to salvage some kind of sleep before practice,’ she said. ‘Want me to walk you to your car?’ he offered.

‘Nah, it’s just over there.’ She pointed at a car a few parking spaces away, the space between them empty so he could see her climb in. Yet, she didn’t step away. Instead, she looked at him, curious and worried as she tended to be around him. ‘What caused you to remember?’

The question made him shift uncomfortably under her gaze. There was an easy side to that story, one perfect for the conversation. But there was more to that summer than just some bad headache and he wasn’t ready to tell her that; he already felt like he was lying.

So, he shrugged. ‘That’s a question for another day.’

Something in her expression shuttered close and she nodded slowly. ‘Or another life. Good night, Jones.’

The words felt final but in a much different way than the day they met at the cafe. That was fear but this was logic. The right thing to do.

He got down from his hood and went back into his own car, checking on Dani from the corner of his eye. She was gone within minutes, and only then did he feel comfortable enough to drive home, the adrenaline of seeing her wearing off even as the tenderness stayed.

A week later, Jones was deep in slumber, no dreams visiting him.

It was a rare break for him, one that he would appreciate when he woke up.

Except today, that would be interrupted by his phone suddenly ringing.

He squinted before looking at the clock on his bedside table.

4:25 a.m. I swear if Jair is calling about a studio session I’m blocking him , he thought as he scrambled for his ringing phone.

‘Hello,’ he answered, his voice deep and groggy.

‘Hey.’ He paused at the sound of a woman’s voice. He checked the caller ID and his heartbeat picked up, waking him up. ‘Jones? You there?’

‘Yeah,’ he answered, clearing his throat. ‘Hey, Dani. I didn’t expect you to call.’

‘I’m unpredictable,’ she said. ‘You should know that by now.’

‘Should I now?’

Silence. In person, one of them would have laughed but they both sounded too tired to hit their usual social cues. He blinked a couple of times, almost falling back asleep, when he heard her sigh.

‘I can’t sleep,’ she admitted. ‘You said artists rule the night so… do you mind staying up with me?’

Jones didn’t have to look at his calendar to know that his day was packed tomorrow.

He had a doctor’s appointment, needed to email ten different people, co-ordinate with Ross about a project he was working on, and clean his apartment.

It was one of those mundane adult errand days that needed him to be well-rested.

And yet, he sat up, getting comfy against his headboard and said, ‘I’ve got all night.’