Chapter 37: I Don’t Know

After she said her third yes, reality set in. She wondered about the impact of what she had done, knowing that this would be hard to undo. She took full responsibility for committing to all three of her suitors but still cared for all three of them.

“What have I done?” She cried out in anguish.

There were no phone calls or texts yet, but once the guys communicated with each other, she knew that they would contact her until they got her response.

“I will turn off my phone,” she said to herself. This might be the coward’s way out, but without knowing what else to do, it would buy her some time.

She paced back and forth in the loft. She cleaned. She exercised. She tried everything she knew of to trigger coming up with a solution. Nothing worked until she realized she had ignored the most obvious solution: music.

She grabbed her cello, a stylus, and her tablet. She went to the roof as fast as she could and composed her heart out. “Out of pain, comes creation.” She remembered one of her music instructors telling her when she thought about giving up composing and just focusing on playing.

“I have about three hours of daylight left and I’m going to make it count.”

At first the notes were slow to come. Then she tapped in to her creative spirit, and she felt the music coming from beyond anything she could explain or control. Cello, violin, and viola parts emerged. She felt like she was just taking dictation as she played and took note of the piece that was emerging. Three hours later and she was done. She was spent. Reality emerged: the guys.

She was ready to descend from the rooftop back to her loft. The brick that held the door open from the roof to the stairs had moved, leaving the door closed and locked. She had one neighbor in the building on the top floor. If she could not get his attention, she did not know what she was going to do.

She shouted, “Help, I’m locked out!” There was no response.

Then she thought of who else could help her. Caitlin and Luke came to mind. Both had a set of keys to the building but Caitlin ignored her texts and Luke was on the streets. She reasoned that neither would be a good choice in the long term. Then it hit her. The other musicians in the quartet.

She texted all three of the others and waited for someone, any one of them, to reply. It was almost dark and it would be getting colder soon. Finally, she got a response from one, two, then all three of them. She texted them all, “Please come and bring your instruments. I will text you the code to get into the building once you text me that you have arrived.”

“Yes!” She exclaimed. “Help is on the way.”

All three of the quartet arrived with instruments in tow. They took the elevator to the top floor where they heard her amazing music. They found a broken chair to prop the door open then got out their instruments and started playing with Laura.

They completely lost themselves in the music. They also did not realize what had been happening below.

Shortly after they arrived and the quartet played on the rooftop with the door open, a small crowd formed below and listened to the free concert. Someone even called the local news. The news reporter gained entry to the building from one of the tenants who was just arriving home. The neighbor led the way upstairs for the reporter and the crowd.

The string quartet was soon surrounded by people holding up light from their phones. They applauded at the end of the piece that Laura had written earlier from the roof. She was grateful for the improvisation the rest of the quartet provided to fill out the piece.

The reporter interviewed Laura and then after some more music from the quartet’s original composition portfolio, the crowd dissipated and everyone left. Suddenly Laura remembered she had turned off her phone. When she turned it back on, her phone started blowing up thanks to her number being the contact number on the group’s website.

People from all over the city were interested in having the quartet play. The news story with the clip of the quartet playing Laura’s piece went viral. The other members of the quartet were overjoyed, but Laura was disappointed. She did not receive a text or phone call from any of her suitors.

“Maybe everyone does not watch the local news,” she lamented to herself.

She helped the rest of the quartet to warm up with hot cocoa and thanked them for their help in her time of need. After they left, happy to be of help, she was alone, but this time she did not want to be. She checked her phone one more time. Don, Alex, and Ricky had all tried to leave voicemail messages, but with the influx of phone calls, performance requests from around the world via the group’s website, and other social media messages due to the news story, her voicemail box was full. So the guys opted to resort to texts.

“I am so proud of you. Call me when you get this so I can come over and we can celebrate together. ;-)” Don texted.

“Wow Laura! What serendipity. They’re calling you all ‘the rooftop quartet’. I always believed in you. XOXO” Ricky texted.

“You’re a rock star Laura. I hope you remember the little people on your way to the top. :-x” Alex texted.

Although initially she did not plan to respond to any of the guys if they tried to contact her before the rooftop, now she had a valid excuse: it was her moment; the world was at her doorstep and contacting her. She had a reason for sharing her attention. Eventually she’d have to have a response to what to do about saying yes to each of them, but not now, not yet.

She poured herself the last cup of hot cocoa, added marshmallows to her drink, and let it all sink in. “I’m a world famous cellist and composer and have three billionaire boyfriends.” This was her new reality.