In the meantime, Axelle and her two friends had returned to the dressing room, and they all looked in awe when Nastya and Aleksei entered the room again. It was an atmosphere like the one you got when a celebrity suddenly enters the room unexpectedly, and in a sense that was exactly what just happened.
Even Axelle did not dare to approach Nastya, and they all started whispering. I could hear one of them say “I pity the one that has to play after her. The jury will just measure that musician up to her.”
Those words seemed to have put an instant damper on Sara’s mood since she was the unfortunate one that had to play directly after Nastya on the same stage. Don’t get me wrong, Sara was good, but she certainly wasn’t on Nastya’s level. I needed to make sure to give her a pep talk before she had to go out there, or I am sure she would absolutely bomb her performance.
Nastya just sat down on a chair and was reading her scores a few times over. I am sure she knew them all by heart now and was just doing this to get into the atmosphere of the piece.
Axelle and the girls looked shocked when Aleksei started talking to me and not to Nastya.
“I am sorry for earlier. Nastya was right. That was completely out of line.”
“Please, don’t do that. It just doesn’t fit you!” Aleksei looked at me with big eyes before he burst out laughing. That turned the atmosphere in the room. Even though he is a legend, Aleksei suddenly did not seem as unapproachable anymore.
Axelle moved toward us and asked me “You are the rumored student of Aleksei Fjodorov?”
Aleksei gave me an uncharacteristic shoulder pat and said, “She sure is. ” Then he just ignored her, turned toward me, and asked “Well, since your surname is Bouts, I was wondering if you are related to Tim Bouts, the conductor? We often played together, I had hoped to meet him again when I moved to Belgium, but he no longer lives where he used to.”
A new shock went through me. I was pretty sure my face started to look pale again but at the same time, I did not feel as bad as before. I was still pulling strength from my duet with Nastya.
But did this mean Aleksei really used to know dad?
Now that my attack had subsided, I didn’t really want to go into it, so I tried to keep it short with a “He died in an accident.”
Sara looked at our conversation with big eyes, catching on quickly, she grabbed Aleksei’s arm and shook her head, telling him not to ask about it. She was clearly scared to trigger me again. She was looking out for me, even though she had her own worries. I was being a burden to her. I knew she was nervous as hell about her performance. I needed to get my act together, but I wasn't getting much of a chance.
“You’re related to Uncle Tim?!” Nastya then shouted with enthusiastic eyes losing her stoic appearance and shattering Sara’s intentions.
They were so close to him that she even called him uncle?!
“He was my father! Can we please change the subject?”
Both Nastya and Aleksei looked at me surprised. “You are that Fleure?” Aleksei then asked with a bitter tone in his voice. "But Fleure used to be such a cute happy girl each time Tim brought her. You are nothing like her…” He continued.
Another bout of insults… I wondered how that man survived for so long without being strangled. Seeing the look on my face, and realizing we were talking about my dead father and how I used to be before the accident, Nastya quickly gave Aleksei an elbow jab to shut him up, and to finish the conversation she said: “Well, as to be expected of my rival. Of course, music would be in your blood too.”
“Tsk. And there I was acting all cool earlier. It seems we should be the ones worried about making it through the exam in this room. It’s unlikely they will fail the famous ones.” Axelle said to Sara.
“I know right!” Sara grabbed her face showing her despair that suddenly hit her hard again. Axelle had hit the start button of her emotional rollercoaster. I wondered if Axelle had done that on purpose. Since she had managed to change the subject and the mood of the entire room with that simple remark. If so, I realized I owed her one.
The two girls that were with Axelle also looked a lot less certain of themselves now and even Aleksei was triggered by the new subject.
“Hard work is the only thing that can get you into this academy. Names add only extra pressure because people always compare you to those whose name you carry.” Aleksei retorted to Axelle.
“It’s not good to make up excuses to lose before going out there. If you perform with that kind of attitude you might as well give up now. Because I intend to play at my very best today. There will be no other way to show my rival her place.” Nastya added to her grandfather’s rant.
