popular songs?”
“They’re beneath the talents of a classical musician.”
“Music snob,” Jenny taunted.
Rina smiled. “That’s not an insult, you know.” She turned to Ann, who was spearing the last piece of calamari. “What do you think of lawyers who work in shopping centers and turn out conveyance after conveyance, or will after will? Like, maybe it’s beneath their talents?”
Ann grimaced. “I see your point. Yeah, I’m a law snob. I like the high-end, intellectual stuff.”
“Anyhow, speaking of music,” Rina said, “I so don’t need distractions right now. I have another audition for the VSO on Friday.”
“That crazy Vancouver Symphony Orchestra,” Ann said. “Why can’t they make up their minds?”
“Last go-round, they opened the auditions only to Canadian citizens. I know I played well, and I’m sure others did too, but for whatever reason they weren’t satisfied. So they went international, and they’ve finally scheduled the auditions.”
“Poor Rina,” Suzanne said. “That must be so frustrating. I know how badly you want to play principal clarinet for them.”
“Yeah. It’s my dream.” Another dream, but this one might actually be achievable. Though the fact that they hadn’t chosen her in the last set of auditions was definitely ego damaging.
Their waitress came up to ask, “Want another bottle of wine? Something more to eat?”
“Yes, and yes,” Jenny said. “How about dolmades, and an order of that yummy roasted lamb to split?” She glanced around.
Suzanne and Ann nodded, and Rina joined in. She loved food though she tried to stick to protein and veggies.
When the waitress had gone, Rina brushed her audition angst aside and thought again of her one-time lover. “When I Googled Giancarlo, I found out he’s been directing videos all over the world. A few months ago he was in Vancouver. Then New York, Paris, Vegas. Now he’s actually back here again.”
“He’s in Vancouver?” Jen said. “Hey, that’s fate. You have to see him.”
Rina shrugged. “We’d have nothing in common. He lives this fast-paced, commercial life. He’s not the same person I used to like. And he wouldn’t like me either. I love my life, my little house and garden, my music students, my job with the operatic society, but the whole thing would bore him to tears.” She laughed. “Truth is, we’d bore each other to tears. I am so not interested in those God-awful videos.”
“Maybe he still has magic fingers,” Jenny teased.
“I doubt it.” Only in her dreams.
Her expression must have given her away, because Jen said, “Okay, spill. What’s up?”
“I dream of him sometimes,” Rina said softly. “Like, last night.”
“Last night, the night after Al proposed?” Jenny demanded.
“Yeah, that last night.”
“Your subconscious is definitely telling you something,” Ann said. “What would it hurt to get in touch with him and find out if the two of you still have that magical something?”
“I agree,” Suzanne said. “I got together with the special guy from my past, and look how it turned out.”
“I don’t think Giancarlo and I are going to fall madly in love,” Rina said dryly.
“Ah”—Jenny lowered her voice to sound witchy and mysterious—“but who are you to mess around with destiny? He’s here, you’re here, maybe he’s your—what was that word?”
“Bashert,” Rina said softly. Then she shook her head. “Of course he’s not.”
“But you said he was the best, right?” Jenny probed. “The best sex you’d ever had?”
Rina nodded. “The first sex, and the best.”
“Wow.” Ann looked impressed. “That’s saying a lot. What made him the best? Those fingers?”
“Partly. And the way we connected, on all levels.”
“You so have to see him,” Suzanne said firmly.
“I don’t know.” Rina sat back as their waitress came with a fresh bottle of Greek red wine and filled all their glasses. Then she said briskly, “Enough about me. I know what I need to do. Talk to Al again, see how it goes, concentrate on my feelings. So, what’s happening with everyone else? Ann, sounds like you and Adonis are doing great.”
Ann, who had classic features and a totally classy presence, grinned like a teenager who was crushing over the boy of her dreams. “Yes. He’s teaching me more about tantric sex, and on Sunday we went kayaking again and I’m actually getting it. Then we did dinner with his family, and I swear, they’re addictive. If I didn’t l-like Adonis for himself, I’d want him for his family.”
“She almost said the L word,” Jenny pointed out.
“It’s too soon,” Ann protested, but her cheeks were pink. She broke off as their waitress brought the stuffed vine leaves and roasted lamb, and they all helped themselves. Then she lifted her head. “I keep thinking, if I hadn’t met Adonis, I might have actually ended up with David.” She wrinkled her nose. “Think of the life I’d have had. I’d have missed so much.”
“How’s your mom doing with all this?” Rina asked. Ann’s mother had raised Ann alone and taught her that career achievement was the only important thing in life. Women’s lib taken to a bizarre extreme, as far as Rina was concerned.
Ann’s lips twisted in a half smile, half grimace. “She’s disappointed. She keeps trying to persuade me to see the error of my ways. It’s rough, because I’ve always been so oriented to wanting her approval.”
“Stick to your guns,” Jenny said firmly. “Or, in this case, your guy.”
Rina, whose own mom—now deceased—had been pretty damned controlling, nodded in agreement.
“Oh, I intend to,” Ann said. “My life’s so much happier, and healthier, since I met Adonis. More exercise and sleep, regular meals—”
“Regular sex,” Jen broke in with a wink, and Suzanne added, “And massage on demand. I could sure go for that.”
Rina forked up some of the Greek salad that came with the lamb. “All the same, I bet your mom’s worried about you. She loved and trusted a man, and he betrayed her. Now she’s probably afraid the same thing will happen to you.”
Moms were protective. Rina knew that. Her own mom had wanted so much for her. Too much. To be slim, popular, a great musician, a good Jew. They’d rubbed each other the wrong way a lot of the time, and Rina had been more of a daddy’s girl. But now that both her parents were gone and Rina was older, she could see how much they’d both loved her and wanted the best for her. Her mom, like Ann’s, had just been more aggressive
