Christine made sure to call Mrs. Valerius the next day with her answer. The woman was beyond excited by the news, she was practically weeping over the phone.
Christine didn't have a car and it was a bit too far to walk, her only other option was to take an Uber. It took extra money, but it was fine for the moment. Thankfully, the tips were still coming in at the salon.
Her first lesson was after her shift on Tuesday and she threw her smock in her bag to climb into the Uber as soon as she clocked out, not wanting to be late.
She had been all nerves the whole day, not knowing what to expect. She knew her voice was horribly out of practice and she was terrified of how it sounded. What if she was just awful now? Singing seriously was a whole lot different than singing along to Ariana Grande in the car.
The Uber dropped her off at Marlers sooner than she had liked and she hesitatingly walked up the stone steps and into the brick building, her stomach in knots. She was immediately greeted with the sight of all sorts of instruments.
"Are you Christine?" A man from behind the counter approached, giving her a friendly once over. He had long, dark hair pulled back in a thin ponytail and tattoos down his arms. She assumed he probably played in a band.
She felt horribly out of place and just nodded meekly, giving him a wobbly smile in greeting.
"I'm Paolo, I run things out here. Anne told us you'd be coming. She's in the last practice room on the left, here I'll show you to her."
Christine forced herself to remain calm as she followed him into the back of the store and down a hallway where many doors were shut on either side. She distantly heard the sounds of piano and guitar, then a loud trumpet.
"Here you are," he said and knocked on the door, before opening it. "Hey Anne. Christine's here."
Mrs. Valerius was sitting at the piano, looking down at her smartphone before turning and seeing Christine, a wide smile taking over. "Oh splendid! I was hoping you'd still come. Here, come on in!"
Christine let herself be ushered inside and Paolo gave a happy farewell before shutting the door behind him. Christine held her breath and looked around the small room. It wasn't very big. It really only had room for an upright piano and a chair next to it. She didn't sit. She was too fearful to move.
"You're positively shaking, Christine. Why are you so nervous?"
Her nerves were that noticeable? Christine crossed her arms over her chest and tried to compose herself. "I just haven't sung like this since school. I... don't know what to expect."
Anne gave her a sympathetic look. "Oh child, don't be so hard on yourself. Talent such as yours doesn't just disappear. You're out of practice. It doesn't mean we can't shine you up all nice again. How about we start slow with the basics? Things you are comfortable with."
Christine nodded, thinking that was probably for the best. Anne always did have unwavering faith in her. That's why she'd depended on her so much during school.
Anne started her out on some scales, in a lower octave than Christine had sung before, which she appreciated. She didn't think she could sing up to her full potential just yet. Her voice only wavered at the beginning until she grew more comfortable with it again. After that, Anne had her sing a song she knew, still in that lower octave, and Christine was pleasantly surprised that it was quickly becoming easier to fall back into old habits.
It was all standard and by the end of the hour, she was startled to realize that a heavy weight had started to lift from her shoulders. It was like she had waltzed back into time and was once again at the school piano. However there still seemed to be a wall she just couldn't get over. Something that held her back from truly enjoying it like she had before.
When Anne slid the cover over the keys, the momentary feeling faded and she frowned down at her feet when Anne turned around.
"Christine. Your voice is lovely as always. I'm so glad that you decided to give it another chance. You had absolutely nothing to worry about. In a few weeks, you'll be right back to where you were. I have no doubt about it."
Christine's cheeks flushed from the praise, not used to it, even though she didn't quite believe the words.
Christine left Marler's with a small music book to work on until her next lesson to keep her voice warm. She climbed into the Uber and stared up at the sky from the window, feeling the full weight of what she'd done, now that it was over. Despite the reminder of how it felt to sing again, the devastation of singing without him felt suffocating.
I sang again today, Dad. God, I wish you had been there.
Christine hastily wiped a tear off her cheek before getting out of the car. She stopped at the mailboxes and grabbed her mail, the music book tucked under her arm as she threaded through the junk mail to find a bill for her electricity. She needed to remember to set up e-billing.
