//------------------------------// // At First Sight // Story: A Life of Music // by Zenaron //------------------------------// At First Sight “Her name is Octavia Philharmonica; she was the one of the top cellists in the San Francisco Harmonics Orchestra a few years back.” Edward said with a glance in Vinyl’s direction. Vinyl slowly nodded her head and continued to watch without saying a word until Octavia had finished playing her first song. She probably would have continued staring, except that the lack of applause brought her out of her trance. Octavia waited for only a few seconds then continued on into her next song, a slow meditative piece with an easy to follow melody. “Wait, did you say that she was a cellist in the San Francisco Harmonics?” Vinyl said as she spun around in her seat. Edward nodded his head once in reply. Vinyl regarded him closely to make sure he wasn’t lying to her, once she was convinced she frowned slightly and folded her arms in front of her chest. “How did such an amazing cello player like her end up in a dump like this, no offense?” Vinyl asked realizing that she was possibly talking to the owner of the bar. Edward smiled and chuckled slightly. “None taken, but to answer your question I don’t really know for certain. She hasn’t talked with me about it, besides it’s not my business to pry.” Vinyl nodded her head slowly as she thought about what he had said. “Although, I have heard a few rumors about what might have happened.” Edward said as he leaned closer to Vinyl his voice lowering as he went. Vinyl leaned in closer and waited for him to continue. “From what I’ve heard her parents were in some kind of accident while she was performing, and that she was so distraught when she found out what had happened, she quit the very next day.” Vinyl nodded slowly as he looked from the bartender to the beautiful young woman playing a soft quite song. “But as for the reason she came here to Manhattan, I don’t know, but if I had to guess it has something to do with getting as far away from her past as possible.” Edward said before he straightened up and picked up a small glass and began to wipe it off. Vinyl nodded again and drained the last of her drink and pushed it over to Edward to fill it up again. “So how much does she make playing at a place like this?” Vinyl asked with a raised eyebrow. Edward took the cup and started to mix another drink. “She’s pretty lucky if she makes twenty dollars a night.” He placed the finished drink in front of her and continued to wipe the glass he had earlier. “That’s it, how is she supposed to live on that, does she make any tips?” Vinyl asked with a concerned look on her face. “Yeah she makes tips even though it’s not very much. Maybe ten dollars on a good night, which isn’t very often, as you can tell this place isn’t exactly full.” Edward said with a small frown. Vinyl reached into her back pocket and pulled out her wallet and pulled out two green bills. “Well then here, the twenty is for my drinks tonight and feel free to keep what’s lift from that, and the other is for her.” Edward looked at the two bills his eyes widening a little at the sight of Mr. Franklin’s face looking back at him from the printed money. “I’m sure she’ll be happy to have this.” Edward said with his kind smile. Vinyl returned the smile, before taking a sip of her newly filled drink. “Good, I hope that will help her out some.” Edward nodded before placing one of the bills in the small lock box behind the counter and slid the other into one of his apron pockets. “Are you planning on sticking around and talking to her?” Vinyl smiled and nodded her head before taking another sip. She then turned around in her seat and leaned against the bar and enjoyed the music that the beautiful woman on stage played. After thirty more minutes passed Octavia finished playing her last song of the evening got up and bowed. She then quickly turned and went out the side exit of the stage and went into the side room. She went over to her cello case and very carefully stored her beloved instrument inside it. She turned and let out a heavy sigh. If the owner wasn’t here that meant she wasn’t getting paid tonight. “Wonderful,” She said out loud her voice dripping with sarcasm and contempt. Octavia turned back and grabbed her cello case before she collected herself and went out the door into the bar. Octavia briskly walked across the floor watching each step trying her best to not make eye contact with any of the regular patrons as she walked. When she was only a few feet away from the bar she stopped suddenly, as she saw somebody in her usual seat and what was more surprising was that it was somebody she had never seen here before. In front of her sat one of the strangest looking woman she had ever seen, but even so Octavia couldn’t help but think that the she looked attractive. Octavia closed her eyes and shook her head to clear those thoughts from her mind and sat down one chair away from the strange woman. “Excellent job as always Octavia, can I get you anything to drink?” Edward asked with his usual smile, his voice breaking the small silence beginning to fill the room. Octavia’s head came up suddenly and she tried to collect her thoughts before she answered. “Um…yes the usual would be fine Eddie.” She finally got out with a small sheepish smile. “You got it, one brandy comin’ right up.” He said as he pulled a small glass from the shelf behind the bar. “So got any plans for the rest of this weekend?” Edward asked as he finished pouring the drink and expertly slid it the short distance across the bar to Octavia. “No not really, how about you? Planning on doing something