by Anna Adams
“Very well, Mathieu,” Maude said, her lips twitching.
Before Matt could answer, Maude pointed behind him towards Thomas who was coming in their direction.
“There’s Prince Charming!”
“Only when I’m on my best behavior,” Thomas joked.
He quickly sobered up when he saw Matt, and a shadow covered his face.
“Thomas Bradfield meet Mathieu Beauchamp,” Maude said, as she clearly hadn’t seen Thomas’s countenance change.
Matt looked back at Thomas with a sullen expression.
“We know each other,” Matt said coldly.
Maude looked at the both of them, confused, and was about to ask them how they knew each other when she heard Ms. Tragent call her sharply from across the room.
“I have to go see Cathy for dress fittings. I’ll be back in ten minutes,” she said, leaving reluctantly.
When Maude was out of earshot, Thomas turned towards Matt and smiled a slow, arrogant smile.
“I’m guessing you haven’t told her, have you?”
Matt’s eyes darkened.
“I haven’t yet because I didn’t know you two were friends. Now that I know, I plan on telling her.”
Thomas looked taken aback for a split second, then quickly regained a calm composure.
“Are you sure you want to do that?”
“It doesn’t matter what I want. It would be best if she knew.”
“I’m not sure it’s in your best interest. It seems to me you’re only starting to become friends.”
“I don’t see how that is any of your business.”
“You’re right, it isn’t. However, do you really want to jeopardize this new, budding friendship by telling her what you know about one of the closest friends she’s had since she arrived in New York? While you were busy making fun of her, I was there to help her improve her vocal skills. I spent hours practicing with her every evening for hours and hours at a time. I would say it created a very strong bond between us. ”
It was Matt’s turn to sway, and he glared back angrily at Thomas.
“You’re hesitating,” Thomas realized. He laughed quietly. “You really like her, don’t you?”
Matt remained silent.
“You know, she might not even believe you. And you can kiss her friendship goodbye and everything else as well.”
“I’m warning you, Thomas, if you hurt her—”
“Hurt her?” Thomas exclaimed in mock disbelief. “I actually like her, Matt, and I think she likes me, too. You’ll see that in a couple of minutes when we’ll be on stage. Feel free to take a front-row seat,” Thomas said as he walked away.
Matt looked at Maude from afar talking to his aunt on stage and steadied his breath. Before he could cool down entirely, Lindsey appeared suddenly in her nineteenth-century costume and almost made him jump.
“Hey, Matt!” She strutted towards him in her large, beige taffeta dress, holding up her skirts to keep them from sweeping the floor.
“Hi Lindsey,” he greeted her gloomily “I hear you’re playing the evil stepsister, Clorinda. Like they say: ‘if the shoe fits.”
“Yes, but I’m also Cinderella’s understudy. Just in case something were to happen to Maude,” she explained, obviously relishing the idea.
“Don’t count on it.”
“We should get together sometime.”
“Don’t count on that either,” Matt repeated.
“Didn’t the tabloids agree that we would make the hottest celebrity couple? We could write another hit together?”
“That’s never going to happen,” Matt answered firmly. “You and I have absolutely zero musical chemistry. You let me write ‘Burning Bridges’ entirely by myself, remember?”
His gaze drifted towards the stage to Maude who was also looking in his direction. She quickly averted her eyes. Lindsey followed Matt’s gaze and pushed her hair angrily behind her ear.
“If I were you I wouldn’t get too attached. We’re all making bets on how much longer it will take before Thomas and Maude become an item. It’s only a question of time, Matt,” she declared before stomping angrily away, almost tripping over her dress as she did so.
Matt took a seat and waited, uneasy, for the rehearsal to begin.
Maude, singing, appears on stage, dressed in rags. She stops as she sees the Prince. It’s love at first sight. Cinderella admires the Prince she thinks is a valet while the Prince is struck by Cinderella’s beauty, grace, and simplicity. He wants to know more about her, her family, her name. But she tells him, humbly, that she doesn’t know who she really is, that the Baron isn’t her father, and that her family history is complicated and incomplete. Maude and Thomas were impressive as a couple. Thomas’s tenor voice perfectly entwined with Maude’s mezzo-soprano tones as they sang convincingly of love and enchantment.
