Pretty much just fluff
this time…
Chapter Thirty One – Come By Me
As I fold up my phone and return it my purse, I make a
mental note to dig out the SD-6 case file and study everything on Sark. Given the facts that 1) Sydney thinks he's
in LA, 2) he has threatened her loved ones, and 3) he has nabbed Will before,
there's a good chance that I will be meeting him in person.
One more reason that today sucks.
Suddenly, there's an arm around my shoulders! It's pure instinct. I grab the thumb and elbow applying pressure
to the appropriate points. I pull the
arm away from me, step out, and twist the arm violently bringing the person
down to their knees with their arm pinned behind their back.
"Damn, girl! I
need that arm!"
Crap! It's
Quinn! An innocent bystander!
I immediately release him and as I'm helping him up I look
around to see how many people actually saw me do that. Rex, Creepy Sam, and every other flippin'
person in the place. After all, they all
came to see Quinn, so it makes sense that they'd be watching him wherever he goes. Crap.
"I'm sorry, Quinn," I say. "You startled me."
"I'd hate to see what you'd do if I actually scared you,"
he said in his adorable southern drawl.
He breaks the seriousness with a large smile. "I'm really glad you're here today, Rory!"
"Yeah, me too." I
smile at him. "I'm looking forward to
hearing you perform solo," I say trying to shake off the bad mood that's been
following me all day.
"No solo today, darlin'," he says as he grabs my hands and
starts pulling me towards the stage.
"You and me are going to have some fun!"
No, no, no, I do not feel like performing! "No, Quinn, really, I just came here to
relax and enjoy somebody else's music for a change." We're getting closer to the stage. No, no, no.
He's wearing his most charming smile. "Aw, I know you better than that," he
says. "You're only truly happy when
you're creating music."
The minute Quinn sets foot on the stage the small audience
starts clapping and cat calling. He's
pulling me to one of the baby grand pianos.
"Is there anything I can say to get out of this?" I'm pleading now. I really don't want to be here.
"No way. Not
today," he says as he pulls me down on the bench next to him. "I just got this new piece of music arranged
for two pianos and voice. I can't wait
to try it out!"
I begrudgingly drop my purse under the piano bench as we
start a quick review of the music.
Please let this be a short, fast song.
It's an up-tempo composition by Harry Connick Jr, Come
By Me. This comes as no surprise,
since from the beginning I've known him to be a Harry-Connick-Jr-wannabe. We've performed plenty of HCJ's music. Since it was originally written for a big
band, the two piano parts are quite complex – trying to maintain the feel of
the piece with only two instruments is a challenge. The opening section will have me on the piano and Quinn will
sing. Then the middle section… Ugh…
"You really want 32 measures of alternating solos here?" I
ask. Improvising jazz solos is not one
of my strong points. Especially with an
audience. On the first run. With an ugly mood. This is going to be torture.
"Oh yeah! That's
part of the fun!" Quinn says enthusiastically.
Quinn is… well Quinn is quite an interesting fellow. An odd mix of concert pianist and rock
star. He's really growing on me.
He points out the measures where I'll try, pathetically
probably, to create a jazz solo. I mark
them with a pencil. Two eight bar solos
for me and two eight bar solos for him.
I am relived to see that during his solos I just have to maintain a
simple rhythm line, which he will continue during my solos.
The final section of the piece has both of us playing some
pretty complex melodies and more vocals for him. Okay, after the review, I have to admit, it does look like a fun
piece, even with the solos. Maybe
Quinn's enthusiasm is contagious.
Quinn spins around on my piano bench, so that he is
straddling me, and can still see past me out to the audience. He counts off the tempo and starts
singing. Two beats later, I add the
melodic support. The melody is
actually closer to boogie woogie than standard jazz. And it's definitely mood lifting.
Come by me
Come talk to me baby
Tell me how
We can combine
And now he loosens up… I mean really loosens up. He's swaying to the beat of the music with
his trademark zeal. And he's playing it
up like he's singing to me. The lyrics
lead him that way.
Will you be
My sunshine forever
Will you be
A friend of mine
I'm suddenly feeling happy. Huh, not ten minutes ago I was having my worst day since leaving
Italy, and now I can't even remember why.
I'm smiling and swaying to the beat of the music.
Try me out
And if you get excited
Take me home
I'd love to be invited
Now he stands up and plays out to the women in the
audience. They adore him, no doubt
about it. And he adores performing.
Once we're there
I'm sure you'll be delighted
We can rock all night
Wait and see
Now he's standing behind me resting his hands on my
shoulders, both of us moving in unison to the music. We're having fun and the audience appears to be having fun also.
We might fit together
That would be
My lucky day
Come by me
Come love with me baby
Quinn leans down to me, wraps his arms around my shoulders
and rests his head against mine for a brief moment. Then he realizes that his first solo is only two measures
away.
Maybe we
Could run away
I shoot him a look that says 'you better get yourself over
to your piano quick!', but it's too late.
He's caught a little off guard, but quickly recovers by leaning over me
and playing his solo on my piano with one hand keeping the other arm slung over
my shoulders. I put a little more
bounce into my rhythm line for him.
Lucky stiff. Freudian slip? Hmmm.
My first solo comes much more easily than I had
anticipated, with the exception of the missing accompaniment that Quinn can't
play because he's moving over to his piano.
His second solo.
Now I'm alone on my bench, but his energy still surrounds me. We begin to challenge each other with our
music, each of us trying to out play the other. Occasionally we exchange a smile, a wink, or a flirtatious head
bob. My second solo is finished and we
move on.
We come together for another 32 measures of alternating
melodies, thankfully not improvised.
His piano substitutes for the saxophones, mine for the horns. His covers the bass line, mine interjects
the percussion.
Then we 'bring it home', so to speak. The melody in the last section requires
Quinn to stay at the keyboard, but he still manages to play to the audience as
he repeats the same lyrics. He has a
gift. Probably more than one.
Come by me
Come love with me baby
Maybe we
Could run away
The piece ends with flourish and as we release the final chord, the patrons
start applauding and doing that 'woo-hoo' thing that I've never
understood. Quinn stands up and
practically dances his way across the stage.
The pure music high that I'm feeling causes me to get to my feet as he
gets close and throw my arms around him.
"That was so much fun!
Thanks, Quinn, that's just what I needed!" I say.
"We're a great duet," he replies. I release him, hoping that he is not
suggesting anything. He only smiles and
says, "You don't think we're done, do you?
This is practice. We're not
going to stop at one mediocre attempt are we?"
He's kidding. That
piece couldn't possibly be performed more perfect than it just was. But, I had so much fun with it I'm willing
to take another go at it. "Are you sure
they won't get bored?" I ask referring to the audience.
Quinn turns to address the lunch patrons. He gives them his best smile and puts on
that 'aw shucks' tone and says, "Y'all don't mind if we do that again, do ya?"
They offer their approval through their applause.