special with your family?” Octavia asked before she took a small sip of her drink. “Yap, the wife and I are going out on a date tomorrow. I’ve been planning it for a while now, it also happens to be our ten year wedding anniversary.” Edward said with a bit of pride in his voice. “Congratulations,” Octavia said with a kind smile before she lifted up the glass and took another sip. As she sat the glass back down she realized that she had forgotten to ask him something. “Oh did I get any tips tonight perchance?” Octavia asked not being able to hide the hopeful look on her face. “As a matter of fact you did,” Edward said as he reached into his apron and pulled out a folded up bill and handed it to Octavia. Octavia took the bill and unfolded it, her eyes growing as big a dinner plates as she took in the sight of Benjamin Franklin and the number one hundred printed in all four corners. She sat there staring at the piece of paper in her hands. Once she was sure it was real she looked up at Edward. He didn’t say anything only giving a small nod in response. Octavia looked back down at the bill before a puzzled look came over her face and she looked back up at Edward the silent question obvious on in her eyes. Edward continued not to speak and only darted his eyes over to the side twice. Octavia followed his eyes and once again noticed the strange woman setting just a seat away. The woman took a slow sip of her drink before she turned slightly and seemed to notice Octavia for the first time. She sat the glass down and smiled politely, “Hi, my name is Vinyl I really enjoyed you’re playing tonight Mrs...?” “Octavia, my name is Octavia. It is a pleasure to meet you.” Octavia said with a slight bow of her head, before she stuffed the one hundred dollar bill into her right front pocket. “It’s nice to meet you too.” Vinyl said with a nod in reply, after a few seconds Vinyl raised an eyebrow and sat back in her chair and seemed to start studying Octavia. “Do you mind if I call you Tavi for short?” Octavia blushed slightly and looked away not being able to keep eye contact. “I…suppose that would be alright.” “Awesome thanks Tavi.” “You’re welcome, and thank you for the generous tip. Money has been kind of tight recently, and I’m glad you enjoyed my playing tonight.” Octavia said graciously as she was once again able to make eye contact. “Hey don’t worry about it; we female musicians need to look out for each other.” Vinyl said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “Oh, I did not realize that you were a musician, what style of music do you play?” Vinyl leaned back in her chair trying to find a good way to explain. “I’m a DJ, but I don’t play other peoples pre made beats, I make up my own and mix it up with whatever sounds I think go with it on the spot depending on how I feel it should sound.” Octavia nodded slowly, “That’s a very…different style of music than I’m used to. Is it a very popular style of music nowadays?” “Oh yeah totally, as a matter of fact I’m on tour right now playing some of the biggest clubs in the nation.” Vinyl said with a cocky smile. “Well I would love to hear you perform sometime.” “Actually I’m playing a show tomorrow at the Neon Plaza if you want to come by I’ll have them put you on the list of VIP’s.” Vinyl said with a large smile as she put her elbow on the bar and leaned over placing her head on her closed hand. Octavia looked away as she seemed to think the invitation over, after a few seconds of careful deliberation she nodded. “Why not, I don’t have anything going on tomorrow, what time does the show start?” “Awesome, I’m pretty sure it starts at seven.” Octavia nodded before she looked up at the old worn out clock on the wall and frowned slightly. “Oh my, it’s almost midnight, and I need to get home before it gets too late. So I will see you tomorrow?” Vinyl nodded returning the slight frown until a wide smile spread across her face. “Hey do you mind if I walk you home?” Octavia’s face reddened slightly as the blood rushed to her face. “I…suppose that would be alright, if you have the time I wouldn’t want to be a bother.” “It’s no trouble at all,” Vinyl said as she stood up and motioned for Octavia to lead the way. Octavia got up and nodded before she reached down and picked up her cello case and held it in front of herself. “I’ll see you next week Eddie, I hope you’re anniversary dinner goes well.” Octavia said with a slight bow in the bartenders’ direction. “I hope so too, have fun you two.” Edward said with a large grin and a small wave of farewell. Octavia made her way to the door of the bar and out into the chilled night air, with Vinyl following close behind. “So how far from here do you live?” Vinyl asked as she stepped over to the side so that she could walk next to Octavia. “It’s about a fifteen minute walk.” Octavia said as she started walking towards her apartment building. The pair didn’t talk much during the short walk to Octavia’s place, every once and a while one of them would steal a glance at the other quickly turning away when they thought that they would be noticed. “Well here we are.” Octavia said as the two stopped in front of her apartment building. “Thank you for walking me home.” “Hey no problem, so I’ll see you at the show tomorrow night?” “Yes I’ll be there.” “Awesome, well I’ll see you tomorrow then.” Vinyl said with a big smile. Octavia returned the smile and walked up the three steps, opened the door and maneuvered her and her instrument’s way into the building before closing the door. Vinyl watched until Octavia was inside before she turned and started back in the direction of the club and to where she hopped the tour bus