She was paying no attention to where she was going, reading through her mail and heading to the stairwell, that she didn't see the tall shadowy figure headed for the lower apartment until she almost ran into him.
Stopping short, she almost dropped her mail and the book in her arms. He was a figure of thin, emasculated black that struck her with fear. Like a thief. Or a phantom. Hastily, to save face and hopefully her life, she spoke in a shrilly, pleading, apologetic voice. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention! I didn't see you there."
The shadow didn't respond or turn around to look at her, and instead bolted for the door with more grace than she thought humanly possible and shut it behind himself before she even was able to get a glimpse of his face.
She was frozen, staring at the closed door to A1 in shock. What was he? Surely he hadn't been human, she reasoned with herself, unable to believe someone could be cloaked in black and move so swiftly. Her heart hammered in her chest and she felt faint, as if she had come face to face with a spirit.
Christine shifted the mail in her hands uneasily and made herself walk up the stairwell.
Perhaps Joe was right. Perhaps their neighbor really was a ghost.
oO0Oo
Christine flipped through the music book the next day after work, wondering if she recognized any of the songs in it. To her surprise, she knew a couple of them and she immediately tried them out, taking advantage of being alone. She sang through a full song before she reached one that she had sung for her father one year. Her voice dried up and she coughed and was unable to get any more of her voice out without falling into a fit of sobs.
Her phone rang into the silent apartment, making her jump and she sat the book down to retrieve it from her couch.
"Meg! What's up?" She tried to keep her voice as even as possible, not wanting to make her friend worry more about her than she already did.
"Hey, Chris. Do you want to go see that new Ryan Gosling movie? He's so dreamy, we should go."
"Don't you have Sam?" Christine asked suspiciously.
She couldn't even remember the last time they'd gone to the movie theater since Meg had started dating him six months ago. The man had become so smitten with her after seeing her perform in the ballet that he'd worn her down for weeks, practically begging, until she finally relented to go on a date. They'd been inseparable since.
"I do, but he's working late tonight. Besides, it's a girly movie. I highly doubt he'd be into it. Mom's been working us like horses at the theater and finally has let me have the night off. Please, Christine?"
Christine smiled at her plea. "Well, I'm in. Give me ten minutes to change into some nice clothes and I'll be ready."
"Yay! I was hoping you'd agree! I'll be there in twenty."
Christine hung up and dropped the phone into her purse before gathering herself up to change.
Sliding the white sundress on with little yellow flowers felt heavenly after only wearing jeans and t-shirt for work every day. She slid a headband over her unruly blond curls and dotted herself with some light makeup. She didn't normally dress up for anything, so she figured why not, even if it was just a friend date with Meg.
The movie theater was packed and she followed Meg through the crowds, a tub of popcorn and a drink in hand, to find their room. Thankfully, they were able to find decent seats and they immediately began giggling and chatting excitedly as they usually did while together.
"So..." Meg started after a pause in conversation and Christine glanced with a wary quirk of her eyebrow, not liking the tone she was using.
"So what?"
"So, when are you going to find someone?"
Christine rolled her eyes and settled herself back into her chair, gazing at the screen in front of her. A Coca Cola ad played, draping their faces in shades of red. "When I'm ready," she said flippantly, not wanting to get into her nonexistent love life for the hundredth time.
"When will that be?"
Christine looked at her sharply. "Why are you so adamant about me finding someone?"
"Because I just want you to be happy, Christine. I know how lonely you are. How lonely you've been," Meg explained, giving her a serious look. "Living out on your own has to make it that much worse. Besides, you're almost twenty-two. Don't you want someone?"
Christine was surprised that Meg thought her that lonely. She'd been trying to hide the depth of it from everyone. "Of course I want someone, Meg. I just don't want someone right now, is all. I am still trying to figure myself out. It wouldn't be fair to anyone if I just settled on someone because of how lonely I am."
