Come Back to Me

Our friendly chit chat is suddenly interrupted by one of the engineers announcing that we were going to start moving on to the next track 'The Wicked End.' Great...well so much for my quick nap, oh well it was worth it. Anytime I get the opportunity to spend time with Zack, even if it's for a short period of time, I use that time to my advantage. Zack sits up, takes a minute to stretch his arms a bit, telling me to 'have fun' hinting as if I didn't have an option but not before reaching over and lightly squeezing my shoulder adding a little wink at the end. I swear this guy is going to be the death of me he's so damn sexy. I feel my cheeks flush for the second time being around him today and watch as he gets up off the couch and head straight over to where Brian was sitting, his fingers were swiftly running up and down his guitar. They started conversing and mumbling some words that were difficult to hear considering the distance between us...probably wanting Zacks opinion on the riff he was currently practicing. I was so focused on staring at Zack's cute ass I didn't even take notice that Mina was sitting next to Brian previously. They were laughing about something before Zack eventually made his way over there. I don't think anything about it and turn to face forward now, taking in a deep breath before exhaling slowly preparing myself to get back to work.

I stand up from the couch and take my sweet time walking back over to where I left my violin from earlier but before I even have the chance to pick it up I hear one of the personnel announce that they want to first go ahead and get through the small section right before the recapitulation which consisted of the cello solo. I noticed that caught the attention of Grace and she immediately went over to retrieve her cello in the back corner. I guess I will make use of my time and quickly review my part and review the orchestration while they are working with her. Grace somehow always manages to perfect the first run through so it shouldn't take any more than 10 minutes. I start to air bow specific sections of my part, mainly the spots all covered up in pencil where I had made small notes of dynamics, cues, fingerings and sometimes small reminders to myself such as 'sustain this note here and be sure to play legato going into the key change or Katherine will be all over your shit till next year!' But yea...simple stuff like that.

As I'm making a few last minute markings on the sheet music I begin to hear 'thank yous' and muffled voices and then I see Grace exit the recording booth. Heh, 8 minutes...a new record for her although it doesn't surprise me. Knowing that personnel is now ready to record the strings section of the track I waste no time in gathering my music, my violin already in hand, and make my way over towards the second recording room, specifically built for larger groups, to join my three colleagues. I entered the room and casually walked over to the empty chair forming the semi-circle that consisted our small group. As I sat down and spread out the sheet music evenly on the music stand I notice from the corner of my eye Mina, who is seated next to me at an angle, looking at me with a cocky grin on her face. I don't even look at her and just continue to scan over my music but my mouth opens to speak.

“Whatever it is Mina, just say it,” I say in a monotonous tone clearly not in the mood to deal with her playful antics at the moment. I know if I just ignore her, she'll end up pouting which unfortunately never ends well for me. She leans closer to me as if to whisper but her voice stays at its normal, high pitched, squeaky tone.

“Sooooo......I saw you sitting with Zack again today. Have a nice little chat? Huh? Huh?” She giggled as she nudged me in the arm repeatedly with her elbow. I rolled my eyes and pursed my lips in annoyance before having had enough and pushed her away lightly but still forceful enough for her to get the hint of my aggravation.

“Yea, I sat with him and we talked like we always do.... because that's what normal people do. That's what friends do, what's the big deal?” I give her this glare on my face that clearly reads 'just drop it' but she still presses me.

“Oh come on Kelsey, I know you're naive but...” she just stares at me expecting me to understand as if I'm a mind reader. I simply just furrow my eyebrows together and jerk my head around while shrugging my shoulders.

“But what??” I spit back obviously annoyed with the guessing games. Mina just throws her hands up in the air irritated, groans slightly and I'm prepared to again hear her mindless gab when I hear someone else speak up.

“We're obviously dying to know what you and Zack talked about. The two of you are ALWAYS together inside and outside of work either talking or going off somewhere alone. You can't possibly expect us to believe that it's just a 'friendship'.”

My eyes widened as I listened to Grace's words and watched her make small air quotes with her fingers around the word friendship. I wasn't used to Grace talking about anything other than music or the quartet so it caught me by surprise to know she wanted in on the gossip that Mina had started. Maybe she's slowly starting to become more human, but she couldn't have picked a more inappropriate time to speak up. I quickly gathered myself and shifted my facial expression back to being annoyed.

“What the hell is this.....high school?? How old are we again?? Look, I'm sure if there was anything going on you guys would be the first to know. Now I REALLY don't want to talk about this anymore, God knows everyone in the control room has probably heard this entire conversation,” realizing what I had just said I begin to worry, then quickly analyze the microphones above us and let out a sigh of relief when I notice they haven't been turned on yet. They all just look at me, their eyes telling me that I'm obviously full of it, but I don't care.

Before anybody else has the chance to open their mouth Katherine speaks up in a more serious tone. “Okay guys, we can talk about this some other time, the conductor will be in here soon and we haven't even tuned yet. Let's please stay professional alright?”

For the first time ever, I couldn't be more happy to hear Katherine open her mouth to speak. Mina was right, I am naive but I knew what she was implying. I just pretended to act dense so they would get the hint and drop the damn subject. I did want more than a friendship with Zack but like hell I was going to admit that to them especially Mina and her big mouth. Knowing her she'll want to play matchmaker. She's been on my case about this ever since she became aware of Zack and I's growing friendship. I of course deny it every single time, but the more I brush it off, the more people's suspicions rise. It's really nobody's business but my own however I don't think I'm going to be able to hide it from everybody forever, but again I don't understand why everyone has to make this out to be such a big deal.

It's going to get to the point where word gets back to Zack, each word of mouth getting twisted and misconstrued with every passing and then I'm really screwed. I'm a pessimist not an optimist so I have to think logically about this and to be honest I have never looked on the bright side of things. We don't live in a fantasy world and I don't want to get my hopes up, then get burned as a result. What Zack and I have now makes me perfectly happy and content and I would rather keep that than push him away and lose him completely. It would honestly make me happier if we were more but again I'm not risking it...I'm holding my ground.

Notes

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. I'm trying to end each chapter at a good stopping point and also try to stretch the story out so that it lasts longer.
It may seem slow at first, but it will gradually build up. I don't like to rush through or leave any small details out. Again I like getting feedback as it helps motivate me more.

Please comment and subscribe! :)