“Hey,” AJ said, stepping into the kitchen. Emily took a last sip of her drink and tossed the container into the nearby trashcan.

“Okay, I don’t like that look,” Emily remarked. “What happened?”

“Tiffani broke up with me.”

“Again? What happened this time?”

“She insists I’m fooling around with Ophelia.”

Emily rolled her eyes and eased herself down from the counter. “Again?” she asked. “She still doesn’t believe you, does she?”

“Of course not. But why do you think I’m telling the truth, then?”

Emily snorted a little and said, “Because I know Ophelia doesn’t go for your type.”

“Oh, thanks for your vote of confidence.”

“What, would you rather I think that you did hook up with my best friend and that she goes around messing with strange guys in dark rooms?”

“Okay, you’ve made your point,” AJ grumbled. “I just wish Tiff wouldn’t make such a big deal about this.”

“You have to admit, you have kind of been neglecting her. You’re in a relationship with her, but you’re still trying so hard to impress Ophelia. I know if Louie was acting like that, we’d be through. And you would probably be running out to kick his butt,” Emily responded, shrugging.

“True, but what am I supposed to do now?”

Emily rolled her eyes and said, “You realize you’re asking me for relationship help? You’ve had God knows how many girlfriends. I’ve had one boyfriend. One.”

“Yeah, but you’re a girl. You know how girls think. How do I win her back? Come on, Em, please.”

“For starters, you need to quit the whole obsessing over Ophelia thing.”

“Isn’t there an easier way?”

“No.”


“Hey, Lia, that was a pretty crazy episode,” Cy chuckled. She looked over at Ophelia. “Lia?” She smiled a little when she saw Ophelia sprawled out on the sofa, sound asleep. Cy brushed a few strands of hair out of Ophelia’s face and lightly kissed Ophelia’s hand. “You need sleep,” Cy whispered. “Well, go ahead and rest.”

Cy rose and left the room, then headed down to the kitchen, where Gramma Cici was busily chopping up ingredients for soup.


“You should have called me down to help you,” Cy said, gently scolding. “You need to rest.”

“You do too much,” Gramma Cici responded. “You need a break. Besides, I’d rather do something productive than sit around all day.” She paused. “So, where’s Ophelia? I thought I heard her come in with you.”

“She’s up in my room, conked out on the couch. Apparently, she pulled another all-nighter. Have you heard from Charise lately?”

“She called about two weeks ago, to check in on us,” the old woman said, shaking her head. “I don’t like that boyfriend of hers. Not one bit.”

“Me either,” Cy replied, “but it’s not my business to tell her what to do.”

“I just wish she could find a better person. Ophelia really was lucky when she met you.”

Cy grinned and said, “As corny as this sounds, I was the lucky one, to have met such a wonderful girl.”


“So, I’ve been wondering, how did you and Ophelia meet?” Tacita asked. “I know you’re her music teacher, but how far back does that go?”

Graham chuckled to himself and replied, “Further back than you would think. Her parents and mine were friends, and they liked to get together for dinner and all. Well, one day, they did the usual invite, and they couldn’t get a babysitter for Ophelia, so they brought her along. I was being a sulky, moody teen and had hidden myself in my room, playing guitar. And at some point in time, Ophelia found her way over-- no idea how that happened. I remember looking up from my guitar and seeing her standing in the doorway, with this strange look on her face. It’s going to sound weird, but she was staring at my guitar with a sort of ‘where have you been all my life’ look. If you’ve ever seen a really passionate musician, you’ll understand. I wasn’t too crazy about kids, but the expression she had scared me, it was so intense for such a little kid. Before I realized it, I was teaching her some chords and some guitar basics, and she was picking it up pretty well, considering the guitar was probably as big as she was.” Graham laughed a little. “I ended up sort of taking on the role of teacher for her, and… well…” He shrugged. “Here we are today.”


Tacita laughed as well, and said, “So, you’ve never been interested in her as… you know… more than just teacher/student or friends?”

“It’s kind of hard to be interested in someone who you remember crawling around your house in diapers,” Graham responded. “So, no. Maybe if we were closer in age, or if we hadn’t been dealing with each other for so long, things would be different. I’m content with having her as a sort of little sister; I was an only child, and I always wanted a little brother or sister to sort of look up to me.”

“Even though you’re not crazy about kids?”

“If they’re family, that’s different. I’d like to have kids someday, but I’m not likely to volunteer for babysitting duty for other people.”

Tacita nodded, smiling. “Jade’s really lucky to have someone like you interested in her. Keep at it; she’ll crack someday. You’re a great guy; better than the scumbags I’ve seen checking her out.”

“Do you think maybe I should invite her to my band’s performance? I mean, it’s just a little gig at a bar, but still…”

“Go for it. The other guys will be jealous that you have such a gorgeous girl there for you. Hell, I’m jealous; if she weren’t quite so high-strung, you’d have to compete with me for her.”

Graham laughed and said, “Tacita, you’re a trip.”