Chapter 8 - THE FIRST TIME HE ASKED WITHOUT A BET
A year passed.
Graham Whitmore went to trial.
Raymond testified.
The Vale companies survived.
Smaller.
Cleaner.
Dominic dismantled several arrangements his father and uncle had tolerated.
People called him weak.
Then profits improved.
People called him visionary.
Rich people are allowed to be renamed quickly.
I studied.
Performed.
Taught beginner piano on Saturdays.
The first student I ever had was a nine-year-old boy who cried because he couldn't coordinate both hands.
I told him:
“A gift isn't a crown.”
Then I stopped.
Dad's words.
The boy stared at me.
“What does that mean?”
“It means being good at something doesn't make you better than anybody.”
“Oh.”
He thought.
“Can I still be better than my sister?”
“No.”
“That's disappointing.”
I laughed for five minutes.
Dominic and I remained friends.
Mostly.
There were moments.
A hand lingering.
A look held too long.
But he never crossed the line.
Neither did I.
Then, fourteen months after the gala, I performed my first public concerto in years.
The same one.
Dad's concerto.
This time, I finished it.
When I reached the Carter turn, three notes and a pause, I almost cried.
But I kept playing.
At the end, the audience stood.
I searched without meaning to.
Dominic was in the last row.
Not the front.
Not a private box.
Last row.
He waited outside afterward.
“Perfect?”
I shook my head.
“Two mistakes.”
“I heard none.”
“You don't count. You're terrible.”
“Still cruel.”
We walked along the lake.
Then he stopped.
“Elena.”
“Yes?”
“Dinner.”
“We just had dinner.”
“No.”
He looked nervous.
Dominic Vale.
Nervous.
It was extraordinary.
“Dinner with me.”
I understood.
“As what?”
“A date.”
I smiled.
“Is this another challenge?”
“No.”
“A promise?”
“No.”
“A bet?”
“No.”
“Will four hundred people be involved?”
“Absolutely not.”
I let him suffer for another few seconds.
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Friday.”
He exhaled.
I laughed.
For the first time, Dominic Vale asked me for something without assuming the world would arrange the answer.
May you like
And I chose yes.
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