The Musician

Chapter 7

'FOOL! Why did you have to say anything!? Now, you've made them all uncomfortable and they're all going to hate you now! All of them!'

She couldn't look at any of them. She couldn't raise her eyes from her plate and look at any of the faces that seemed to be staring right through her. Why did she have to even ask about 'Charles'.

On a slightly demonically humorous note, she could almost imagine crickets in the background and the house creaking ominously. Next to her, Orlando coughed and picked up his fork. He said something about how much he preferred Depeche Mode or Ute Lumpur to classical, which started a conversation with the younger members of the family. Hannah was so incredibly relieved, she let out the breath that she had been holding.

Beneath the table, Orli's hand crept to her knee and gave the joint a reassuring squeeze.

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It wasn't painful to talk about his father. No, not at all. His father had died valiantly, and Orli didn't even remember much of him anyway. The memories that he did retain and think of often were happy and cheerful. It was not hard for him to talk about his father. But, it made his family upset. It had been almost 21 years and they still mourned. His mother was the worse. She holed up at the mention of 'Charles'. He couldn'ame ame her, or any of them. They just weren't ready to face the drums of a new day.

He felt endlessly sorry that Hannah had to drag it out. He had just wanted to pull her away somewhere into a tight little dark corner and whisper in her ear all of the things that he liked about her. She looked like she was ready to close her eyes and stop breathing right there.

Giving her knee a quick squeeze, he immersed himselfo coo conversation with Michael about their favorite sub, fo, football! Orli was a ManU fan; Michael loved the US men's world team. The both of them always managed to chat up a storm when the sport with the black and white ball was even mentioned.

Next to him, Hannah shifted uncomfortably and Orli turned his gaze to her. She was slowly rising, excusing herself to go to the bathroom. Orlando himself stood. "Would you like me to escort you? This house is a bit overwhelming." His voice was low. Only the few people closest to them could hear the tender words. She nodded and he lead the way out of the room.

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"Whew, that is a lot to have to deal with!" Hannah wiped her sweaty palms down the front of her skirt, taking in a deep breath. Besides her, Orlando chuckled and swayed into her side slightly. The contact of her arm against his shirtsleeve sent a river or tingles up her arm. She could never forgot where he was in relation to her. He was becoming like a beacon and she could feel him all around her. It was a scary thing to go through.

His family had been nice and considerate, up until the point where Hannah had made an ass of herself. She slapped herself mentally again. Orli stopped next to her and she turned her head to look at him.

"The loo is right there
S
She smiled tensely. "I just needed to get out of there and breath. You k jus just escape." He laughed, this time deep and resonate. The sound echoed in her chest.

"I know exactly what you mean. They are a lot to handle, especially if you don't know what is expected of you and how you're supposed to act, and what you're really not supposed to say."

"I'm really sorry about that Orlando. I did not mean to tread on such delicate subject matter at a family function."

He waved his hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. They'll forget about in a half hour and then you'll be the most beautiful maid at the ball, again." They both averted their gaze awkwardly. Hannah wasn't used to being complimented.

Suddenly, as if a great idea had crept up on him and smacked him across the back of the head with a frying pain, Orlando seized her hand and pulled her towards the kitchen and the back of the house. "Come on. I have the perfect place for you to breath deeply again."

She murmured an okay before he lead her out a backdoor and into a beautiful, frozen garden. She cried out at the cold, drawing back towards the door she came out of. Seeing her, Orli laughed. "Come on you sissy. Suck it up, it's not that cold."

"Yeah, is that why you're teeth are already chattering?" She turned to go.

"Wait, wait, wait. Here, put this on." She turned back around, just in time to catch the pea coat he threw at her. Pulling on his own jacket, he dug around in a pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

Hannah eyed him warily. She didn't like being used as an excuse to have a smoke. Orlando made his way down the steps to the porch and into the crystallized garden. He cleaned the snow off a bench before taking a deep breath, steeling himself, and plopping his butt down on the cold metal. Hannah laughed at his outrageous yelp.

Patting thech nch next to him, Orli wiggled an eyebrow suggestively. "Come have a seat Hannie. It's not that cold." He mimicked her and she made her way down the steps with caution and crossed to his bench.

"Do you know that no one has called me Hannie since I was about 11?"

He grinned. "What a great time to revive the tradition, huh?" Stars danced in his eyes as she gave into his persuasion and sat gently on the wrought iron. The cold was extreme, but soon her body heat warmed the metal and it was bearable.

She however, was still cold. She had started to shiver before Orlando made a big fuss of it and slid over next to her, looping an arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him and found that she fit very well in his arms.

They both sat staring up at the moonless and starless night for a long time. Long after the first cigarette had been finished, and long after the second, third, and fourth had followed. But, they didn't move. A softwfalwfall had started and they watched as the twinkling crystallized water wove it's way downward. ad dad dusted them both in a fine layer of white and Hannah found that she loved the way that Orlando looked with snowflakes melting in his eyelashes and his hair. She found that she loved the feel of his arm around her and the body heat drifting off of him like a furnace. And she found that she loved much t hit him. He was a very loveable man.

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It started to snow a little harder, but Orlando did not have a problem with that. He was warm, he wasn't hungry, and the woman in his arms was soft. His gaze kept drifting to her eyes or her lips, or sometimes even to the wisp of hair that kept straying from it's bonds before it was pushed carelessly back behind one ear. She was an enchanting woman. And, as far as he was concerned, she was his for tonight.

There was one thing that he wanted to do right then. One thing that he just yearned to do. Kiss her. That's all he REALLY wanted. "Hannah?"

Her eyes moved from the iced bushes around them to his own. "Hmm?"

