# Don't Ask Me Why: Chapter 15



## Huilunsoittaja (Apr 6, 2010)

Marie continued to hold onto the ticket for Alex, even until the day before the concert. But he never came, and Marie was watching all the shifts.

"Well, I'll just have to give it to him in person, no doubt he forgot. He seemed accustomed to making that mistake," she thought.

It was Thursday, and Marie looked up the Symphony Orchestra rehearsal schedule. She saw that they were having a dress rehearsal that day at 1PM, their typical scheduled time, in the concert hall. Her break was from 12:30-1:30PM. It would be her only chance.

Marie had never gone into the concert hall through any way besides the main entrance. Those doors were now locked in the middle of the day, and so was the musician's exit. It was now 12:45PM.

"I better get there soon," she thought worriedly. Looking around, she went down the hallway that lead to the school of music itself. Doors were on either side, but she didn't find any of them labelled as a rehearsal room. They were only offices and classrooms.

"Ugh! How to get there!" she grimaced, and began pacing faster down the hall. Looking all around, she could find no entrance. "I must be behind the concert hall now, but where is the entrance?"

Some paces ahead, she saw a stair well. She had passed a few before, but now was a larger one. It was a better bet than anything else.

When Marie got down, it was five minutes to the beginning of the rehearsal. Another long hallway was below, but it was definitely close. Marie felt rather lost now, but she had all the time to get out as long as she got there on time. Going through some other winding hallways with lockers, she finally came to a room on her right that was empty but very large labelled the Orchestra Rehearsal Room.

"But where is everybody??" She looked back and forth, no one around.

Marie listened carefully, and heard sounds of instrumentalists warming up from afar. She followed it to another door, and opened. Inside it was dark, but followed two staircases, one on the left, one on the right. Going up the one on the left, she came to an open space filled with cases, and many people were standing and talking here and there, but none of them noticed her.

Suddenly, Marie felt very small, and out of place. She ought not have come here, this had to have been forbidden to her. To her left, another set of stairs went up to the choir loft. Ahead of her, however, was a tall double-door that she could step through to get onto stage.

Would she do it? Would she be unexpected? What would she say when they asked her why she was there? Marie hesitated, but then looked at her clock. With only three minutes left, she approached the door nervously. She put her hand on the door, to feel if it was locked.

"Marie?"

She recognized that voice behind her from anywhere, but she pretended to ignore it, and stepped through.

Outside, there were many people who hadn't been seated yet. There must have been a technical issue because workers were still moving chairs back and forth over the stage, resetting things that might have previously been placed wrong. Alex was standing on the audience floor alone with his cello and looking at his music, a big pile of sheet music.

Feeling propelled from behind, Marie went over to him immediately, taking her ticket out of her purse.

"Alex!" she said softly.

He looked up. Marie held the ticket in front of him. He looked slightly confused.

"You wanted one, didn't you?" she showed it closer to him so he could read the label. Then he suddenly froze up.

"Oh... no, I didn't need one, I'm sorry, my mother wasn't coming to this one, she--"

Marie's heart sank.

"Oh, I'm sorry for the trouble," she interrupted breathlessly, taking back the ticket, and trying to step away from him as quickly as possible.

"I'm sorry I should have told you--"

"No," Marie muttered, walking deeper into the concert hall, not looking at where she was going. It took a few seconds to realize she was walking aimlessly.

She had never felt more embarrassed in her life.

Marie went behind a column to hide in her shame. Alex had walked onto stage and was warming up with everyone else.

"Marie, is that you?"

She turned around from behind the column to see Ernest there with a backpack.

"You're here?" Marie blurted out.

"I am, I audit this. Did you want to audit?"

"I..." Marie was again frozen. She started walking slowly towards where he was.

Ernest looked as surprised as she was. He probably never imagined Marie would come here, and he didn't know what to say either.

"I have to go back to work at 1:30," Marie whispered. The orchestra had begun to tune.

"Oh, I see. But you could stay for a while, couldn't you?"

Marie felt rotten inside. Here was a perfectly kind and noble man who was being even more kind than Alex, and yet she had to reject him.

Or had she?

"Ok," Marie found herself saying. Ernest smiled lightly.

They both sat on that side of the hall, but Marie remained behind him. She was glad he didn't attempt to sit next to her anyhow. Marie got to hear two works in full, but when the second finished, she felt it was time to leave. Making her way silently to the edge to leave, she saw him watching her again.

His serious eyes were focused on her.

Instantly, she felt a pain inside her.

What's the point of going after someone who you know doesn't like you, while someone of equal quality is already just waiting for you to come to them? Why grudgingly hold onto despair when there's hope standing by?

Could she possibly keep this up? What was her threshold?

Marie now realized she was getting awfully close...


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