Perfect For You

Perfect

NJ put her tray down, which was full of all the different flavors of takoyaki from Luv U Sizz-and of course, pugoyaki. She started eating them all, one after the other, barely pausing to chew.

"You want some?" she said, offering a plate to Van.

He shook his head. "No, thank you," he said.

"What? Afraid to get your new suit stained?" she said with a smirk. He was finally not wearing a turtleneck shirt. He had on a white suit with a midnight blue coat over it, and a matching tie and dress pants. In the heat of May, and in the Saturday evening crowd of NomCom, she was sure he should be baking in it, but there wasn't even any trace of sweat on his skin. She herself dressed a little bit formally than usual, with black slacks and a dark blue sparkly sleeveless top. It was the only thing she had that matched his color, and also would allow her to move freely during their performance.

"Beautiful," he had whispered, the first time he saw her when they met outside his house. She couldn't tell if he meant it, but he was smiling when he said it.

"I never could eat before a performance," he said now. "Because I feel nervous."

He said it so impassively, without any trace of emotion, as always. But there was a small quake in his voice as he spoke, and he kept folding and unfolding his handkerchief.

She reached across the table to pat his hand. "I'm really nervous too," she said. "But it'll be okay."

Beneath her palm, his hand stilled. "It'll be okay," he repeated, almost to himself.

She didn't know why, but she kept her hand over his, for a moment longer. His hand moved, and he took her hand into his palm. He squeezed it, like drawing strength from their contact.

Over at the performance area, Ms. Jenna and her students were setting up the stage. Beside the stage was the thing she and Van had set up an hour earlier, which was now covered with a black cloth she had borrowed from the parish. Mrs. Cruz was seated in a table near the stage. NJ caught her old teacher's eye, who beamed back at her. Mads, Lisa, Galli and Lio were crowding around another table farther back, cheering for them.

At exactly 6 PM, the show started. Ms. Jenna started with an introduction on her summer class and her students, and the recital started with Ms. Jenna's youngest student, a three year old girl and her older sister, who was ten.

Finally, it was their turn. NJ started with her solo first, which thankfully she got through without any major mistakes. Van played his solo next, and when he was playing NJ could swear she saw customers in the NomCom actually stop and stare. During his set, the nearby stalls-Wraps and Roll and Charlie's Turon-suddenly had a lot of customers. She grinned at that. He would be happy to know that he had helped a lot small businesses that day.

When he finished, he stepped up to the microphone. "Good evening, everyone," he said. "I hope you enjoyed our solos. Up next, we will be playing a duet. But...it's not going to be a violin duet."

There were murmurs among the audience, and Ms. Jenna looked puzzled. NJ only looked at Mrs. Cruz, though, anxious about her reaction, but the old woman's expression still had not changed. She was still smiling placidly, as always.

NJ brought out a case from her bag. She walked over to the covered object they had set up beside the performance area, and pulled away the cloth covering it.

Underneath the cloth was her drum set, the one she used for their performances. She took out her drum sticks, and sat down on the stool behind it.

"It's going to be something different," he said to their audience. "But I hope you all like it." He placed his violin on his chin again.