The Day They Knew Love

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Sophia merely smiled, and rolled her eyes at his banter. She chose not to respond to his comments. "Sunrise is a bit early for me. Midmorning, say 9am work? I'll meet you here." With that, as the Friday evening dinner crowd began to wander the sidewalks, she once again traded in her violin, pulling the saxophone back out to play a soothing solo of soft jazz to serenade the passersby. By the time dusk fell, the crowd had thinned considerably, and so she decided to pack up a bit earlier than she might have done. Gratefully she accepted Konstantine's help in packing up her things and stacking the case on her trolley, strapping them in for the short bus ride home. She stood shyly at the bus stop after he'd walked her to it. The bus was not only on time, but early for once, so it was a good thing they'd packed up early. Before stepping inside, she rose up on her tiptoes and gave him a peck of a kiss on one cheek. "Thank you for keeping me company today. I am very glad you came by to listen today. I'll see you tomorrow, Konstantine."

She let him help her pull the cart of instruments up the bus steps and chose a seat on the sidewalk side of the bus, so she could wave at him as the bus pulled away. As the corner drew out of sight, the bubble of happiness in her chest deflated a little at the thought of what awaited her at home. It was only two stops away, so the ride was short. Getting off the bus was not so pleasant as getting on. While the neighborhood was brightly lit and cheery, and obviously well-kept, somehow the area always felt dark to Sophia, perhaps because of the lingering past clinging to the edifice of her home.

The house was dark and empty on it's well-kept lawn, but she hadn't expected anything else. Whatever business dealings her father had going on these days kept him out for days at a time, and whenever he finally let himself surface from his work, he would inevitable bury himself again in some liquor bottle or another. Sophia couldn't very well blame him, her mother's death had taken it's toll on her as well, but it would have been nice if he were around to at least talk to. It had been almost two years now, with no change. The few times that she had seen her father, he had been haggard, drawn, a shadow of the man he'd once been. She was certain that his business was failing, both from his grief and his drinking. Her night was uneventful; she cleaned the instruments and put them away, carefully counted and sorted her earnings, and hid it beneath a loose floorboard in her bedroom where her father could not find it. After that it was off to bed.

She woke in the morning to an empty house yet again, and showered and dressed, and took the 8am bus to the corner. She stepped off at 845 and sat on the bench to wait for him, feeling apprehensive but excited as she cracked a paperback open to read as she waited. She had not planned an outing in ages, but she was nervous that he would not come. When the sound of hooves sounded on the street, she thought nothing of it at first, recalling the numerous horse-drawn carriages that wandered the streets in this area, but when they stopped nearby she looked up and laughed aloud when she beheld the sight of the sharp-dressed man before her on horseback. She stood, pulling her backpack over her shoulder, and walked up to him, barely able to contain her grin as she held out a hand nervously to the great creature for it to sniff. She gave it a tentative pat on the neck. "And who is this? He's so neat!"

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