Souls Remember What Matters — Corey Gibson 29
Chapter 29 – A Thief
SERA
The next morning, I woke up with a plan forming in my mind. Luna loved music, just like I did. Maybe that could be the bridge between us, the way back to each other.
I left early, before Luna woke up, leaving a note for Darius that I’d be back in a few hours. The downtown area was quiet at this hour, most shops still closed or just opening their doors.
Miller’s Music Shop had been there since before I moved to this city with Darius. It was tucked between a coffee shop and a bookstore, its windows filled with instruments of all kinds. I’d walked past it hundreds of times but never gone inside.
The bell above the door chimed softly as I entered, and the smell of wood polish and old paper hit me immediately. Sheet music was stacked on every surface, and instruments hung from the walls like artwork. It was a rather calming sight and I found the corners of my lips curling up slightly.
“I’ll be right with you!” a voice called from somewhere in the back.
I wandered through the aisles, running my fingers along the smooth surfaces of guitars and cellos. Everything here felt alive somehow, like each instrument was just waiting for the right person to bring it to life.
In the children’s section, I found it. A small violin, perfectly sized for a four–year–old, with a rich cherry wood finish that gleamed in the morning light.
I picked it up carefully, testing the weight of it. It had been years since I’d held a violin, years since I’d let myself make music just for the joy of it. After everything that had happened a few years ago, I’d locked that part of myself away. It was safer that way. Less painful.
But looking at this little violin now, I remembered why I’d fallen in love with music in the first place. The way it could say things words couldn’t. The way it could heal and hurt and transform all at once.
Maybe I could teach Luna. Maybe music could be something we shared, something that was just ours.
“That’s a beautiful choice,” a voice said behind me.
I turned to see a young man, maybe in his mid–twenties, with dark hair and kind eyes. He was wearing a Miller’s Music Shop t–shirt and an easy smile. He towered over me with an intimidating height, he was almost as tall as
Darius.
“It’s for my daughter,” I said. “She’s been taking piano lessons, but I thought… I thought maybe the violin would be good for her too.”
“Do you play?”
The question made something twist in my chest. “I used to. A long time ago.”
“It’s never too late to start again.” He extended his hand. “I’m Noah, by the way. My grandmother owns this place, and I’m helping out while she’s recovering from surgery.”
“Sera.” I shook his hand briefly. “I’d like to order this one, please.”
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hapter 70 A Thoot
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“Of course. Let me write that up for you.”
While Noah filled out the order form, I found myself drifting toward the pianos at the back of the shop. There was an grand piano there, its wood dark with age but well–maintained.
Before I could stop myself, I sat down on the bench and let my fingers find the keys.
The melody that came out was one I’d written years ago, back when I was still in college and music was my whole world. It was melancholy and hopeful all at once, full of longing for something I couldn’t quite name.
I got lost in it, my fingers remembering patterns they hadn’t played in years. The music poured out of me like something that had been dammed up too long, and for just a moment, I forgot about everything else.
When I finished, there was silence in the shop.
“That was beautiful,” Noah said softly. “Is that yours? Your composition?”
Heat flooded my cheeks. “Oh, it’s nothing really. Just something I wrote a long time ago.
“It didn’t sound like nothing. It sounded like-”
“Like a lie.”
The harsh voice cut through the shop like a knife. I turned to see Cathy standing in the doorway, her face twisted with disdain. And beside her, leaning on her arm like they were the best of friends, was Vivienne with a strange, strained look in her face as she looked at me.
My heart dropped into my stomach.
“Cathy,” I said, my voice coming out thin. “What are you doing here?”
“Shopping, clearly.” Cathy’s eyes raked over me with obvious disgust. “Though I’m surprised to see you here, Sera. I didn’t know you were interested in music.”
Vivienne’s eyes were locked on the piano, then on me, something calculating in her expression. “That piece you were playing. It sounded familiar.”
“It’s nothing,” I said again, standing up from the bench. “Just messing around.”
“Messing around?” Cathy laughed, the sound cruel. “Please. Everyone knows you don’t know anything about music, Sera. You’re probably just trying to copy Vivienne, like you copy everything else about her.”
“I’m not copying anyone.” My hands were shaking, but I tried to keep my voice steady. “I was just-”
“You were just trying to impress people by pretending to be something you’re not.” Cathy stepped closer, and I could smell the expensive perfume she always wore. “It’s pathetic, really. First you steal her life, and now you’re trying to steal her talents too?”
“I didn’t steal anything.” The words came out weaker than I wanted them to.
Vivienne moved to the piano, her fingers trailing across the keys. “You know, Cathy, you might be right. That piece did sound very familiar. I think I remember composing something similar years ago.”
My blood went cold. “What?”
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Chapter 9 A Thief
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“When Darius and I were together, I used to write music all the time. He loved hearing me play.” Vivienne’s smile was sweet as poison. “That melody you just played? It sounds just like something I wrote for him back then.”
“That’s not true.” My voice was barely a whisper. “I wrote that piece in college. Years before I even met Darius.”
My fists clenched by my sides as I watched the weakly woman lie through her teeth.
Her skin was as pale as a sheet of paper but her gaze and words weren’t as soft.
“Did you?” Vivienne tilted her head, studying me like I was an interesting insect. “Or did you hear it somewhere, maybe overheard it at one of our family gatherings, and decide to pass it off as your own?”
“I would never-”
“Oh, please,” Cathy interrupted. “Everyone knows you’re a fraud, Sera. You have no talent, no background, no breeding. You’re just a nobody trying desperately to fit into a world you don’t belong in.”
Noah stepped forward then, his face concerned. “Ma’am, I think maybe-”
“Stay out of this,” Cathy snapped at him. “This doesn’t concern you.”
But Noah didn’t back down. “This is my grandmother’s shop, and I won’t have customers harassed here. If you’re not here to make a purchase-”
“We’re here to expose a thief,” Cathy snapped, interrupting Noah and holding up a finger to his face. “Sera is pretending to be a musician, stealing my work and passing it off as her own. That’s fraud, isn’t it?”
Vivienne stayed quiet then, as though she had nothing to say…
She looked like I was truly guilty and she was only a damsel being protected by her best friend, Cathy.
My face was burning with humiliation. There were other customers in the shop now, attracted by the raised voices. They were all staring at me, judging me, believing every word Cathy and Vivienne said.
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