The Pianoplayer: A lesbian love story

by Rosalie Sommer

  She was torn. Over the last few weeks she had gained some distance from the events with Michelle and their unpleasant course - now she was again forced to expose herself to the pianist for a long time. She had to produce a piece with her that was good for something, that the public liked and that guaranteed that not only the single sales went up but also the album CD sales - and the downloads were an important aspect as well. A lot depended on this one track, so a good cooperation was the basis for the success of this track.

  Adolé knew that Roswitha was right, as always: a successful first release would draw attention to the entire ensemble and their extraordinary idea, arouse the audience's curiosity and boost sales in all sectors. But for obvious reasons she had reservations and respect for the new start of the collaboration. And not least before meeting Michelle again, because deep inside she knew that no time in the world could give her enough distance to this extraordinary woman, too much had touched and hurt her core.

  "Very well," she reluctantly added, "but we'll stop immediately if I think it's right. Without discussion!!"

  Adolé sighed resignedly and let herself fall even deeper into the back seat of her car. As she looked out the side of the back window of the limousine through her dark sunglasses, she knew that not only the success of the entire project depended to a large extent on this one shot - perhaps the rest of her life as well.

  21.

  Two weeks had passed when Adolé headed with her bicycle unerringly towards a small unknown studio on Sylt. It was early in the morning. The autumn sun was still low and so Adolé was blinded by the morning sun.

  Adolé loved this island and had made it a condition to Roswitha, as a condition of her final agreement to this final phase of work with Michelle, that she book this cosy studio to work in peace on the one track that was so important to the whole project.

  Roswitha had tried to change her mind, pointed out how remote this studio was and how unlikely it was that it would be available at such short notice. In the end, however, she agreed to give it a try and promptly booked the recording studio a short time later. Roswitha immediately got down to business and booked it for two weeks. That should probably be enough.

  Adolé was happier about that than she was willing to admit. She needed a certain relaxed atmosphere to be able to work creatively and Sylt was for her the epitome of relaxation and recreation. Sylt was her soul place and especially now in autumn it was beautiful. As often as she could, she tried to go to her house a little outside between Kampen and List to find distance to her crazy everyday life in show business.

  She loved this unique energy on the island.

  When she found the house and immediately fell in love with it, it was a bargain by Sylt standards. She didn't know at the time that Kampen had a reputation as a trendy resort that attracted all would-be residents and anyone who thought they were wealthy or important enough, like moths to a flame. Seeing and being seen was really not Adolé's cup of tea. She was therefore glad from the very beginning that this small Friesian house, hidden in the gentle dunes of the northern Sylt, had a sufficiently large plot of land including a fence.

  She had fallen in love with this refuge right on her first visit. Especially the secluded garden with an unobstructable view of the North Sea was a special plus. Because it was only her holiday home for a few short days a year, she appreciated the view, the private ambience and the possibility to withdraw there undisturbed.

  That paid off now, she could at least sleep in her own bed and stay in her own four walls during the stressful time in the studio. This was far more than she could claim most other times of the year. Although she loved touring and was now used to spending her time in the better homes of Germany and the world, the more precious were the moments she could spend in rooms she had chosen and designed herself. There was just nothing like a real home.

  She was glad that she could at least include this compromise in her arrangement with Roswitha and that the recordings were now at least at a place of her choice. Roswitha had not been prepared to make any further concessions either, because she too wanted to bring this tiresome affair to a speedy and final conclusion without any further ado.

  Although she found her original idea of bringing together two world stars of completely different musical genres and seeing what spectacular things develop out of it, still creative and surprising, outstanding and overly promising, even she had to admit that the choice of the French piano player had at least been unfortunate, if not a fatal mistake - even if one could not have foreseen this in advance. In retrospect, at any rate, everything that could have gone wrong had gone wrong.

  Adolé had come to terms with the fact that she would see Michelle again and decided to make the best of it. She couldn't help it anyway. She would behave professionally and make these last few days as short and effective as possible so that she could finally find the conclusion she wanted - for herself and her project. Afterwards she would look ahead and devote herself to other topics. Life went on. After all, this undertaking had now lasted much longer than planned and, above all, had robbed her of much more energy than had been expected. It now simply had to be brought to an end and then each of her ways went anyway. She knew that Roswitha, too, would make three crosses when the topic was finally finished and she could concentrate on other core tasks as manager of Germany's superstar number one.

  She rode her bicycle further up a long driveway lined with lime trees and a little later turned into a farm surrounded by fields. It was precisely this spaciousness, which was seldom found in certain areas on Sylt, that gave this estate its flair. Adolé took a deep breath and with one hand pushed her coat up to under her chin. It had become cool, especially here by the sea. She braked, dismounted and leaned the bicycle against the wall of the house.

