A mont later, just as they were finishing up dinner together, "ding," a text slid into Emma’s smartphone. She glanced down at it and instantly rolled her eyes, slamming her phone onto the table with a look of pure annoyance. Eric naturally caught the whole thing, but before he could even ask what was wrong,
"Who is it, Emma?" Miranda asked, taking a slow sip of her tea.
"Chad... he wants to call his dad so he can get bailed out of the police station," Emma replied, clearly disgusted.
"Oh... that crybaby? What exactly happened anyway?" Kevin asked.
Emma imdiately launched into the entire story, starting from when they were at the mall all the way to the incident at the supermarket. It turned out Emma had realized Chad was tailing her from the mont they crossed paths at Eric’s shop, and he had finally cornered her at the grocery store.
She went on to explain that if Eric hadn’t been there, there was no telling what would have happened to her. Hearing the story, Miranda stayed completely relaxed, but Kevin’s face flushed red with anger, his expression hardening into that intense look Eric rembered. Kevin then turned to look at Eric.
"Ha... no wonder he’s begging you to call his old man. If he called his dad himself, his dad would probably kill him... thanks, Eric. If you hadn’t been there, that scumbag definitely would’ve crossed the line," Kevin said.
"Um... don’t ntion it," Eric replied, rubbing the back of his neck.
"I’ll give Harris a call. His boy is starting to push it, and if he can’t keep him on a tight leash, I’m going to step in myself," Miranda chid in smoothly.
"Yeah... thanks, Mom. And please make it crystal clear to him that Chad is not my friend, let alone my fiancé," Emma said.
"Hahaha... Harris never actually said he wanted to set you up with Chad. That was entirely his second wife’s idea because Chad is her son, and I already gave her a hard no," Miranda replied with a casual laugh.
"Well, that’s a huge relief," Emma said, letting out a breath.
"Thank you so much, Eric. You really ca through for Emma, and I appreciate you seeing her safely all the way ho," Miranda said, turning to him with a warm smile.
"It was no problem at all, ma’am," Eric replied, feeling a bit awkward and out of place.
"Oh, right... by the way, I hear you play the guitar and sing. You’re incredibly talented, you know. I actually watched your video," Miranda added.
"Um... yeah, thanks, ma’am," Eric muttered, blushing a bit.
"He can play the drums too, Mom! The whole group went over to his place earlier, and he was seriously amazing and so cool," Emma gushed happily. Without thinking, she wrapped her arms around Eric’s arm, causing him to flinch, though he didn’t dare pull away.
"You really look just like Ethan did when he was young. It’s a sha he didn’t end up in the sa industry as his father and chose to be a teacher instead," Miranda said, reaching across the table to gently touch Eric’s hand. A bittersweet smile touched her lips, making it obvious that she knew exactly what had happened to Eric’s dad.
Seeing Miranda’s warm gesture and hearing her words, a profound sense of certainty washed over Eric. He finally felt like he had truly returned ho to this city where he belonged. This mont solidified his resolve to head to Richard’s office tomorrow morning and finally change his last na.
"Why don’t we go upstairs, Eric? I’ll show you what I can do on the piano," Emma suggested.
"Oh... you know how to play the piano?" Eric asked, turning to her.
"Of course I do! I’ve been taking piano lessons since I was a little girl," Emma answered proudly, puffing out her chest and tilting her chin up.
"Why don’t you play a song for us, but make it a collaboration with Eric," Miranda chid in.
"Yeah, that’s a great idea, I want to see this too. There’s a guitar upstairs," Kevin added.
Eric glanced at the holographic screen hovering off to the side of his face, which was currently tracking his quest objectives. He looked back at Miranda, Emma, and Kevin.
"Alright, let’s do it," Eric agreed.
"Co on... co on... let’s go upstairs," Emma urged, jumping to her feet and pulling Eric by the hand.
"Hey... take the plates to the kitchen first," Miranda cut in sharply.
"Oh right... totally forgot, haha," Emma giggled.
