Sarah was lying on her back on the couch listening to music when Cameron interrupted her. The combination of the pillow over the older woman's face, and the speaker right next to her ear, had made her blissfully unaware of the world around for the last half an hour or so.
"Why do you keep listening to that song?"
The innocent question caused Sarah to start, jerking into an upright position, letting the pillow fall to the floor unceremoniously. She quickly pressed the stop button on the CD player, trying in vain to erase the song's existence. She then turned to face Cameron in the doorway.
"I wasn't." She grimaced as soon as the automatic, flat denial came out of her mouth. Looking away from the girl in guilt, she missed a pair of beautifully raised eyebrows.
"That was the eighth time in a row I've heard you play the song." God, Sarah though, did I leave it on repeat for that long? "Why did you deny it?" Sarah's head began to shake rapidly as she glanced back at Cameron.
"I didn't - "
"You're still denying it." Sarah sighed. That I am. But no way does she get to hear why.
"The denial was just a reaction. You caught me by surprise. If you really want to know, I keep listening to the song because I like it. That tends to be the reason most people listen to songs."
"If you listen to it any more you'll stop liking it."
"Yeah," Sarah laughed. "That's probably true." Sarah pressed play again any way, as Cameron took a few steps forward to take a seat on the couch. She didn't notice the once over she was given, or if she did, she made no move to aknowledge it. After a while she formulated a new question.
"Why do you like it?"
"What - ?" Sarah shook her head and raised her eyes to Cameron's face from the rather inappropriate places she had been gazing at previously.
"The song?"
"Huh?" Sarah had forgotten what they were talking about again. Just the thought of Cameron slipping and sliding down the waterfall - "Oh, the song. Right. I dunno," she shrugged, trying to keep the lie undetected. "It's just a good song I guess."
"People like songs either because they are told to like them by the media, such as mainstream music, or because they relate to the content."
"If you know so much, why do you keep asking me questions?" Cameron turned to face Sarah as she drew one of her legs underneath her on the couch.
"I haven't had it impressed on me to like this particular song, therefore you must relate to the lyrics." Sarah kept her eyes down, refusing to meet Cameron's. After what seemed an eternity, although it could only be a couple of minutes, for the song played through one and a half times, Cameron spoke again. "I have brown eyes." She said it quietly, as if expecting a reprimand for the statement. After she had spoken, the room stayed silent except for Van Morrison.
At the end of the song, Sarah reached over and turned the CD player off.
"Yes," she almost whispered back, before looking up and into Cameron's eyes. "You do."
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