Chapter 2
For the first time in his life, Darien Simata was unhappy. For some reason that he couldn't fathom, he was just.. not unhappy, but not too happy either, he decided. He was standing at a train station, waiting for the 7:00pm train that would take him home. He had had a bad day at work, and all he really wanted to do was sit down and watch some T.V. in his new apartment and get some piece and quiet. He had heard that in the apartment building, where he had just moved in yesterday, lived a very talented flute player. He hadn't heard her play though, and he didn't really want to. He wasn't a big fan of music; in fact he didn't really like it as it made it hard to concentrate. According to a friendly neighbor though, he was right next door to the young lady who played the flute, and they had told him that you could hear the music all over the building sometimes. The girl, Serena as the neighbor had called her, was very respectful of her neighbors and only played at appropriate times, whatever they had meant by that. What did the people in the building call an appropriate time? He hoped that she wouldn't be playing when he got back to the building; he wasn't in the mood for it. But as he hadn't heard her play last night, he supposed that she only played during the day time. Well, he hoped that she only played at night time.
When he eventually arrived at the modern-looking building and walked through the door, he could have yelled with frustration. He could hear the beautiful, high pitched notes of a flute rising in a tragic melody that almost made his eyes water with the sadness that was in it. She certainly was a good player, he knew when to give people credit, but he wished that she would just stop playing and give him some piece. He wanted to go up there and tell her to stop, but something in the melody of the tune made him stop that thought and go to his apartment. What he had heard in the melody was an acceptance that the person was alone except for music, and that made him sad. But it didn't make him like her, not at all.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
A few days later, Serena was instructing one of her students on how to play her piece properly. The girl was a good player, but she needed to concentrate more on the story behind the piece, so she could express the story in her playing. "Are you okay Serena?" the girl, asked her, noticing how many times her teacher had been rubbing her eyes. "I'm fine Sakura; I'm just a little tired. Now how do you express." the lesson continued on. After the lesson had finished Serena sighed with relief. Although she enjoyed teaching, sometimes her students were a bit demanding with her, usually wanting to find out about her life. Sakura was one of the students that loved hearing about boys and other people's lives more than flute. As Sakura was the last one of the students Serena had to teach that day, she was free to go home. The orchestra wasn't rehearsing until the next day, so she had some free time on her hands. She yawned. Boy was she tired! She had been getting that dream over and over again ever since the night of the party and it had been keeping her awake a lot at nights. She had gotten no sleep the night before and it didn't help her cause that a new tenant at the building filed a request that she didn't play before 9:00 am and after 6:00 pm. Now she couldn't even play all of her fears away. Every time that she had that dream she woke up gasping for breath with tears coming from her eyes. She had stayed up all night the night before as she had been too scared to sleep. She packed away all of her things and said goodbye to all of the music staff of the school that was in the staffroom. She hopped on the next train to the station that was near her apartment, and walked back to her home. She walked into the apartment, dropped all of her things on her desk in the corner and pressed the button on her answering machine that played all of her messages. She had one from her friend Amy. "Hi Serena, its Amy. Did you hear the news about Lita? It's great isn't it? Just calling to say hi and to talk. Call me back, okay? Hear from you later." Serena sighed. Another call where she'd have to listen all about Greg, Amy's husband. At least she had a lot of spare time after 6:00 because of the "no playing after 6:00pm" policy. She could finger the notes while she talked to Amy and then she would have something else to concentrate on other than her friend's chatter about husbands. Amy wasn't too bad where that was concerned, but Serena was just feeling alone, and so any talk of husbands or fiancés depressed her. She'd phone Amy later, but as it was only 2:30, she would play until 6:00.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"I'm worried about Serena," Raye confided to her friends as they sat around and had lunch, "I was on the phone to her last night, but I don't think that she was really listening. I asked her a question and she never answered me. I think that she's feeling left out because she is the only one who's not engaged or married. After all, she did phone me at least once a week until Chad and I got engaged. Then she stopped calling." Mina, Amy and Lita all looked at each other. "Yeah, I know. When I told her that I was pregnant, I was sure that I saw jealousy flash through her eyes. I must admit that I feel a bit sorry for her; all she's ever had is us and her music, and now we all are more preoccupied with other things. All she has left is her music," Lita agreed.
