The Prelude (31 page)

The same man who has taught me how to feel my heartbeat again. I stand and move over to where Katerina sits and put my arms around her neck. Slowly, she eases an arm around my waist. We sit holding each other this way a long moment before she says, “After everything I’ve revealed, you still choose to comfort me? I can see why Aleksandr loves you so dearly.” I tighten my embrace. In return, she cries harder. We both do. Adriana steps into the room, her expression pained when she glances at Alek.

“That bald-headed director guy needs to speak with you, Mother. It’s about Alek’s show tomorrow night,” she says.

“Shh. I’ll take care of it. I don’t want Alek to hear anything else stressful tonight, even if he is in a coma,” Katerina whispers, giving me a tiny smile as we separate from one another. She stands up, leans over, kisses Alek’s forehead, and then heads toward the door. This show means the world to Alek, and I want to know how Frederico intends to handle rescheduling it. So I follow behind them.

Inside the waiting room, Frederico gets right to the point of his visit. “I am terribly sorry about what has happened. I believe it will be in the theatre’s best interest if we cancel tomorrow night’s show.”

Adriana and Nikolai both protest. Even Luca has something to say about Frederico’s suggestion. Katerina who seems diminished since Alek fell into the coma, lowers her head a moment. And then she says, “Well, seems you got your wish, Frederico. All those ridiculously ironic praises to the Virgin Mary you make seem to have paid off. Congratulations.”

“Hold on Signora Dostov—”

“No, you hold on, Frederico,” I interrupt. All eyes turn toward me. “This is Alek’s dream. He has spent his entire life preparing for the day he could run his own show. How dare you try to take that away?”

He waves his hands in a motion as though he’s about to shush me. “Please, Signorina, you don’t understand. There’s no possible way this show can happen now. I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re not. You’re the one who doesn’t understand,” I snap, my voice cracking and my head pounding from all the emotion storming inside of it. Feeling desperate, I turn toward Nikolai and say, “You can conduct the symphony, right? You’ve filled in more than enough times for Alek.”

“Ridiculous idea!” Frederico cries out. “Even if we were to use a second rate maestro, Lila Davis won’t sing for him. She only performs with top quality.” He’s such a hypocrite.

“Then tell her to go to hell.” I’m so heated and angry I could probably set the room on fire. “I can sing in the damn interlude.”

He looks me up and down as though I’m a bum, a bold one who just overstepped her bounds. “A seamstress who thinks she can pull off a miracle. I’m touched, but not impressed.”

“This is where I step in to this conversation, Frederico. First, you will apologize to Erin,” Katerina begins, surprising the crap out of me again. Frederico opens his mouth to say something, but Katerina holds her hand up, silencing him before he can say anything. I love how she’s a badass in that way. “I’m not done. We go with Erin’s plan. Or, I’ll discontinue all of my ex-husband’s contributions to your new business program.”

She gives me a victorious smile.

Grumbling as he opens and closes his mouth several times, Frederico throws his hands up in the air. “This will be a disaster. I play your way this time, but I will have the last word. I am sorry, Signorina,” Frederico says to me and walks toward the waiting room’s doorway. He turns to Katerina and says, “Your misfits had better be able to pull this off. Or there’ll be no more chances for Alek to prove his worth.”

Alek’s mom waves him away and says, “Frederico, why don’t you go make your threats useful to somebody who actually gives a shit.”

“I’m going to go check on Alek,” I say to no one in particular. I fought for what Alek believes in. Now I want to go tell him about it.

Back inside Alek’s room, I take a seat beside his bed and stare at his face. It’s peaceful. The calm way he sleeps reminds me of a child. I inhale a shaky breath as I recall the way I’ve treated him over the past week or so.

Yesterday, I was about ready to make the decision to move back to Lafayette. Today, I might lose the one person who has taught me more about the true aspects of my personality than life could ever do. Bending toward him, I stroke his hair. “I—I just wanted you to know I took your offer. I’m going to sing for you. Your show will happen. I get to be the one who saves you this time. Wish me luck, baby.”

