In My Lover's Mind

Sour Note

The sounds of the morning played softly in the background of my sleepy mind. The leaves rustling in the wind, the birds chirping, and something very soft in the distance. Familiar, but I wasn't sure why. I struggled to figure out what it was. That struggle was the last thing I needed to push me to full consciousness.

I opened my eyes to the hazy light that filtered through the curtains. I'm sure in any other circumstance I would have dreamed about waking up in a room like this, but it felt so empty to me now. I missed our bed, I missed the sound of the fireplace crackling across the room, I missed him.

I sighed and stood up. I had to get ready for the day. With any luck, I'd get a personality that I had a relationship with. As I opened the door, the soft sound from my semi-consciousness appeared again.

I listened closely. I knew that sound, but what was it? I followed it down the hall. As it grew louder, I finally recognized it. A violin. Who played violin?

I followed it to one of the rooms at the opposite end of the hall. As I opened the door, I saw Mr. Weston. He was sitting facing towards me, but his eyes were closed. I wasn't sure what song he was playing, but it sounded beautiful. I couldn't help being swept away by the music.

The strings sang out as the bow slid across them. His fingers danced nimbly across the neck of the violin. There was such a passion in the song. I felt weak just by hearing it. I leaned against the door. It creaked slightly as I did so.

He opened his eyes at the sound. He jumped a bit as he saw me, the bow shrieked across the strings. The sharp sound brought me back to reality. He stared at me wide-eyed. I stood up straight and cleared my throat.

"Good morning, sir," I said gently.

"Forgive my rudeness, Miss, but who the hell are you?" He asked, confused.

A new personality. It made sense. Jack mentioned before one of his personalities played violin. My heart raced nervously. This was my first new persona since Thomas left, I hoped I would handle it well. I gave him a small curtsey.

"Of course, my apologies, sir," I said, nodding to him. "I'm Anna Walton, your new assistant."

"Umm, Samuel Weston. I'm sorry, 'new assistant'?" He repeated.

"Yes, sir. I took over from Thomas recently," I explained.

He made a disgusted noise. "That sneaky bastard! Waiting until I'm gone to hire someone. Of course, he knew I never would have approved otherwise. A new assistant! God, the time, the training. What an inconvenience!"

He seemed to completely forget my presence as he went on this little rant. I guess I could understand the shock. The others knew Thomas was leaving soon. I had no way of knowing how often this "Samuel" appeared. I needed to look him up, and quickly.

It seems his rant had gone from mumbled curses to silent stewing. He glared off silently into a corner of the room. This would probably be a good time to leave.

"Do you need anything from me before breakfast, sir?" I asked.

My interruption only seemed to irritate him further. He let out a frustrated sigh and turned his glare to me instead.

"No, I have practice to finish. Get out if you're not doing anything. You're a distraction," he said sharply.

His words stung a bit, but I nodded and closed the door quietly as I left. I rushed down the hall towards my room. I had decided it would be the safest place to keep Thomas' book. I flipped through the pages, but I didn't see a "Samuel Weston" anywhere.

I stared at the pages in confusion. That was odd. He had to be here. Jack had mentioned him before. I think Victor had too, honestly. The light bulb went off in my head. I realized I only checked Mr. Weston's "common" personas. Maybe Samuel was one of the not-so-common cases Thomas mentioned.