Proposal

After verifying the data on the form for the hundredth time, Eloy finally pressed "send." He waited for the usual email to arrive in his mailbox, confirming the correct submission of the article. Out of habit, he resent it to Cristina, although he knew the chances of her replying—or even reading it—were slim.

Eloy stretched his arms over his head. It was 4 in the afternoon, meaning that, for once, he had some time to spare before it was time to have dinner. He was trying to decide if he should play something on his Switch or watch one of his multiple pending series when he received another email, this time from Elia.

As usual, his sister abused the emojis when talking to him. The subject of the email was a single piano emoji, and its content consisted of even more emojis, a mix of musical notes and hearts, along with an attached zip file. Eloy barely had time to download the file when he received a message on his phone.

[Eli] heey I just sent you all the scores I could find at home :)

[Eli] btw can’t I relly show the video to mom and dad??

[Eli] they will really love watching you play again :’(

Eloy sighed. He had agreed when Cara asked him if she could send the video to his sister, because, despite the distance, they had never stopped sharing everything. However, he felt more reluctant to let his parents know.

First, because he knew that they were aware of how difficult it was for him when he decided to give up music in the past, and he didn't want them to get excited for him too soon. This led to the second reason for keeping everything a secret: he wasn't entirely confident that the invitation that Mako extended to him in Harmony, to come back and play in the afternoon, was actually valid. He had to go there and find out.

And now that Elia had sent him those scores, Eloy’s plans for the afternoon had completely changed.

* * *

Eloy gulped, feeling a little nervous as he stood once again in front of Harmony. The bar appeared to be open, but unlike the previous Saturday, there were barely any customers inside. There was only a middle-aged couple sitting at one of the tables, and a salaryman reading a manga with headphones on.

He grasped the folder containing all the scores that he had printed at his share house in a tight grip. After taking a deep breath, he adjusted his glasses and entered. The couple briefly paused their conversation to glance in his direction but quickly resumed it. The salaryman didn’t even divert his eyes from his manga. And behind the counter, Mako, who was the only waitress at the moment, stopped taking notes in some kind of notebook and raised her head.

“Oh, hey! Welcome back!” Mako's heartfelt greeting and genuine smile made Eloy's nervousness dissipate. “So, are you here for a drink, or for our friend?”

For a moment Eloy thought that the woman was referring to Genta, but at the last second he realized she had tilted her head towards the piano.

“I guess that's both,” he answered, approaching the counter. “Also, I came here to ask, is there any kind of fee to play the piano? Because I’ve brought money if that’s the case–”

Mako shook her head vigorously, cutting off Eloy. "Nope, there's no fee at all. As long as you order something and don't monopolize the piano when others want to play, you can use it as much as you like. That's all." Mako let go of the pen she had been using, closed the notebook, and placed her hands on the counter. "So, what would you like? A lemonade like last time?"

Despite Mako’s reassurances, Eloy still thought that the price of a drink alone wasn’t enough to allow him to play ‘as much as he liked’. So, he ordered the drink but also informed her that he would order some take-out later. Mako then told him he could start playing while she prepared his drink, so Eloy did just that.

At first, Eloy felt a bit self-conscious as he sat at the piano. However, a quick glance assured him that the other customers weren’t paying any special attention to him, which helped him relax. He spent the next minutes taking a look at the printed scores, deciding which one he should practice first.

Eloy was so engrossed in studying the scores that he didn’t notice Mako approaching and placing his drink on a small table next to the piano. After almost five minutes, he made his choice: “Turkish March”, a classic, and one of the first songs he remembered feeling proud of mastering.

As he had anticipated, relying solely on his muscle memory wasn't sufficient this time. He had to start with a slow version of the piece as he got used to reading the score again. To his surprise and relief, becoming accustomed to it came more easily than he had expected; and after a few minutes of practice, he managed to play a rather decent version of the piece.

That piece was just the beginning.

For the following hours, Eloy played without pause, his lemonade untouched on the table next to him. He was so immersed in his playing that it was as if his surroundings had vanished. In fact, he only became aware of them when the stage lights suddenly turned on, startling him.

“Oops, sorry!” Mako apologized from behind the counter. “I didn’t want to startle you, but I thought you could use some extra light.”

Just then Eloy noticed that there was no one else in the bar besides the two of them.

“Wait, what time is it?”

“It’s 10:30 PM.”

Eloy's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. That meant that he had been playing for three hours straight.

“What?!” quickly pulling his hands away from the keys. “Damn, I'm so, so sorry. I didn't realize how late it had gotten.”

“Oh, I noticed,” Mako said with amusement. “And I bet you didn’t even realize that a few other customers came in and really enjoyed all your performances.”

Eloy frowned with confusion.

“Did more people come in while I was playing?”

As if it had been orchestrated, the door leading to the restroom opened at that moment, and Eloy’s eyes widened once again when he saw Genta stepping out, in the process of wiping his hands on his pants. Their gazes met, and then the hint of a smirk appeared on Genta’s face.

“So, you finally came back to reality,” Genta approached the stage with his arms crossed. “Damn, you really were into your own world. It was impressive to watch.”

Eloy chuckled with light embarrassment, fighting the impulse to adjust his glasses. He shouldn't be behaving like a teenage boy when receiving compliments. After all, he was supposed to be the adult.

“Okay, so now that you two are finally here,” Mako suddenly abandoned the counter and walked towards Genta, showing her upturned palm. “You owe me ¥1000.”

Genta clicked his tongue and reached into his pocket to retrieve his wallet. As Genta extracted the bill, Eloy noticed a tiny crocheted whale attached to the zipper slider, similar to the plushie he had seen in Genta's backpack that day in the store. He wondered if they were gifts from the same person. It looked like they were.

“Thank you,” Mako said as she stored the bill inside her pocket, then turned her attention to Eloy. “And now I’m going to get straight to the point because it seems that Genta here doesn’t have the guts to ask you directly.”

"Mako, what the hell are you doing?" Genta said, tensing up, which left Eloy slightly confused.

Wait, could it be what it seemed like? He wasn't one to assume things, but Genta’s attitude right then, could it be that the guy was interested in him and was too shy to ask?

“So, Eloy,” Mako continued, “what would you think if Genta…”

Because, sure, he didn’t know Genta well—or at all, to be honest—but he wouldn't mind getting to know him better if there was genuine interest...

“...asked you about entering a music talent contest?”

Eloy blinked once, slowly.

Well.

That was not what he had expected at all.