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Bittersweet Symphony
“Music is the vernacular of the human soul.”
Geoffrey Latham
Chapter Three
Living in New York City had its positive perks and noticeable disadvantages. One of the upsides of living in the city was that a car wasn’t exactly needed for transportation. Train, Subway, taxi-cab or even walking is considerable in this wonderful city. A disadvantage on the other hand was the terrible traffic jams you could get stuck in by taking a cab.
Thankfully for Haley, she didn’t own a car and didn’t risk being stuck in that horrendous traffic. Just as now as she, Natalie and Ben walked towards the train station, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for the helpless souls stuck in traffic, trying to get home as soon as possible, anticipating the weekend ahead.
Although it was Friday, and a nice weekend loomed ahead, for Haley she knew that this weekend, or rather that tonight, was going to be anything but pleasant. Friday nights were traditional dinner nights for the McCoy clan. It’s their weekly get together, and although it was mostly a nice evening, it would always end with her mother hounding one of them about one thing or the other, whether it is school or life in general.
And this week, Haley knew she was going to be her mom’s personal torture victim. Not even a week ago, on Sunday, Haley had received the faithful – and disappointing – call that she had not gotten the position of violinist. She spent the entire week that followed gloomy and dissatisfied. Haley’s worst critic was herself. She thrived on success and triumph, be it in her personal life or her professional life.
This failure was a visible dent in Haley’s ego. She was proud of her ability to play so well, and thankful she could. She really couldn’t imagine herself working in an office, or any other mundane job. Her one and true calling was playing violin, enchanting and satisfying others with the soft, beautiful music that would be emitted from the wooden instrument. And that’s why it disappointed her that she failed.
Even if they only had wonderful things to say about her piece, it still pained her that she failed. Questions filled her head; what if she’d practiced more? What if she performed a bit longer and threw in something extra in the musical piece, would she have qualified then? If she had been there on time, would that have given her a possibility of nabbing the job?
All those questions burned through her head, almost driving her to the brink of insanity.
Or maybe she just needed a reality check.
She was only twenty-four, and graduated from Julliard two years ago, of course they thought she wasn’t qualified yet. There are hundreds of violinists who are way better than her and are experts in this particular area.
Haley now dreaded the arrival at her parents’ house. The moment she would step in there, she was sure that her mother would not leave her at peace about this. Just like she had not left Haley at peace the day she found out that Haley was rejected for the violinist position. Since that day, Haley has been trying to avoid her mother’s endless phone calls like the plague. But tonight, there was nowhere to run. Absolutely nowhere. She was stuck.
The train ride to her parents’ house just outside the city went by smoothly for Haley. Natalie had spent the entire trip flirting shamelessly with a tall muscular guy with multiple tattoos printed on every visible part of his skin. Ben only seemed to glare at the guy. Natalie and the tattooed guy were standing a few seats away from where Ben and Haley were seated.
“How old do you think he is? 28? 29? 40? He looks really old. Natalie’s only 19! Barely a woman! Barely of legal age!”
He was sending his younger sister a warning glare, which Natalie obviously avoided. She flicked her hair and kept her attention to the guy as he continued to tell her in details about his latest tattoo.
Haley only laughed at Ben’s state. Seeing as Natalie was avoiding him, he turned his glaring towards the guy, who was absolutely oblivious to Ben’s death glare.
“If he just as much as touches her hand, I’m yelling rape!” He gritted his teeth and turned his attention back to his sister and the guy. “See that, he’s inching closer to her! I’m going to yell rape!”
Haley, on the other hand, was not one bit scared for her little sister’s safety at the moment. If there was one person who could take care of themselves, it was Natalie McCoy. She might look like a feeble young girl, but beneath those skin and bones was one hell of a smart mouth and a girl who could defend herself not only psychically but also verbally.
“Natalie’s a smart girl, Ben. Don’t worry.” Haley said, smiling at her brother, “She’s probably just flirting with him to get a rise out of you. She knows you disapprove of every single male that even blinks at her.”
Ben seemed not to be paying attention to Haley, as he was still glaring at the guy, who was now willingly writing down his phone number on a piece of paper. He let out an audible gasp and pointed at the guy, his face turning an angry red. “Did you see that?! How dare he give his number to a minor?! That constitutes as Statutory Rape!”
Ben’s voice had risen a bit, and now attracted the unwanted attention of some of the other people they were sharing this train with.
Tugging on his arm, Haley caught Ben’s attention and with wide eyes she told him to hush.
“First of all; Natalie’s nineteen, officially not a minor anymore. And secondly, giving out your phone number hardly counts as Statutory Rape, Ben.”
Ben took a deep breath and exhaled. “That girl’s going to be the end of me. She’s like a lose puppy, always attracting unwanted attention to herself.”
Haley rolled her eyes, and let out a chuckle. “Natalie? Attract unwanted attention? Surely you jest; Natalie is the exact opposite of that. She’s the one that approaches a guy, and that’s if she likes him. She does not try and attract every guy she passes. Guys are usually intimidated by her.”
