Enthralling Emotion

The concert hall erupted in applause as a performance had just ended. Mai was finishing her stretching and started heading towards Mark.

“We’re on. Are you sure you want to play for me?” Mai asked as she looked up at Mark with soft eyes. “This is your last chance to back out,” she added as she held out her hand, as if waiting for Mark to accept it, and looked up into his hazel brown eyes.

Mark took a second and studied Mai. Even though there was a possibility that Mark would back out, she looked completely calm and composed. Not a hint of doubt or worry was displayed through her body. Looking into her soft pink eyes, he took her hand and stepped forward through the passageway from the backstage area towards the stage. His pearl white violin in one hand, and Mai’s hand in another, the two walked across to center stage. The spotlight beamed brightly, obscuring their view of the audience.

Chloe’s words from earlier started to ring in Mark’s head. “Just remember to breathe and you’ll do great!” Mark remembered as he took a deep breath and waved to the crowd alongside Mai.

Chloe, who was sitting in the crowd at this time next to 4 empty seats, quickly looked at the program of performances. “I thought Mark was the next performance. Why is he playing with Mai?” She thought briefly as she did a double take and looked back on the stage. She then took a look at the empty seats next to her and let out a little sigh. “Damian, where are you guys?” She thought nervously as she sat up to watch the performance.

Mai looked towards Mark and gracefully let go of his hand. Mark stepped towards the side of the stage allowing the audience to focus most of their attention towards Mai. Once she was ready, she stole another look towards Mark, flashed a quiet smile, and gave him a nod as if giving him the go ahead to start performing.

Mark led with a foot pointed towards Mai and started softly playing a melancholic tune. Mai closed her eyes to take in the sound that was coming from the violin. As if seeing the notes playing in her head, she started moving along with the music. The slow, long, elegant legato sounds from the violin began to reverberate in the concert hall. Her body started flowing like a river as she started dancing to the music. 

Mai continued her dance by performing a pirouette (ballet spin on the tips of her toes) and moving her arms in gracious motions. Mark noticed that with each spin she completed, her quiet smile began to fade into a deep frown. The stoic girl he met backstage was not the same one he saw here. The expression on her face looked solemn and lonely, as if she were isolated in solitude. Her movements became slower and lingered longer on the stage as she fell to the ground delicately.

Mark then started playing on the fingerboard of the violin, diminishing the sound as the concert hall fell silent…once silence had set in, without hesitation, he pulled the violin bow harshly and continued to play loudly. As the crescendo grew louder and louder, Mai came to life off the ground with an intensity so surprising for someone of her stature. Mark then took a heavy step forward, and Mai snapped towards him. He was playing the same melancholic tune as when he started the performance, only this time, it was loud and over-powering compared to the beginning. 

As Mark moved his body to his music, Mai followed his movements like a puppet on a string. The movements continued as they stepped closer to each other, one step at a time. Mai sold the look of panic well, as her moves began to become hesitant, as if fighting control for herself. Mark caught a subtle glimpse of this and tried to force her to bend with his movements. As she continued to step towards him, she broke free from his “control” and defiantly walked towards him.

The fierce façade Mai wore on her face turned into sadness once again as she stumbled and fell graciously on her own insecurity. Mark’s tune had become a soft tremolo that ended with one last lingering note. As the note was reaching its end, Mai’s arm raised up from the floor along with her head and lingered there pleading for help. Noticing the faintest nod, Mark ended the note, leaving the sound of a lost and sorrowful note reverberating throughout the audience. 

Silence fell for a moment…and then…the crowd erupted into cheer. As Mai slowly got up to take her bow to the audience, roses managed to find their way onto the stage from the audience. Mai, slightly stunned, regrouped herself quickly and grabbed Mark’s hand, pulling him into the center stage. Mark gave a solid bow, holding his violin and bow behind him, and Mai stepped away from Mark to offer a curtsy to the crowd. 

Once their bows were done, Mark started picking up the long-stemmed roses from the stage, putting them in one big bouquet of roses, handed them to Mai, and walked off stage with her.

“Wow Mai…I had a feeling that you would do great…but I didn’t know you would be this amazing! For someone who’s always quiet and expressionless, this was so much more than I thought I would see. I’ve got some words for you…” Chloe said quietly with a smile as she sat back in her chair for a brief moment. 

“Mark…you beast. You always seem to be able to draw emotion out of people. Mai and Mark…that would be an interesting dynamic. Maybe I should invite her to come hang out with us next time. I would invite Damian as well, but it looks like he flaked on us…” She thought to herself as she looked back at the empty seats next to her.

