"She blushed and so did he. She greeted him in a faltering voice, and he spoke to her without knowing what he was saying." Candide 

----

XIV. A Giant Middle School Crush

It would be two weeks on Monday since Noah had begun giving Maddie piano lessons, although, she seemed to be teaching him more than he did her.Noah's own mind had helped him to understand every possible combination of sounds a piano could make at a young age, but Maddie was proving him wrong.

Maddie definitely got her creative talent from her mom. Not only did she have a brilliant memory for music; Noah could teach her a piece and Maddie could repeat it immediately, but she had a real knack for coming up with brilliant twists to his melodies.

Maddie simply claimed that she was making them sound better, and that was exactly what she was doing. She understood the instrument, how it sounded, how it worked, and she knew what she could make it do.

Since starting to play with Maddie, Noah's score had begun to explode out of him. He had his sound, as Tally had told him, and he could now hear the entire movie. He was writing page after page of music, and then was putting it to the rough scenes that he had on his laptop. During their lessons, Noah would play what he had come up with for Maddie, and she would make it better, quite literally.

This kid was brilliant, and Noah often sat in awe of her.

Watching Maddie play had relaxed Sophie quite dramatically, Noah observed. She had been a wreck after her first appointment, and she was, of course, still anxious about Maddie's pending diagnosis.

But no matter what the doctors said, it couldn't take away Maddie's talent, and Noah believed that Sophie knew that, too.

Sophie had always looked like she was carrying around such a huge burden, like she was walking with a hundred-pound barbell over her shoulders that she couldn't seem to shift. She now seemed to be carrying herself a little differently.

She was standing taller, and she was smiling. Smiling at her co-workers, and she was smiling at him. Sophie actually had a really beautiful smile. When she smiled, her whole face warmed, and you couldn't help but feel the same way.

Sophie's energy was incredibly warm anyway. He'd never seen someone so wholly care for another before, without any concern for themselves. He understood that she was a mom, and her daughter came first, but Sophie really didn't think about herself at all.

He'd caught himself staring at her several times in the last week. He hadn't meant to; it was just hard not to notice the change in her as she cheerfully went about preparing the bar floor for a night of customers.

She was wearing her hair down tonight. Sophie had such beautiful hair that was a really interesting light shade of red. Maddie had the same colour. She had a slight olive-y undertone to her skin, which was smooth and clear. Her eyes, Noah thought, were perhaps the warmest part about her. It didn't hurt that the shade of brown reminded him of his favourite kind of chocolate.

Any.

She had a cute little nose that was ever so slightly upturned at the end, and her lips were soft, full, and pink. She didn't seem to wear much makeup. Or perhaps she did, he wouldn't know. His only experience, really, was the Sephora store that was set up in his bathroom as Vanessa liked his vanity more than the one in hers and Tally's bathroom.

Well, whatever she did or didn't use, she was pretty. God, she was really pretty.

Sophie made her way across the floor, laughing along with something that Holly had said, as she carried a tray of salt and pepper shakers. Holly was refilling the napkins.

As Sophie moved, her hair swished behind her, and Noah found that he couldn't take his eyes off of her. He wanted to know what she was laughing about. He wanted to be the one making her laugh.

Shit, Noah realised. He was crushing on Sophie. Oh, good God, was he in middle school? A freaking crush?

Noah managed to snap himself out of his thoughts and to concentrate on Maddie's playing in time for Sophie to join them.

"How is the lesson going?" she asked them both, setting her tray down on the closest table as she folded her arms across her chest.

"Good, Mummy," chirped Maddie happily as she played. Maddie was playing the overture that Noah had composed for the opening credits of the film. Of course, she was tweaking it and making it better, as she had done with every piece of music that he had produced.

If he wasn't so in awe, his ego would have been a little wounded.

"Are you ready for tonight?" Noah asked, managing to find a coherent question in his brain to ask her.

Sophie took a shaky breath but nodded. "Les Mis and Phantom are always crowd favourites, even if I Dreamed a Dream is an incredibly difficult song to sing well."

"Sophie, do you not realise just how talented you are?" Noah asked in disbelief. "You know now the kind of people that I work with, that I listen to. Trust me when I saw you're special. I really mean it." In more ways than one, Noah was learning.

His heart seemed to stir as a flush of red came into Sophie's cheeks. Yep, this was definitely a real crush alright.

"Alright, well, when this song is finished, you need to come and have your dinner, Maddie," Sophie reminded. She offered Noah a smile as she turned away, returning her tray to the bar.