Crossing his arms in front of his chest, Ben gave another audible sigh and closed his eyes. “As her big brother it is my solemn duty to kill every guy who even looks at her.”
A tiny smile formed on her lips as Haley patted Ben’s knee. “You know, as much as you and Natalie claim to be the bane of each other’s existence, I can’t help but see that you actually don’t hate her as much.”
“Of course I don’t hate her, she’s my little sister. She annoys the hell out of me, yes. She’s spoiled, yes. But even so, I have to keep an eye out for her.”
Haley knew that. Siblings always tend to fight, bicker and torture each other, but at the end of the long day, they would always share at least one kind sentiment with each other.
“Just like you and Fred.” Ben said, turning to Haley, “He always had an eye out for you, looking after you, even though you two bickered constantly.”
Haley couldn’t help but agree. Fred was their older half brother, from their Dad’s first marriage. He was thirty one, and currently living in Holland with his wife and one year old daughter Emma. Haley hasn’t seen him in over a year, and she and her siblings have yet to meet Emma. He promised though that he’d be here for the holidays.
Natalie plopped down on a seat beside them, an annoyed smile on her face. “Mr. Tattoo sure can talk! He went on and on and on about every single tattoo he has, and kindly told me the story behind every single one of them. It’s tiring, boring and just plain annoying. I should have ignored him the moment he said Hello.”
“Well, why didn’t you?” Ben asked grumpily.
“To annoy you, why else?” Natalie answered in a matter-of-fact tone.
Ben just sighed and closed his eyes, murmuring incoherently to himself.
“Works all the time.” Natalie said with a proud smile.
“Stop patronizing him, Nat.”
Natalie just shrugged innocently and smiled.
The train station loomed ahead closely, and the three gathered up their stuff to get off at this stop.
As usual, their dad was waiting for them at the train station.
Malcolm McCoy was a rather small man, a bit overweight and with thin, gray hair covering his head. None of his daughters looked the least like him, both having inherited their mother’s golden blonde locks, wide blue eyes and facial features. Ben meanwhile looked a bit more like his father; same emerald eye color, same nose, and same demeanor. Like his father, he was fun loving, but when it came to business, it meant no nonsense.
Natalie upon seeing her father, skipped towards him, much like a child would skip, and embraced him in a tight bear hug, planting a kiss on his cheek in the process.
Malcolm McCoy embraced his daughter and kissed the top of her head.
“Hello my last born.” He joked.
“Hello my old father.” Natalie countered.
His eyebrows ceased in a frown at Natalie’s words. “I’m not that old, Natalie.”
“You’re sixty, which qualifies as Grandpa old.”
“I already am a grandfather, in case you’ve forgotten.” Malcolm replied with a small smile.
“Which only further proves my point; you’re old.”
Haley smacked Natalie playfully on the back of her head, which earned her a glare from Natalie. “Leave dad alone. He’s not old. He’s just matured.”
Malcolm chuckled and turned to hug Haley. “I heard about the audition.” He said as he embraced her in a tight hug. Haley’s smile was a tight lipped one as she gave a one shoulder shrug. “A warning though; your mother’s been a bit moody today.”
Haley knew exactly what that meant and she knew her suspicions were confirmed; tonight, she was going to be her mother’s object of torture.
“I shouldn’t have told her I was late for the audition…” She muttered as they started walking to the train station’s parking lot.
After they all hopped in the car, and drove the ten minutes to the house, Haley was quietly mentally preparing herself for what was to come tonight. She loved her mother to death, respected her and admired her, but this was just one of her mother’s qualities that she absolutely abhorred; the judging and prying into her children’s personal lives. She knew that Andrea did it with the kindness of her heart; she didn’t know that all the questions and comments on how her children lived their lives were annoying. Prying and judging was just one of her mother’s qualities.
All too soon, Haley realized that they had arrived at the familiar two story house.
She braced herself. Tonight was going to be a long, gruesome night.
The moment she had stepped into the house, her mom had not stopped patronizing her about the audition. From her repeated inquiries on what exactly happened during the audition – after Haley had already told her a billion times during the week – to her amazement that she didn’t get the job.
It’s been a horrendous dinner, to say the least.
Haley braced herself when her mother returned to the dinner table, a bowl of what she guessed was desert in hands, a smile plastered on her face. Her mother was about to open her mouth and say something – undoubtedly concerning the audition – when a shrill ringing resonated throughout the dinning room.
Andrea McCoy turned her steely blue eyes towards Haley, a frown on her face. Haley quickly turned to her side where her purse was hanging from the chair and dug through it, searching for her ringing mobile.
“Haley, need I remind you the house rules?” Andrea asked her oldest daughter, “No cell phones at the dinner table. Dinner time is supposed to be calm and peaceful, without interruptions from the outside world.”
Haley bit her lip from remarking on how dinner had been nothing but peaceful tonight thanks to her constant remarks on the audition. Finally reaching her mobile, Haley stood up from the table and excused herself to answer the phone.
“Tell whoever’s calling to call back in half an hour. We’d be done with dinner then.” Andrea called out to Haley.