Matt was unable to stand it any longer, and he noiselessly, but decidedly, left the theater. Oblivious to everything but her part, Maude felt a tinge of regret when she realized Matt had left before rehearsal was over. She hadn’t thanked him for the great day she’d spent in his company. Perhaps “great” and “Matt” did belong in the same sentence after all.
Thomas stayed behind with Maude after everyone had left.
“You seem to be getting along better with Matt,” Thomas observed when they were alone.
Maude’s eyes brightened.
“We had an amazing time together today. We’ve made a lot of progress in the making of the album. Matt said we’ve found my first hit. We’ll present it to James Baldwin soon.”
“And did you manage to finish your song about Paris?”
“Actually, my song about Paris became ‘Paris Versus New York City.’ We were in a Mexican restaurant, and we came up with something really great on stage. Do you want to hear it? You could give me your honest opinion.”
“Of course I’d love that,” Thomas said, smiling. “What else are friends for?”
Chapter 9
“I want everything on the menu!” Ben exclaimed, waving the menu under Maude’s nose.
Maude and the entire Baldwin family, along with Matt, were at Silver Spoon, a restaurant in the Upper East Side, trying to decide what to eat.
“That’s absolutely out of the question, Ben,” Jazmine said firmly. “Remember what happened last time you had too much to eat.”
Cynthia and Matt laughed while Ben scolded
“What are you talking about?” Maude wondered.
“No sordid details at the table,” Victoria warned sternly, though her eyes were dancing with mild amusement.
“Victoria’s right,” James put in. “This is Maude’s special evening. We don’t want to ruin it for her with graphic details of Ben’s digestive process.”
“Maude’s first pre-event ritual,” Jazmine beamed proudly.
“Pre-event ritual?” Maude asked. She had no idea what they meant.
“Every time one of us has an important event coming up, we go out to dinner the night before,” Cynthia explained. “And tomorrow is your big night, dear Cenerentola,”
“So, how are you feeling?” Jazmine asked.
“I’m amazingly calm,” Maude mused. “I never thought I would feel so calm before something this huge.”
“Our morning yoga session probably helped,” Cynthia stated, quite pleased with herself.
“Sorry to burst your bubble, but I’m the reason she’s so calm,” Matt pointed out. “I took her sight-seeing for an entire day last week, and we came up with two hits.”
“You did a great job you two,” James said. “You really make a great team just like I knew you would. We’ll keep working on the musical arrangement, and we’ll be ready to record this baby in a couple of weeks.”
Maude looked up from her menu and met Matt’s serious gray stare resting on her. Surprised, she quickly averted her eyes, quite aware that her cheeks were growing uncommonly warm.
Jazmine witnessed this and frowned slightly, but said nothing.
>
“Where’s our waiter, I’m starving!” Ben cried.
And like a genie being summoned out of its magical lamp, the waiter appeared in, or rather stumbled into, the room. He seemed hesitant, turning the pages of his writing pad quickly while muttering under his breath. He was a tall, pale, dark-haired skinny boy in a waiter’s outfit that made him look more adult than he actually was. His round-rimmed glasses fell on his nose as he furiously turned the pages of his writing pad.
When he arrived at the Baldwin’s table, he almost tripped over his own feet, but caught himself just in time.
Jazmine looked up at him and gasped.
“Jonathan?” she squeaked in a small voice. “What are you doing here?”
Jonathan looked up from his pad and dropped his pen.
“Jazmine!” he exclaimed. “What are you doing here?” he echoed.
“She’s here to see you, of course,” Matt teased.
Jazmine shot Matt a nasty look and said, “I didn’t know you worked here.”
“This is my first night. Hey, Maude,” he added turning towards an amused Maude.
