Zach woke up to Brenda Russell's voice, singing "Piano in the Dark1." He squeezed his eyes shut again and sat up slowly. His head spun, making him regret emptying that bottle of Courvoisier down his throat instead of down the sink. He didn't feel any better and he wasn't expecting to. He just wanted to drown his sorrows. But for the moment, he was sitting there, in the dark, drunk. He looked at his clock and grabbed the phone off the coffee table in front of him.
He patted himself on the back for having the forethought to have the numbers of delivery restaurants on speed dial. He ordered himself an Italian dinner, and threw the phone on the coffee table. He closed his eyes again and leaned back on the sofa.
He wasn't sure what to do about his and Kendall's relationship at that point. He knew that Kendall was angry with him, actually, she was more like pissed, and he did not want to be the one to push any more of her buttons. He really didn't want to think of Kendall anymore. He already missed her; he didn't want to start thinking of the possibilities of what could happen.
"I guess I should at least turn on a light for the delivery," he muttered to himself. He slowly stood up and cursed himself as the room spun and his head started to pound. He steadied himself then walked over to a light switch, turned on the outdoor light, and then turned on the lights inside the condo. He dimmed the lights inside making things a little easier for him.
He walked into the kitchen and grabbed himself a beer. As he looked at the label, and found he couldn't make out the words, he decided to forgo the beer for a bottle of water instead. He felt like he had swallowed a mouthful of sand and so he swallowed half the bottle of water in two gulps.
He leaned over the sink and shut his eyes again, trying to decide if it would be ok to take something for this raging headache he was getting ever since he opened his eyes. As he stood over the sink, with his head bowed, the CD changed to a different one. Moonlight Sonata2 crept through the speakers and once again, he was haunted by his memories of him and Kendall.
This song, reminded him of the evening Kendall found out a little not so well known secret about her husband. The Seasons had a black grand piano in the lobby. The pianist Zach hired, Misha, was under the impression that Zach knew nothing about music. Zach never said anything to anyone; he just smiled and told Misha that her playing was nice, but it could be much better. That did insult her, but she still showed up to do her job, still insisting Zach knew nothing about the type of music she played. She even told Kendall, not in so many words, that Zach was tone deaf, and that he kept making cracks about her playing.
One day Misha came to Zach's office and announced that the piano was not tuned properly, that he needed to call someone to fix it. Zach never looked up from his work; he told her the piano was fine. He started to wonder then why he even hired the woman. Maybe it was because he was a sucker for a pretty face who needed help. He was able to help her. She had two kids and no job, and he had a job she could do, sort of. He just wished that she would take the time to practice with some of the music she insisted on playing.
"Mr. Slater, I'm here to do a job, and that is playing the piano for the guests in your hotel; I can't possibly play any of my selections properly if the piano is not tuned."
Zach looked up from the forms he was reading. Tilting his head to the side he stated, "If you would practice the music, the piano would sound much better when you play it, Misha."
"I don't need to practice that music! I've been playing for years and you are the first one to complain about my playing. I'm sorry, but you're wrong, that piano needs tuning."
Zach carefully placed his papers into a file and walked out the office door, locking it behind him. He escorted Misha to the lobby and asked her to pick a piece, and play it.
She did as he asked. She picked Fur Elise3, played some of it and stopped, looking up at Zach. "See? It needs tuning."
Zach shook his head and told her she was clumsy. Then he was surprised by a familiar voice coming up behind him. "Well, since you know so much, husband, YOU play the damned thing," Kendall said to Zach as she came up behind him. "I would, but all I ever learned was Mary had a Little Lamb, with one finger."
Zach looked at Kendall and smiled. Misha stood up and waved her hand in front of the piano stool, "Please, Mr. Slater, be my guest. Even YOU can play that, can't you?" crossing her arms she grinned at Kendall.
Zach took a seat in front of the piano and looked at the two women in front of him. His smile disappeared, and without even looking at the keys, he started playing Fur Elise the way it was meant to be played. It was crisp and elegant and absolutely perfect; getting louder and then faster in some places, quieter again in others.
Kendall and Misha stood next to the piano both with their mouths agape. When Zach finished the piece he looked at Misha and repeated what he had been saying ever since she started working for him, "You, Misha, need to practice the music." He stood up and started walking over to the bar, calling over his shoulder once again to Misha, "There is nothing wrong with the piano."
Misha thought that moment was the end of her job and so did Kendall. Misha told Zach that she would have her things out by the next afternoon. Zach told her he didn't recall telling her that she was fired. Misha admitted that she had been so insolent toward him and she apologized. Zach told her to go home to her kids, it was late.
Kendall was impressed with her husband. She smiled at him and took a seat on a barstool while he helped himself to a glass of scotch after he placed a ginger ale on the bar for her. Kendall started stirring the ice in the small glass and looked up at Zach. "Why didn't I know you could play the piano, Zach?"
"You assumed that all I did was complain about Misha's playing without knowing anything about it myself," he replied and took a sip of the scotch. "That and you never asked."
"But I never even see you play that piano-" Kendall started and Zach cut her off.
"I play a piano all the time, Kendall."
"When?"
"Every morning, after I have breakfast."