I stand and kiss his lips, my heart shattering more with each breath I have to take alone.

Alek

“I can hear you, Jaybird.” My thoughts are clear, but the words vibrate inside my head. Erin hurts. The tears she sheds tells me everything. She loves me. I know she does.

I can’t move. What the fuck?

I hear you baby. I wish I could tell you how I’ll be right by your side. I’m coming back to you. I promise. Wait for me.

“I love you, Erin Angelo,” I manage to say. And then a bright light begins to shine before me, filling my heart with happiness.

Erin

Standing on the podium that was meant for Alek, Nikolai glances up and across the stage at me. He bows and inhales deeply, his shoulders lifting with the exaggerated movement. Dressed in a black tuxedo that highlights his striking gold hair held back in a ponytail, he pulls off the image of a seasoned maestro with ease.

He’s also a beautiful man, both physically and emotionally, and his loyalty to Alek is touching. Glancing toward me, he nods and so do I. The time for me to sing the song I have waited a lifetime to perform has come.

I swallow hard and hope that the lemon and honey drink I gulped before I arrived does the trick for my voice. I’m wearing a long, yellow dress designed by Luca and Carla. It’s actually the dress Alek gave me, but it has been jazzed up to dazzle La Scala’s crowd tonight. My two co-workers spent the last twelve hours of their lives making sure I stepped into my new spotlight in style.

Katerina intends to sit by Alek’s bedside until I return to him. I made her promise to call me as soon as he wakes up. It doesn’t matter whether I’m on or off stage. And since the performance will be aired on live television, then Alek will also get the chance to hear what’s going on too. I don’t care that the doctors say he’s in a coma. In my heart, I know he can hear what’s going on around him.

Up on the platform above the one I stand on, Adriana and Mikhail stand in the places where they’ll wait until I leave the stage. Alek’s sister agreed to assist Nikolai’s dancers. All of us know what’s at stake if we don’t pull this production off. Frederico sits in the front row, watching me with a critical face.

At first, the theatre’s lush red and gold design swarms around me, overwhelming me. My breathing comes in rapid bursts. I’m starting to think I’ve made a mistake by taking on such a large responsibility. If I screw this up tonight then Alek’s career will be over. And what if the orchestra didn’t have enough time to learn the musical arrangement for my song? What if I forget the words?

I start to feel dizzy.

Control
, Erin. Breathe.

Somewhere out there Alek can hear me. I know it. I can feel it. Closing my eyes, I surrender to the love in my heart, the one thing I never told him, even after I know how hard it was for him to tell me first. Now I may never have the chance say anything else. Emotion threatens to steal my voice as the pianist’s opening notes sail into the air. Rubbing Jada’s necklace, I inhale deeply and pray my asthma behaves for me tonight.

And then I feel something take over for me.

Alek’s spirit isn’t the only one here with me tonight.

“I believe in you, Erin. Always remember that. No matter where I am, or how far apart we are, you should never be afraid.” I remember Jada saying that the night we agreed to swap places at the audition that forever changed our lives.

Opening my eyes, I inhale deeply and lift the microphone to my lips. The voice of a Jaybird, no wait, I’m pretty sure the voice I’m using tonight belongs to an angel, sails out of my mouth. The lyrics to
The Rose
have never felt more right than the words do at this moment.

At the end of the song, Alek’s ensemble brings down the house with their lush arrangement of strings and percussion to accompany the last high note I sing, the one I hold for a full eight beats before I let the song fade away.

Everyone’s devotion to Alek’s hard work is too much for me to handle. Applause roars around us, and the audience stands. Someone takes my right hand. Nikolai. I didn’t even see him come up on stage. Adriana rushes to my left side, her eyes filled with tears.

“You nailed it, Erin.” Her face crumples, and she breaks down, her tears flowing. Seeing her face reminds me so much of Alek’s and rips me apart.

