Page 40 of Malice in e minor

“Did you report her? I heard Faustus thinks men can’t be sexually harassed.” I said.

“Faustus is a fossil who thinks it’s still the Dark Ages, but with Wi-Fi. Leif can’t report Isobel because her daddy is loaded, a politician, and on the board of a ton of arts organizations to help Isobel get a job. She’s also an only child and his only child wants to be a violin player. He could end Leif’s career before he graduated because Faustus would probably tell his biggest donor who made the complaint.”

A piece of the puzzle. He could have me blackballed too, and I barely paid attention to his daughter. I’d never ask JaToya to do anything that would put her at risk and if Faustus was protective of his meal ticket, I couldn’t ask him. Which meant I had to go with Plan A and ask Topher.

“Ignore her,” Leif said. “I do.”

Yeah, did Leif know how many dancers were running interference to keep her away from him? Or that I’d been asked to as well? Leif was getting a lot of help to ignore her.

“She thinks she should be the one to write your ballet. She’s going to come for Harlowe,” Rue said.

“She doesn’t compose, though. I was fair. When she found out I was looking for a composer for my ballet, she asked and I told her to send me a link to her compositions. She said she didn’t have any. She’s never composed anything before. Isobel said she would figure it out if I hired her, but it doesn’t work like that.”

No, it didn’t. It was a skill just like playing the violin. You couldn’t just wing it.

“We do need to get to class,” Rue said. “We were also talking about doing a video to your music. Cullen and I were trying to figure out a dance, but Leif is better at that. We should have something to show you by tomorrow. Leif is going to record something for Cullen and me to learn. We’re only in the second act, so we can practice at rehearsal.”

“Don’t hurt yourself on my account. I don’t know any of this ballet stuff. You handle the dance and I’ll handle the music.”

Cullen pointed his stretchy band at me.

“I think I found the perfect music for you to show us Lurch.”

I just laughed. I really liked Cullen.

“No music, no Lurch.”

Rue started giggling.

“He’s so invested in this, the rest of us are now too. Hey, the cool dancers are getting together in my room tonight to blow off steam before the performance and finals. You should come.”

“Yeah, I think I will.”

The dancers needed to get to class, and I needed to get to a practice room. I had a feeling my mysterious cello player would be there and whenever she joined me, Topher usually popped into my room.

I had some questions about Isobel.

There were a few people in the practice rooms when I got there. I heard my mystery cello player and a flute. I always took the room at the very end. The cello player was usually near. I tried to peep in the window, but she had the blinds drawn. I didn’t want to interrupt, but I really wanted to introduce myself. I enjoyed playing with her.

Topher said her name was Meadow, but I couldn’t pick her out of the orchestra and she hadn’t introduced herself. The soloist in the orchestra wasn’t her, which I didn’t understand because she was a beautiful musician.

I sat on the piano bench and tuned my violin. Heat and cold could both destroy my violin and make it harder to tune, but I’d learned to adapt. It wasn’t too bad, and I got it done. I knew everyone liked to play scales to warm up, but I liked playing the theme song from Halloween.

I grinned when the person next to me started adding the piano chords. I had a feeling it was Orion. Well, we were playing a game. I started to improvise, and he followed along. We launched into a very creepy tune. I chuckled when a cello joined in and someone made a shrieking noise with their trumpet.

“What is this noise?” someone shrieked.

I yanked my bow off my violin. Who got mad at a bunch of musicians horsing around? I wasn’t in classes right now, but any arts program was stressful. In undergrad, I got less credit hours than I was actually in class and then there was all the practice time. If you didn’t take time to goof off, you got all burnt out. It didn’t even have to be a full-blown hootenanny. You could just be stupid for five minutes.

I poked my head out of the practice room and Isobel was standing there with a red face. I hadn’t been here long at all. Only a week, but I hadn’t seen her in the practice rooms the entire time and I spent a lot of time in here.

She drew in a deep breath and looked like she was about to complete unload on me. Topher and a short, skinny guy with glasses swooped in and directed her out the hall. I guess Isobel found out I was doing Leif’s ballet.

Everyone had poked their heads out to see what was going on except one room. I could see the blinds in the room where the cello would have been part, but when they noticed I was looking, they slammed shut.

“Bitch,” the tuba player muttered, slamming his door.

“Guess Isobel found out Leif found his composers,” Orion said. “You might want to stick close to us. She’s dangerous, but she’s scared of us. You too, Meadow!”