"Even her music is being taken away. She told me last night that a new tenant in the building had complained about her playing, so she's only allowed to play from 9:00am till 6:00pm. She sounded really tired; I don't think that she is sleeping much. I'm worried about her too," Amy added, concern showing all over her face. "I feel guilty; I haven't talked to her for ages. Andrew and I have been too busy planning our wedding to notice anything else, so I haven't talked to her. I'm only here now because you guys practically dragged me away from preparations. I'm totally obsessed with the wedding, so I haven't noticed her behavior too much, but when I told her about my engagement, even though it was 2 years ago, she still had a jealous flash in her eye. I think that she probably believes that we are leaving her," Mina added to the conversation. She looked deep in thought while she was talking; probably thinking about her wedding. "I have an idea how to include her more," Lita offered, sitting up straighter in her seat. "Yeah?" Mina, Raye and Amy all said at the same time, unconsciously leaning in closer to Lita. "Well, I was thinking that we could throw a party soon, to announce my pregnancy or something, and we could all invite friends. We could try to hook Serena up with one of the guys that we invite and maybe they'll get along. Then maybe she'll have a friend other than us and she won't have to depend on her music so much. It's only an idea, but we can expand on it to make it work," Lita looked down and took a drink of her tea while the others thought about it. "I think it could work," Raye began slowly, "we'll just have to make sure that she comes and that the guy we try to hook her up with isn't a jerk. I have a friend who is a doctor who we could invite; he's not that bad except... he hates music, so they'll probably hate each other." "I have a friend who is very into music. His name's Alan and he is single. He might just be Serena's type.." The girls all grouped together and began to plan the party and what they were going to do.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
He was bored. He had been watching T.V. for an hour now, trying to block out the haunting melody of the flute. It was before 6:00, so the mysterious player was still allowed to play, but it still annoyed Darien. He was home sick and he really didn't feel up to listening to the haunting melodies that the mysterious girl played. He had never seen the girl and he didn't really want to. He considered going upstairs and telling her to stop, but he didn't have the heart to. The girl sounded so lonely, as if everyone had left her. He didn't really want to listen to it, but he didn't want to take away the only thing she had left in her life. The phone rang and he answered it on the third ring. He didn't really feel like talking, as he was really not feeling well. "Hi, Darien here," he answered, lying back on his couch. "Hi Darien it's Raye. How are you?" "Not too good actually, I have a stomach bug of some sort, so I'm not really feeling well," he answered, rubbing a hand through his hair. He could still hear the melody of the flute in the background. "That's not very good. Listen, my friend Lita is having a party soon and she told us to invite some of our friends. The party will be in about 2 weeks time, so do you think that you'll be better by then? I'd really appreciate it if you'd come." "I don't know, I'll try to come, but I don't know if the hospital will need me then. I'll try to come, as I will probably be better, but I'll have to see." "Is that a flute I can hear in the background?" Raye asked him. "Um yeah. There's a girl in my new apartment building that plays basically all the time. It's driving me nuts!" "I think I know the girl you're talking about. She's one of my best friends and she's devoted to her music. She used to be less devoted to it until we all got engaged and married. Now she uses her music as her best friend and to express her feelings. Have you ever met her?" "No, I haven't. I feel really bad about restricting her playing hours, but the music really annoys me. I can't help it, but I really do hate music." "Yeah, but you should meet her. She's really sweet and although you feel really bad, she'll forgive you really easily. She's the kindest person I've ever met. She cares about everyone, even if she doesn't know them. She'll be coming to the party, so you can meet her there, even if you don't meet her before." "Her melodies are all so sad, it's like she's depressed or something. Anyway, how are you and Chad.?"
