The Piano Man

The Piano Man| Part 5

Anna

I turned around to face the man who had spoken. He stood in front of me his eyes gleaming with mischief.

"This piano is technically mine," I said to him keeping my expression indifferent.

"How so?" He said with a smirk.

I looked at him up and down. The piano man stood in front of me a smug look on his face. I could see that he was enjoying our little encounter.

"My family financed this building and all in it." I said. He opened his mouth to speak, but I anticipated what he was going to say, they all say the same thing. "And before you make any judgement please get to know the person you're judging." I continued exhaling a tired breath.

He laughed and I realized the mistake I had made.

"Well, now I want to get to know you."

I laughed at my stupidity. "Well, I don't," I said with a bored tone. "Why are you here anyways? Shouldn't you have left" I looked at the thin silver band on my wrist that had a small circle in the middle telling me the time. "Two hours ago" I continued.

He shot me a sheepish smile. "I forgot my partitions but you looked like you were using them so I didn't want to disturb you."

A wave of panic shot through me. Had he seen me?

"You saw me?" I asked him clearly confused.

He grinned at me "Oh yes, you're really good. Who taught you?"

I hesitated. I hated to talk about it. It's not like I talked about it much since mother wouldn't let me play. It was still a sensitive subject, especially now.

"Um...my best friend," I said a twinge of sadness in my voice.

He frowned. "Why are you sad? She taught you well, you should be happy."

"I guess." I said shrugging.

An awkward silence washed over us. He looked at me confusedly. I gazed back my eyes sad. His expression softened and he offered me his hand. I looked at him; he confused me like no other person did.

I took his hand. He led me to the wall at the back of the stage. He sat down, his back to the wall. I hesitated. What did he want from me? He smiled warmly at me and motioned for me to sit down. Slowly lowering myself so he couldn't see under my dress, I sat.

"What's wrong?" He asked me. I shook my head laughing at the situation. "Shouldn't I know at least your name before spilling all of my secrets?"

He smiled and obliged: "Killian, at your service ma'am"

"Well, I'm An-"

"Anna Thanton, I know"

I bowed my head disappointed. Why did I have to be born famous? Every time I met someone, they would treat me differently because of my status and way of life.

At that moment all I wanted from this man- Killian –was a blank canvas. A new kind of conversation, different from the ones I held almost every day. To be in the presence of someone who treated me as an equal and some goddess; putting me on a pedestal expecting the best out of me.

He looked at me confused, probably asking himself if he had said something wrong. "Did I say something...?" We locked gazes, his eyes holding uncertainty.

"Well," I hesitated for a moment. Could I really have an honest conversation with this man without him scrutinizing me? "Could we start over? As if you didn't know me as much as I don't know you at this moment."