Without missing a beat, they cleared their plates into the kitchen, and the mont the dishes were washed, Emma hauled Eric straight upstairs. Reaching the second-floor landing, Eric spotted a grand piano sitting dead center in the middle of a spacious loft area.
Right alongside it was an acoustic guitar, a violin, and a sheet-covered keyboard. There was also a TV setup with a compact but clearly high-end sound system, a space custom-built for a hardcore music lover.
"Whoaah," Eric thought, a little awed by the setup.
He glanced down the hallway to the right, noting three separate doors along the corridor and a massive set of double doors in the center, which obviously led to the master suite. Emma walked straight over to the piano, lifted the lid, slid onto the bench, and began to play.
She wasn’t lying; even without any sheet music, she launched into a classical lody with a flawless, beautiful fluidity that made it obvious she had been practicing this since she was a toddler.
Before he even realized it, Eric started tapping his thighs to the rhythm of Emma’s playing. By the ti she wrapped up her first piece, Miranda and Kevin had made their way upstairs.
They claid spots on the sofa, looking over at Eric with approving smiles. Eric let out a breath to steady his nerves, then walked over to where the acoustic guitar hung on the wall.
"Twang," "plink," "plunk."
Eric quickly tuned the strings, then walked over to stand right next to Emma, who turned on her bench to look up at him.
"What are we playing?" Emma asked.
"Hmm... whatever you want, I’ll just follow your lead," Eric replied.
"Okay... how about ’A Thousand Years’? Do you know it?" Emma asked.
"Vwooong," a holographic display flashed right in front of Eric’s eyes, loading up the exact sheet music for the track Emma had just ntioned, completely mapped out for both guitar and piano. A smile tugged at Eric’s lips as he scanned the chords, and he looked down at Emma.
"Yeah... I know it," Eric said.
"Perfect... I’ll take the intro," Emma said.
Emma pressed down on the keys, weaving a gorgeous opening lody. Eric listened intently, letting the music breathe, and the exact mont his cue arrived, he smoothly layered his guitar track over her piano, starting soft and tender before building up the volu to lock perfectly into her tempo. As Eric totally lost himself in the zone, Emma looked up at him with a wide smile, her fingers never missing a beat.
Miranda and Kevin listened in absolute amazent at how incredibly tight and synchronized the two sounded without a single rehearsal. They stared at Eric, who was looking down at his guitar with a quiet smile, their eyes filled with genuine awe. In their book, very few guitarists had the raw skill to adapt so flawlessly to a soft yet commanding piano tempo without completely crowding out the lody. The mont the final chord faded,
"Clap... clap... clap."
Miranda and Kevin instantly stood up to give them a standing ovation. Emma took a theatrical little bow from her seat, while Eric just stood there. But before he could even lift his hands off the guitar strings, "vwooong," another holographic screen popped up right in front of him.
[First Objective Completed.]
[Second Objective: Play the second track: ’Clair de Lune’ on the violin in collaboration with the piano.]
Eric’s eyes went wide, his heart instantly hamring against his chest. Instinctively, his gaze darted over to the violin sitting inside its case on a nearby table. He looked back at Emma, who was currently laughing and chatting with Miranda and Kevin. Stepping up behind her, he leaned down close to her ear, startling her a bit.
"Emma, do you know ’Clair de Lune’? Want to play it together? You on piano, on violin," Eric whispered.
Emma spun around to face him, bringing her face incredibly close to his, before she caught herself and took a quick step back.
"Huh... you want to try playing that?" Emma asked, surprised.
Eric didn’t say a word; he just gave her a solid nod. Then, looking past Emma toward Miranda, he spoke up,
"Excuse , ma’am, would it be alright if I borrowed the violin?" Eric asked.
"Oh... by all ans, go ahead. Let’s see what else you can do," Miranda replied casually.
"Thanks, ma’am," Eric said with a smile.
Without a second thought, Eric turned and walked over to the table where the violin was resting. He unstrapped his guitar, hung it back up on its wall mount, picked up the violin, and walked back over to Emma, who had already settled back into her position on the piano bench.
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