Silent Night, Except...

Adaora felt good after she had eaten and called room service to clear the dishes, but she definitely felt even better returning from the bathroom an hour later. She had soaked her body to her heart's content in the jacuzzi which she had filled with hot water and mixed with shower gel that enclosed the air of the bathroom with the aroma of sweet smelling spices. It had been so long since she had the time to give herself this kind of relaxation, being burdened with work most of the time.

She visited the spa alright, but that was once in a month, and recently she had been so busy with a skin care product they had been working on that she had missed it for two months. But here she was, without any responsibility awaiting her at the office, and she remained in the bubble bath with her eyes closed and hair wrapped in a white towel, sipping at a glass of red wine. It was only when she felt her feet begin to cringe that she showered and got out of the bathroom.

Adaora hummed as she searched her box for the appropriate nightwear that would suit the weather, smiling when she came across the sweatshirt and matching thick slacks she had never worn before. Yemi did have a strong insight about the weather including that in her travel box. She found herself laughing minutes later when the large clothes totally enveloped her slender frame. She had never felt so unfashionable before, but it felt comfortable, wearing something that wasn't constraining at all. It was a weird kind of freedom, and she couldn't remember the last time she'd had it.

Feeling refreshed and ready for a long sleep, she untied the towel, arranging the locks of her thick raven hair in a cap to ensure that the curls didn't tangle together. Her stylist had suggested going with her natural kinky hair since there wasn't any more time by her side, and she felt glad now that she had agreed with the young man. She didn't feel the need to scratch her hair like she always did whenever she had layers of human hair weavon fixed, or wore long wigs that irritated her skin and made her sweat underneath it.

She simply felt free.

As soon as the task of covering her hair was completed, Adaora slumped into the bed, grabbing one of the pillows and hugging it to her chest. Next, she placed her head on another pillow, inhaling the soft fragrance emanating from it.

It was as though it were timed, for as soon as she her head hit the pillow, the harmonious instrumental music of 'unconditionally' from a piano began to drift in the air, slow, and sweet to the ear. At first she thought she were dreaming, for it was unlike anything she'd heard before, and she had also simply assumed that the rooms would be soundproofed.

The volume seemed to increase as the music became more melodious, creating a hallucinogenic effect in her mind as though she were being drawn into the enchanting claws of the music. Her eyes dropped shut, but she wasn't asleep, transported to a hollow where time and space didn't go in line with natural laws. She felt seduced by the power of the piano, and buried her face closer to the pillow, her mind and soul enraptured.

Another track, fast in slow simultaneously began to play with a kind of intensity that spoke a lot about confused emotions. It was unexplainable, this feeling of being bewitched and exorcised by the same thing; destroyed by the same thing that delivered you. The keys rang out like an abandoned crying flute in the wilderness, seeking redemption as well as delivering itself. It was a cascade of disarray; fast and slow, destroying and redeeming, violent and calming...

It was as though whoever was playing it had been ripped of something they valued and had been left in a jumble of mixed emotions trying to blend in and failing miserably. She felt something awake in her, drawing her out of the hallucinogenic hollow she had been thrown into and she opened her eyes, straining her ears when she realised it in fact sounded very close to her room, next door?

She sat up, feeling emotions surge through her as she listened to the next song being played, and the next, and the next again, each driving out more angels and demons than the other before it, and making her heart pound fast and hard beneath her chest.

When the music stopped, she felt herself breathing fast, feeling angry and sad at whatever it was that had made this healer of souls play as though broken. There was no other term she could allude to whoever that those skilled fingers belonged to. She felt disappointed then that it had come to a stop, and was just as grateful and pleased when it resumed after some minutes.

She recognised the sound emanating from the instrument as the violin, and she listened to the Away in a Manger and Twelve Days of Christmas sitting up at first, then lying while resuming hugging the pillow. There was great difference in the method employed to the skills this time, yet she knew, felt it in her heart that it was one and the same as the pianist. She wondered if the instrumentalist had gotten rid of the violent emotions and decided to be calm at last, and she wished they had found peace, biting into her cheeks with her bold eyes open and staring into space. Her whole mind on the music that had broken the silence of the night.

It wasn't long, yet it felt like she had been waiting her whole life for it, when the voice rang out, accompanied by soft sounds coming from the violin. It was akin to pouring oil on her scalp and rubbing it in slowly till it dripped into her brain and enveloped it. It was all masculine and tender and melodious, very melodious. It spoke of sorrows and anger, and she had the urge to knock on his door and ask what was wrong till he yielded and told her what it was that made his voice so heart wrenching, and then she wanted him to sing happy songs to show he didn't feel sad anymore.

In her deep concentration in his music, in the sadness of his voice, she didn't notice when a tear, a lone salty moisture, rolled off her cheeks and into the pillow.