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Chapter 16: Cold Night

Crystal yawned at the slow paced procedure. And since Miss Crawley was old and all, and the place is too big for just the two of them, she ended up taking a seat at one of the VIP balconies, reminiscing about the old theatrical shows she've been to before. Her mother was the diva on the center stage, all lights were directed only at her, the sole performer and the star of the show, much like Nana Noodleman in the old film records. She strove for perfection, whilst her daughter...... was a little below the average of her expectations.

What was expected of a kind and loving mother was a cold bitter end when it came to her. Thus why she chose to run away with her father. It was the life of action that Crystal thought he'd be, the father that would take his daughter to the most thrilling activities that the best dad could do. Well, she regretted having her hopes up by the end of it.

"I'll go ahead and finish upstairs. Come join me for that coffee once you're done here, dearie," Miss Crawley says from behind her and receives a small nod afterwards.

It was ridiculously ironic that she'd end up in a place aligned to what Crystal had successfully avoided before. If tables were turned and she's facing off with her mother with that tone she had with her father at the police station, there's no way she could've won that argument with a straight expression.

Ping

Her phone notified her of a new text message from none other than Aeon.

A: Crystal, where are you?

The girl sighs and lowers the ringtone to zero, just in time for him to start calling her. Crystal groaned and sulked even further on the seat, feeling bummed out now that Aeon is trying to dig himself to her business.

A: Are you gonna come back?

A: Tell me where you are and I'll pick you up :)

"F*cking hell," she got up and started walking to where Miss Crawley could possibly be, ignoring the flood of messages that her vibrating phone could receive. "Stay out of my damn life..." He tried in lots of ways to make her notice him, but Crystal knows it'll all be in vain, she can't bring herself to love someone after learning its uselessness the hard way. He's courageous, sure, she'll give him that. But Aeon still lacks something that even she couldn't make out of.

"—I could really use some extra piano lessons," she hears a familiar voice down the hall.

"Extra piano lessons? Sure, we can squeeze that in." Crystal comes to their view, and never in her wildest dreams would she expect to run into him tonight. Miss Crawley sees her and ushers her in, "Crystal, great timing! Let's help Johnny practice his piano piece. Do you mind keeping him company while I make coffee for the three of us?"

I stare at my ex as he fumbled with the end of his jacket's zipper while staring back at me, "....Sure thing."

When we were left alone, none of us knew how to cope with the sudden situation. After what had happened earlier in the day, both of them lacked the motivation for anything. Crystal sat on the stool farthest from the piano and looked through her phone, then Johnny sat in front of the piano, suddenly very nervous to practice while she's there with him. She was the first who had taught him how to do it, and frankly he hadn't caught up with all her teachings as he was way too focused on his own problems and how their relationship would work against all odds. He lost both sides though.

The music he aimed to play was one of the list that Mr. Moon gave him. It was a little off of his comfort zone, but he wanted to show that he can do better than just a soul singer. Crystal had no idea what song that is, but she can barely feel a nerve struck within her as he struck a wrong note right off the bat. A few second since he started, the atmosphere around them became thicker and thicker until she couldn't take it anymore.

"G*dda*nit, Johnny! E flat minor! E. Flat. Minor!" she gritted her teeth, making him touch the right key. Crystal groaned and tried to relax on her seat, the second she lowers her guard, Johnny makes another mistake. One more wrong note and she might as well let all hell lose.

"You know, I might do better if you teach me properly over here," Johnny teases.

"I've taught you enough. My time is worth a hundred bucks compared to whatever talent you've got over there," she says without sparing another glance at him.

"Come on, I'm still learning. The only song I've ever known how to play on piano was—"

"Then get a grip and actually do try to learn something. You already know the basics," Crystal turns her chair so that her back is facing him. It was then that she realized that the inner office from this room is Mr. Moon's. And on that desk stands the locked and chained box that presumably contains the hundred thousand dollars, her eyes follows the reflection on the glass window, to where Johnny quietly continues practicing his piece.

He failed a couple of times of the first verse, and he tried it over and over again to make up for it. Time is pressed against him, and it's not helping that Crystal is behind him to criticize. He almost wished that Miss Crawley would come back immediately. After a couple more off notes, Johnny could hear the girl slam her head against a table before screeching her seat towards his side.

"Give me that!" Crystal snatches the song chords off of the keys' edge, skimming through the paper to see the full composition. He couldn't help but smile, knowing that it had somehow annoyed her enough to decide that she had to intervene.