"Can I kiss you?" The small, breathy gasp that escaped her mouth was as good as a yes for him and he dipped his lips to her own. It was an innocent, chaste kiss and they both knew it. Yet the kisses that followed were certainly not as chaste nor as innocent.

Orli and Hannah were both surprised when the door practically banged open. They jumped apart as one of the cousins grinned at them in the darkness. "We're opening presents now."

Orli swore, and checked his watch. They had been outside for the better part of an hour and their stiff joints as they stood confirmed the time. His mother was going to be mad.

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It seemed easy to just dissolve once more into the background. Hannah was a wall decoration as the presents were handed out and one by one, the family members found a place to sit around the Christmas tree. Each had a fair-sized pile in front of them by the time the last little wrapped box was befobefore the smallest of the bunch, an adorable baby with Orli's curly black hair and his Aunt Samantha's green eyes. Orlando's pile was huge. Boxe all all sizes were stacked and wedged and even leaning against him. Hannah laughed at the sight of his eyes just peeking over the edge of the top most box. And something struck a chord deep within her.

She was lonely. She didn't have a wonderful family like this one. No one would give her as many presents or forgive just because she was a niece or a sister or a cousin. No one would love her like Orlando's family loved him, and it made her insanely jealous.

Tears threatened to well up and her nose started to hurt painfully. She excused herself from Elizabeth, who was seated next to her, and made her way to the bathroom for real this time.

She could feel eyes on her back as she hurried from the happy sight. Why was she acting so god damned stupid. She should be grateful and happy to be here, with such wonderful people. But she wasn't. She was sad that they weren't her real family and that she would never have that. She felt incomplete. Not bothering to turn the light on in the bathroom, she simply sat on the toilet, her head buried in her hands.

Most of all, she felt tired. She had been running around for the whole week. She wasn't sleeping well and Lord knows how much food she had been consuming. Not a whole lot, that's for sure.

Someone knocked on the door and she hollered that she would be out in a minute. When she opened the door, it was Orlando leaning against the opposite wall. "Hey, are you alright? I saw you disappear and I was worried."

Hannah put on her 'mask' and nodded. "Of course. Why wouldn't I be? Did you get anything interesting from Old Saint Nick?"

Orli laughed and extended an arm, which found their way around Hannah's shoulders. "Yes, of course. Why wouldn't I? They alve mve me, remember?"

She could only laugh hollowly.

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He seemed to be losing her.

She had faded, since Christmas. After Christmas, it was four days until he finally took the prerogative to call her and talk. She sounded exhausted and apologized for not ringing sooner to say Thanks. He said it was quite all right. Everyone gets distracted every now and then.

After asking if she was busy, she gave him a short laugh. "I'm always busy. If it's not Symphony rehearsal, it's violin lessons or it's cleaning or shopping." He nodded into the phone, a smile on his face as she told him all about the ten girls that had showed up at the classroom the next time the triplets had a lesson. "They were all asking questions and wanting to know if you'd be back. I told them they'd have to wait and see. They all promised to come back the next week and the week after that and the week after that. I had no idea that you had so many fans Orli."

"I know, ain't it great?" He rubbed the top of his head a bit. "Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to maybe go out and get another bite to eat. The movie date was great."

"If you can find a place for it in my schedule, I would love nothing more than to go out to eat with you Orlando Bloom, but the fitting it in part will be quite tricky. The season opens tonight."

"Tonight? Wow."

"I know, amazing isn't ite bee beauty of opening night never ceases to blow me off my feet. It is one of the most thrilling experiences a musician can go through. Especially one that's third chair."

Something caught in his mind. Something that she had said earlier. "Wait, didn't you say that you were only 7th chair? What happened to that?"

She laughed happily into the phone. "I had the New Year audition a few days ago and they moved me up. It's incredibly exciting Orli. It's just like this wonderful opportunity has been dropped in my lap and if I play my cards right, people all around the world may one day know my name! Isn't that the most amazining ing you've ever heard?"

Laughing, Orli said, "Yeah, that's bloody wonderful. I'm very happy for you." His tone softened slightly at the mention of her good fortune.

"So, what have you been up to?"

"Me? Same old, same old. My agent had me read some scripts, all of which could have been used to wipe my arse and then I had a meetinth sth some big- wigs. They're making action figures for The Return of the King already and they wanted to know what I thought."

"Action figures huh? So, you're immortally plastic now?"

"Something like that." They both had a good chuckle over that one. "And, that's about it. I'm thinking of doing some theater again. It's been far too long since I've been on stage."

"That sounds like some good fun there." In the background, Orlando could hear the Grandfather clock that he had noticed in her apartment chime six times. "Hey look, I hate to run but I've got a 6:30 warm-up time for the show."

"Yeah, good luck to you. I'm bummed that I can't come and hear your wonderful performance, but I'm sure that you'll be wonderful."

She was silent on the other line. Orli was afraid that perhaps she had lost the connection. "Hannah, are ytilltill there?"

"Do you really want to come?"

"Yeah. I'd love to."

"Even though you prefer techno?"

"Yes, I supposed Classical has to run a close second to rock. I'd be lying if I said I didn't know every note to Beethoven's 2nd Symphony."

Hannah laughed, a light tinkling sound. "If you want, I have two tickets for you. The theatre gives all the musicians two tickets for family/friends, ect. No one is using mine, so you're welcome to come."

"Wow, thanks. That- wow. I've always wanted to see the symphony."

"Yeah, yeah. I know, we're good." He was a bit surprised at her flamboyant narcissism. "I'm just joking. We could be better, but then again, that's what I say about every group. I'm never good enough for myself. Okay, I'm running close on time. Tell ya what, why don't I just drop them off at your apartment real quick?"

"That sound great. Thanks again Hannah."

She murmured something unintelligible before saying her good-byes and hanging up. Orlando set the phone down and smiled. What a nice young violinist.