Virtuoso
One Year Later: June, 8 pm
If a little dreaming is dangerous, the cure for it is not to dream less, but to dream more, to dream all the time.
Remembrance of Things Past, Marcel Proust
She purchased her ticket at the last minute. Jaden didn't have time to tell him, but Zak spotted her in the fourth row the moment his eyes adjusted to the stage lights. Her hair was longer and her eyes brighter than the shimmering silver dress she wore, but he would have recognized her anywhere. He knew, by the third piece, that it was the best concert he had ever given.
Zak lost count of the curtain calls, but he knew there were more of them than he had ever received. Even as he bowed gratefully with his hand over his heart, even when he acknowledged the accompanist, even though the curtain came between them, he kept his eyes on her. When Jaden told him there was time for an encore piece, he played the Sentimentale.
At last, the people in the audience got reluctantly to their feet, sighing that the night of exquisite music had come to an end. Ami followed those exiting the aisle to her left, pausing when a handsome man with short blond hair addressed her. "Miss Mizuno? Ami Mizuno?"
"Yes?"
Jaden smiled rakishly. I knew Zak was wrong about the chances of our meeting each other. "Would you like to attend the private reception being held for Mr. Atalo following the concert?"
"Ah– "
He smiled, watching her eyes dart up to the now-concealed stage and back to him.
"I'd be happy to escort you." He offered her his arm and guided her through the crowd until they reached a small salon at the side of the concert hall. For now, it was empty.
"If you'd just wait here, he should arrive soon. Please feel free to help yourself to the refreshments," he told her, indicating the elegant arrangement of champagne, fruit, and flowers on the side table.
She thanked him but stayed away from the food. She smoothed her skirt with nervous fingers, wondering who else would be there, and what she would say to him. She wondered how Jaden had known who she was, and tried not to read too much into it. Perhaps they kept a list of all Zak's former students. It would be like him. Most of his students had been aspiring musicians, and the chance to mingle with the patrons and world-class musicians who attended such receptions would have been a dream come true for them. She wasn't one of them – not a musician, and hoping only to see him. She hoped he would be happy to see her.