"Kelley Eskridge - Strings" - читать интересную книгу автора (Eskridge Kelly)

would just go away. It was the last night of his engagement with the orchestra, and
she was heartily sick of him.

тАЬWhere do you go from here?тАЭ

тАЬBack to the Conservatory. Time to get ready for the Competition. Well, you
know that of course.тАЭ He patted at the wrinkles in his jacket. Alcohol fumes drifted
lazily from his mouth. тАЬYou should be rehearsing yourself. WhatтАЩs your schedule
like?тАЭ

тАЬWell, thereтАЩs next week here, and IтАЩve got one more city.тАЭ

тАЬI donтАЩt envy you another week with this miserable orchestra.тАЭ

тАЬMmm,тАЭ she said noncommittally. GтАЩs engagement had not gone well, and
two clanging wrong notes in his solo that night had not improved his temper.

тАЬReally, Strad. That Conductor is as wooden as her baton, the entire brass
section needs a good kick in the rear, and that PianoтАжwell, small wonder they had
trouble with him, considering the state of the rest of the group.тАЭ He nodded, took
another swallow of his drink, and set the glass down so that it clacked against the
wooden table as if helping to make his point.

тАЬI thought the Piano played very well.тАЭ

тАЬWell, of course he did, Strad, donтАЩt be an idiot. HeтАЩs already screwed up
once, and now heтАЩs being monitored. Of course heтАЩs going to play well.тАЭ

Monitored. She picked up her glass and leaned back in her chair, let her gaze
wander around the room. And there he was, the same Monitor that she had seen at
her last orchestra. Had he been the one at the park? Was it normal for the same
Monitor to turn up again and again? She had never noticed before. She realized now
how much she, like the Piano, had always taken the Monitors for granted. She felt a
cramp like someoneтАЩs fist in her stomach. The sickness brought with it the faint,
sweet music inside her skull. The MonitorтАЩs head came up like a hunting dogтАЩs, as if
somehow he had heard it, too. She watched him scan the room, making whispered
notes into his recorder, and she saw as if through his eyes: how scared they all look,
how stiff and anxious; see a hand moving too sharply there, a voice raised slightly
too high, the smell of hunger for something illegalтАжStrad dropped her gaze back
down into her glass.

There was something cold and wet against her arm.

тАЬтАжyour problem lately, Strad?тАЭ Guarnerius nudged her again with his glass.

тАЬWhat?тАЭ
 тАЬThatтАЩs exactly what I mean,тАЭ he said with a smile that was not altogether
nice. тАЬYouтАЩre very preoccupied lately, arenтАЩt you, dear?тАЭ

She could only stare at him in shock.