The Tchaikovsky Affair Read Online Free Page B

didn’t want to push the issue. During her confession, Shannon had placed her right hand on the table and lowered her head slightly. Jackie covered Shannon’s hand with her own and began to speak softly.
    “Hey, it’s okay. I couldn’t do what you do every day and still have the energy to deal with the annoying new girl who comes in late to the first rehearsal,” Jackie joked, flashing her a wide smile.
    “Thanks,” Shannon said. Jackie nodded and sat back in her chair, pulling her hand with her.
    She had a smirk on her face when she said, “So Gallo thinks there’s some sexual tension between us, huh? We should really play that up – it would make the duet that much more dynamic.”
    The combination of the two glasses of wine Shannon had already consumed and the lingering feeling Jackie’s hand on her own had created, caused Shannon to blurt out suddenly, “Gallo wasn’t wrong!” She took a deep breath and her eyes widened. “At least, not on my side.”
    Internally Jackie’s heart and mind were performing an enthusiastic happy dance. On the outside, Jackie remained stoic, wanting to tease more information out of the usually composed blonde.
    “You, uh, don’t think he’s wrong?” she asked, tracing her finger around her wine glass.
    “I shouldn’t have said anything,” Shannon said regretfully, instantly grabbing her bag and coat and standing to leave. Jackie immediately felt guilty for making Shannon insecure.
    “Wait!” Jackie said, instinctively grabbing her hand and standing up next to Shannon. “I don’t think he was wrong, either.”
    “You don’t?”
    Jackie shook her head, drew in a breath, and placed her lips gently over Shannon’s. Their kiss was long, but chaste, neither woman knowing the other’s intentions and desires.
    When they broke apart, Shannon grinned and placed a hand on Jackie’s beating chest.
    “I’ve been wanting to do that ever since you came in late the first day all flustered with that ridiculous red case covered in even more ridiculous stickers.”
    “Hey, you love my stickers! They add personality.”
    “I hate your stickers,” Shannon replied, her grin betraying the sentiment.

 
    Four
     
    Over the next week, much to their disappointment, Jackie and Shannon did not have much of a chance to develop their burgeoning relationship. Between regular rehearsals, their duet rehearsals, and an added Handel’s Messiah concert in between, they only had time for stolen glances and kisses that never developed much past their innocent kiss at O’Leary’s.
    Despite the fact that they still had not relieved the sexual tension Gallo had so accurately and tactlessly pointed out, their duet rehearsals were progressing much mor e steadily. Not that they weren’t still distracted by each other. Knowing that there was a mutual attraction, however, made it much easier to focus on the task at hand.
    That Friday, Jackie and Shannon found themselves once again in that same windowless, claustrophobic room with Mulroney sitting quietly in the corner and Gallo waving his arms frenetically, trying in vain to get his desired result.
    “There’s just no magic,” Gallo sighed, finally brining his arms to a resting place by his hips.
    Jackie smirked to herself, staring at Shannon. From where I’m sitting, it looks pretty damn magical.
    “Technically the solo works,” Gallo continued, “but you’re still not working as a cohesive unit. I’m grateful that you’re no longer missing cues, but there’s no spark. For this to work, you two need to be able to read each other and play into each other’s emotions. It should tell a story.”
    Neither Shannon nor Jackie was sure if they should add their opinions, so they stayed silent, knowing Gallo always had more to say.
    “You two are too wrapped up in your own sections of the duet. This is not Jackie and Shannon playing their instruments with technical perfection. You are here to serve the music.”
    Shannon nodded in