"...I'm your friend. And friends don't let friends live small lives." Faith Erin Hicks, Pumpkinheads

----

X. Banter

Luckily for Sophie, her usual babysitter was available, which meant that she was able to go into work sans Maddie for the first time in a long while.

When she opened the door of the West End Piano Bar, she saw Holly and Amy setting up the tables for the night ahead. It seemed so strange to not be the first one in aside from Pete.

"Afternoon, babes," greeted Holly cheerfully. "Nice to see you on a Saturday."

Sophie returned her smile. "Afternoon, girls. I know it's odd. Let me pop my things down and I'll give you a hand." Sophie gestured to her handbag.

"We're right, Sophie," assured Amy. "Nearly done. Sort yourself out and then come and help me figure out a way to seduce the hottie piano man."

Amy looked wistfully at Noah, who was sitting at the piano with AirPods in, blissfully unaware he was being stared at. Noah looked like he was concentrating hard. He wasn't playing, but writing, as he listened to whatever was in his ears.

Sophie darted into the backroom and hung her handbag up on the hook, before returning back into the pub. She gave Pete a quick hug and came back to join Holly and Amy on the floor. Noah had still not looked up from his notes.

"Do you think I should just straight up ask him out?" Amy asked them. "I don't want to seem desperate, but maybe he'd respond to that. It's not like he's going to text me if he's not on Snapchat."

Sophie's cheeks flushed, but neither Holly nor Amy noticed. It wasn't like she was doing anything wrong by texting him, was it? Amy was only twenty, after all. Noah was probably a bit mature for her.

"I don't know, Amy. He looks busy," Sophie said awkwardly. She did wonder what it was that he was working on. He claimed to be a musician, but what exactly did that entail?

"You seem to get on with him, Sophie," Holly observed.

"Oh, Soph, would you go and speak to him for me?" Amy pleaded. "Subtle like, don't drop me in it. Maybe you could ask if he would hang back for a drink after work tonight?"

Sophie was all but given a shove in Noah's direction before she found herself walking over towards him at the piano. As she approached, Noah noticed her, and he smiled, putting down his sheet music and pencil on top of the piano and removing his AirPods.

"Hey," he said with a warm smile.

Sophie did have her own agenda that she needed to speak to Noah about before she asked him out on behalf of Amy. Oh, bloody hell, that felt weird.

"Hi," she replied. "So, your mum thinks I'm pretty, does she? How could she possibly know that when you were told to delete that photograph?" Sophie smirked, deciding to start their conversation with the banter that was forming between them.

Noah grinned, chuckling. "In my defence," he said, holding his hands up, "I never sent my mom that picture."

Sophie frowned. "She summoned it by magic, then?"

Noah turned around on the piano stool and stood up, before jumping off of the stage to stand next to her. "No, my sister was in trouble with my mom. She has the gall to have other Thanksgiving plans." He rolled his eyes with a smile. "She was just trying to dump me in it by claiming that the picture was of my girlfriend that I'd neglected to tell my mom about." He shook his head. "If a crazy woman named Joy suddenly starts blowing up your cell, don't be alarmed. Or do. Probably do be alarmed. I would be and she's my mom."

Sophie couldn't help but laugh, covering her mouth to stifle some of her amusement. She pulled her phone out of her back pocket and showed him her lack of notifications. "Nothing yet, but I will keep an eye out. Thanks for the warning."

Sophie actually really liked hearing something so petty between siblings. She had grown up as an only child, and with parents like hers, it had been a lonely existence. She did worry about the same thing for Maddie, as well, and did want her to have a sibling one day. Noah was very fortunate to have such a relationship with his sister.

And his mother, for that matter.

"Hold on," Sophie said suddenly. "How did you sister get a hold of that picture?"

Noah shrugged his shoulders and put on the most bewildered expression. "I have no idea."

"Haven't the foggiest?" Sophie continued facetiously.

