FIVE

I walked around in circles while nervously biting on my nails, a bad habit I had never really gotten rid off. I looked at my phone again - still no messages. I decided to reload my emails, but there wasn't any new ones there either. Just a few spam messages and an email from my bank saying my balance was getting dangerously low.

Like I didn't already know that. Like that wasn't the reason I was walking around in circles waiting for this phone call.

Maybe I should take one of my mom's many brilliant advices and try to distract myself to make time go by faster. 

I decided to sit down at my piano and play something. I had been playing a lot more recently, more than I had been playing in the last 3 years all together. 

Was it because of him?

My thoughts didn't get to continue for long until I saw an incoming call on my phone and I nearly fell off my chair in the rush to answer it.

"Yes, this is Monique Thomsen speaking," I said and tried not to sound too nervous.

"Yes Monique, I'm calling about the interview you went for last week," the lady said and I immediately felt my heart beating faster.

Calm down stupid heart! It's too early for a victory dance anyway!

But no matter what I told myself, I couldn't help but sneak a smile onto my face as I eagerly waited for the lady to continue.

"I'm sorry..."

And then my world collapsed.

I'm pretty sure I didn't hear a single word the lady said after she spoke that one sentence. I just slowly sunk down into my piano chair with a dejected look on my face. I'm not even sure if I was interrupting the lady when I suddenly uttered a: "Why?". She seemed surprised at first but then continued:

"We decided to go in another direc-"

"WHY?" I yelled at her, my eyes starting to well up, "I know that isn't the reason. I want to know the truth!" The lady went quiet and I could hear her let out a sigh, almost like she was sorry on my behalf.

"The higher ups spoke to your former boss," she said and in the same moment, my entire body went numb. I already knew were she was going with this, why did I just sit there and listen to it like an idiot. What did I expect anyway?

"Your boss didn't have very nice things to say about you, he said you weren't a loyal person, someone who couldn't be trusted. Unfortunately the higher ups decided to believe in these things. I'm very sorry."

"Th... Thank you..." I just said, having no idea of what else to say, "goodbye."

I ended the call and like a zombie I put back the phone on the top of the piano. I looked down at the keys and found it all to be one big blur, my eyes filled with tears. I could feel them tickle my cheek on the way down, almost like even my own tears were mocking me, laughing at me, laughing at my failure.

"NO!" I yelled out and slammed my hands down onto the piano which made a very loud, very uncomfortable noise. I immediately heard my upstairs neighbor knock on the floor and my annoyance just grew even bigger.

"I. WANT. TO. BE. ALLOWED. TO. BE. ANGRY!" I yelled while slamming my hands onto my piano after every single word. I didn't care if he called the landlord or even the police. I didn't even care if he threw me in jail. I just didn't care at all.

"Why..." I said and felt my tears turn into small sobs, "why..." I said again and covered my face in my hands, crying loud enough for the entire building to hear me.

But as I was sitting there in my own misery feeling my world collapse around me, I heard a few gentle tunes from the other side of the wall. I stopped crying for a while and the melody continued. I stared at wall while I took in every little chord he played, every sad tune he conveyed to me. He may not have been saying anything, his song may not have had any lyrics, but I felt every feeling he wanted to get through to me. He was crying with me. And with every key he pressed down, another tear slid down my cheek.

Hello everyone!

This chapter is probably one of the shortest I have ever written, but I still remember this particular scene being crystal clear in my head from day one. 

I think music is amazing in the way that it has no language. Because it speaks to our feelings and the feeling of sadness, joy, anger or love is the same no matter where you're from.

Do you think I was able to convey this message through the story? Let me know in the comments down below.

Love, Annalise~