Haley ignored her as she saw the unfamiliar number.
“Hello?” she answered as she stood in the quiet living room of her childhood home.
“Miss McCoy?” Her heart seemed to stop at the familiar voice, “This is Richard Bailey. We spoke on the phone a week ago concerning your audition.”
Haley’s heart jolted to an above average rate upon hearing his name. She wondered why he’d call her again, especially so late on a Friday night. Could he have already found someone who would be interested in her as a violinist? But, if he did, why did he call this late? It had to be important.
“Yes, I remember you, sir.” She took a deep breath and sat down on the sofa.
“Well, I’m just going to get straight to the point.” He said and Haley listened on, her eyes widening, a smile erupting on her lips at his words. She nodded enthusiastically at every word Mr. Bailey spoke, replying in a positive.
When Mr. Bailey bid his farewell and hung up, Haley was speechless.
Once she returned to the dinning room, she was awarded with four pair of eyes watching her intently and curiously. They had obviously heard her conversation and were eager to find out exactly what it was about. Sitting down in her seat, she put her mobile on the table and took a deep breath.
“Well, aren’t you going to tell us?” Natalie asked as she neared closer to her sister.
“That was Mr. Bailey.” Haley confirmed, gulping down. It was all too hard to believe. She still had trouble believing what Mr. Bailey had told her.
“The same man who called you about the audition?” Andrea was suddenly interested in the phone call that had disturbed her dinner.
Haley nodded and turned to look at her mom. “The violinist they originally hired pulled out of the contract because of personal reasons. And since I was the next best thing…”
“You got it?”
“I did.”
Andrea McCoy brightened immediately, her smile turning into a genuine, pleased one at her daughter’s words. “That’s wonderful, Haley!” she gushed, “That bit of the violinist pulling out of the contract because of personal reasons was probably just nonsense. They just realized what a true talented girl they passed on.”
Haley was still unresponsive. She didn’t seem all that thrilled, or excited or proud. She just sat there with a somber, perplexed look on her face.
Andrea, though, appeared oblivious to her daughter’s state. She continued rambling on and on about how proud she was, how she knew Haley would’ve gotten the job, and how the management and record executives who had originally dismissed her as raw talent were idiots.
“Did he tell you who the singer was?”
Haley blinked and turned to Natalie, who had just asked her that question. For the duration of her mother’s tedious speech, she had tuned out Andrea’s words and focused on the manner at hand; she was going to be on tour for a period of four months with one of the country’s most famous classical singers. She was going to travel all around the country and then Europe for this person’s much anticipated tour in preparation for his latest record.
But it wasn’t the touring that had her unnerved and panicked. Oh no. It was something completely different that had her momentarily out of it.
“Yes,” Haley answered, “They did.” She lapsed into another moment of silence. She didn’t know why she was so nervous about this. She shouldn’t be!
“Well then! Who is it? Is it Josh Groban? If it is, I’ll quit school and become your personal assistant and travel all around with you in the hopes of wooing Josh.”
Andrea turned to Natalie, her eyes wide. “You will do no such thing! You will finish college and then Med-school. Don’t you dare quit school Natalie McCoy!”
Natalie smiled at her mom, enjoying Andrea’s state of panic. “Of course I won’t mom, I was just kidding.” Turning back to Haley, she waited for her older sister to answer.
“Connor Olivier.”
“Connor Olivier?” Andrea’s face scrunched up in a pensive manner at the mention of this man’s name. “Why does that name sound so familiar?”
Ben frowned too, the name sounding all too familiar to him. “Isn’t he that young guy whose debut album skyrocketed him to fame? He had that catchy song. I can’t remember it now. Something concerning eyes?”
“Angel eyes.” Haley muttered.
“Yeah, that’s it!” Ben said, “Catchy tune for a classical song.”
Natalie’s eyes widened all of a sudden, and a gasp left her lips. She turned to Haley, a big smile plastered on her lips. Haley only winced at her sister’s outburst. She should’ve known that Natalie would be the one to remember.
“Isn’t he the guy you met at Julliard your first year?” Natalie’s eyes twinkled mischievously. “The one who popped your cherry?”
While Ben chocked on his bite of apple pie, Andrea and Malcolm McCoy seemed to turn a crimson shade of red at Natalie’s words.
Haley in turn only closed her eyes and sighed, rubbing her eyelids in the process.
Leave it to Natalie to be so blunt.
I’m horrible, horrible, horrible!
It’s been five months since an update (for any of my stories). I am horrible. It’s unbelievable how fast time flew these past months.
School is to blame for my lack of updates. I’m finally done with school, and awaiting my final results. If I graduate, I’ll have heaps of time on my hands, since I’m taking a year off before I start college. Meaning: hopefully updates will be more frequently.
This chapter was not proof-read. I wanted to post it as quickly as possible (I just finished it today).
I’ve started an email alert list, since FP’s alert emails are less than dependable. If you want to be on the list, go to my profile and there you’ll find the email. Email me with the name of the story you wished to be alerted. :)
And lastly,
Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter!