For the Love of Music (Sixty Minute Romance) Read Free Page A

to turn up. You looked like you were in a hurry to
leave last week.” Ed was his normal, tactless self.
    “I was glad to get away
last week; you spooked me a little bit I’m afraid, sorry.” Ed nodded his head
knowingly.
    “That Malaguena was
beautiful, Ed. How long have you been playing?” Asked Anne, changing the
subject.
    “I’ve been playing since I
was a kid. I use Malaguena to warm up with. So what shall we do, and who is the
gooseberry?” Asked Ed with a knowing grin.
    “Oh, this is Gail. You
remember, from the band. She has come to erm…”
    “…Make sure I am well
behaved and not some sort of weirdo.” Ed finished her sentence off.
    “Anyway, this is Gail. She
was half hoping that there would be other colleagues of yours here today that
she could help in some way.” Anne was trying her best to make excuses, but Ed
saw through it all.
    “Sorry Gail, I didn’t
recognize you with all your clothes on. If we do this again, I have a whole
hospital full of friends who are much stranger, and ruder, than I. You can take
your pick of those, if you like.”
    “It’s fine, I’ll just sit
and listen.” Gail was almost mute. A very rare event. She had been spoken to
and put in her place.
    “So what shall we play?
I’ve brought a few pieces and I see that you have a folder of stuff there.” Ed
was being expansive in his own way but it came over a bit unsteady and forced.
    “I’ve bought some Carlos
Jobim Latin music and the Concerto de Aranjuez by Rodrigo. I didn’t know how
well you played. I’m sorry if they are too hard for you.” Anne took the music
out of her folder.
    “I haven’t played the
Rodrigo for a while. Let’s have a look at that.” Finally there was some
animation and normality from Ed.
    “Can you get through the
piano part Ok?” Ed asked.
    “I’ve played it before,
but not for a while.” Anne replied. She walked over to the grand piano next to
Ed and played a few notes of a Bach study to check it out. The piano was far
too good for this old hall and was tuned to concert pitch. ‘Someone knows
their pianos here’ thought Anne to herself.
    “Let’s take the slow second
movement to try out. We can do the whole thing if it works well.” Ed was
beginning to get enthusiastic.
    Anne and Ed played,
working through the slow movement, section by section, for an hour and a half. After
a while, they decided not to bother with the rest of the piece and try to
perfect this one movement. At some points they would disagree on how to play a
section. At other times they just played and got used to each other’s different
playing styles. Both Ed and Anne became lost in the music when they played a
longer section together.
    They finished by playing
the whole slow movement through in one go. Anne was mesmerized by Ed’s virtuoso
playing that released every bit of emotion from the notes. Ed sat and watched very
attentively for the piano/orchestra parts that Anne played on her own. At the
end they stopped playing, both sat back and looked up at each other. Ed’s face
was bright red and his eyes were watery. He blew out some air through his mouth,
in an attempt to release the emotion he had built up in playing the demanding
piece of music.
    “You are very good, Anne.”
He said.
    “You are better.” Anne was
smiling lightly. She had not played so intensely since she had left her sixth
form music college. It was a good feeling to do so again. Anne turned around to
see Gail hiding behind a handful of tissues and blowing her nose.
    “Don’t mind me; I’m just
being silly over here.” Gail laughed out and Ed and Anne laughed with her.
    “I can be a bit intense,
sorry.” Said Ed.
    “You are not kidding. That
was some playing. You put so much into it, I can’t believe it.” Anne said.
    “Yeh well. I can play.” Ed
replied, not even trying to be modest.
    There was a knock at the
door and a man in uniform came in.
    “Your lift has arrived,
Sergeant.”
    “Thanks, I’m coming now.”
He