When Mark and Mai made their way into the passageway that connects the stage to the performers’ area, Mai stopped and took a glance at Mark. “Hey…nice work out there. It wasn’t actually supposed to be an improvisational dance. I only said that so you wouldn’t worry or take time away from your partner. I’m sorry for lying,” Mai told him in a soft tone as she held the flowers low with her arms fully extended towards the floor.

Mark looked down at her, and a slight frown creeped on her face. He wasn’t sure why she was feeling down, or at least, why she looked like she was feeling down. “She said that to keep me from stressing about helping her?” He thought as he looked at her again and tilted his face. He took an arm to where her flowers were and brought them up back closer to her. 

“You did that for me? That’s nice of you. Don’t worry about it, alright? Keep your chin up,” he continued as he grabbed her hand and continued through to the performers’ area.

As they arrived in the performers’ area, Naomi ran up to the two of them with her instrument in hand. Upon seeing the roses, a smile grew on her face. “Congratulations! I’m so happy for you,” she cheered as she turned her attention towards Mark. 

“Are you ready for round 2?” She asked as she flashed her matte black violin.

“I was going to ask you the same thing,” Mark joked as he wiped his brow. He stole another look at Mai who had been quietly observing the two of them. Her face was stoic again, making it very hard for Mark to read. She looked as if she was staring at him, but also staring into space. Mark offered a nod and headed towards the stage with Naomi.

*     *     *

As they made their way out to the stage, the crowd erupted in a cheer for the final performance. The two of them stared into the crowd with a heavy breath, waiting for the cheers to settle down. Once the crowd fell silent, they faced each other, violins in playing position, and stood in silence. 

Their outfits completely complimented each other. Mark wearing all black on the outside except for his white shirt and violin, and Naomi wearing all white with the exception of her black violin.

“Wow, you guys look great!” Chloe thought as she slightly bounced in her seat and leaned in to watch the performance.

Mark started off, pulling away from Naomi slightly as he played a soft and continuous note. As if mirroring his movement, Naomi took a step back and held the same note, the only difference was that hers was quieter and meek, barely able to be heard in the audience. She then took a step to her right and played the next phrase, overpowering the previous soft sound with a strong yet soothing melody. Mark took a step to his right and stayed silently as she performed her melody. 

She continued the melody as they both continued stepping to the right, as if creating a circular motion between the two of them. Somewhere in the midst, Mark began echoing her melody softly, as if clinging onto it in desperation.

From the audience perspective, the two of them began to circle each other, and as they continued to do so, the more the black and white colors seemed to fade into each other. 

Two halves, black and white, pushing and pulling each other like the tides of the ocean. Inside the two halves, there was a part of them that contained the opposite color, showing that there is a part of them in each other. Inside the meeker Naomi, there was a strong passion. Inside the assertive Mark was a quieter voice, grasping onto Naomi’s desire. Mark was using her passion and desire as fuel for his performance, and Naomi was using his leadership as a guide for her performance.

“Yin and Yang? Man, first the puppeteering and now this? You’re really knocking it out of the park tonight!” Chloe thought to herself as a smile dawned on her face.

As they continued playing, they passed the melody back and forth. Every time Mark controlled the melody, Naomi played a soft harmony that backed up the melody. When Naomi had the melody, Mark would play the same melody softly, and grow into a crescendo once again. 

Nearing the end of the performance, the two of them played intensely and broke away from each other as they dug into their violins with their bows. The hair on the bow started to break and come loose as the passion of their performance reached its peak. 

Then, like a wave in the ocean, the sound crashed fiercely and diminished until both of the performers looked up at the audience. Once they did, their movements became slower until they eventually ended the performance with a lingering final note.

The crowd then let out a roar of claps, cheers, and whistles. People in the crowd began to stand up, giving a standing ovation to Mark and Naomi. Chloe joined them as well, with whistles and cheers of her own. 

The spotlight was turned off, and Mark and Naomi were able to see the cheer of the audience. As Mark scanned the audience, he was able to spot Chloe’s sapphire dress next to an aisle in the center section of the auditorium. What he also noticed, however, were the empty seats next to her. He looked around once more, hoping that maybe they were sitting elsewhere, but he couldn’t find a trace of his own family. As a frown started to peer into his face, Naomi quickly went and hugged him tightly.

“Thank you so much for everything! I couldn’t do it without you…” she said to him as she ended the hug with a smile on her face. She bowed her head towards the audience, and then waved to the crowd. A few seconds after she bowed, Mark bowed as well and waved to the crowd. After a few seconds of waving, they headed towards the performers’ area. 

As they got to the area, Naomi let out a huge sigh and fell to her knees. “I’m beat. That took so much out of me. I was so nervous about messing up. But we did good, right?” she asked as she looked up at Mark.

“They didn’t show up…I should’ve known they wouldn’t come…” Mark thought as he spaced out momentarily. He then snapped back to reality and helped Naomi back up to her feet. 

