Page 41 of Strings

I stare out the window. I know I’m looking for a reason to hate him. I was hoping she’d give me one.

“You said Bella said something about his mom and dad?”

“I overheard her talking about me and how they’d hate me.”

She shakes her head. “She’s getting on my last nerve. Why does she even care?”

“You don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“Bella wants him. Bad.”

She snickers. “Now that explains a lot. How did I miss that?”

“I don’t know.”

“I guess I really didn’t pay much attention to him until I met you. You two are… different. I hope that doesn’t offend you.”

“Not at all. I’m not even sure why we’re together.” I laugh to myself. Ain’t that the truth.

“I know I don’t know you, but you don’t seem like the type of person that lets other people sway your opinion.”

“That would be correct.”

“Then you should know, when two people are meant to be together, nothing will ever be able to tear them apart.”

I smile as if I want things to work, but the truth is, the sooner I get away from him, the better off I’ll be. You can’t be over if you were never under. There is no us. Tear away.

Duck, duck, avoid the goose.

I’m thankful to be swamped all day. I manage to get through the entire morning and all of the afternoon without thinking about, or hearing from, Sebastian. I’m hoping this is the beginning of the end. Maybe I scared him off. Maybe he already told everyone we’re over and I just haven’t heard yet. One can pray.

Amy was right. You need to be quick in this job. There are so many more aspects to this position than I ever imagined. I would have never known how much work goes into a concert of this magnitude had I not experienced it from this side of the fence.

Booking gigs for a band to play where maybe one hundred people show up is nothing compared to a venue that holds over two thousand people. Thank God I was smart enough to wear slacks and flats today.

“Mr. Bordo wants you to send out an email to the staff reviewing the last-minute seating changes we had to make and how that impacts the safety guidelines.”

“Um… okay. And how do I do that? I’ve barely been at my desk all week. No one has even showed me the company directory, much less email.”

She shakes her head. “You’re absolutely right. Tell me what you want me to say and I’ll go into your account, with your permission of course, and send it out. If that’s okay?”

“Yes. Actually, go ahead and do it. There’s no use in both of us wasting time on one email, when there’s so many other things to do. I trust you.”

“Really? That means so much to me, Talia. Thank you. I’ll go do that right now!”

As soon as she hurries away, I rub my temples. I feel bad for using her, but the truth is, I don’t know anything about the safety guidelines, much less how to write an email about it. I’m so fucked. What ever happened to weeks of training? Never in a million years did I expect to be thrown into a job so quickly and so blindly.

“Talia?” One of the staff approaches me outside security. “The vendors need you in the concert area. Seems the set-up isn’t working out.”

“Okay. On my way.”

I rotate my neck in a circle to crack some of the tension away. I see a hot bath in my future.

Just as I arrive at the main doors, several members of the orchestra are walking in from outside, including Sebastian. He’s carrying his violin case and a garment bag and pauses when he sees me.

“Hi.”