"Not sure what that is, but I'm sure I don't." He winked.

Sophie huffed, but couldn't hide her little grin. "Listen, I did want to ask you something," she said, changing the subject. "Maddie loved her piano lesson with you yesterday. I have never seen her so excited about something, and if you knew ..." she trailed off, not wanting to start spilling her guts and making herself cry. "I wanted to ask if I could pay you to give her a lesson once or twice a week. Just a little one." As soon as the words came out of her mouth, Sophie felt awkward. "But if you are too busy, please do not feel as though I have put you on the spot. You can absolutely say no and I will completely understand!"

"Sophie, chill." Noah placed his hand on her upper arm and Sophie stopped talking. "I would be happy to give Maddie some lessons, that's no trouble," he promised her. "But I can't take your money."

Sophie's heart swelled as soon as he said yes. "But you must," she insisted. "I could not ask you to do it for free. That would be completely taking advantage of you."

"Sophie, I'm a tourist, remember? I can't work for money. Do you want me to get deported?" Noah raised his eyebrows.

"Nobody would notice if I paid you a tenner, or however much you would charge." Sophie suddenly hoped it would not be too much. She was already going to be out eighty quid at the least for the psychologist.

"I love to play the piano. Sharing it should be free. My real job pays the bills. I don't need your money to share something that I love doing." He smiled kindly. "Tomorrow?"

"Damn it," Sophie hissed under her breath as she quickly wiped a tear away. "I told myself I wasn't going to cry." She shook her head and took a breath. "Yes, tomorrow would be lovely. I made a deal with Maddie that she needed to go to school if she was going to have lessons so we shall see how it goes!" Just as Sophie was about to turn away from Noah, she remembered why Holly and Amy had sent her over. "Do you want to have a drink after work tonight?" she asked suddenly.

Noah looked taken aback, but his surprise was quickly replaced with a warm smile. "Sure," he replied, nodding.

"Amy's wetting her knickers to flirt with you, but please don't tell her I said anything!" Sophie added, before smiling at him one last time, and returning to the girls with her thumbs up.

Amy beamed. "Oh, thank you, Sophie!"

"He seemed pretty happy to," Sophie told her.

Amy clapped her hands and ran off to the bathroom to check her makeup.

"What were you talking about for so long?" Holly asked, bumping Sophie with her hip.

"Noah's going to give Maddie piano lessons," replied Sophie. "He's being so kind about it. And between you and me, thank God he is not charging me for them," she whispered.

Holly pouted her bottom lip. "Oh, babes, that is the sweetest!" she cried. "I'm sure Mads will love that. Makes you wonder though, don't it?"

"What?"

"Well, Pete's not paying him. You're not paying him. What sort of coin does he have?" Holly wondered. "Have to be rich, wouldn't he? Maybe he has rich folks. Not like he's a famous musician or else we'd know him, wouldn't we?"

Sophie scoffed. "That's none of our business," she scolded. But quietly, now that Holly had pointed it out, it was curious.

***

On Monday morning, Sophie had phoned the paediatrician and the child psychologist and had managed to secure appointments for Thursday morning. Apparently, the school had notified them ahead of time, and Maddie would begin testing for autism.

The thought made Sophie sick to her stomach with nerves, but she was glad that they were on the right track regardless.

Maddie had kept to her word and had gone into school without a fight. Sophie had walked her to her classroom and watched as Maddie went over to her bag hook that was labelled with her name. Several of the other students stared at her and made comments about her being back.

Maddie seemed to be in her own world, though, as she pulled her school things out of her bag and organised them on her desk. She had something to look forward to, and nothing could bother her.

"Sophie," remarked Judy Forster. "No tears today?"

Sophie was unsure if Judy was referring to her or Maddie. Regardless, it was a no. "Nothing," she replied with a smile. "Maddie is starting piano lessons after school today and she is very excited."

