I'd like to thank and tip my hat to Teobi, who first gave me the idea of Virgil taking Tin-Tin to the jazz club.
9. Shooting Star
Tin-Tin loved it when Virgil took her with him to jazz clubs. Her particular favorite was The Shooting Star – a smaller establishment started by an American and tucked away in the heart of Berlin. She loved how the German language, completely foreign to her ears, washed over her, leaving her to enjoy the environment and the music in the most unfettered fashion possible.
That night, Virgil was at the piano for a good amount of the night, the club's manager ecstatic to see the Tracy son and urging him to return again and again to the piano to entertain the guests. Penny had come along this time, keeping Tin-Tin company at the table during Virgil's sets. The English aristocrat was thrilled to have an opportunity to practice her German. She spoke politely with the waiter on a couple of occasions, her German somehow as delicate and refined as her English. Tin-Tin marveled at the woman's seemingly unending number of talents.
The audience clapped as Virgil finished a jazzy improvisation on the famous "Somewhere Over the Rainbow." Before he began his next song, he took a moment to announce,
"This next selection goes out to my two good friends, who know that life can, in fact, be a dangerous game."
He started that infamous song from Penny and Tin-Tin's first mission together, the tune well-known to them both. At the recognition, Penny reached over to squeeze Tin-Tin's hand, a small smile on her face.
Tin-Tin closed her eyes for a moment, soaking in the beauty of the music and all the memories it brought with it. What struck her most, in that moment, was the thought that she and Penny had been close to death in the racing cable car and yet they'd both been so calm. Tin-Tin knew that Penny's fearlessness in the face of danger had been the thing to keep her stable when she could have so easily fallen apart.
Opening her eyes, Tin-Tin looked over at Penny, who was also obviously absorbed in the music. It was easy to get caught up in the woman's beauty, especially in the moodily dim lighting of the club, and Tin-Tin had felt that way since the first time she'd met the blonde, but things were different now. Penny was so much more than a pretty face to her.
Tin-Tin broke from her reverie when the song ended and Virgil stood from the piano, bowing politely to the applause. He came to sit next to Tin-Tin, smiling at both women as he took his seat.
"That was lovely," Penny said immediately. "Thank you, darling."
"Yes," Tin-Tin added. "Thank you, Virgil."
"Anything for my two favorite ladies," he replied. "Now, what would you like to drink?"
Tin-Tin smiled, breathing in the distinct air of the club and feeling like the luckiest woman in the world.
