26. Our Time Grace
Matt, Ash, and I had dinner together every night for the next few nights. Things were finally starting to feel right.
On Friday of that week, I found Matt waiting for me at the front gate after school. Ash had told me to dress nicely that morning, and I could see she had given the same direction to Matt. I didn’t know what was going on, but I decided I would go with the flow.
“What are you doing here?”
He smiled and then bent and kissed my cheek. “Nice to see you, Gracie. I think our daughter has something planned for us.”
“Of course she does.” He was in dress pants and a button--down shirt. I looked down at his gleaming black Converse. That was about as dressy as I ever saw Matt.
“You look good,” I told him.
His eyes took in my casual floral dress and sandals. “So do you. You look lovely.”
I grinned. “So what’s this all about, you think?”
“Not a clue.” He held an arm out to me. “Shall we?”
“How do you know where to go?” I asked.
“Ash told me to meet you here at the gate and escort you to the auditorium.”
I nodded. “Let’s go.”
Inside the auditorium, we found Ash, Tati, and my orchestra students waiting for us, along with a few familiar faces from the Philharmonic. With the exception of Ash, they were all arranged in chairs with their instruments, as if they were about to play.
Ash came skipping over to us. “I thought we could do something fun today. All of us.”
I waved to everyone. “Did you put this all together?”
“I had help.”
Tati came over and I felt my throat tighten with emotion. “Are you two ready for this? Your daughter has worked very hard to plan something special for you today. Come and have a seat.”
We sat on the two guest chairs set up in front of our own private orchestra. Tati was the conductor, which I found especially entertaining. Matt grabbed my hand as the music began. I knew it from the first note. “Hallelujah.” He squeezed my hand and held on through the entire song.
At the end, I stood up excitedly and clapped like a maniac, yelling, “Bravo!” Matt whistled and clapped and then Ash came running over to us again.
“Wasn’t that amazing?” she said.
“Oh, Ash, thank you, sweetie. That was so thoughtful of you.”
“Wait, it’s not over yet; this is just the beginning.” She handed us a manila envelope. I opened it and pulled out an eight-by-ten black-and-white photo of Matt and me in college. It was of the two of us in the lounge at Senior House. Tati had taken it, and I remembered it vividly. “Read the back.” Ash said.
Matt stood behind me and watched as I turned it over. We both read the lines out loud: “Hallelujah, you two found each other here . . . / Now head to the place you first met, just before senior year.”
Tati came up right behind Ash. “Give us a ten-minute head start,” she said.
Matt laughed. “Okay, we’ll see you over there.”
We said our good-byes to the musicians and thanked them for a beautiful performance. After Ash and Tati took off in a cab, Matt took my hand in his. “Do you wanna walk?”
“Yeah.”
It was a warm and sunny day. The neighborhood felt more laid-back than usual. Matt swung our hands back and forth as we walked down the street.
When we got to Senior House, the moment felt surreal and beautifully nostalgic. The building looked a little different but still felt the same. Tati and Ash were standing in the stairway. “Come up!” Tati yelled.
On the third landing, we peeked into my old room. It was empty except for my cello, propped on a chair near the window. I looked at Ash and she smiled. “Play for Dad, Mom.” She handed Matt an old camera that I recognized from college. “It’s loaded and all set for you.”
He smiled. “Thank you, Ash.”
“Okay you two, there’s an envelope for you on the windowsill,” Tati said.
“How did you guys get into this room?” I asked.
“We told the summer RA your story and he gave us the key. It’s the summer and no one was using it anyway,” Ash said, laughing.
“How much time do we have?” Matt asked.
“Be at the next location in an hour.” She leaned up on her toes and kissed her dad on the cheek and then turned to me. “Have fun, you guys.”
After they left, Matt closed the door behind us. Almost immediately, I heard the shutter on the camera clicking as he photographed me from behind. I went to the cello and sat down. “Any requests?”
He pulled the camera away from his face. “Fake Plastic Trees?”
“You remember?”
“How could I forget?” His gaze was heavy. There was warmth and desire in his eyes, but there was also tiny bit of regret that I knew would never go away. I felt it too, especially in that room.