Each bar brought back memories of when he’d once struggled with the shifts in the theme, but now he played flawlessly. And he often had a small audience outside the studio, peering in through the viewer’s window. Today, that audience consisted of Nicky and nine members of our local church’s gospel choir in Williamsburg.

James paid them no mind. Only his playing existed, his fingers on the keys, the music sweeping through him.

My fingers flitted across the keys too, and I smiled to myself as the light, flowing melody turned dramatic. Right around here, James had once suffered a complete meltdown because he, in his words, couldn’t get his fingers to cooperate. He’d been thirteen.

I drew a long breath and closed my eyes.

When was the last time I’d left New York? I’d been to Canada a couple times with buddies when I was younger. I’d been to Florida twice, Miami and Key West, and in the beginning of my relationship with Shawn, we’d gone up to Provincetown for a weekend. That…yeah, that was my most recent vacation. Three days in Provincetown nearly two years ago.

I hadn’t taken time off work in over a decade, though. I’d bowed out countless times, instead. When friends were off somewhere, there was nothing weird about taking Friday off to extend a weekend trip. But there’d been no possibility for me to just cancel classes. So unless the trip would fall on a federal holiday…

Now was different. Nicky had gone from part-time instructor to being my partner in the Initiative, and he’d be in charge for a while starting this Friday. Because at eight PM on Thursday, I was leaving New York behind for a whopping twelve days.

I felt like an uncultured idiot for being nervous about traveling. I wasn’t even leaving the country. But that hadn’t stopped me from packing and repacking my bag three times, not to mention all the times I’d organized my tickets and made sure I had everything in order, including the confirmation from the motel I’d be staying at.

It wasn’t just my vacation and the food festival either. My initial reason for going to Nashville was a music festival. I’d submitted a demo on a whim last year, and we’d been accepted in the first round. We, being the band Nicky and I were part of. A band without ambitions. It was just a hobby. A small group of friends who played together when busy lives allowed it.

For this festival, we’d included a few members of the choir Nicky and I worked with from time to time, and it would be the biggest stage we’d performed on.