  The two composers and some of the musicians she knew were already standing in the courtyard. They greeted each other warmly and were honestly looking forward to seeing each other again. In one of the former barns was the studio, which, although a little smaller than usual, was one of the best in Germany. After short conversations the group started moving towards the recording rooms.

  Adolé was one of the last to enter the room. At the same moment she saw Michelle, who as usual was sitting sunburnt on one of the bar stools in the back, studying a score. She looked up briefly. Her gaze remained frightened for a few moments at Adolé when she recognized her in the crowd of people coming in. Without greeting, she immediately turned back to her notes.

  "Well, this can get better. "it flashed through Adolé's mind. But she was determined to behave professionally and to perform this one piece of music with dignity and decency, even if the sight of this stubborn keyboard player made her feel like a completely different emotional outburst.

  She approached them with a quick decision and greeted them coolly but politely. "Hello, Michelle. I'm glad you're here. I'm glad that we can record this last piece together," and was aware that this reception contained one or two points - that she was here and that they would record something together. Yes. At last!

  Without waiting for a reaction, she turned away and left her coat at the cloakroom. Meanwhile she felt Michelle's gaze in her back, but she was not impressed. She went over to the rest of the musicians and secretly wished that Michelle would behave like a normal person once, just once, and just come over to them and exchange casually with them like everyone else did. After all, they knew each other. Inwardly she shook her head once again, resignedly. What was waiting for her there?

  Of course Michelle didn't do her that favour. As always, she did not feel part of the ensemble and preferred to sit in her corner next to the piano, obviously busy studying the composition to be recorded. At least she lifted her head when Adolé came over with the musicians at some point and they slowly started to try out first sequences of notes and discussed how they wanted to put on the song. She even sat down at her grand piano without comment and contributed several key sequences to the general rehearsal. Slowly a c
ommon work developed, which worked better than Adolé had imagined.

  So the morning passed, the noon with a little refreshment and the afternoon, when coffee with little treats was served with Adolé's greatest pleasure. Towards the evening, they were already a big step in the right direction.

  The next few days were similarly remarkably calm and without incident. Michelle's and Adolé's eyes met here and there rather unintentionally, but Adolé refrained from further deepening the exchange.

  When they were almost finished with their title piece after about a week, Adolé invited everyone to a nearby restaurant in the evening. Surprisingly, Michelle also accepted the invitation and arrived punctually at the described place. She sat across from Adolé and her eyes met again and again during the evening. Adolé could feel her pulse quickening and becoming warmer than usual for simple dinners. She hated herself for it and cursed that Michelle still had this effect on her.

  Michelle occasionally even took part in general table talk. Adolé was surprised how well the Frenchwoman could behave all of a sudden.

  When the cosy meal was over and the general mood was for departure, it was Michelle who helped Adolé into her coat. Surprised, but politely distanced, Adolé thanked Michelle, who smiled softly and took note of the thanks with a nod. Adolé felt something stirring in her. Shouldn't her feelings for Michelle still have become less? Adolé did not want to allow this thought to enter her mind, and he already wanted to put it aside. It had really happened enough now. Just the thought of it was ridiculous.

  Outside in front of the restaurant they said goodbye loudly and emotionally. Probably this day would be one of the last they needed for their common work on the CD. Especially the two composers had finished their work and said goodbye until the next time.

  Maybe there were still little things to arrange in the studio and at the end a big farewell evening with the musicians, but all in all their work and cooperation was now as good as done. It spoke for Adolé that each of the musicians took her personally in their arms and thanked her with a handshake and said goodbye to her. Adolé gave each musician a heartfelt hug. She knew that the band's skill and flexible willingness to step in had saved this unfortunate undertaking and was the only reason why they were still in the band at all. The public would believe that the main work and the greatest influence on this work was Michelle and Adolé - but there they were wrong, and Adolé knew this as well as anyone else.

  So Adolé thanked each of the musicians and assured them that they would of course be booked again for their next CD. In the end the last musician had jumped into one of the taxis and so she suddenly stood alone with Michelle in front of the restaurant where they had spent this beautiful evening. She shivered when she realized that she probably had to talk to Michelle now.

  She turned around and there was Michelle standing there, wrapped in a thick coat and looking at her through her tinted glasses without any recognizable facial expression. It took a while before she broke the silence and formulated a first sentence with her French accent: "The musicians obviously like you. “. Thick wafts of mist accompanied what was being said. It had become even colder.

  Adolé could not leave this template unused: "Yes, even if this is not comprehensible to you: if you are nice to people, they are nice to you in return. That's a very crazy concept. You should try it sometime."