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Serena stopped playing at 6:00 on the dot. As much as she needed to play, she didn't want to offend the new tenant. She had never met him, but she didn't want to hurt his feelings. It wasn't his fault that he didn't like music, it was just his opinion. As soon as she put down her instrument though, the dream came back to haunt her. She hadn't slept for the past few nights and it was beginning to take its toll. She had hardly been able to see what notes she had to play in orchestra that morning and the conductor had ended up sending her home, thinking that she was sick. Serena did feel sick, but it was because she was so overtired. She couldn't sleep, as much as she wanted to. If she went to sleep, the dream would haunt her. It was even starting to come to her when she was awake. She had called in sick to the school, saying that she couldn't teach and she had been avoiding her friends. She always let her machine answer the phone now and she only called the person back when it was her family or a work related person. She only went outside her apartment to get food and to go to orchestra, as she was so haunted by the dream. She was scared of going out and finding this guy that made her heart pump in her chest, the guy that she cared about more than herself. She sat down on her couch and began to read her orchestral music to keep herself awake, as she couldn't play it.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Raye had to do something. She had tried calling Serena, but the call would go unanswered, even when she knew that Serena was home. No one had seen or talked to Serena for days and they were all starting to get worried. She decided that she would ask Darien to go see her, as everyone else was busy. He had agreed, so hopefully things would go okay for him. She really hoped that Serena was okay.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Darien walked up the stairs to the door of the mysterious flute player's apartment. It was past 6:00, so she wasn't playing for a change. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. He heard the sound of a door closing quietly somewhere in the apartment and then the next minute the door opened and a young woman about his age stood in the doorway. She was about 5"6 with waist-length pale blonde hair and large blue eyes that seemed to be haunted by something. She went white basically as soon as she saw him and looked as though she was going to collapse.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Serena opened the door and felt as if she was in her nightmare. She could feel herself go white and she almost collapsed right there in the doorway. This guy, the one standing in her doorway, was the guy out of her dreams..
End of Chapter 2
For the first time in his life, Darien Simata was unhappy. For some reason that he couldn't fathom, he was just.. not unhappy, but not too happy either, he decided. He was standing at a train station, waiting for the 7:00pm train that would take him home. He had had a bad day at work, and all he really wanted to do was sit down and watch some T.V. in his new apartment and get some piece and quiet. He had heard that in the apartment building, where he had just moved in yesterday, lived a very talented flute player. He hadn't heard her play though, and he didn't really want to. He wasn't a big fan of music; in fact he didn't really like it as it made it hard to concentrate. According to a friendly neighbor though, he was right next door to the young lady who played the flute, and they had told him that you could hear the music all over the building sometimes. The girl, Serena as the neighbor had called her, was very respectful of her neighbors and only played at appropriate times, whatever they had meant by that. What did the people in the building call an appropriate time? He hoped that she wouldn't be playing when he got back to the building; he wasn't in the mood for it. But as he hadn't heard her play last night, he supposed that she only played during the day time. Well, he hoped that she only played at night time.
