The Tchaikovsky Affair

by Swift, Marie

  All too soon, Shannon was shocked out of her reverie when she heard the final few notes of Jackie’s part being played. She raised her violin to her shoulder, breathed in deeply, and let her fingers glide up and down the neck of the violin with delightful abandon. Fueled by the adrenaline, Shannon played the piece like she never had before. Letting her muscles recall the precise notes and rhythms, she focused on pushing every emotion she had in that moment onto the strings: the love and passion she felt for Jackie, for the music, for the violin, the pride she had in herself for coming this far. Jackie watched, her mouth slightly open in awe of the woman standing before her.

  Jackie could feel every emotion as if it were own and reciprocated with her own fervent ardor. The two continued in this fashion, passing the baton so-to-speak back and forth flawlessly, completely oblivious of the audience, who were sitting with rapt attention.

  About three quarters of the way through the duet, they had a slight break while various instruments in the woodwind and brass sections had small solos. Shannon found herself almost subconsciously drifting towards Jackie as if being pulled by a magnet. She merely smiled at Jackie’s questioning glance as she came to a stop right next to her on the other side of the conductor’s podium from where she started.

  The biggest part of Jackie’s solo was next and she handled it with the same grace and talent she’d exuded in the beginning. Shannon didn’t care that it was unprofessional of her to stare at Jackie while she was playing, but she literally couldn’t help it. She began to play her own part, which led directly into the beginning of the climactic end.

  As the orchestra score picked up and became more and more frenzied, Shannon leaned into Jackie, her hip brushing lightly against Jackie’s arm, enough pressure for her to feel, but not enough to inhibit her playing. Their new proximity to each other bumped the duet into yet undiscovered heights. At the end of the piece, Michael had combined their two parts, Shannon playing her lightening fast scales and melismas while Jackie played a graceful and haunting melody. The two motifs complemented each other the way two well-matched lovers do, equally wonderful as individuals, but magical together. And that’s exactly how Shannon and Jackie played it, as if together they were creating a whole with their two halves. They fed off of each other’s energy as they reveled in the feel of their bodies moving against each other in time with the music.

  All too quickly the music came to a feverish end and the two were left trying to catch their breaths, reeling from the adrenaline and the realization that this piece and their performance so accurately depicted their love and relationship.

  The crowd jumped to their feet and whistled and clapped and screamed their adoration for what they had just witnessed. Having previously forgotten about the audience, Jackie stood quickly, ready to take a bow. Moving her bow to her left hand, she reached out for Shannon’s hand so that they could share in the audience’s praise. They bowed deeply and slowly, drinking in the deserved adoration.

  As they stood back up, Jackie tried to release Shannon’s hand to allow Gallo to step between them, but Shannon squeezed her hand tightly. Jackie looked at her inquisitively, but Shannon just smiled slyly and tugged her abruptly towards her. Shocked by the motion, Jackie stumbled into Shannon, careful not to drop her cello. Releasing Jackie’s hand, Shannon brought it behind Jackie’s neck and pulled their faces close together.

  Jackie felt woozy at the proximity of Shannon’s breath, scent, lips and thought her legs might give out at every moment. She placed her now free hand on the small of Shannon’s back for support, or so she told herself.

  Shannon spoke against her lips, “I meant what I said. I love you.”

  “I love you, too,” Jackie breathed, before she felt lips being slammed into hers. She responded by pulling Shannon’s hips into hers, needing to feel closer. Shannon gently parted Jackie’s lips with her tongue, needing every part of her to be as close to Jackie as possible. The two were dimly aware of the crowd’s renewed applause at their spectacle, but neither cared one bit.

  They pulled apart when they felt a hand on both of their shoulders. They turned to see Gallo smiling and laughing at them with absolute delight. He took both of their free hands and the three bowed together, the applause from the audience never diminishing. As Gallo presented the rest of the ensemble, Jackie and Shannon once again found their way to each other. They stood with Jackie’s arm around Shannon’s shoulder, Shannon’s arm around the taller woman’s waist. They wanted to share each second of this with the other as close to each other as they could get.