  Michelle, for her part, could not help smiling. "Yes, you're right. " she replied, almost conciliatory by her standards. Since Adolé didn't feel like talking, she left the remark for now and stepped from one foot to the other, freezing. The musicians had all taken the taxis that had been waiting outside the restaurant. Now they had to wait until the next one came that Michelle could take. She herself would cycle the short distance to her house as she had come, even though it had already become late and quite cold. After that they went each their own ways again, except that they probably saw each other again in the studio for a short time in the next days.

  So, on closer inspection, this was probably the last encounter they would have, if you disregard the usual promotion tour, which was certainly not on the schedule for a few months or a year. First of all, the CD had to be produced, the cover had to be designed and the whole marketing machinery had to be started.

  Suddenly Adolé was overcome by a certain restlessness. Somehow it didn't feel right to see Michelle for the last time without having told her the right words. Maybe she should confront her here and now. I don't know if we'd ever had a better opportunity. But at first, she wasn't even sure if this was what she wanted. She had only just come to rest. Now her insides were boiling again. If only she knew exactly what to do.

  "Shall we share this taxi?" Michelle Adolé's train of thought broke through. Adolé had not noticed that an apparently free taxi was approaching the restaurant. "Thank you. No. I came by bike. I don't have far to go. "she fought back with determination. Michelle seemed a little disappointed and decided to try again.

  "But it's already so dark. And yet so cold too. ", she said to consider. Adolé was confused. "First she sleeps with me, then she dumps me, and now she's worried about how I get home? You bet I'm cold!?!?!"

  Fury was building up inside her. She was still thinking about what to do, but in the face of Michelle's contradictory behavior she decided not to hold back any further. Why should she?! They were in the middle of the night in the dark in front of a restaurant that no longer had too many customers. There was hardly anyone around them, so there was no danger of anyone hearing their conversation. As always, she had to be careful with the press and overly curious people with a cell phone camera and a strong desire for recognition, for whom an argument between two celebrities was an opportunity to stand out.

  But she threw every caution overboard, took a step towards Michelle and took a deep breath.

  "You care about me? You?!?! For real?! Excuse me, but I don't think that's your place. You could have been worried about me when I woke up alone in your house in the morning a few weeks ago after we had a wonderful night together. But you didn't worry too much about me then. "Without any consideration, she beat the words right out of Michelle.

  She went on regardless. "I was under the misapprehension that this night meant something, that we were close, that something special connected us. But after I woke up the next morning alone, without a single word from you, without an explanation, something changed. All that time without a word - until now. Who does that? You sleep with me and then disappear? “

  Adolé could hardly contain her outrage any longer. Disgusted, she looked at Michelle from top to bottom. "Couldn't be more obvious, could it?! Worse still, you would have had every opportunity to come forward afterwards and explain everything to me. But you decided not to do that. For weeks. Until now. And the only reason we're seeing each other now is because of our embarrassing collaboration, which you're too bad for yourself.

  Michelle had obviously not expected such an outbreak. She shrank back and looked embarrassingly at Adolé, then again on the floor. Her timid attempts to say something were ignored by Adolé in her rage.

  "So please spare me your supposed concern. If you really cared about me, you would have done everything possible to save the situation and clarify what happened after we were in your house. We're not teenagers anymore. Better yet, if the press gets wind of our affair, we're both screwed. And yet I took that risk. Because it was worth it. Because I thought it was worth it and I thought you were worth it. But I guess I was wrong. And what do I get out of it now? Is that what got me anywhere? No! You ran off on the quiet when you got cold feet. Great! Really very grown up! “

  Adolé could not resist a scornful gesture and took a short break, but Michelle, who was close to tears and had her hands clenched in front of her face, could not take advantage of this opportunity and did not make a sound.

  While Adolé reached for her bicycle, pulled it and was already halfway up, she set about the final act of her revenge.

  "So? Did you get what you were lookin
g for? Did you hang my scalp in your trophy case with your other victims? That's great. I congratulate you!

  The only thing that really amazes me is that you didn't take the chance and leaked something to the press, something that exposes me while you are not mentioned at all. In our circles the mere suspicion is enough... But you will know what advantages you had from the night with me.

  Now if you'll excuse me. I have to go home. At least there I'll have some peace and quiet and won't have to deal with hypocrites like you! “

  Without further ado, Adolé got on her bike and pedaled bravely. She accelerated and left the manor at a brisk pace. What remained was Michelle, who was in tears.

  22.

  Michelle could no longer hold back the tears. She knew she had hurt Adolé. More than that. She couldn't blame Adolé for being so harsh with her. If only she could explain to her...

  It took a few minutes until she had gathered enough to make it to the taxi, which was still standing at some distance, waiting for its next passenger. She dropped herself in the back seat and hummed the name of the hotel where she was staying. Then she turned to the side during the short drive and looked silently out of the window. Tears were rolling down her cheeks. The strangest thoughts circulated in her head. There must be some way to put it all right.