Meg sighed sadly and leaned back in her chair. "I guess you're right..." Christine was thankful she was dropping the subject and relaxed, watching a dog run in slow motion across the screen, but then Meg suddenly piped up again. "But if you change your mind, I know of a really great dating website. Maybe it'd help you find someone you can click with. Or just someone to talk to. You never know, you could find someone you really like."
Christine wasn't too sure about dating websites. It was either way too serious or nothing but hookups, no in between. "I'll think about it," she told her friend noncommittally, if only to stop the uncomfortable conversation and go back to enjoying themselves.
"That's all I ask," Meg told her with a satisfied smile, to which Christine couldn't help but return.
The movie was great and afterward, they grabbed a burger and fries, indulging themselves before Meg drove her home.
High on friendship, fast food, and a good movie, Christine was startled when she noticed the light from the apartment below her was on for what she felt was the first time since she'd moved in. The blinds were still closed, but as it was dark, the window itself lit up with an orange glow.
Christine eyed the window, attempting to get a glimpse inside and calm her irrational fear that her neighbor truly was a ghost from the other side. She hated horror movies, much to Meg and Sam's amusement, and the idea of living in a haunted apartment building was too much.
The door to his apartment swung open unexpectedly and Christine yelped in fright, quickly turning to the stairs in an attempt to not be caught. To her surprise, a tan, foreign man exited the apartment. He wore a brown business suit and was placing a matching hat upon his salt and pepper hair. He caught her eyes and smiled politely.
"Good evening," he said in a lilt of middle eastern accent and nodded his head to her. He disappeared into a silver SUV that she hadn't noticed before.
Christine watched him drive away, her mouth slightly agape, and then looked over to the closed door curiously. The light was now off, the apartment appearing dark and gloomy again.
Surely if someone was visiting her neighbor then that would mean he wasn't a ghost after all. Not a ghost, but a very strange man who apparently prefers the dark and wears all black. Christine felt a little relieved with the revelation, she'd been thinking far too much into it since she'd had that run in with him.
You've completely freaked yourself out over nothing, Christine. Good lord, get a grip.
She made herself walk up the stairs to her apartment, but was stopped abruptly by the sound of a piano.
At first, it sounded like a brief, hesitant plucking of the keys then gradually melted into a melody she hadn't ever heard before, sweeping her away effortlessly. She held her breath, the wordless song spoke of loneliness and longing, piercing her heart with every note.
In a trance, she slowly dropped down to a stair and held onto the wooden railing with tight fingers, the song wrapping around her soul and crushing it, reminding her of just how alone she really was. How no matter what she did, or how much she tried, she'd always be alone.
Her father had been her whole world. Her mother had died when she was a toddler from a car accident and she barely remembered her, only glimpses of soft golden hair and warm brown eyes. A soft, unknown lullaby would every so often creep into mind when she was least expecting it, but that was all she had of her.
Her dad, bless him, had done everything he could to become both mother and father to her after that and although some had said he'd made her too dependent on him, it had not mattered. They were all they had in this world and nothing could have ripped them apart.
Until the absolute worst case scenario had done just that. The cancer had shattered both of them and had left Christine completely heartbroken, a shell of who she once was, and utterly alone.
She had Meg and Antionette to thank for keeping her alive and going, but in the end, she had never felt the same. She didn't think she ever could feel the same. Whole, happy, and complete.
The song drifted and grew quiet until the only thing she could hear was the frogs and crickets of the night. A slight breeze ruffled her hair and she felt the cold caress on her cheeks, glistening the tears she hadn't realized she had shed.
She furiously wiped them away, coming to her senses and realizing she had become paralyzed under the piano's power and had thought and felt things she hadn't allowed herself to feel in a really long time. She swallowed back a hard lump in her throat and got to her feet, legs trembling underneath her, using the railing to help her up.
Her hands dropped from it, her knuckles aching in protest from being tightly wound for so long, and she forced every step to her apartment. She was astounded by how her mysterious ghost-like neighbor unwittingly could elicit such a reaction from her.
It made her briefly wonder if he was just as alone as she was.