What Love Sees

Six

Richard smiled as Natalie walked out of the building, he walked to her and put her hand on his arm,

“Hey, you are a sight for sore eyes”, said Richard and he laughed

It had become a regular thing for Richard, he always turned up to pick up Natalie from her rehearsals and when he could not make it, he always called to let her know. Although Natalie smiled when she heard his voice, she was a bit hesitant, but Richard did not notice

“How was your audition?” he asked excitedly

“It was great thank you, I was nervous at the beginning but it went well” replied Natalie, she was auditioning for a play, the producers were auditioning for someone to compose music for their play and Natalie had decided to give it a shot,

“I’m so nervous, I have never done anything like this before, can you imagine getting this gig and more like it? That means I could actually be earning an income with the thing I love most in the world”, said Natalie as she and Richard walked the short distance to a café

Natalie sighed, it seemed too good to be true, she had initially brushed the idea aside when Richard had told her about it a few weeks ago.

They sat down at the table and made their orders, Natalie shook her head, she still could not believe it. She had written songs and performed some at rehearsals and at her music lessons and for friends, but she had never really done anything serious like audition for something this big. Richard had encouraged her to apply for the project and after various half attempts, she eventually made her application with Karen’s help and submitted some of her materials. Then the company shortlisted her for the next process and then sent her a brief of the project, they were to compose, write and perform two songs for a scene in the play

“There’s no backing out now”, Natalie had whispered and especially, she did not want to let Richard down, so she had set to work on the project. She saw Richard at least once every week when he came to pick her up from the music studio where she had her music lessons and rehearsals and he was always so eager to hear about her progress.

“I’m sure they would love you; you are brilliant Natalie and there are so many opportunities out there for you” said Richard as he took her hand in his, Natalie smiled and gently withdrew her hand,

“Is everything okay?”

“Yes, sorry, I’m just a bit overwhelmed that’s all, actually, can you take me home, I’m tired”, she replied and Richard nodded, he looked at her for a while and said okay.

A few days later, Natalie almost burst with the news that she got the job as one of the composers for the play. After screaming with Karen on the phone, she called Richard to tell him, he was just as excited as Karen, without the girly screaming,

“I’m so proud of you Natalie”, he said and those words made her beam, she thought she was going to burst, he was out of town for business but told her he would pick her up for a celebration when he got back .

Karen announced that she was paying for dinner and Natalie laughed, she was still in a daze even days after she got the job, her dream job

“have you told your parents?” asked Karen and Natalie nodded, she had told Elizabeth and her mother that evening at dinner, her mother did not really understand what it was about

“My mum asked if I was going to be a musician now” said Natalie and she laughed as she remembered the conversation that evening, she had to painstakingly explain to her mother that she was going to be composing the song and lead the performance for a scene in the play

“Well, I still don’t understand much but it seems important to you and I am happy dear” her mother had finally said

“At least you’ve found something that will occupy your time” remarked Elizabeth absentmindedly, and Maybelline asked her what the matter was

“It’s Richard of course, I thought we were going to be seeing more of each other now that we are working together but I wonder if he is playing hard to get and it’s so annoying, I hardly see him, and when I want to spend some time with him, he always has one excuse or the other” Elizabeth was upset now “I had decided to be cool about it all and let him do the running around this time but I feel like hitting him over the head with something”,

Maybelline sighed and took her daughter’s hand in hers, “I actually expected things to move faster than this, maybe I should talk to Emily, so she has a talk with him and nudge him in the right direction?” Elizabeth nodded

“Your sister’s going to flip when she knows that Richard spends more time with you than he does with her, ironic isn’t it”, said Karen and she laughed heartily but Natalie only shook her head

“I’ve told Richard many times I don’t think it’s a good idea that he comes to pick me up every time but he just shrugs it off”

“Wouldn’t it be just wonderful if he falls in love with you instead of your selfish sister, you know she doesn’t love him right, she just loves the idea of him”

“Don’t say that Karen, I actually don’t want to talk about Richard, I want to focus on this project”

“Which you wouldn’t have got if Richard didn’t push you”, Natalie sighed and Karen laughed

“Don’t look like that Natalie Stirling, you’re an amazing person and you deserve great joy and love in your life, so let’s toast to your success and many more to come”, she said and Natalie smiled brightly, she refused to let anything dampen her joy and excitement.

“How did the meeting go?” asked Natalie as she sat across from Richard in the park. When he returned from his trip, he called her and asked her to dinner to celebrate her success but Natalie had given an excuse that she could not make it, but she felt bad afterwards, what if she was reading something into his kindness. What if Richard was just being nice to her, he was such a great person and a good friend and so supportive of her and her music, was she really willing to risk such a friendship based on some assumptions that she may have.

And he did deserve to be a part of her success as he was the one who pushed her to it, as Karen had often reminded her, that it was unfair and ungrateful for Natalie to cut him out of it all.

Natalie felt foolish when she heard Richard’s voice outside the studio that afternoon, she knew she was going to see him today but she still was not prepared for it. She had felt like hiding in the studio after her classes that day but Karen just laughed at her,

“You know he is just going to stay out there till you come out right?” she said

“You could tell him I didn’t come in today” groaned Natalie

“What do you think?” laughed Karen and Natalie punched her, “I think you actually like Richard”

“Of course I like him”

“I mean, really like, like him”, teased Karen and she laughed but she became serious when Natalie did not say anything and she turned to face her friend

“On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad is it?” she asked

“Oh please Karen”, Natalie laughed self consciously

“That bad huh?” said Karen, Natalie hesitated but before she could say anything, Karen hugged her.

Richard took Natalie to the park, he got some sandwiches and wine and they sat down to enjoy a picnic,

Richard told her about his big meeting but said he did not want to talk about business, he was more interested in how her project was coming along and just like he hoped, this got Natalie beaming and excited, he knew how much this meant to her and he knew how hard she was working on it

“Oh my God Richard, they love the direction my song is going, I had a meeting with one of the directors, I got to meet the other composers and some other performers and it was just wonderful, so many talents in one room, it was amazing”

“I’ve got to hear it, go on, do a bit of the song”

Natalie laughed and launched into her song, Richard smiled and remarked that it was beautiful

“Now it’s your turn” said Natalie mischievously

“My turn? For what?”

“To sing, “I’ve done mine, go on, I’m listening

Richard burst into laughter, “Of course not, I can’t sing, I don’t sing, not even in the shower, I’m tone deaf. I’d rather you sing, believe me, I’ll scare away everyone in the park”, Natalie laughed hard

“Hey, look, I got you something”

Natalie smiled

“Not another cd I hope, I haven’t even finished listening to the ones you bought me”, she said but Richard shook his head and said it wasn’t. He took out a nice box and opened it, it was a bracelet, he took Natalie’s hand and guided it to touch the bracelet. Natalie frowned as she traced her fingers over the bracelet,

“It’s beautiful Richard but I’m sorry I can’t accept it”

“Why? I want you to have it. You are very special Natalie”

Natalie shook her head and replied quietly that she did not think she should accept it,

“Thank you but I’m really sorry I can’t accept it” she said and stood up

“I think we better leave now, I have had a lovely day but I’ve got some work to do, thank you for the picnic”, Richard sighed and stood up, they packed up in silence and walked back to the car both lost in their thoughts.