When he eventually arrived at the modern-looking building and walked through the door, he could have yelled with frustration. He could hear the beautiful, high pitched notes of a flute rising in a tragic melody that almost made his eyes water with the sadness that was in it. She certainly was a good player, he knew when to give people credit, but he wished that she would just stop playing and give him some piece. He wanted to go up there and tell her to stop, but something in the melody of the tune made him stop that thought and go to his apartment. What he had heard in the melody was an acceptance that the person was alone except for music, and that made him sad. But it didn't make him like her, not at all.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
A few days later, Serena was instructing one of her students on how to play her piece properly. The girl was a good player, but she needed to concentrate more on the story behind the piece, so she could express the story in her playing. "Are you okay Serena?" the girl, asked her, noticing how many times her teacher had been rubbing her eyes. "I'm fine Sakura; I'm just a little tired. Now how do you express." the lesson continued on. After the lesson had finished Serena sighed with relief. Although she enjoyed teaching, sometimes her students were a bit demanding with her, usually wanting to find out about her life. Sakura was one of the students that loved hearing about boys and other people's lives more than flute. As Sakura was the last one of the students Serena had to teach that day, she was free to go home. The orchestra wasn't rehearsing until the next day, so she had some free time on her hands. She yawned. Boy was she tired! She had been getting that dream over and over again ever since the night of the party and it had been keeping her awake a lot at nights. She had gotten no sleep the night before and it didn't help her cause that a new tenant at the building filed a request that she didn't play before 9:00 am and after 6:00 pm. Now she couldn't even play all of her fears away. Every time that she had that dream she woke up gasping for breath with tears coming from her eyes. She had stayed up all night the night before as she had been too scared to sleep. She packed away all of her things and said goodbye to all of the music staff of the school that was in the staffroom. She hopped on the next train to the station that was near her apartment, and walked back to her home. She walked into the apartment, dropped all of her things on her desk in the corner and pressed the button on her answering machine that played all of her messages. She had one from her friend Amy. "Hi Serena, its Amy. Did you hear the news about Lita? It's great isn't it? Just calling to say hi and to talk. Call me back, okay? Hear from you later." Serena sighed. Another call where she'd have to listen all about Greg, Amy's husband. At least she had a lot of spare time after 6:00 because of the "no playing after 6:00pm" policy. She could finger the notes while she talked to Amy and then she would have something else to concentrate on other than her friend's chatter about husbands. Amy wasn't too bad where that was concerned, but Serena was just feeling alone, and so any talk of husbands or fiancés depressed her. She'd phone Amy later, but as it was only 2:30, she would play until 6:00.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"I'm worried about Serena," Raye confided to her friends as they sat around and had lunch, "I was on the phone to her last night, but I don't think that she was really listening. I asked her a question and she never answered me. I think that she's feeling left out because she is the only one who's not engaged or married. After all, she did phone me at least once a week until Chad and I got engaged. Then she stopped calling." Mina, Amy and Lita all looked at each other. "Yeah, I know. When I told her that I was pregnant, I was sure that I saw jealousy flash through her eyes. I must admit that I feel a bit sorry for her; all she's ever had is us and her music, and now we all are more preoccupied with other things. All she has left is her music," Lita agreed.
"Even her music is being taken away. She told me last night that a new tenant in the building had complained about her playing, so she's only allowed to play from 9:00am till 6:00pm. She sounded really tired; I don't think that she is sleeping much. I'm worried about her too," Amy added, concern showing all over her face. "I feel guilty; I haven't talked to her for ages. Andrew and I have been too busy planning our wedding to notice anything else, so I haven't talked to her. I'm only here now because you guys practically dragged me away from preparations. I'm totally obsessed with the wedding, so I haven't noticed her behavior too much, but when I told her about my engagement, even though it was 2 years ago, she still had a jealous flash in her eye. I think that she probably believes that we are leaving her," Mina added to the conversation. She looked deep in thought while she was talking; probably thinking about her wedding. "I have an idea how to include her more," Lita offered, sitting up straighter in her seat. "Yeah?" Mina, Raye and Amy all said at the same time, unconsciously leaning in closer to Lita. "Well, I was thinking that we could throw a party soon, to announce my pregnancy or something, and we could all invite friends. We could try to hook Serena up with one of the guys that we invite and maybe they'll get along. Then maybe she'll have a friend other than us and she won't have to depend on her music so much. It's only an idea, but we can expand on it to make it work," Lita looked down and took a drink of her tea while the others thought about it. "I think it could work," Raye began slowly, "we'll just have to make sure that she comes and that the guy we try to hook her up with isn't a jerk. I have a friend who is a doctor who we could invite; he's not that bad except... he hates music, so they'll probably hate each other." "I have a friend who is very into music. His name's Alan and he is single. He might just be Serena's type.." The girls all grouped together and began to plan the party and what they were going to do.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
