Despite the cramped bed and lack of room, I woke up feeling refreshed, as today was the day of the concert. Over the past few days, I gathered enough money doing a small cafe's dishes for a bus ride to Boston. I looked at my watch: It had just struck 12:20. I had 40 minutes to get there and I was still in bed, in my pyjamas. I shot up out of bed and grabbed the black shirt and tie from the bedside table. Once I had changed, I looked into the mirror to fix up my hair. "Time to reunite with Boston Hall, huh?" I said to myself.
I collected all the things I needed, and left the room. As I passed by, the same man on the front desk shot a dirty look at me, spitting on the floor as I walked past. He was lucky I was in a good mood, for I left him be .I did notice the wound on his nose had healed up pretty well too- however the bruise under his eye wasn't as pleasant. It made me chuckle.
After a long walk, I finally reached the nearest bus stop. It took about 20 minutes for my bus to arrive, and I got on it, sitting at the back. I thought about how long it had been since I had played piano, and if I was still as good as I was 3 years ago.
Eventually, I reached my stop and got off the bus to face the building I had worked in 3 years ago; Boston Symphony Hall.
Reuniting left me feeling several emotions. Some were blissful, a happy moment of time in my life had returned, but the other was not as joyful. The reason I had left this place was because of rumours, insults and unjustified assumptions toward me because of my Father's death. To this day, I hate myself for not being able to stand up for myself then. But I hate them more for making me lose something I loved; My ability to play piano publicly, to express it as a talent and be cheered for for that. The ability to be known around the world and admired. I lost all of that when I left.
But today I had the chance to earn it all back.
I took a deep breath, and clutching my backpack's straps, I walked up the stairs leading to the wide front doors of the building. The door slowly creaked open, to reveal a man and a woman, dressed formally in black suits, standing in the centre of the hallway.
The man was clutching the woman's arm, but immediately let go when I walked in. He wiped away the dust off his sleeves and walked towards me. "It's nice to meet you. My name is Auden Sage and I'm one of the organisers of today's concert."
"Nice to meet you too. I'm Ryder."
The man nodded, then led me by the arm. "So how long has it been since you've been playing piano?" he asked.
"Well I started in Middle school, so it's been a while." I answered, trying to be let loose from his grasp.
"I see, that's certainly a long time. I'm going to be with you for nearly the whole day, so let's get to know each other."
I didn't want to appear rude, so I agreed. "So was that your girlfriend over there? I saw you clutching her arm quite tightly when I walked in."
The man laughed. "No, you've got it all wrong."
I suddenly turned my head towards him, "So she's just a friend?"
"No, no she's my wife. Not girlfriend." He exclaimed.
I stayed silent. The man was strange.
We reached a small rehearsal room when Auden said, "The concert is at 7pm so you have loads of time to rehearse, and have a proper meal. You know what you're playing, right?"
"Actually, no." I just realised I had no idea what I was doing. "What am I playing?" I had loads of favourite classical pieces to play on piano so I was hoping it would be one of them. My all time favourite was Für Eli-
"Für Elise." The man said with a smile.
It was like he read my mind. I threw my fist into the air and let out a silent cry. "Thank you, Auden. Is it alright for me to practise now?" I asked, about to sit down.
"Of course, that's what you're here for. In a few minutes our head of organisations will come and see you, and then we'll have a meal. You will have an hour free time at 4pm after eating, and then you'll be back on rehearsing. Also, if you need to make any phone calls, you can head outside the building to do so."
That was a lot of information. "Alright. Where is the bathroom?"
"Ah yes, the bathroom is down the hall on your left. We'll all come and listen to your rehearsed Für Elise at 6pm, so make sure you have it down by then," he continued, "If you need me I'm down by the reception near where you came in from." At last, Auden left the room and I looked around, mouth wide open and smiling.
It was so different from when I worked here. The windows were spotless, the carpet was rich and the walls were painted a bright grey. I brushed my hand over the glossy lid of the piano. The cold touch of the lid itself got me excited. I opened it to see the perfectly formed piano keys, black and white arranged in an organised order, not a stain to be seen. I pressed down a few keys, in awe I did so.
Ryder Wyatt, the pianist, was back. Back to earn back the respect taken away from me.
*************************
The rehearsal went well.
I met the head of organisations, who was quite impressed when I showed him my attempt to play Für Elise. It was now 6:55. 5 minutes before the concert began. I watched the audience grow bigger by each second, more seats occupied. Quite frankly, I wasn't too nervous about making a mistake. It was about whether or not I'd be remembered as the 'Ryder Wyatt who killed his Father' again. "Right you're up!" Auden said to me, nudging my shoulder, "You'll do great, don't worry."
I nodded, slowly emerging from out of the red curtains. I stood in the centre of the stage. "Hello everyone. I'm Ryder Wyatt, and today I'll be playing Für Elise by Beethoven. Enjoy."
There was a small cheer from the crowd, and I sat down, ready to begin.
The silence was so loud, I could hear my heart beating. But I couldn't let my nerves get to me. I took a deep breath, and placed my hands over the keys of the piano, remembering what I had rehearsed. "You can do this, Ryder. Mess up and you're done for."
A low resonating sound came from the strings inside the piano as I pressed down the keys followed by the elegance of high notes, all harmonising to produce the beautiful sounds of the music. My fingers glided effortlessly along the keys, pressing each one down correctly, forming the song note by note. The coldness of each key reminded me of the heat lowering as I pressed down on my Father's neck, and as they warmed up, it was the same heat I felt when he desperately grasped my arms, begging me to stop. A smile grew across my face, remembering the pain I had inflicted on my Father, getting an accomplished revenge. It was the same revenge I would take on Boston; I could already hear the amazed gasps of the crowd. I would earn my honour, my respect and admiration back with each key of this piano, and I would do it with pride. The song was nearly finished, and my fingers moved faster now, the strings of the piano reverberating together to make up the beauty of Für Elise. It was the beauty of Für Elise I admired the most, the way each key, each chord could form such an astonishing sound, each linking up together to make the song. The music was powerful, unlocking forgotten memories in one's mind. I stood up now, the anger flowing into my fingertips as I aggressively fingered each key, the sound of the piano becoming louder and faster until it gradually became slower...and stopped.
I had performed Für Elise on the Boston Symphony Hall's stage as I had done 3 years ago.
The crowd stood up out of their seats, cheering and screaming with astonishment. I stood tall, eyeing each and every person in the crowd that night, bowing in advance. I smiled. I smiled the way I did when I last played. I smiled so widely my jaws hurt. Because for once in my life, I felt something I hadn't properly felt before...It was happiness.
For once, I felt happy.