The melody in our hearts (9 page)

“Ryan will drop dead when he sees you!” she giggled, as she put on her mascara.

Valerie sighed, brushing her hair and wondering whether Karen was yet another person who didn’t want to understand that they were only friends, or whether she was trying to put Valerie to the test to see if Karen could actually flirt with him without Valerie being jealous.

“He’s only a friend, Karen, you know that. He’s like a big brother to me, but you’re right: He’ll probably drop dead when he sees me wearing make-up. I’m sure he won’t recognize me.”

Karen giggled again, and Valerie knew she would have to keep an eye on her that night, because she was sure she had a really bad crush on Ryan – it was as bright as the light of day.

Ryan had said he would pick them up, and they would go together, as he didn’t want two girls to travel alone in the subway at night. When they walked out of their campus and he saw Valerie, he whistled and grinned when he noticed she was embarrassed.

“Hey, are you the same girl who used to hang out with me at the club in Dublin? Boy, you look awesome!”

She shrugged and started fidgeting with her hair, tucking a lock of it behind her ear.

“Doesn’t she? I did her make-up; she didn’t want to wear any, but I told her we should dress up for the event, especially if we’re trying to look twenty-one!”

He smiled at her and nodded, and Valerie thought she could see Karen floating three feet off the ground.

“You did a great job, Karen. You both look great tonight, ladies. I’m honored to escort you around.”

He was trying to keep his mind off the thought of playing in the club and, although he tried to hide it by acting like a clown, Valerie knew him too well, and she could see that he was nervous.

He offered his right arm to Valerie and his left to Karen, who took it without questioning, even if it was something he had only ever done with Valerie. As they walked away, Valerie gave his arm a little squeeze and he smiled at her, knowing she was silently telling him she had faith in him.

When his performance was over and Ryan finally managed to reach Valerie and Karen, he slumped down on a free chair, feeling totally exhausted, but knowing he had never felt happier or more satisfied in his life.

Valerie hugged him, totally oblivious of everyone else around them, including Karen, and he hugged her back. She could feel his shirt was sweaty and stuck to his back, and she was sure he had been quite nervous to perform in front of so many people in a real jazz club.

“You were great up there!” she said with a big smile, although her eyes were damp.

“You damn were!” Karen emphasized, with even more enthusiasm, hoping she too could get a hug like that.

Ryan shrugged, suddenly feeling self-conscious, although he had never been a shy guy.

“I didn’t play as well as I had hoped because I was a bit nervous. I’m sure someone noticed.”

Valerie patted his forearm, shaking her head.

“Don’t be silly! You were amazing, and I heard a few people saying it, too. Those guys sitting at that table,” she said, pointing at a group of four sitting close to them, “said you’re the best pianist they’ve heard in this club.”

Karen nodded, staring at him with heart-shaped eyes, and Valerie couldn’t help smiling, knowing he probably hadn’t even noticed the way Karen was looking at him. If Ryan hadn’t changed in the two years they’d been apart, she was sure that music was all he cared about and nothing else mattered.

But she realized she should stop thinking of him as the teenager she had met five years before, whose only love was his piano and who didn’t seem to even notice the girls who checked him out and looked at Valerie with envy when they walked down the streets in Dublin. He was twenty now, and it was only normal that he would feel different about girls now; he had mentioned something about a girl, Lindsay, who he had dated for a few months some time before, but apart from that, he hadn’t said anything about dating other girls. She was sure he would have told her if he was seeing someone and, since he was spending so much time with her, she was sure he didn’t have a girlfriend right now.

She suddenly wondered what it would be like once Ryan started dating a girl. She was sure the new girl wouldn’t understand the way he and Valerie felt for each other, just like everyone else, and Valerie was scared she would have to slowly drift away, leaving him and his girlfriend more time to be together.

But she guessed that, once classes started, she would be quite busy and wouldn’t have time for him anyway. So in case he met someone he liked, he would be able to be with his girlfriend while Valerie was studying, and then he would surely find a little time to be with her when she was free.

She shook the thoughts away, not wanting to think of that possibility just now. He was single, as far as she knew, and he was all hers, at least for the time being. There was no need for her to worry about something as stupid as that.

Ryan shook a hand in front of her face, trying to wake her from her daydream, and she winced, feeling stupid for a moment.

“I think it’s time I took you back to the campus; you look like you’re about to fall asleep.”

Karen smiled, but Valerie could see she was disappointed. She obviously didn’t want the night to end and most of all, she didn’t want to leave Ryan. She had spent the past two hours praising him and his talent, although Valerie knew she didn’t really care too much about the way he was playing or even what he was playing, and she surely would like to spend a little more time chatting with him.

But Ryan was right: She was tired and, by the time they got back to the campus and she removed all that make-up Karen had put on her face, it would be way past one a.m.

“Yeah, we probably should be going. You must be wrecked, too.”

They stood up and went out, walking toward the closest subway station, but this time Ryan didn’t offer them his arms. Although Karen looked a bit disappointed about that, it didn’t stop her from talking non-stop, praising him for his performance.

Ryan’s performance had been a success, and the manager had been so happy about him that he had immediately raised his pay, and this had eased quite a few thoughts off his mind.

After that first night, Ryan played in the club twice a week for almost two years. Although Valerie didn’t make it to go see him most of the times because she was too busy studying, she heard people talking about him already, and this meant that he was heading the right way to become a music star.