***

God, if Sophie's life had gone another way, she really could have been incredible. Not that she wasn't already. She had a beautiful, crystal clear theatre voice. But had she had the time to commit to theatre, Noah had no doubt that she would have been a star.

The customers were silent as Noah played the final notes of the Les Mis ballad, and Sophie sung, "Now life has killed the dream I dreamed." Her last ethereal note finished, and the bar erupted into applause.

Noah, too, stood up and clapped for Sophie, and she looked back at him with a bewildered, yet energised smile, as though she stillcouldn't believe that these people were clapping for her.

She reached back for him, taking his hand, and pulling him forward so that they could bow together. There was a second wave of applause for him, too, and Noah was wholly unused to receiving accolades from a live crowd. After all, he usually worked in a shoe-box sized studio.

Both of them jumped off the stage, and Sophie beamed up at him. Noah could have easily gotten lost in the moment. He could have kissed her right then and there. Could he do that?

But before he could even finish the thought, they were interrupted by a booming, possessive voice.

"Babe! Soph!" he called. An average sized blond man was pushing his way rudely through the crowd. Though not tall in stature, he was absolutely thickwith muscle. His arms alone looked like tree trunks in his tight, black shirt,

Noah watched as Sophie's excited demeanour immediately disappeared as she dreaded the approach of this man. Noah had seen him the last few Fridays. He tended to sit with friends in Sophie's section. He hadn't asked Sophie who he was, but it was not hard to guess that Sophie had a history with him.

Was this her type? Noah certainly didn't get biceps like thatplaying the damn piano.

"Beck, I was in a really good mood a moment ago. Must you ruin it?" Sophie asked facetiously as the man, Beck reached them.

Beck's blue eyes looked over Noah is an egotistical way. Dismissing Noah, he edged him out of the conversation before it had even begun by turning his back on him. "You look hot tonight, Soph."

Sophie rolled her eyes. "You're arriving later than usual."

"Had a late call out," replied Beck. "Went home, got changed, and came out with the lads. Caught the end of your song though, babe. You sounded alright. Looked even better."

Noah hated him. It felt strange to so viciously hate someone after thirty seconds of being in their presence, and yet here he was.

Beck threw a glance back over his shoulder as he asked, "How's ourdaughter?"

Holy crap, this asshole was Maddie's father. Of course, she had history with this guy. She'd had a kid with him. And Noah suddenly felt more jealousy in that moment then had since he was in the eighth grade crushing on Missy Janowitz.

Noah immediately left them, not wanting to overhear their conversation. He didn't like feeling jealous at all. He wasn't a teenager, and it simply felt ridiculous. Noah weaved around the customer's and passed Pete at the bar.

"Just getting some air. I'll be back to play in a few minutes," he called as he walked out onto the street.

Jesus, the London wind had bite. He wasn't used the cold as a California native. He didn't really own anything thicker than a sweater and to be in a place like London as they headed into winter, he would need to invest in a coat.

Shaftesbury Avenue was heaving with people on a Friday night. There were cars and busses on the road, and people crossing every which way as they entered the theatres, restaurants and bars.

Noah pulled out his cell phone and FaceTimed Tally, but she didn't answer. He then realised that with the time difference, she would be teaching her afternoon classes. Crap, just when he really needed her.

He decided to call Vanessa instead, and he leaned against the wall of the bar as the phone rang.

"Hey!" cried Vanessa as she answered the phone.

"Hey," replied Noah. "Are you busy?"

"I'm just doing a yoga class at home, but I can finish it later. What's up?" Vanessa asked.

Whereas Tally was blunt, honest, and funny, Vanessa was romantic, creative, and passionate. Perhaps she was the right person to talk to about this sort of thing.

"How would you want to be asked out on a first date?" he asked. "Hypothetically, imagine you have a daughter, say eight years old, who is incredible, but has a lotgoing on. Oh, and your giant dick of a baby daddy is hanging around your place of work. How would you want to be asked out?" he repeated. "And would you even say yes given all that?"

"Well ... I haven't exactly been on a first date in nine years," Vanessa replied coyly, "but if I swung that way, I'd totally say yes to you, no matter my baggage, Noah. You're a good guy. A really good guy, and Sophie would be lucky to have you."

"Tally's a big, fat tattle tale, isn't she?" muttered Noah.

Vanessa laughed. "It's sort of my fault. I've got a charity thing in New York over Thanksgiving weekend and I didn't want your mom to hate me or Tally for missing dinner in Napa."