He was bored. He had been watching T.V. for an hour now, trying to block out the haunting melody of the flute. It was before 6:00, so the mysterious player was still allowed to play, but it still annoyed Darien. He was home sick and he really didn't feel up to listening to the haunting melodies that the mysterious girl played. He had never seen the girl and he didn't really want to. He considered going upstairs and telling her to stop, but he didn't have the heart to. The girl sounded so lonely, as if everyone had left her. He didn't really want to listen to it, but he didn't want to take away the only thing she had left in her life. The phone rang and he answered it on the third ring. He didn't really feel like talking, as he was really not feeling well. "Hi, Darien here," he answered, lying back on his couch. "Hi Darien it's Raye. How are you?" "Not too good actually, I have a stomach bug of some sort, so I'm not really feeling well," he answered, rubbing a hand through his hair. He could still hear the melody of the flute in the background. "That's not very good. Listen, my friend Lita is having a party soon and she told us to invite some of our friends. The party will be in about 2 weeks time, so do you think that you'll be better by then? I'd really appreciate it if you'd come." "I don't know, I'll try to come, but I don't know if the hospital will need me then. I'll try to come, as I will probably be better, but I'll have to see." "Is that a flute I can hear in the background?" Raye asked him. "Um yeah. There's a girl in my new apartment building that plays basically all the time. It's driving me nuts!" "I think I know the girl you're talking about. She's one of my best friends and she's devoted to her music. She used to be less devoted to it until we all got engaged and married. Now she uses her music as her best friend and to express her feelings. Have you ever met her?" "No, I haven't. I feel really bad about restricting her playing hours, but the music really annoys me. I can't help it, but I really do hate music." "Yeah, but you should meet her. She's really sweet and although you feel really bad, she'll forgive you really easily. She's the kindest person I've ever met. She cares about everyone, even if she doesn't know them. She'll be coming to the party, so you can meet her there, even if you don't meet her before." "Her melodies are all so sad, it's like she's depressed or something. Anyway, how are you and Chad.?"
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Serena stopped playing at 6:00 on the dot. As much as she needed to play, she didn't want to offend the new tenant. She had never met him, but she didn't want to hurt his feelings. It wasn't his fault that he didn't like music, it was just his opinion. As soon as she put down her instrument though, the dream came back to haunt her. She hadn't slept for the past few nights and it was beginning to take its toll. She had hardly been able to see what notes she had to play in orchestra that morning and the conductor had ended up sending her home, thinking that she was sick. Serena did feel sick, but it was because she was so overtired. She couldn't sleep, as much as she wanted to. If she went to sleep, the dream would haunt her. It was even starting to come to her when she was awake. She had called in sick to the school, saying that she couldn't teach and she had been avoiding her friends. She always let her machine answer the phone now and she only called the person back when it was her family or a work related person. She only went outside her apartment to get food and to go to orchestra, as she was so haunted by the dream. She was scared of going out and finding this guy that made her heart pump in her chest, the guy that she cared about more than herself. She sat down on her couch and began to read her orchestral music to keep herself awake, as she couldn't play it.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Raye had to do something. She had tried calling Serena, but the call would go unanswered, even when she knew that Serena was home. No one had seen or talked to Serena for days and they were all starting to get worried. She decided that she would ask Darien to go see her, as everyone else was busy. He had agreed, so hopefully things would go okay for him. She really hoped that Serena was okay.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Darien walked up the stairs to the door of the mysterious flute player's apartment. It was past 6:00, so she wasn't playing for a change. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. He heard the sound of a door closing quietly somewhere in the apartment and then the next minute the door opened and a young woman about his age stood in the doorway. She was about 5"6 with waist-length pale blonde hair and large blue eyes that seemed to be haunted by something. She went white basically as soon as she saw him and looked as though she was going to collapse.
* * * * * * * * * * * *
Serena opened the door and felt as if she was in her nightmare. She could feel herself go white and she almost collapsed right there in the doorway. This guy, the one standing in her doorway, was the guy out of her dreams..
End of Chapter 2