"That lovely voice; how I should weep for joy if I could hear it now!"
-Colette
"Beans, beans, the musical fruit. The more you eat, the more you--"
"Shhhh, Kyle! I'm trying to watch this!"
I glanced up from my music theory homework and suppressed a grin. It was roughly a week since my first voice lesson with Erik and already he acknowledged that I was making progress. Erik, I discovered, was a demanding teacher and during lessons he and I were pupil and maestro, nothing more. He was very strict in matters concerning my voice. In no way, shape, or form was I to unnecessarily strain my voice, he had commanded me sternly that first night. I wasn't eager to find out the consequences if I disobeyed. One did not take orders from Erik lightly.
As of now, I was baby-sitting for some neighbors who had a set of twins: Katie and Kyle. Both were seven years old and extremely mischievous. Currently, Katie was watching her favorite show, an animated cartoon featuring skinny, longhaired beauties that fought for "Justice! World peace! And oppressed hair styles everywhere!" It took all my concentration not to gag and laugh.
Kyle, playing the part of the obnoxious older brother (he was only older by two minutes, but...), had grown bored with her show and apparently was trying to annoy Katie as much as possible while waiting for his show (another cartoon: "Power Pooch!") to come on.
"Beans, beans, they're food for the heart. The more you eat, the more you--"
"Stop it!"
This time I frowned at Kyle who jutted out his lower lip and stared sullenly at the flickering TV screen. After a moment, however, his expression lightened. I prepared myself.
"Great green globs of greasy, grimy, gopher--"
"CHRISTY!"
I sighed and rubbed my temples. "Enough Kyle! We would rather not hear-" Someone suddenly knocked at the front door. I gave Kyle one last stern look, while he smiled at me in complete innocence, and answered the door.
"Rod!" I squeaked as his handsome features came into view.
"Hey Christine," he smiled that disarming smile and I felt a blush creep up on my cheeks.
"What are you doing here?" I blurted out then blushed harder at my rudeness. "I mean... Hi..."
He ran a tan hand through his golden hair and I found myself gazing for a moment at the sensuous curve of his lips... "I went to your house and your great-aunt told me that I could find you here."
I tore my gaze from his face and nervously twisted a dark curl around my finger. "Oh... well... uh... what did you want?"
Rod leaned closer and smiled, perfect white teeth nearly blinding me with their brightness. "I was wondering if I could take you for a little spin... so we could talk." He moved aside so I could see his shiny red sports car in the driveway.
"I'm sorry, Rod... but I'm baby-sitting right now," I replied, shaking my head as visions of Rod and I cuddling threatened to overpower my duty to the children I was watching. "I couldn't possibly leave them by themselves."
His smile faded for a moment then returned as he took my hand, stopping the breath in my throat. "Okay... But step out here for just a minute..." One look in those gorgeous brown eyes and all I could do was nod.
Once we were outside, I became extremely nervous but Rod didn't seem to notice. "You know, Christine, I've never forgotten the little girl who gave me a kiss on the cheek..." I only nodded dumbly as he stared at me. "I was hoping that perhaps we could be something more... now that we're almost adults..." He was so close that for a moment I thought that he was going to kiss me. This frightened me for some reason and I backed off my position of leaning against the side of the house.
"I don't mean to be rude... because you're a really great guy and all, and, I really do like having you as a friend..." I was babbling like an idiot but couldn't seem to stop myself. "I really have get back... in the house... the twins are... what I mean is..."
Rod stopped my incessant chatter with the simple motion of putting a finger to my lips. "Movie and dinner. Friday night at seven. I'll pick you up. Wear something nice." With that he removed his finger from my mouth and waved goodbye from his car. I stood on the porch for a moment in a daze, watching the red Porsche zip down the street.
"Rod and Christine sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"
I turned to see Kyle and Katie at the doorway, giggling hysterically. I couldn't help but blush but lifted my chin and with all the dignity that a baby-sitter can muster, I ordered them to clean their rooms.