Part Two - Living the American dream

~
Twelve
~

“Happy twenty-first birthday, Val.”

Ryan handed her a thin square package wrapped in silver paper with a red ribbon on top, and she stared at him with her mouth open.

His gifts had always been the most important and the most meaningful to her, and ever since she had been away from home nobody had bothered sending her a birthday present, so his gifts meant even more to her now.

She smiled and took it, holding it in her hands for a moment. She couldn’t believe how fast the last three years had flown; it seemed like only yesterday she had left her hometown in Ireland, and here she was now, celebrating her twenty-first birthday in Boston with her best friend by her side.

“Are you gonna open it before your next birthday?” He teased and she chuckled, removing the tape carefully, not wanting to tear the nice silver paper. When she took out the CD case, she gasped. The title read “
Music for my best friend – by Ryan Wyler
,” and she smiled as she flipped it over to read the back cover.

As soon as she read the title of the first song, she looked up with a puzzled expression on her face.

“Valerie’s theme?” she asked, bewildered.

“I composed it for you,” he said, smiling. “I thought it would be a nice birthday present, you know, to give you something that would be yours only, that nobody else would ever have.” He shrugged. “Besides, I couldn’t afford to buy you a special, expensive present for your twenty-first, so I thought I would give you something that would always remind you of me, something that comes straight from my heart.”

She flung herself at him and hugged him, showing how much she loved that present.

“Even if you had all the money in the world, you could never have bought me something half as special as this CD!” She felt tears filling up her eyes and blinked to fight them back. “I feel so special to have a song composed for me,
my
song!”

“The rest are just some oldies, played by me. It’s nothing special, really, but I thought it’d be boring to have only one song on a CD, so I chose some of the songs I know you like.”

He shrugged and lay down on his bed, leaning on his elbows.

“No, I think it’s cool, actually. Did you record it here at school?” she asked, looking at the cover with sparkling eyes.

“Yeah, my mentor helped me. He heard me playing your song when I was still working on it and asked me what it was. I told him what my idea was, and he said he’d help me with the recording part.”

“Would you play it for me?” she suddenly asked, and he looked at her.

“Now?”

She nodded and put on her best pleading expression.

“
Please!
” she begged, with her hands clasped in front of her.

He chuckled and sat up, then he opened the top drawer of his bedside table and took out some sheets of paper.

“Okay. Let’s see if the piano is free now.”

They stood up and walked to the room where the piano was. The room was empty and Valerie was glad, as she didn’t want anyone else to hear her song. Ryan sat at the piano, close to the window, and put the sheets on the music stand, while she sat on the windowsill, hugging her knees.

She had always loved listening to Ryan playing the piano, but this time it was her song he was playing, the song he had composed especially for her, and it felt like she was being lifted off the ground and was floating above the clouds.

She closed her eyes as the beautiful notes filled the room, and she didn’t even notice when the first tears started to come out of her eyes, rolling down her cheeks.

When the music stopped, she slowly opened her eyes as if she were waking up from a beautiful dream, and saw that Ryan was standing in front of her, a crooked smile on his face.

“I didn’t mean to make you cry,” he said, wiping away the tears with his hand.

She smiled and shrugged.

“I got a little emotional,” she whispered, sniffing. “It was amazing, Ryan, I just loved it. I don’t think I’ve ever heard something more beautiful. And it’s so
me
!”

“Yeah, I know,” he smiled, “It’s a bit saucy, just like you!”

“I’m not saucy, you eejit!” She stuck out her tongue at him and feigned offense; he giggled, then took her hand and pulled her up, wrapping his arms around her.

“No, you’re not,” he said, his tone soft. “You’re the sweetest girl I’ve ever met. And this is why I chose only the good notes to write your song.”

Valerie smiled and felt tears well in her eyes again: Ryan could be the funniest guy one minute and the sweetest a minute later. He was the best friend one could ever wish for, and she felt like the luckiest person on Earth to have him in her life.

“Thank you, Ryan. You’re the best.”

He shrugged, then he grinned. “Yeah, I know!”

Valerie glared at him, but she couldn’t help but laugh, and he joined her a moment later. Not even in a million years would she ever forget this birthday, she was sure.

~
Thirteen
~

Weeks and months went flying by after her birthday. Studying medicine was tougher than she had expected and, even though Boston had plenty to offer to young people, she could hardly ever experience that, since she had to spend half of her days locked up in class and the remaining hours studying and sleeping.

But all in all she liked it: She had chosen to become a doctor, even though she didn’t know yet what she would specialize in, and she didn’t complain that much, apart from the times Ryan would ask her out and she would have to say no because she had to study for an upcoming exam. Those were the times when she wished she had chosen another career, but there was nothing she could do about it now. She had her mind set on becoming a doctor, and she wasn’t going to give up just because it was tough. Ryan used to tell her she was a tough girl even when she complained, saying she wasn’t. Now it was her chance to prove him right – she owed him that much.

Christmas was getting closer, but none of them would be going home to Ireland this year. Snow had fallen early on Boston, and she didn’t really fancy being trapped by snow in Logan International Airport on Christmas Day with no way to get out of the country. Besides, she would have a tough exam soon after Christmas break, and she knew that, if she went home, she wouldn’t have much time to study.