Read Online All She Wanted (2) by Nicole Deese - Free Book Online Page A

same time.
    I wanted to kiss her. No, I needed to kiss her.
    But with some supernatural strength
unknown to me, I released her, taking several steps back. She seemed just as
dazed    in that moment. I cleared my
throat, turning to walk her to the door. She followed behind me, quietly.
    At the bottom of the stairs, I shoved
my hands into my pockets and watched her walk toward the house. I wanted to
make sure got inside okay, but as she passed, a familiar urge crept up into my
throat again, begging to be released.
    And this time, I didn’t hold the words
back.
    “Charlie?”
    “Yes?” She stopped, turning to stare at
me.
    “He was a fool.”
    “Who?” she asked.
    “The idiot who left you. He didn’t know
what he had—if he did, he wouldn’t have let you go.”
    Though it had been dark all around us,
the motion light came on in that instant—illuminating her in its spotlight. She
stared at me, as if contemplating my words. Finally she spoke, in a volume that
was practically soundless, “Thanks.”
    She disappeared beyond the light a
second later.  
    The instant I was back inside the
apartment, I banged my head against the door.
    “And I am an even bigger fool for
falling for the Chief’s daughter.”

Charlie
    I couldn’t sleep.
    I tried for hours, but rest never found
me. I got out of bed and walked down to my music room. I opened the doors and
turned on the single lamp that sat atop my piano. It shone onto the keys,
causing a halo effect to surround them. I sat down, closed my eyes and let my
fingers explore. My mind was open to the melody that flowed through them. The
notes were powerful, depicting images, emotions and words.
    They told a story, one that came
directly from my soul. There were no two the same.
    Melodies were intimate.
    The room echoed triumphantly as the aggressive
swells filled the air, holding the passion inside it even as the soft, delicate
treble notes were played.
    This room was made for music; this room
had been made me for me.

 
    **********

 
    “Charlie,
we have one more present for you, sugar,” my daddy said.
    He led
me down the hallway toward my mom’s sewing room as he shielded my eyes with his
large, rough hands.
    I was
ten. It was my birthday—or at least the day we celebrated as my birthday.
    My mom
stood behind me, I could feel her nervous anticipation as she awaited my
reaction. I heard the doors open in front of us. My daddy moved to the side
before dropping his hands away from my eyes. And when he did, I gasped.
    There,
in the middle of my mom’s old sewing room, was the most beautiful thing I’d
ever seen—a black, baby grand piano.
    I
couldn’t move. I just kept looking at it in disbelief, blinking. My heart was
pounding so hard that I could hear next to nothing other than it’s strong beat inside
my ears.  
    “Go
ahead Charlie, go sit down on the bench, sweetie,” my mom coaxed.
    But I
remained frozen—still.
    This gift
was too big, too nice, too overwhelming for me to understand. This gift was
beyond anything I could ever repay—much less deserve. I began to cry, my chest
heaving with the heavy burden of what this must have cost them.
    My daddy
knelt down in front of me, his eyes glistening with tears as he spoke.
    “This is
a gift, sweetheart. It might seem overwhelming, but our love for you is even
bigger than this. You have been our gift, Charlie. Nothing would make us happier
than to help you grow in your talent…do you understand that?”
    I nodded
as they each took one of my hands and led me to the piano.
    The
moment I sat down and touched the keys, my life had changed yet again.
    I was
never the same.

 
    *********

 
    This room had always been my refuge—my
safe haven.
    It was the one place I could find
answers, even to questions unasked. Its solace had represented hope and peace,
no matter what memory waged war in my mind. It not only inspired me to connect
with my music, but when I sat here—when I played—it was that same