All of It by Kim Holden Page B

you feel better.”
    I reach down and slip my sandals off and set them on the gleaming, dark hardwood floor just outside the music room. The carpet is plush and soft under my bare feet as I enter. “Do you play?” I ask pointing toward the piano.
    “A little, but I’d rather listen to you play something.” He takes my hand and leads me to the piano.
    “Oh, I don’t play.”
    He looks a little shocked. “You’re joking, right?”
    I shrug. “No.”
    He seems to be searching for words. “Oh, well … I saw the piano at your house and just assumed.”
    “My mom always wanted me to take lessons, but it never really interested me.”
    “Does she play?”
    “Are you kidding? She’s taken lessons three or four different times, but can never fully devote herself to it. If you couldn’t tell by meeting her this morning, she’s the type of person that has to be in constant motion. Sitting down is a struggle, so playing the piano is sort of out of the question. Maybe medication would help.”
    Dimitri laughs and flashes that knowing smile. “I think I understand. But seriously, you should learn to play. I know you would be great at it.”
    “Maybe someday you can teach me. I do love listening to piano music. Will you play something for me? Or will it wake up your mom?”
    He walks back and shuts the double doors. “Sunny’s bedroom is on the third floor. She won’t hear a thing. With the doors shut the room is practically soundproof anyway. I come down and play when I can’t sleep.” He crosses his fingers. “Insomnia and I are like this, so Sunny took some precautions to ensure she and Sebastian get their beauty sleep while I roam during my sleepless nights. Any requests, what would you like to hear?”
    With the doors shut, the room has become very intimate. Dimitri dims the lights, takes my hand and leads me to the piano bench. I sit down next to him and he begins to play. I’m mesmerized watching his hands move gracefully across the keys. He makes it look effortless and easy. He plays several songs, a mixture of classical, current, and in-between, each running into the next. I’ve never considered pianists to be especially sexy, at least not until this very moment. But then again, almost everything Dimitri does is sexy. It must show on my face.
    He looks at me out of the corner of his eye as he’s playing. I’m shamelessly staring at him. He grins, clearly pleased with himself, and looks back down at the keys. “You’re staring, Ronnie.”
    “How’d you learn to play like this? I thought you said you only played a ‘little.’”
    “Let’s just say I’ve played for a very long time.” He looks at me and the mischievous grin remains. He finishes the song and turns to look at me. “Let’s go find Sebastian.”
    Dimitri opens the doors and I pick up my sandals and carry them with me. He leads me through a few more dark rooms to a staircase that descends down. “The theater is in the basement. Sunny kind of insisted on it. She doesn’t seem to appreciate the fact that you can’t enjoy a movie unless it’s
really
loud, so she banished us to the basement.”
    At the bottom of the stairs there’s a huge game room complete with pool tables, pinball machines, several oversized sofas, and two big screen TVs. At the far end of the room an old-fashioned cinema marquee hangs above a set of double doors. Next to the doors is a snack bar that would put a real movie theater to shame. It is stocked with candy, a soda cooler, and a monstrous popcorn machine.
    “Do you want something to eat or drink?” Dimitri asks, as if everyone has one of these in their basement.
    The popcorn smells so delicious that even though I’m still stuffed from dinner, I can’t resist. “The popcorn does smell good.”
    He fills up a small bucket. “Butter?”
    “Please.”
    He walks from behind the counter with a bucket of popcorn and a bottle of Dr. Pepper and stops to look at a small screen on the wall next to the