  Shannon was acutely aware of the fact that this could mean the end of her career, of both of their careers, but she actually couldn’t care less. She thought that hearing the thunderous applause from an audience after she performed a brilliant solo would be the most satisfying and gratifying experience in her life, but it paled in comparison to the feeling of Jackie’s strong arm around her shoulder. As she leaned into Jackie, she could feel the brunette’s heart beating rapidly under her ear.

  They could have been standing like this in a grocery store aisle, doing something completely mundane like arguing over which cereal to buy, and Shannon would have been perfectly content. As much as music would always be her passion and an undying part of her, Jackie’s love was what completed her. This was the moment she didn’t realize she had been waiting for her whole life.

  Epilogue

  “Colin! Stop hitting Maria with your bow!” Jackie attempted to discipline the children in front of her.

  “Sorry, Ms. Ortiz,” Colin replied, sheepish.

  “Okay, let’s go back to the beginning. Your first finger should be on the red strip. Ready? 1, 2, 3…Colin, please pay attention and stop staring at Maria!” Jackie admonished once again, though she was trying to keep a smile at bay. It seemed that she might be witnessing a budding relationship.

  Counting down once again, exasperated, Jackie grinned when she saw a flash of blonde out of the corner of her eye.

  “Okay, you know what, guys? I think that’s enough Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star for the day. If you pack up the cellos carefully, I’ll let you out early today, okay?”

  “But, Ms. Ortiz! Colin didn’t get the jump to the 5th right. I think we should fix that before we leave,” a particularly precocious member of Jackie’s class piped up.

  “And I think a little extra recess would do you some good, Sophie.”

  Jackie was, of course, just letting them out early because Shannon had showed up unexpectedly at the school. Though it was their 1-year anniversary, Shannon had a concert that night, and Jackie hadn’t expected to see her until later. After that fateful night of their very public confessions of love, predictably, both had been fired from their positions within the Philharmonic. Jackie took it as a sign that it wasn’t meant to be, and she immediately looked for other jobs. She wanted to inspire a younger generation of musicians and found that teaching music in elementary school was the perfect way to do so. After an overwhelming public outcry due to the unjust nature in which they were fired, both Jackie and Shannon were offered their jobs back. Jackie decided that she was happier teaching and performing occasionally, while Shannon returned as a periodic soloist, deciding that she didn’t want the stress of being concertmaster.

  While keeping a watchful eye on the children bustling about the room, Jackie walked over to the door where Shannon was leaning on the doorjamb, one arm behind her back, apparently trying to look cool.

  “I think you’ve got a mini Ortiz in your class,” Shannon said, gesturing to Sophie.

  “No, I think she’s more of a mini McClintock. She’s a know-it-all,” Jackie teased with a wink.

  “Hey now. Is that a way to treat your girlfriend on our anniversary?”

  “Oh, is it our anniversary today? Must have slipped my mind,” Jackie grinned down at the blonde.

  Shannon opened her mouth to retort with a witty comeback, when the kids started pushing through the tiny space between her leg and the doorway.
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  “Say ‘excuse me’ to Ms. McClintock!” Jackie demanded.

  “Excuse me, Ms. McClintock,” they chorused, before attempting to barge past her once again. They all recognized her, because she would often come in to duet with Jackie, which the kids loved.

  “No running!” Jackie called after them as they scurried down the hall to get to their homerooms.

  “Hi,” Jackie said, leaning down to peck Shannon on the lips now that the students were out of sight. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

  “Well, since my concert’s tonight, I won’t be able to see you until after midnight, and I wanted to be able to spend some time with you on our anniversary. So I brought lunch!” Shannon grinned, holding up a bag of Chinese take out. “And flowers!” she added, bringing her hand out from behind her back.

