When You Look Me in the Eyes

I walked past a set of double doors, on my way to the front desk to get another room key, and stopped in my tracks. One of the doors was cracked and I heard music coming through the opening, a piano and a voice that was singing.

I pressed my ear against the door, listening harder:

But you don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone,
And you don’t know what it’s like to feel so low,
And every time you smile, you laugh, you glow,
You don’t even know, know, know,
You don’t even know.

All this time goes by,
Still no reason why
A little bit longer and I’ll be fine
Waiting on a cure
None of them are sure
A little bit longer and I’ll be fine...

I silently pushed the door open. Nick’s eyes were focused on the piano. He was humming quietly under his breath as his fingers moved swiftly across the keys. “Hey.” My voice echoed quietly through the huge ballroom and Nick looked up from his spot at the piano on the far side of the room.

“Hey.” He smiled at me. He actually smiled.

I walked over slowly and sat down next to him on the piano bench. “Do you usually come to deserted ballrooms to write music?” I grinned at him and he laughed.

“No, I just liked the atmosphere.” He smiled again.

“Well, apparently it’s good for you. That was beautiful. I really liked it,” I told him, smiling.

“Thanks.” He looked down, blushing.

“So do I get to hear the whole thing?” I asked him.

“Well, it’s not really done yet...”

“Oh, ok. Well play something else for me then. Please?” I asked him, giving him the puppy dog face. He smiled and started playing the intro to a song that I knew and loved.