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Judy clapped her hands together. "I'm glad to hear that she is excited about learning something. And piano, you know, is so good for coordination and rhythm and discipline. I hope it will really translate here in the classroom."

Sophie pulled out her phone and opened up the video that she had taken the other day of Maddie playing. "A friend of mine is teaching Maddie," she explained. "He is a very talented pianist and has a photographic memory. He seems to think Maddie might have something similar." Or exactly the same. Sophie played the video and turned her phone around to show Judy.

Judy pulled her glasses down off the top of her head and looked at the screen. The shock and utter amazement on her face very evident. "Oh my God," she gasped.

When the video finished, Sophie put her phone away. "Do you think it's possible?" she asked. "Maddie's never had a lesson before, never touched a piano, and she could do that because she was interested. It makes me wonder what else she could be capable of purely if she is interested in what she is doing."

"I can't tell you, as a teacher, how happy it makes me to see Maddie enjoying something," Judy said sincerely. "I never want one of my students to feel like school is a chore. It should be a place where they are inspired to learn. And that is my job now, to find whatever inspires our Miss Maddie."

Sophie felt a warm sensation of comfort in her chest as she heard that from Maddie's teacher. "Thank you," she said gratefully. "I have made the appointments for Thursday morning, as I obviously still want to make sure that if she is autistic that she is supported."

"Of course," nodded Judy, "and that is the right thing to do. As we explained in the meeting, Maddie does have characteristics in her behaviour and personality that warrant testing. But that does not mean that she cannot learn. So please, leave it to me, and I will let you know how she does at the end of the day."

***

Sophie walked out of Leicester Square Station feeling a real weight lifted off of her shoulders. There was hope, and there was direction, and best of all, she had not spent the morning crying, begging Maddie to come out of the bathroom.

She was so excited for Maddie's lesson, maybe even more so than Maddie was. Even if Noah wouldn't take any money for the lessons, Sophie still wanted to thank him. She found herself walking into one of the tacky tourist shops.

He was a self-proclaimed tourist, after all.

Sophie picked up palace guard soft toys, and Buckingham Palace coasters, and underground t shirts before her eyes settled on a shelf full of snow globes. She loved snow globes, and she found a gorgeous little one of a red double decker bus that looked as though it was driving down Charing Cross Road in a snowstorm.

It was a thank you, and that warranted the exorbitant nine pounds and ninety-nine p for the present.

As she walked into the pub, she heard Noah having a bit of a row on the phone.

"Holy shit, Mom. I'm not asking Sophie what her damn sweater size is. Are you insane?" he exclaimed. "No, I am not sassing you! I'm stopping you from spreading your crazy to another darn country. And yes, I will curse if I want to. I need the emphasis."

Her sweater size? What on earth was his mother wondering about what size jumper she wore?

"I texted you thinking, 'hey, it's two in the morning, I'll just let her know I'm alive and she won't need to call me'," Noah protested.

Sophie clapped her hands over her mouth as she eavesdropped to stop herself from laughing.

Noah sighed, exasperated. "Yes, Mom, of course I care that you get carpel tunnel from knitting. Technically I'm preventing that. Sophie doesn't need a Christmas sweater! Why? Because she's not my freaking girlfriend." Noah smacked his head with palm. "Have you got selective hearing, or do I need to book you in for some hearing aids?" Noah asked impatiently. "Okay, yes, I was sassing you that time, but you deserved it."

Sophie needed to help him. The poor man was getting nowhere. She quickly weaved around the tables and held her hand out for the phone as she approached Noah.

Noah raised his eyebrows. "Your funeral," he declared, as he handed his phone over to Sophie.

Sophie held his phone up to her ear and caught the tail end of his mother's sentence.

"... these days I'm going to be dead, do you hear me? Dead. And who is going to knit your sweaters then?"

"Hello, is this Joy? Noah's mum?" Sophie asked.

Sophie heard a gasp from her end.