  Jackie beamed at Shannon’s enthusiasm and thoughtfulness, while taking the bag of lunch and setting it on the table. She was about to thank her girlfriend for the flowers, when she actually noticed the absurd little bouquet Shannon was holding. Two beautiful flowers stood proudly in the middle, wrapped by a wiry purple flower and something that looked a lot like some sort of grain.

  “I’m usually not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, but uh…is that wheat?”

  Shannon laughed brightly. “It’s oats!” she replied as if it were the most obvious choice of flower for an anniversary. “According to the florist, it means music.”

  “Okay…” Jackie said, wondering if the blonde was going to explain further.

  “This one is a hyacinth,” she explained, pointing to the elegant, white, tubular flower in the middle. “I liked it at first because it sounds like your name, but then she explained that the red ones symbolize love and happiness, I knew it was perfect, because that is exactly what you have brought me.

  “This one represents me,” she continued, pointing at the bright orange star-shaped flower. “It’s a day lily, which symbolizes cheerfulness and enthusiasm.”

  “It’s beautiful, thank you,” Jackie replied, dropping another kiss on Shannon’s lips.

  “Not done yet! So these two flowers represent us, and as you see, they’re wrapped in the music flower, which is what brought us together. And this,” Shannon paused to point to the bristly purple flower, “is a passion flower. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you what that stands for,” Shannon finished, lowering her voice suggestively at the end.

  A short burst of laughter exploded from Jackie’s mouth as she pawed at Shannon’s hips, bringing their bodies together. “You’re adorable, thank you.”

  Shannon snaked her free hand around Jackie’s neck to pull her down in a kiss that probably shouldn’t have happened within the walls of an elementary school.

  “Mmm, close the door,” Jackie mumbled against Shannon’s lips.

  Shannon pulled back abruptly, trying to look Jackie in the eye. “Wait, seriously?”

  “No, not that! I just wanted to eat lunch with my girlfriend in peace without some little munchkin coming in to ask if they can get an extra sticker. Oh! Speaking of which, I have something for you.”

  Shannon shut the door before coming back to sit at the extra chair next to Jackie’s desk, while Jackie shuffled through a drawer to find the gift.

  “Okay, so your real gift is coming later tonight, but I saw these online a while ago and thought you needed to have some,” Jackie said with a mischievous glint in her eye. Shannon quirked her head to the side before taking the envelope. Opening the envelope, she allowed five slips of thick paper to fall into her hand.

  “You got me stickers? For my case?”

  “Yes, because I know how much you love mine.”

  Shannon groaned as she flipped through the stickers. She giggled at the first one: a picture of a violin with a butterfly flying around it. The second had the words “Kiss me, I’m a violinist” printed on it with red lips. The third was a warning label that read “Danger: Hot Violinist”.

  “I can’t put these stickers on my case, Jacinta,” Shannon chided with a huge smile on her face. “Well, maybe the butterfly one, but I have to maintain some semblance of professionalism.”

  “Okay, fine, but look at the last one!”

  As Shannon flipped over the danger sign, she came to one that said, “Cellist by day, rock star by night.”

  “Oh, I bought that one for myself!” Jackie grinned, grabbing the sticker out of Shannon’s hands.

  This just left one that had a picture of a cello and a violin displayed in the middle of two bass clef symbols, one of which had been inverted so that they formed a heart.

  “Who knew the bad ass Jacinta Ortiz was such a cheesy romantic?” Shannon asked rhetorically with a dimpled smile. “I will definitely put this one on my case.”

  They continued their playful and loving banter while they ate, grateful for the rare free time they had in each other’s company.

  “Crap, I have 5th grade orchestra in 10 minutes,” Jackie said finally.

  “That’s okay, I have to go back to my place and get ready for tonight anyway.”

  “Ah yes, the big debut of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto. You nervous?” Jackie goaded.