“Yeah, I did good. But you did absolutely fantastic. You really nailed it out there!” He replied with a slight sadness hiding behind it. Naomi gave him one last hug, and with a smile, waved goodbye as she headed out towards the exit.

Mai, with a jacket on over her outfit and roses in hand, approached them when they had first walked into the performers’ area and was able to catch the conversation. She softly waved a goodbye to Naomi, and then turned her attention to Mark. 

“Hey, what’s wrong?” she asked as she looked up at him with slight concern on her face.

Mark looked down and saw Mai standing there with her roses in hand. “Oh, hey Mai. N-Nothing is wrong. I’m just a little worn out from the performances is all, and I have to work a shift soon too,” He lied as he rubbed the nape of his neck.

Mai gave him a quizzical look momentarily, then took a hand and tapped his arm reassuringly. “You don’t have to tell me if you aren’t comfortable with it. I understand,” she said as she turned her head slightly away from him. She then felt a rumble in her jacket’s pocket and took out her phone. 

“I’m very sorry, but my ride is telling me to head outside. It was nice to meet you. I owe you for saving my performance. My mom has been busy with work overseas, and this was the only time she could see me perform,” she said with a slight hint of feeling and emotion.

“Don’t worry, you don’t owe me anything,” he said as he rubbed her shoulder softly. “You performed really well. I know she’ll be happy,” he said with a faint smile. Her words felt like a slap in the face to him, as he knew his family wasn’t in the audience for him, but he was happy to help save her day.

Mai then took out her phone again and looked back at Mark. “Here, can you put down your phone number? Maybe one day I can make you a cake or something to help pay you back. Sound good?” she asked as she handed her phone to him, not realizing how nervous Mark had become when she asked him for his phone number.

“Y-Yeah…sure. A cake sounds nice,” Mark said as he put in his number with shaky hands. After putting in his number, Mark handed her phone back to her. 

“I’m sorry, but I have to go and change into my work clothes,” he added as he grabbed his belongings. “Take good care. Maybe I’ll see you around sometime. By the way…red velvet cake is my favorite,” he said jokingly as he headed towards the bathrooms.

Mai silently watched as Mark walked away towards the bathroom. Then, she headed outside towards the car to find a familiar girl in a sapphire dress.

“Hey Mai! You were so awesome! Mark was like a puppet master, and you were playing the puppet very well!” Chloe exclaimed as she gave a big hug to Mai. 

“Oh, where’s Mark? I thought you guys would be coming out here together,” she said as she grabbed her phone to text Mark.

“Wait…why would Mark be with me?” Mai asked softly. “Wait…is he the friend you were going to give a ride to as well?” she continued.

“Perceptive as always Mai,” Chloe said as she booped Mai on the nose playfully. Afterwards, she pulled out her phone and sent a text to Mark. 

“Hey, I don’t want to rush you, but you’re going to be late for your shift. We’ll be waiting in the car,” Chloe texted, and then returned her phone to her purse. 

“Let’s go wait in the car Mai. The sun is going down, and we probably shouldn’t be standing around in a busy parking lot,” she added as she opened the passenger door for Mai to step in.

Without any words or arguments, Mai handed Chloe the flowers, carefully sat into the seat and put her seatbelt on.

“These are so pretty…and all of them are real,” Chloe pointed out as she smelled the flowers briefly. Once Mai was safely buckled in her seat, Chloe handed the flowers back over to her, closed the door, and headed towards her seat. Once she got in and fastened her seatbelt, she turned towards Mai who had been sitting silently. 

“So, how was performing with Mark? I thought you were playing with a pianist?” she asked softly.

“I was supposed to play with someone else, but they got sick. Mark stepped in to play for me so I could still perform. So that’s how we ended up playing together,” Mai started as she also started connecting the pieces in her head. 

“Oh, I get it. This was the person you’ve told me about before,” she continued, implying that Chloe had talked to Mai about Mark in the past.

“Yeah, that sounds like something he would do. Even if he has no idea who you are, he’s always willing to help,” Chloe said softly.

“As for performing, it was really easy. He made me feel comfortable and in charge. He’s very skilled and friendly,” Mai said matter-of-factly and unemotionally. “I can see why you like him,” she continued as she looked down at her roses.

“H-Hey, don’t tease me like that,” Chloe said playfully. “Wow, this rose has thorns,” she joked as she gave Mai a head pat.

“Sorry, I didn’t know I was teasing,” Mai said as she softly pat her own head in an attempt to fix her hair. “I just thought that you liked him. I shouldn’t have assumed.”

“It’s…complicated. I’ll talk about it more when it’s just the two of us,” Chloe said with a slight seriousness that seemed a little out of character for her. “Oh, he’s here,” she said to end their conversation as Mark reached the car.