Shivers wrack my body, and I’m trembling. Tears race down my cheeks. The audience applauds even louder as they watch all three of us—the ones most affected by Alek’s absence—embrace on stage. From behind, Nikolai supports me while I hold on to Adriana. Through the tears, I manage to gather my thoughts. Turning around, I wave at the crowd and blow a kiss, imitating Alek.

I’ve now done what I was meant to do. I seized the chance to make things right. Both Jada’s spirit and mine can rest now.

Erin

I have reached the part of my story where I wish I could say that Katerina called me to the hospital immediately after my performance so she could give me the good news about Alek being awake. But life doesn’t always wrap itself up in a cozy little tale of warm houses and happy couples chatting beside a fireplace.

Things never happen that way for me.

But I will say, I have experienced something with Alek that gives me enough faith to believe I can someday become one of those people.

I spent the next seven days at Alek’s bedside, making sure to read the reviews of
Requiem
that keep piling in on a regular basis. I sit in Alek’s room with Katerina the next morning. According to her, the doctor says his vital signs have stabilized, so there’s no reason he shouldn’t be waking up soon. “Why won’t he wake up?” I say mainly to myself. 

“Oh, I suspect he’ll be just fine. Alek has always loved to keep an audience waiting. I can only imagine what he has planned for you now that he has kept you on edge for so long,” Katerina says, smoothing back his hair a few more times. She gives me one last smile, glances at her watch, sighs, and then stands up. “Time to go and meet the lawyers.”

“Is everything okay?” I ask.

“It will be once I’m free of old marital bondage. Time for something new and fresh.” I get a wink this time. Right away, I catch the meaning behind her innuendo. “You looked fantastic on that stage last week. I do believe the spotlight is where you belong.” Coming around to where I sit, she gives me a firm pat on the back.

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Think about it.”

“I will,” I answer truthfully.

At the doorway, she stops and glances at me. “Bring my son back to me, Erin. I have faith in your love for him. Thousands of miles couldn’t separate you. Or time, or even my schemes. What’s all this but just a tiny hitch in the grand scheme of things that has been set up for the two of you?”

On that final thought, Katerina blinks several times, lowers her head, and walks out the door. I’m left alone with Alek. I want him to wake up. It’s time. I don’t want to wait any longer. The Maestro needs to get back on the stage.

“So it’s true, then? You’re teasing me, making me wait. I get it. But I need you to come back now. We have to finish our song together. Don’t you dare make me do this all alone. I know you can hear me. Please hear me,” my voice fades into a whisper. Five years worth of tears rip through my body. Feeling exhausted, I lay my head down on the bed beside him and fall asleep that way.

I awaken to the motion of something caressing my hair. Glancing around the room, I am disoriented and forget where I am at first. I’m thinking the thing in my hair must be part of a dream. I reach up to touch it. It isn’t an object, though. It’s a hand. Alek’s.

I sit up at once and stare into the most gorgeous pair of sleepy eyes I’ve ever seen in my life. A combination of a gasp and a sob chokes out of me. “I love you, Alek. Oh God, I do. I promise, I love you,” I repeat over and over as I shower his face with kisses.

His arms circle around my waist, embracing me. “What’s going on, Jaybird?” he asks, his sleepy gaze focused on mine. I think of a way I can explain that he’s been in a coma and tell him as best I can to make it easier for him to digest.

“Hell, I think I’ll take long naps more often; especially if I’m going to get a welcome back party like this one.”

I sit back and playfully narrow my eyes at him. “Oh no, you won’t. I will personally find whatever Alek Land you’re hiding in, and strangle you.” I’m threatening and kissing him all at the same time.

“Will you tell me your butterfly’s name?” he asks, fingering my necklace.

I gasp out a laugh. “I almost lose you, and the first thing you want to know is the name of the butterfly on my necklace?” He nods and we both share a whispery laugh. “You are one stubborn Russian-American man.”