Olivia was thankful that she didn’t have to get a summer job. Her dad knew how important it was for her to practice her cello, and she treated it like a job. Focus had never been a problem for her, and long practice sessions always allowed her a little escape from the world.
Now, she sat lost in thought. Maybe if she had a job waiting tables like Maddie, she’d actually meet people. Maddie was scheduled to go away on a rafting trip next week with some of her new friends from work. The concept of a trip with strangers that you’ve only just met was unfathomable to Olivia. The only friends that she had were Maddie and her dad’s buddies. She smiled to herself. The old guys were kind of fun. Maybe that’s what she needed to bring her focus back – a jam session. She set down the bow that had sat unused in her hand for the last hour and headed out to the barn.
Darn it! she thought as she looked out the front door and saw the empty driveway. She hated sharing a car with Maddie. It was supposed to be shared 50/50, but it was definitely trending towards 90/10 between her and her sister. Luckily the sun hadn’t risen too high, but it was promising to be a scorcher. She grabbed her battered up ten-speed bicycle out of the garage, tucked her floral sundress between her legs and set off for Steve’s place.
“Well, Hello Jimi!” Steve smiled as Olivia pedaled into the barn. He had taken to calling her Jimi after the iconic guitarist Jimi Hendrix.
“Hi, Steve. You guys going to be playing any music today? I’ve been working on the riffs you sent me.” She brushed the straw from the ledge in the barn and jumped up to sit beside him.
“Do I have to talk to your dad to get you some sandals? Geez, kid, it’s going to be over one hundred degrees today.” Steve said, pointing to the combat boots on her feet.
“I wear these every day, Steve. Have you ever seen me with anything else on my feet?” She joked back, leaning into Steve and pushing on his arm.
“I guess they’re cool, man. Not literally, obviously, but I do suppose they give you a bit of an edgy look,” Steve said as he stared off into space. Olivia had gotten used to talking to lifelong stoners, and enjoyed how relaxed the conversations could be.
“And yes, I’ve been working on those riffs.”
“You still writing ‘em out?”
She was.
“No man. Playing from the heart, or soul, or guts, or wherever you told me to play from. So, are we jamming today or what?” Olivia got up and brushed off the back of her dress. She realized that she might have to look into some alternate footwear, her feet were kind of sweaty, now that she thought about it. She grabbed her favorite guitar of Steve’s, his Telecaster, and started tuning it. She didn’t need any gadgets to help her tune, she had perfect pitch.
“Yeah, man. We’re playing as soon as Laurie picks up Randy. You want to tune everything while you’re at it?” He joked.
“Sure!” Olivia responded. She knew he was being facetious, but chose to ignore it. She loved tuning. ‘God, I am a nerd’, she thought to herself.
Steve laughed. “Have at ‘er. I’m going to head out back and work on some soil remediation. Shout at me when the guys get here.”
“Will do,” Olivia said, distracted, in her own little world, totally preoccupied with tuning. She sat on an antique milking stool and tuned every instrument in the barn. She plucked out chords and notes and felt unadulterated joy at the fact she could pick up any instrument and produce such beautiful sounds.
The barn door creaked and a voice interrupted her focus. “Um. Hello?”
She was startled, and it took her a minute to register who she was looking at. He didn’t have his leather kutte on and was wearing jeans and a t-shirt, but his fiery beard and tatted arms gave him away. It was Blaine! ‘Holy Fuck. How long had he been standing there?’ She wondered to herself.
“Um. Hi,” Olivia stammered.
Blaine cleared his throat, “Is Steve here?”
“Yeah, he’s out back fixing up the dirt or something,” Olivia said. ‘Fixing up the dirt? Why couldn’t she just say something normal?’ “I mean, it’s some kind of remediation, or something like that.”
“Well, fixing up the dirt makes more sense to me.” He smiled.
She smiled back and felt her face flush.
“It’s Olivia, right?” Blaine said.
Olivia felt her heart leap into her throat when he said her name. He remembered who she was!
“Yes, and it’s. Um.” She was so flustered that she couldn’t remember his name, even though it had been running through her mind ever since she learned it.
“Blaine,” he said.
“Right. Sorry about that,” she replied, unable to meet his gaze.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, walking towards her.
“I’m tuning this mandolin, and then I’m going to go and tune that upright bass over there,” she said, pointing to the huge instrument leaning against the makeshift stage.
“Upright bass, huh. Just looks like a giant guitar to me.”
Olivia laughed. “I can see how you could think that.” She set down the mandolin and crossed her legs, still seated on the tiny stool. She didn’t want to get too close to him, she had spent the entire morning hanging out in a stinky barn after riding her bike 15 miles in the morning heat. Not to mention, according to Steve, her boots were smelling a little ripe.
“Actually, I meant, what are you doing here? At Steve’s place,” Blaine clarified.
“Oh, Steve is friends with my dad. I’m sort of an honorary member of their band,” she said, smoothing her dress over her legs.