“Hi Jonathan. Do you think you’ll handle our plates better than the way you handled that pen?” she teased.
“I honestly hope so,” Jonathan answered, clearly doubtful.
Maude, having heard of Jonathan’s incredible dexterity with a guitar, wondered how he could be such a klutz with everything else. The times she’d walked past him in the halls she’d witnessed him dropping everything from pencils to his glasses and several stacks of books. Apparently, it was only when he was holding a guitar that he seemed completely transformed and mesmerizing. Too bad he could never keep anything else in his hands for more than a second. Their plates would most certainly end up crashing to the floor, Maude thought.
The Baldwin family all seemed to be thinking the same thing except for Jazmine who was staring at Jonathan with soft eyes and a slightly amused smile.
“Can I take your order?” Jonathan asked as if he had rehearsed this sentence in his head a million times.
Jazmine snapped back to reality and stammered helplessly “I’ll- I’ll take the salad with—”
“A salad?!” Ben cried in disbelief. “Since when do you eat salad? I thought you said you wanted moussaka?”
“Right, I want moussaka,” Jazmine said more firmly. “And a glass of sparkling water, please.”
While everyone else ordered, Maude observed Jazmine, whose entire countenance had changed. She knew Jazmine well enough by now to know that she was one of the most assured people she had ever met. She always knew what to say at the right time and never seemed fazed. It suddenly dawned on Maude that perhaps, Jazmine’s feelings had changed towards the guitarist. During dinner, Jazmine grew increasingly quiet while the rest of the family chatted. Matt and Maude were talking with James Baldwin about the album while Ben, Victoria, and Cynthia were making bets on how many plates Jonathan, who was trying to be everywhere at once, would break during the course of the evening.
When a soft jazzy music filled the restaurant, James stood up and asked Victoria to dance. She accepted gracefully and the two headed towards the dancing area.
Matt looked at Maude and was about to ask her if she wanted to dance, but Jazmine cut him off and said, “We should go dance, too Matt. Don’t you think?”
Matt looked puzzled, but agreed nonetheless.
As they were dancing, Jazmine whispered.
“I know what you’re doing.”
“Dancing with you,” Matt answered jokingly.
“I’m not talking about that. I’ve been watching you, Matt. You’re falling for Maude, aren’t you?” she continued, her eyes filled with a certain sadness.
Matt remained silent.
“She told me you apologized for having been completely insensitive. You never apologize, Matt. To anyone.”
Matt continued to remain silent.
“You can’t fall for her, Matt. I won’t let you.”
Matt laughed and dismissed Jazmine’s serious stance with a flippant, “I’d like to see you try.”
“She’s like a sister to me now,” Jazmine said softly. “I don’t want to see her get hurt.”
“How can you be so sure that I would hurt her?”
“It’s what you usually do.” Jazmine sighed. “I love you, Matt, but you’re a mother’s worst nightmare.”
“Good thing you’re not her mother then.”
“But I’m her surrogate older sister. And I know you, Matt. You break hearts as easily as you breathe. I don’t want Maude to be your next victim.”
“This is different,” Matt said, growing paler as he spoke. “I’ve never felt this way for anyone else. She’s amazing. When she laughs, when she’s angry, and God knows, she’s got a temper. And when she sings, Jazmine, I can’t describe it. She’s different from any girl I’ve ever known.”
Jazmine nodded.
“I know she is. We all feel it. There’s a bond between us now. That’s why I don’t want you to mess her up.”
“She’s the one who’s messing me up,” Matt admitted, smiling sadly. “You actually don’t have anything to worry about, Jaz. She’s made it quite clear that I’m not her type.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” Jazmine said. “However, do you really want to take the risk of ruining the musical chemistry you have? In the years I’ve known you, I’ve never seen you work so well with another artist. Like Dad said, you and Maude make a great team. I’ve never seen you this prolific, and you’re mutually learning from each other. If you ruin everything Matt, you’ll regret it. You’ve never stayed over a week with a girl. And Maude is much too smart to follow you meekly around like your other girlfriends did.”