would be parked. Octavia let out a happy sigh and started to walk down the long hall when suddenly she was shoved roughly against the wall. She let out a gasp of surprise as a man roughly grabbed her arms and held her in place. He wasn’t a very big man only being slightly above average height and build, with a small beer gut protruding from his middle. He had short brown hair and matching eyes that had a dull light of inebriation in them. He was wearing a white stained tee shirt and ripped blue jeans. “Hey there beautiful what you doin’ out so late?” He asked with a heavy slur, the smell of alcohol thick in his breath. “Anthony let go of me, your drunk.” Octavia said as she tried to break free of the man that she now recognized as one of the other residences of the apartment complex. “Hey now that’s not very nice I just want to talk to ya.” Anthony said as he held her firmly in place. “I don’t want to talk I just want to go to bed so please let go.” “Hmm, I like the sound of that lets get going then.” He said as he roughly started trying to pull her towards his door. Octavia tried to struggle out of his grasp, but he was too strong for her. Her eyes started to widen as she began to panic clutching the instrument case more firmly in her hands when she heard the front door open. “Hey jackass she said no!” Vinyl half yelled as she strode quickly across the floor to confront the man. “Oh yeah and what are you going to do about it.” Anthony said as he turned to face Vinyl. “You’re just a...” He got out of his mouth before he was suddenly interrupted by a vicious right hook that Vinyl swung into the side of his head, connecting with a meaty smack causing him to release his firm grip as he staggered from the impact before he fell backwards in a heap onto the floor unconscious. Octavia looked at the unconscious man stunned then turned to look at Vinyl, who was shaking her bruised hand in the air. “Well I’m defiantly going to be feeling that one tomorrow, are you OK?” Vinyl asked looking Octavia over to make sure that she wasn’t hurt in any way. “Yes I am thank you, but I must ask where did you learn to do that?” “Muay Thai kick boxing, it’s a workout routine that my cousin and I do in the bus every other day.” Vinyl said as she threw a few mock punches in the air. Octavia smiled slightly at the mock show before giving Vinyl a puzzled look. “Vinyl why did you come back? I didn’t scream or anything did I?” Vinyl blushed slightly and scratched the side of her nose nervously. “I uh…kind of forgot to ask you for your phone number.” “Oh, I see…well uh here you go.” Octavia said as she pulled her cell phone out of her front pants pocket and handed it to Vinyl. Vinyl took it and quickly dialed her own phone number and hit call. She reached into her own pocket and pulled out her cell phone and frowned when it didn’t ring. She took a quick look and realized she had it on silent, and for the first time noticed that she had four missed calls and eight texts from Andy. “Well he’s not going to be too happy with me when I get back.” Vinyl whispered quietly to herself. “Is something wrong?” Octavia asked noticing the frown on Vinyl’s face. “Huh, oh yeah everything’s fine here’s your phone back.” Vinyl said as she handed Octavia back her phone. “So I’ll still see you tomorrow right?” Octavia took the phone back and nodded. “Great just come to the back door around six thirty and I’ll tell security to let you in. Well then I guess I’ll see you then.” Vinyl said before turning around and walking toward the door. “Wait what about him?” Octavia asked looking down at the fully unconscious form of Anthony. Vinyl turned and looked down at him before she looked back up and gave a shrug. “Leave him, his drunk he won’t remember anything and I don’t think anyone will care, they’ll probably just think he passed out.” Vinyl reasoned before she turned and continued towards the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow Tavi.” Vinyl said with one last wave. Octavia waved back as the front door closed behind Vinyl. She took one last look at Anthony and gingerly stepped over him and made her way back to her room. Later At the Tour Bus “Where the hell have you been!” Andy yelled when Vinyl shut the door to the tour bus behind her. “I told you I went out for a drink.” Vinyl said defensively, “I wasn’t gone that long.” “It’s almost one a clock in the morning!” Andy retorted loudly his worry still boiling over into anger. “OK, look I’m sorry I got a little side tracked saving Tavi.” Vinyl said as she crossed her arms in front of herself. “Wait saving Tavi, who’s Tavi?” Andy asked his flaring anger suddenly diffused. Vinyl went on to tell him the events of the night and how she had met the cellist. “So then I punched the guy in the face and I came back here.” Vinyl concluded with a tilt of her head. Andy nodded slowly taking everything in. “Well I do suppose he did deserve it, so is this Tavi coming to the show tomorrow?” “Yep I just told her to come to the back and I’d have security let her in.” “Good, I think I might like to meet this Octavia woman, she sounds interesting.” Andy said as he stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Hey! I call dibs! I saw her first, but I do think you’ll like her. She’s pretty cool, for a classical musician.” Vinyl said with a smile. “Alright fine, well it’s getting late and I’m going to go hit the sack. See you in the morning, Vinyl.” Andy said before he let out a loud yawn and plodded along to his room. “Sure thing Andy,” Vinyl said before she went to her own room and fell into bed, falling asleep only seconds after she making contact with the soft fluffy surface.