Kendall's face transformed from a serene look to utterly surprised. "That piano music, that I hear almost every evening, that's you?" Zach winked at her and took another sip of his scotch. "I told you about it; you said you were playing, but I thought you were joking with me." Zach nodded and took another sip of the scotch and then poured it down the drain and washed the glass out. "Play a song for me, Zach."
He came around the bar and stood in front of Kendall. Taking her hands in his he studied her long slender fingers and played with the engagement ring on her finger. "What do you want me to play?" He asked her as he gazed into her eyes.
"I don't know. I've never actually known the names of any songs…" Kendall thought momentarily and then told him to play something romantic, for her. Zach kissed her knuckles and then led her to the piano. He hoisted her onto the top of the piano and took a seat on the stool.
A moment later, he was playing Moonlight Sonata for her. He couldn't think of anything else that was more perfect, befitting someone as elegant as his wife was as she slowly lay her self down across the piano and closed her eyes.
When he was done, he stood and offered his hand to help her off the piano. She looked at him and it was as if a dam had broken. Zach didn't understand what was the matter and Kendall bawled that she was sorry and she promised to start coming over to visit him from then on. To see Kendall cry the way she did just broke his heart.
He lifted her chin and told her it wasn't necessary. He promised that he wasn't angry about anything, and he liked going to her condo, it was more refreshing than his any day.
She insisted on coming to his condo, starting that night. She insisted it was terrible of her to be married to him, to allow him to take control of her body whenever she wanted him to, and not even know something as simple as the fact that he could play a piano.
When they got to the complex he stated again, that she did not have to come in. The woman was as stubborn as they come and insisted on going in. He turned on the light and then held the door open for her. She walked into the middle of the room and stood behind the couch, rubbing her hand along the cool black leather and looked around once again, her gaze landing on Zach. "This, it's you." Zach wasn't sure what she meant, so he just raised and eyebrow. "It's not him, Michael… it's not the same, it completely different," she stated and her eyes landed on the baby grand piano in a corner of the room, nearest his front window, and leaning against the wall, there was a large case that stood closed. She walked closer to the case and popped the latches on the side, revealing a lovely red finished cello.
Zach stepped in and closed the door behind him. Kendall slowly walked up to him and put her arms around his waist. "It smells like you, too," she said putting a kiss on his neck. "I'm finding our more and more about you, the mysterious Zach Slater." She smiled again and asked him to play another song, and that she could listen to his playing all day. She wanted him to play the piano again; she'd listen to his cello another time. His face lit up and he sat down and played Fantasia4 for her.
He liked Beethoven's music, but he really liked Mozart, too, and he liked to play that on his cello as well as on the piano. He took a seat and closed his eyes as he performed for his wife. She was so quiet that he wanted to stop to see if she was still in the room.
He had played the song for five minutes when she had put one of her hands over one of his. He stopped then; without speaking, she leaned down and kissed him lightly at first, and then with an increasing urgency. She started tugging on his tie and finally got it off. She followed with the buttons on his shirt--
Suddenly the shrill of the phone interrupted Zach's remembrance of that beautiful evening. He dragged himself to the coffee table, glances at the ID and decided to answer the phone instead of turning off the ringer and tossing the thing down again.
"What?" Zach spat into the phone rudely. What the hell did this prick want? Zach mentally ran down the reasons Ryan would even consider calling. The doorbell rang and Zach went to answer it.
"I thought I would let you know I'm here in town now, and I've been to see Greenlee," Ryan mumbled into the phone.
Zach tipped the delivery person and then pushed the door closed with one foot. He turned to put the food in his kitchen and then spoke to Ryan, "I would have never guessed by the way your wife barged into my home and started calling me so many ugly names. She has a lovely white cast on her arm, did you know that?"
"No, I didn't know that. She didn't have it this afternoon-"
"Did she injure herself shopping with that heavy charge card, or did she use it on your jaw? You sound funny, Lavery," Zach stated and started unpacking his dinner. He headed toward the couch and noticed the door was standing wide open.
"That's none of your business, Slater. She just needs to blow off some steam." Ryan waited a second and then added, "I'm going to need you to put me up in one of you suites at the hotel. Since I've been declared dead, I can't get to my money-"
"So, Lavery, tell me how it feels to be a complete and utter asshole? I know I shouldn't say it, but I will: I told you not to play dead-" Zach sat his dinner down and went back to the door, closing it and locking it this time.
"My wife is only angry right now. It's a lot for her to absorb, and she will come around, she always does, she still loves me. You don't know much about that."
"Oh, right, of course she will come around, because you're Saint Ryan the Everlasting of Pine Valley; it's only natural that everyone in this town sees the need to bend over backwards to kiss your hairy white ass," Zach said as he stabbed at the manicotti in the aluminum container in front of him.
"Slater, the room-"
"Fuck you," and without another word, Zach hung the phone up and tossed it to the side.
1 a sample can be heard at Amazon, from her Greatest Hits CD, track 1.
2 Piano Sonata no.14, a sample can be heard at Amazon from The No.1 Piano Album, track 3.
3 Sample can be heard at Amazon from The No.1 Piano Album, track 4.
4 Sample can be found at Amazon, from Mozart for Meditation, track 11.