"You know you are her favourite child most of the time, you realise," Noah reminded her. It was true. Joy loved on Vanessa twice as hard sometimes because Vanessa's own parents couldn't ... or simply didn't want to. "I'm serious though. Sophie's got a lot going on. And I've just realised that this asshole that hangs around the bar every Friday night is Maddie's dad. She's probably not going to be interested ... and what would we even do? I'm going back to LA to record in December anyway."

"Excuse, excuse, excuse, excuse," Vanessa scolded. "Don't let your own worries stop you from going after what you want."

And she was right. Noah had just gone from confessing that he had a big ol' crush on Sophie, to then creating half a dozen reasons in his head as to why he shouldn't do anything about it.

Noah hadn't dated anyone in a long time. Once he had finally wised up to the beautiful models and actresses who only seemed interested in him for as long as they needed him to get some relevancy, he had become very reluctant to get back into the dating sphere.

Sophie wasn't like that.

And he didn't think of her baggage as ... well ... baggage. Maddie was incredible, in every sense of the word.

And really, jealousy was for teenagers. He was an adult. If he had feelings for a woman, he needed to grow some balls and do something about them. What's the worst that could happen?

"Maybe I'd get a great heartbreak song out of it?" Vanessa suggested teasingly, and Noah could hear the smile in her voice.

Noah hadn't realised he'd asked that question out loud. "Jesus, Vanessa, I could get you a whole album," uttered Noah.

At that moment, the door of the bar opened, and Sophie stuck her head out. When she spotted him, she stepped out into the street and rubbed her arms as the wind chilled her immediately.

"I've got to go," Noah said quickly.

"Call me later!" cried Vanessa. "I'm invested now. I need to know what happens."

Noah ended the call and shoved his cell in his back pocket. "Hey," he greeted.

"I'd wondered where you'd got to," Sophie said as she approached him. "What are you doing out here?"

"Just needed some air," replied Noah.

"Me, too. Though it's bloody freezing." Sophie laughed at herself. Noah then wished he was wearing a coat that he could wrap around her like in a cheesy movie. "I'm really sorry about Beck," she apologised, her face falling, and her mouth pressing together in a distasteful expression. "Holly calls him a walking haemorrhoid."

Noah couldn't help but burst out laughing as such an accurate insult. "He did seem like a total dick," he replied honestly. "But you don't need to apologise for him, Sophie." Taking a breath, he asked, "How long ago did you guys break up?"

Sophie exhaled, and shook her head. "Um, about seventeen seconds after I told him I was pregnant," she said bluntly.

Noah nearly choked on his tongue as he took in what Sophie said. What the actual fuck? And the guy still had the balls to walk around like he had some sort of right to impose upon Sophie?

"What an asshole!" hissed Noah.

Sophie nodded. "I know, don't you worry. We aren't together. He doesn't even have a relationship with Maddie, really. I think he only asked about her tonight because you were standing there, and he's a possessive prick. I'm the one who usually reminds him that he has a child." Sophie then added shakily, "I'm honestly embarrassed that you had to see that. I don't want you to think badly of me for being with a man like that. All I can say is that I was a lot dumber at seventeen when I met him."

Noah's finger was underneath Sophie's chin, lifting it up, before he had a chance to realise what he was doing. "Sophie, it's impossiblefor me to think badly of you. I think you are wonderful," he said honestly.

And here went nothing. Worst case scenario, he was old enough to accept it if she did say no, and he would understand her reasons for it. But God he hoped she said yes.

"Sophie ..."

"Yes?"

For want of a better word, he continued, "I've got a huge crush on you." The words came out surprisingly smoothly.

Sophie's eyes widened, and her jaw dropped in shock.

"Would you like to go and grab a coffee with me sometime?"

---

Hope you enjoyed it! 

Week 1 of home learning is over! I am exhausted, and missing my kids so much. Video chat just isn't the same. 

In other news, I think I've pulled several muscles in my abdomen ... laughing at my own jokes. Yes. My stomach hurts sooo bad. 

To entertain my family, I've taken to researching some pretty dirty jokes. The kind that make you laugh yourself into pulling muscles hahaha.  

You want to hear one of my favourite jokes? It's not dirty, I promise haha. But this is one that I tell, and every time I piss myself laughing. Okay, are you ready? I don't think you're ready. Prepare yourself to pull a muscle. 

Why are cows bad dancers? 

Because they .... lactose. 

Hahahahahahahhahahahahaahahah

Oh dear, at least I make myself laugh. You've got to try and laugh during this time, don't you? 

Vote and comment!