“Really, that’s an interesting rag-tag group of people.”
“Speak for yourself.” Olivia said and then clamped her hand over her mouth. ‘Why did I say that?’
“Touché.” Blaine chuckled and pulled up a seat beside her. “Can you play me something?”
“Well, this isn’t my instrument…” she trailed off.
“Miss, do you think I’m going to know the difference?” He smiled, picked up the mandolin, his huge hands dwarfing the tiny instrument, and handed it to her. She looked into his eyes – they exuded warmth, even though they were a cold crystal blue. She held his gaze and smiled at him as she reached for the mandolin. Her fingertips brushed his and Olivia felt a surge of adrenaline rush through her from head to toe. She knew that her face was flushing beet red and she scuffed the floor with her boots to try to avoid his gaze.
Her body switched on its autopilot, her subconscious knew that she wasn’t going to be able to speak or look at the man, so it started doing the thing it knew best. Playing music. She plucked away, slowly at first, and the clear unmistakable high mandolin tones rang out through the barn. She closed her eyes and did her best to transpose her knowledge of the mandolin into something remotely melodic.
When she opened her eyes, she was afraid to look over at Blaine. Playing music was something she did well, but this was the first time that it had made her feel vulnerable. She took a deep breath and turned to face him. He was staring at her and smiling. His legs were spread wide on the little stool and his elbows rested on his knees. She started to speak, but he reached out and took her face into his hands and pulled it to his. When his lips met hers, she quivered. The kiss was gentle but lingering. Olivia brought her hands up and rested them on his. His lips were soft, and everything around her melted away as she felt his breath mingle with hers.
The barn door slammed and Olivia and Blaine jumped apart like they had been caught stealing. Steve was in the doorway, clearly unimpressed. His hands were on his hips and he was stamping his well-worn Birkenstock on the barn-board floor.
“And what’s going on here?”
“Steve, Hi. I was just, um, stopping in to say hi,” Blaine stammered.
“Oh really, Brother? Is that how you say hi to everyone? Where’s mine, man?” Steve tossed the rag in his hand onto the floor.
Olivia had never seen Steve agitated before.
“Are you ok, Liv?” he looked at Olivia with concern in his eyes.
“Yyyyes,” Olivia whispered.
“Blaine, man. Let’s go outside and have a word.” Steve dramatically opened the door with one arm and motioned for Blaine to exit with the other.
Blaine squeezed Olivia’s bare shoulder and let his hand run down her arm as he walked away.
“Now, Blaine,” Steve yelled.
Olivia jumped. She had definitely never heard Steve raise his voice before. Blaine broke into a light jog and disappeared out into the sunlight. Steve let the door slam. Olivia crept to the door and peered out through the worn slats. She could hear Steve shouting, but they were too far away for her to hear what they were saying. From his body language, it was clear that Steve was upset. He waved his arms and shook his head. Blaine stood stoically in front of him, his arms crossed, nodding his head. The conversation continued for a good five minutes before Blaine turned and walked out of her eyesight. She saw Steve returning to the barn, clearly in a huff. She ran to the stool and picked up the mandolin, pretending to be occupied with tuning the perfectly tuned instrument.
Steve walked in and slammed the door.
“Goddammit!” He yelled and kicked at the door. It shuddered on its hinges.
Olivia froze. She didn’t know what to do or say. Steve was pacing and muttering to himself, “Fucking guys, think that they can do whatever they want.”
“Steve,” Olivia whispered.
Steve kept pacing and muttering like a caged lion. “Steve,” she said a little louder. He still didn’t acknowledge her.
She stood up, walked over to the drum kit, grabbed a well-worn drumstick and smashed one of the cymbals with all her might. “Steve!”
The abrupt clatter caught Steve’s attention, and surprisingly calmed him down.
“Sorry, kiddo. I hate for you to see me like this. Seems like there’s going to be a biker festival here this fall,” Steve said with tears in his eyes.
“Why here?” she queried.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” he said, wiping the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand.
“And, what did I walk in on here? You need to stay far, far away from that man,” Steve said, as if suddenly recalling the tender moment he had interrupted.
“It was nothing,” Olivia murmured.
“Well, make sure it stays that way.” Steve said harshly. “I’m cancelling practice, you need to go home now, ok?”
“Sure Steve.” Olivia stood up and walked to her bike.
“Hey, Liv. I’m sorry for being like this. You know you’re always welcome here. You’re like the daughter I never had.” He let out a huge exhale and sat dejectedly on the floor.
“It’s o.k. Steve. I’ll come back tomorrow and we can play some Doors. Get that frustration out of you.”
Steve looked up at Liv and smiled. “Thanks, Jimi. See you tomorrow.”
Olivia biked through the field and onto the road. She felt a mixture of confusion, fear, and exhilaration. The moment with Blaine, seated on the milking stools, had been the best moment of her life so far. She smiled as the felt the awakening of her body.