Matt laughed. Meek and Maude didn’t belong together in the same sentence.
“You’re right,” he agreed painfully. “But you’re one to talk.”
“What do you mean?”
“Don’t think I didn’t notice the way you looked at Jonathan all evening.”
Jazmine smiled sweetly.
“That is absolutely none of your business, Matt.”
“Right and my relationship with Maude is yours. Ever heard of a double standard, Jaz?”
“It’s not the same. Maude is family now. And you’re family too. It would almost be incestuous. You would incur the wrath of the gods,” she warned as they walked back to the table.
Matt watched Maude while she danced with Ben. She threw her head back and laughed at something Ben said. He sighed inwardly. He knew Jazmine was right. His track record was awful. If things went badly with Maude, it could jeopardize his relationship with the Baldwins who had adopted her as their own. He caught her eye while she twirled with Ben near James and Victoria. As she smiled kindly at him, he felt his heart beat faster.
He turned away. Maude didn’t like him that way. She certainly seemed to appreciate Thomas Bradfield way more than he deserved. Matt shook his head. He had absolutely zero chance of winning her over. Jazmine was right. They were to begin recording Maude’s debut album soon, and he needed to be focused. He would stay away from her as much as he could, no matter how painful it would be. Not painful, he admonished himself firmly. He could forget her if he tried. Or better yet, he’d find another girl to replace her. Her laugh, her smile, her voice, they were nothing, he thought as he leaned against his chair contently.
Jazmine got up quietly from the table leaving Matt to his thoughts and headed outside, at the back of the restaurant.
Jonathan was standing outside, near a huge pile of garbage, looking at the sky probably praying he wouldn’t get fired on his first night.
“Tough evening, huh,” Jazmine, said as she walked towards him radiant as always.
“Waitressing is a lot harder than it looks,” he replied.
“I was surprised to see you here.”
“It might be the last time you see me here given how the night’s been going.”
“Come on. They can’t seriously fire you
for breaking only twenty plates. That would really be unfair.”
“I know right. I’m sure I could win a lawsuit against Silver Spoon for wrongful termination.”
“I’m at least thankful you didn’t break our plates. I couldn’t care less about the other customers’ food.”
“How very generous of you, Jazmine,” he replied, throwing his head back as he laughed. “Typical Jazmine behavior.”
“How can you say that? You barely even know me!”
“I’ve seen enough of you to know what you’re capable of,” Jonathan affirmed seriously.
Jazmine nodded, her eyes sparkling playfully.
She was always surprised at how Jonathan saw right through her, but also challenged her. She had stopped seeing him as a dorky geek for a while now and found his klutziness charming. Behind his large glasses, she saw his soft features and kind, brown eyes. He always seemed to be laughing at a private joke he shared with himself and didn’t seem to need anybody else.
Jonathan was actually quite appreciated at their school. Although incredibly intelligent, he never hesitated to help those who needed him and even tutored a few football players in dire need of divine intervention. Nevertheless, he was never interested in making lasting relationships or gaining popularity. This bothered Jazmine. As she had grown closer to him, she wanted him to feel he needed her, that he wanted to be near her. He either didn’t notice or pretended not to.
“I actually was extra-careful with your plates. I personally took out all the bugs I found. Did you notice?”
“I did, Jon. I was just telling my family how Silver Spoon had improved since the last time we came. Usually there are rats running all over the place. This time, nothing.”
“That’s all me.”
“I guess hiring a professional plate-smasher has its perks.”
“Yeah, too bad, I’m quitting after tonight. They are going to be so sorry to see me go.”
“I would be sorry, too,” Jazmine replied, all playfulness gone from her voice.
She looked into his eyes and leaned slowly towards him. Jonathan leaned towards her, too. He could smell the soft, strawberry scent of her dark, raven black hair.
And then he pulled her close and kissed her softly, tenderly, as if he needed her just as much as she needed him, as if being near her was the most natural thing in the world, and he never wanted to let her go. And neither did she.