  “Please, Shannon McClintock doesn’t get nervous. I’m awesome.”

  “You are awesome, and I can’t wait to see the performance tonight. And more specifically, I can’t wait to see what dress you wear.”

  * * *

  Jackie made her way through the bustling lobby of Avery Fisher Hall to get to her seat in the most sought after booth, which would give her the perfect view of Shannon. She had spent so long fussing about her own appearance and trying to pick out the perfect dress that she was just barely in her seat when the lights flashed to signify that the concert would start in a few minutes.

  She impatiently sat through the first half. She was enjoying watching her former colleagues play, especially Stacey who had been moved up to principal cello in Jackie’s absence, but the lack of a hot blonde violinist on stage was making her lose interest.

  Soon enough, though, the musicians were once again taking their places on stage for the second half. As the audience waited patiently for Shannon and Maestro Gallo to walk on stage, Jackie felt her muscles tensing and palms sweating from sheer excitement. When Shannon finally stepped on stage wearing an elegant jade dress that hugged her curves perfectly, Jackie thought her heart might actually beat of her chest. Shannon walked to the middle of the stage and Jackie finally noticed that the sides of her dress had a couple cut outs, some of her skin only covered by lacy mesh. Jackie groaned audibly, wondering how she was going to survive the next half hour.

  As was to be expected, Shannon played the familiar melody flawlessly. For most of the solo, Shannon kept her eyes closed, swaying into her violin every so often. Watching her girlfriend perform so sensuously was almost too much for Jackie to take. Jackie bit down on her bottom lip to keep from making any noise. She wondered what Shannon was imagining when she closed her eyes.

  During one particular passage, Shannon played several long, soaring notes. She opened her eyes and instantly sought out Jackie’s box, which was fairly well lit as it was next to the stage. Jackie smiled to her encouragingly, and they locked eyes for a few moments while Shannon’s pace began to quicken. It was almost as if in that moment that the rest of the orchestra or the audience didn’t exist. Soon, the intensity of their gaze got to be too much, and Shannon once again closed her eyes and turned to face the center of the audience.

  Jackie’s breathing was becoming more and more ragged. She internally berated herself for getting so worked up. It wasn’t as though she hadn’t watched Shannon play before, but this performance was conjuring up memories from the opening night of their duet, their public display, and the celebration that followed it.

  Lost in her thoughts, Jackie almost didn’t notice that the piece had ended. She leapt to her feet with the rest of the audience, cheering loudly. After just a few seconds of applause, she rushed out of the concert hall to make her w
ay backstage. Enough stagehands recognized her that she was allowed access to Shannon’s dressing room. She paced around the room waiting for the incessant curtain calls to be finished.

  She grinned as she heard Shannon’s lilting voice thanking someone for his compliment. As soon as the door opened, Jackie was on the blonde, attacking her lips with frightening ferocity and practically mauling her face. Shuffling them over to the counter so that she could safely put her violin down, Shannon reacted with equal intensity.

  Finally pulling away, Shannon asked, “So I take it you enjoyed the performance?”

  “You. Are. Amazing.” Jackie replied, punctuating each word with a kiss. “And this dress…God, this dress. Were you trying to make me have a heart attack?”

  “You’re looking pretty sexy yourself,” Shannon giggled, pinching Jackie’s butt playfully. Jackie groaned and rocked her hips into Shannon’s in an emphatically less playful manner.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Jackie whispered, before tugging gently on Shannon’s ear with her teeth.

  “I thought you’d never ask,” Shannon replied, whisking around to pack her violin as quickly as possible.

  As they walked out of Lincoln Center, Shannon tugged Jackie towards the side of the block where it was easiest to hail a cab.

  “No, we’re going this way,” Jackie said, pulling the blonde in an opposite direction.

  “Um, as much as I’m enjoying this nice weather, I really just want to get you back to my apartment and out of those clothes as fast as humanly possible.”