"Yes!" she cried. "Oh, are you Sophie?" she begged to know.

Sophie laughed lightly. "Yes, my name is Sophie. It's lovely to talk to you."

"Oh, you just have the sweetest accent!" exclaimed Joy.

"Thank you, Mrs ..." It occurred to Sophie that she did not know Noah's last name.

"Bentley," Noah whispered.

"Mrs Bentley," continued Sophie with a smile.

"Sophie, it is so nice to meet you, even if it's not in person," Joy continued with happiness as big as her name. "Noah is a nice boy, isn't he?"

"When he's not sassing me, he is nice," Sophie teased, but Joy took the bait. Noah just rolled his eyes.

"Oh, doesn't he just? He gets that from his father. Certainly doesn't come from me," Joy promised. "But what's this I hear about you two just being friends?" she pressed, not holding anything back. "He needs a nice girlfriend, and I think English girls are much nicer than the girls in his line of work."

What sort of women were in Noah's line of work? "Well, Mrs Bentley, Noah and I met on Thursday," she said awkwardly. "We are just friends, I promise. I'm sure he deserves a nice girlfriend, though."

"Well, are you single?" Joy demanded to know.

"Yes, but –"

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-six, but –"

"Perfect!" she cried.

"Mrs Bentley, I'm not looking for a relationship at the moment." Not that this conversation with a total stranger wasn't odd enough. "You see, I'm a mum. I have an eight-year-old daughter and –"

"I HAVE A GRANDDAUGHTER?" she all but squealed, and so loudly that Noah could hear it from where he was sitting.

He looked mortified and snatched the phone back. "Oh, shit, sorry Mom, phone's dying. Goodbye!" and he disconnected the call, quickly switching his phone off. "I am so sorry," he apologised. "My mother needs to come with a warning label."

"She seems lovely," Sophie laughed. "She approves of me whole-heartedly. Your last girlfriends must have been horrors if she likes me purely because of my accent."

Noah chuckled bashfully. "You could say that. You meet a lot of people in LA who are just after a bit of clout." He shook off the thought. "I am really sorry about her, though. I hope she didn't embarrass you or make you uncomfortable. That is just her being her."

"No, no," Sophie said sincerely. "Your mum just loves you. It's a beautiful thing."

"Loves me too much, I think."

"No such thing," Sophie countered. "I'm a mum, I know." Sophie fished into her bag and pulled out the little snow globe. "Here," she offered. "I bought this for you as a thank you slash souvenir to remember your time in London."

Noah smiled widely as he accepted the snow globe, and he peered into it curiously. "Wow, thank you," he said gratefully. "This is actually really cool. I want to ride on one of these while I'm here."

"Trust me, public transport isn't exciting, but I do get the appeal." Sophie grinned. "I wanted to ask you yesterday, but you weren't here. How was your date with Amy?"

Noah hadn't been at the pub the night before, and Pete had popped the CDs back on. Amy had seemed optimistic about it though.

"I was working back at my hotel yesterday," Noah explained, before he pursed his lips. "I didn't know it was supposed to be a date with her," he confessed. "How old is she?" he asked quietly, frowning.

"Twenty."

Noah sucked in a breath. "I need to let her down easy. Or ... you could."

"Hey, I asked you out for her. I am not dumping her for you," Sophie said firmly.

"Okay, okay," he accepted. Clutching his snow glob, he said, "Thank you for this. That's really thoughtful of you, Sophie." He placed the snow globe atop the piano and smiled at it. He then shuffled his sheet music before he found the page that he wanted, and he picked his pencil up.

"What is it exactly that you are working on?" Sophie asked curiously. 

----

Hope you enjoyed it!

So I spent today styling my new isolation fringe/bangs while rewatching the Twilight Saga. 

That about sums up my state of mind/motivation. 

Okay. Vote and comment!!

PS. I freaking cringe using the word "banter". I do not watch Love Island hahahaha