“Have the limo take you,” Frank said.
“I think I’m gonna walk, it’s less than a mile to my apartment.” I looked at Will, who was staring intently at me.
“I can walk you home,” Dustin said with a smirk.
“No, really, you guys, I’m fine. It’s like four blocks.” Will shook his head slightly and narrowed his eyes.
I said goodbyes, Frank kissed my hand, and then I left. My foot ached as I headed down the street. I heard someone yelling my name; I turned and saw Will running toward me.
“Mia, wait up!”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong, I’m gonna walk you home.”
“You don’t have to do that, Will.”
“I know. I want to. Anyway, I’m staying at Audrey’s tonight so I wanted to make sure you got home.” I bit the inside of my lip hard and nodded at him with a little smile. “Hey, I heard what Frank was saying. You should seriously look into doing some studio work.”
“Yeah, I really want to,” I said.
“Really?” He looked surprised and elated.
“Definitely,” I said and then a shiver ran through me. There was a chill in the air that night. Will reacted without hesitation, putting his arm around my shoulder and pulling me into him. I wrapped my arm around his waist and took a deep breath, inhaling his body wash and sandalwood smell. I wanted to commit everything about Will to memory before I lost him to Audrey and the fame that was surely on the horizon. In that moment I also desperately wanted Will to bite my earlobe. I shook my head to clear the thought. We walked in silence for a moment before I said, “Will, you don’t have to protect me from Dustin.” There was a long pause.
“I… just didn’t think the banker would appreciate where Dustin’s hand was headed, that’s all.”
“I broke it off with Robert,” I said quietly. Will stopped walking and turned toward me.
He looked me in the eye. “I’m sorry, baby. Are you okay?” I nodded. When we reached the apartment he turned to me again. “I feel bad now for leaving. Do you want me to stay here tonight?”
“No. Seriously, we broke up a while ago. He was an ass; I’m better off. Don’t worry about it, go ahead and go. I’m over it… really.”
He brought me in for a long hug “Okay, call me if you need anything.” Still holding me around the shoulders, he leaned back and appraised my face. “You’re beautiful and amazing and you have a special soul, Mia. You deserve the best.” Then he planted a swift, chaste kiss on my lips before letting me go.
“Bye, Will.” I turned and rushed up the stairs as tears fell from my eyes.
Over the next two weeks, I became insanely productive and determined. I talked to Sheil about doing some studio work, Jenny and I had our final dress fittings, and I bought a violin and practiced day and night on it. I hardly saw Will; he was spending a lot of time at Audrey’s. One day in passing he told me that he had agreed to let Frank manage him. He said there would be a lot more shows coming up and then he asked if I wanted to accompany him on the piano or violin at certain shows. I told him I would absolutely love that. It seemed like a departure for me to want to play live shows or to be involved in the music scene at all, but I started embracing it when I realized how truly excited I was at the prospect of playing more. The business degree still lingered in my mind, but like Martha said, I needed to teach my heart and mind how to sing together.
One night while I was alone in the apartment I took Will’s four-track recorder and his laptop and started recording some music I’d written. I completed one song, which sounded like it could be a piece from a movie score. The piano track was slow and simple, with very fast rhythmic intervals. I created a haunting tone with the Wurlitzer, which I used to accent the piano track. During the fast intervals, I played a dark, driving violin riff. When I was happy with the finished song, I burned it on a CD and left it on Will’s bed. I scribbled with a sharpie,
One piece from the soundtrack of my life
The next day was Friday, the day before Jenny’s wedding, and I planned to head out to the cottage with her that night. It was slow at Kell’s for a Friday. As I stared out the café window, I saw Will come out of the record store across the street. He took a cigarette from behind his ear and lit it. When he saw me in the window, he smiled really big, then threw the cigarette down dramatically and stomped on it. He swung his backpack around and pulled out a CD. He pointed to it and yelled, “It’s f**king awesome!” I loved that he liked my song. Right then Audrey came strolling out of the store as a cab pulled up. She waved to me while Will yelled, “I’ll see you at the wedding.” And then they hopped in the taxi and sped away.
Jenny and I rode out to South Hampton that night along with Jackson. We danced in our seats and sang at the top of our lungs the entire way there; it was Jenny’s sad excuse for a bachelorette party. I’d tried to plan one for her but she told me the last five years of her life had been one long bachelorette party. Tyler must have felt the same way because he didn’t have a bachelor party either. Jenny didn’t even want a wedding shower; she was satisfied with one day at the cottage with thirty of their closest friends and family.
“So what is Will gonna play?” I asked Jenny, realizing we had never talked about it.
“Just ceremony music, some acoustic guitar. He wrote us a really beautiful instrumental piece, so I’m going to walk down the aisle to that.”