I could see that the two girls that were with Axelle were furious at Nastya’s attack on Axelle who was clearly somewhat of an idol to them, but Nastya replied in a haughty voice “If you are angry with me, then just show me on the stage what you are made off.”
The two girls seemed depressed after that taunt. It was clear they already knew they did not stand a chance to beat Nastya musically, Sara on the other hand looked fired up.
“I will show you alright! I practiced day and night and even got help from Fleure. I will show you what I am made of.”
Axelle got a smirk on her face watching Sara in her fight mode. “Sara is right. We will show her how we do it!” She said while giving Sara a head pat.
Sara instantly got her bright disarming smile on her face. She reminded me of a puppy that got rewarded for being a good girl. I heard Axelle whisper “You’re an interesting one, little girl.”
“Ah, to be young. I remember my days of youth rivalry like they were yesterday.” Aleksei said with a tone of reminiscence in his voice. “But what is this I hear? You’ve taken in one of your rivals as a student? Who on earth does something like that?” Aleksei asked me while measuring up Sara.
“Fleure was fantastic. The best teacher I ever had. I would not have made it in time for the exam without Fleure!” Sara started giving me all these embarrassing compliments while watching dreamily in the distance.
Aleksei smiled at her and then grew serious “I am interested to see what you taught her. It seems that at least some of these exams might be worth my while.”
Shortly after that conversation, Axelle’s piano teacher arrived to come and get her for her own exam. She greeted Aleksei courteously as a colleague, but Aleksei did not even acknowledge her presence earning himself a scoff.
I was really impressed at that man’s talent of offending anyone in the same room as him within the first 5 minutes. If there was a Guinness book record for the quickest person to piss every person in the room off, I am pretty sure it would show his picture.
“Let’s go watch! I want to know how good she is. She sounded so confident earlier so she must be good.” Sara said. After their little interaction, she was clearly eager to find out more about Axelle.
Since it would be quite some time before our own performances were up, everyone in the room got up to go and watch the other performances. There were exams in all the different halls running simultaneously. Some were only suited for 60 people, but Studio 4, the large one where Nastya and Sara would play could hold up to 860 people. Axelle on the other hand got to play in the beautiful art-deco studio 1. It was the same room where I would have to play later. Although it could only hold 160 people, it was very cozy and had a very intimate atmosphere.
Well, it would be a lot more intimate if the TV crew wasn’t here I thought when I saw that crew bustling around the stage.
It seemed they were making a big deal out of Axelle’s performance. I heard the presenter announce her as the half-French half-Dutch prodigy who won a few contests already this year. So that was why her accent was so hard to place…
The music she had chosen fitted her personality perfectly. She had picked out the Miroirs by Maurice Ravel*, which were beautiful descriptive but erratic pieces. The way she played it was masterfully but at the same time, it affirmed one thing for me. She was nothing like Lise. Even though there were so many similarities. Like their looks and the fact that both of them played the piano, one note was all it took to know the difference between the two of them.
My resolve to succeed and bring Lise back grew firmer, while I let myself be transported to the world Axelle was creating in her version of Ravel’s mirror images. In a sense, Axelle was like a mirror image of Lise. A reflection that made me reminisce about the real thing. The longer I looked, the more I realized all the differences, just like how a mirror image reverses left and right. It is the same, but at the same time, it isn't. Due to Aleksei’s ban on recorded music, it had been a while since I heard someone else play, and I had to admit, a live performance like this had a lot more to offer than a recording ever could. I could feel what Aleksei meant with music needing to be alive.
When she started the 3rd part, “Une barque sur l'océan” (a boat on the ocean), I could feel everyone in the room was transported into her world. She was the real thing alright.
I would be surprised if she didn’t make the cut. Strangely enough, instead of being nervous like I used to be when I saw a performance like that, I felt exhilarated. I wanted to play too and dye this room in my and Lise’s colors.
nothing to say.
thanks for the chapter
Thanks for reading Trunk