“This is a great place,” I whispered to Madeline as she sat next to me.
“It’s been in James’s family for years. We all used to come here on break when we were in the conservatory together.” She smiled and looked around, undoubtedly scanning memories from years spent inside these walls. Her smile brightened, eyes creasing at the corners, as James walked into the room and handed her a wine glass.
He set mine in front of me, but his eyes lingered for a second on Madeline. There was certainly something lovely passing between the two of them, but given my recent independent study on the origin of rumors, I decided to refrain from speculation. Luckily, Gregory appeared with our dinner.
“Before we start,” James began our meal by raising his glass in the air, “I’d like to toast to good friends. Old and new, and time spent doing what we love. Music. Savannah,” James looked at me, and Gregory followed, “I’ve heard nothing but excellent things about your work here so far this summer. I can’t say that I’m surprised, given how talented you are. But, it takes a special kind of musician to both play and instruct with equal passion, as you’ve managed to do.”
I started to blush. Not because of what James was saying, but because Gregory was nodding along with him.
He thinks I’m talented? He thinks I’m talented.
That thought spread a smile wide across my face, but it also made me berate myself a little. What did I care that a reclusive misanthrope musical prodigy thought I was talented. What’s wrong with me?
“Thank you, James. Really, it’s been a great privilege to work with everyone the last few weeks. I’m looking forward to the orchestra work this week.” I took a large sip of my wine, anxious to turn the conversation away from me. “So, how long have you three known each other?”
“Day one of classes at the conservatory.” Madeline shrugged and lifted her glass to her lips. “Our professor for that class was a bit of an ass—”
“Yes, and James chose to lock horns with him as much as possible,” Gregory interjected, shaking his head. His tone was about as playful as I’d ever heard.
“I guess I can appreciate that.” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them, and I silently cursed the glass of wine that sat nearly empty beside my plate. Quickly, I took a bite of asparagus.
James let out a full-throated laugh, and Madeline followed. My cheeks burned as I chewed, and I reached for my glass, swallowing the last bit of wine.
“Oh,” my breath caught in my throat as I saw Gregory watching me carefully with an unreadable expression on his face, “I didn’t mean you were an ass … I mean … me challenging …”
Mortified, I bit my lip and looked down.
This made Madeline and James laugh even harder. And, right then, I wanted to fall through the floor.
“It’s quite all right Miss Marsh—Savannah.” Gregory seemed to silence his own verbal stumble with a sip of his wine.
“Okay, you two.” Madeline set her glass down and volleyed her gaze between Gregory and me. “Spring semester is over, and I think it’s time both of you get over that foolish little rumor.”
Well. That did it. Gregory choked a bit on his wine, and I turned to Madeline, my eyes widening as my face got even hotter.
“Madeline,” I whispered. “You know about that?”
“Everyone knows, dear. It happens all the time, every semester. Different professor, different student, same story. Luckily this particular rumor was especially laughable and died down quickly.”
Especially laughable? What exactly does that mean? I was a little irritated by that, and by the fact that I was irritated. Did she think I wasn’t good enough for him? Seriously? I rubbed my eyes, ignoring my eye makeup and set my forehead in my hands for a second. When I pulled my head up, I was thankful to find Gregory’s skin nearing a nice shade of crimson.
“Madeline,” James cut in dryly, “could we talk about something else? I think … I think Gregory’s head is about to explode.”
At once, Madeline and James burst into laughter again, and I couldn’t help myself. I folded my arms on the table, set my forehead on them, and began laughing along with them. What else was I supposed to do? It was all so ridiculous.
Ridiculous.
After a minute or so of the most uncomfortable laughter I’ve ever engaged in, Gregory cleared his throat. “Yes, we’re lucky the rumor was so … ridiculous, or that could have caused a lot of problems for both Savannah and myself.”
It was like he plucked the word right from my brain. Ridiculous. I found myself thinking that it wasn’t that ridiculous of a rumor but stopped that train of thought. Quickly.
James slapped Gregory on the shoulder. “Lighten up, Greg. It’s just us. We’ll stop, though. Promise.”
James and Madeline tried to suppress their giggles. James got up and retrieved another bottle of wine from the kitchen.
Greg. Hmm, I didn’t like how that sounded, really. Gregory didn’t seem to, either. His mouth pressed into a tight line as James said it. I guessed this was something James, and probably Madeline, did to tick him off. I was a bit relieved to know that it wasn’t just me he seemed to be uptight around. He was this way with friends he’d known for over ten years. But, why?
Madeline placed her hand on my leg. “Sorry, Savannah, but you really need a thick skin for this business. Especially if you want to have a professional career.” She leaned back in her chair, swirling what was left of her Cab Franc around in her glass. “When you’re working incredibly long days with the same group of people you sometimes travel with … it becomes like a family. And, sometimes relationships develop,” she paused, still looking down, and a ghost of a grin crossed her lips, “but, more often than not, lots of whispers and rumors start. It’s just the nature of things. Add in a few hundred hormone-driven young adults and, bam, instant student-teacher rumors.”