The Piano Shop

Ava went upstairs to change and quickly came down wearing a lotus pink down jacket with a pair of knee-length boots. Before she left she shouted from the dining hall, "Mrs. Lee, I am going out."

"Madam, you don't want me to accompany you?"

"No, it's fine. I'll go with her." Liam smiled and answered for Ava.

Liam walked to his new black Land Rover which was parked in the villa yard and opened the passenger door for Ava.

As soon as they got inside, Liam turned on the heating afraid that Ava will be cold, and start the car.

"Which piano shop?" Liam asked holding the steering wheel as he looked at Ava.

"The string instrument will do," Ava said after thinking for a second.

"Why do you want to buy a piano suddenly?" Liam asked casually looking ahead on the road.

"To set it up." Ava joked.

Ava's mind suddenly flew back to the netizen's comments. She never thought after so many years, she would want to play the piano again. But those comments made her realized that she has been missing too much. She loved to play Piano, then why does she have to torture herself by denying it and depriving herself of the pleasure? All these years she couldn't let Melody go so she would feel sad whenever she played but now that she started a new life, why not make the Piano a part of her life again? She loved music and she wants to get back that feeling.

"You want to participate in the" midsummer night's dream?" Liam asked casually but he already knew the answer. He has been following the competition updates and it was actually him who paid people to push the comments on Ava on the microblog.

Ava abruptly turned her head and asked with a face full of surprise, "How do you know?"

"I check my Weibo too, you know!." Liam said indifferently and continued to drive.

"OK... But how did you know I can play the piano?"

"Ava sometimes you are really silly. It's normal for a man to know about the woman he is particularly interested in. Of course, I know what you like and what you don't like." Liam said with a smirk.

Ava was stunned. Liam told her many times before that he likes her but she never took him seriously because she knew his playful nature. But today for some reason she wanted to believe it.

Ava hesitated then asked, "What do you mean? You like me?"

"What do you think?" Liam didn't answer instead he asked and laughed out loud.

Ava frowned, she was very confused by Liam's words and his behavior. The way he was laughing seemed like he was joking. So Ava said, "Of course not. You know I'm married to your brother!"

"Yes, I know you're Mrs. Oliver Knight now. Don't worry, I was just joking." Liam said with a smile making it hard to tell whether he was joking or not.

"Well, this is not funny, so don't do it in the future. People might misunderstand if hear you say something like that." Ava said in a serious tone.

"Why? Are you afraid that Oliver will know?" Liam asked raising one of his eyebrows.

Ava smiled and said cleverly, "No, you are my brother-in-law, so this kind of jokes question our relationship."

He laughed but didn't say anything else, he knew well even if Ava was not with Oliver she would never choose him. That stings his heart but there was nothing he could do about it, maybe that's why he was so fascinated by her.

String instrument.

Liam's black Land Rover stopped steadily in front of the piano shop and Ava got out of the car carefully. As she entered the shop and looked around, she got a little nostalgic. This was the shop from where she bought her first Piano. This shop has been here in this city for more than 30 years. The owner of this shop was her first piano teacher who taught her how to play when she was only 4 years old.

A melodious tune suddenly came into Ava's ear and she walked toward the tune. A man in his late fifties was sitting in front of a white tripod piano and playing "to Alice". His eyes were closed and it was clear that he has completely lost himself in the tune. He has been playing all his life and he knew every black-and-white key of a piano by heart, so he didn't even need to look at it when he played any tune.

Ava stood there not far away and watched him play quietly. She knew he didn't like to be interrupted when he played. Even if there were customers here he would still continue to play until the piece of music reached the end.

After the end of the song, Mr. Lu slowly opened his eyes and stood up. As he turned he saw a man and a woman was standing not far away. He stared at the woman for a while before he finally recognized Ava.

"Little Ava? Is that really you?" Mr. Lu's shaking voice was a little surprised but anyone would hear the joy in them. He didn't expect to see his old student again.

In the past 30 years, he has taught piano to hundreds of students, each of them has achieved something in life. However it was only Ava, he was really proud of. He always believed, with her ability, Ava will achieve something great.

"Yes, Mr. Lu. It's me" Ava smiled and walked over.

"Oh my God, I can't believe it's really you. How have you been my child?" Mr. Lu smile and asked excitedly.

"I am doing fine, thank you. How are you?"

"I am fine, I am fine. Come, have a seat. What brought you here today after all these years?" Mr. Lu took Ava to the seating corner and sat down. Since it was weekdays, there was no business in his shop during the day.

"Actually, I wanted to buy a Piano and also I missed you so thought I might just drop by and see you," Ava said with a gentle smile.

"Good... good. I am very happy to see you here. So, which brands are on your mind?"

"Pearl River or Yamaha will do."

Seeing Mr. Lu after so many years old memories started to flow through Ava's mind and she kept talking about music and old times.