Chapter 29 Play piano
Irene looked up to see the man from the front desk staring at her, probably wondering what was going on with her head.
She had just characterized rich people to be money wasters, yet she was known as Nelson Clark's wife.
Before the man could voice out his thoughts, she asked. "Where is the room?" She asked and the man gave her the directions.
She thanked him before she left.
The hotel lobby was quieter now.
Most guests had already retired for the night, leaving only the soft hum of low conversations and the distant clink of glass from the bar.
Before Irene could get to this penthouse, she had to return to the lobby and take the elevator... Which she hadn't noticed the hotel even had.
The ride up was silent.
Irene had no one to talk to. She just stood there, her hands interlocked behind her back as they moved upwards.
She had been in an elevator before, so it wasn't too strange. But it did feel a little weird.
She let out a small giggle as the elevator came to a stop. It made a 'ding' sound, and the doors opened.
Irene was marveled at the sight.
She had thought the hotel was a regular one when she had first checked in. But damn...
This was majestic.
It had places for both regular people and billionaires, this was the place for billionaires.
It looked completely different from downstairs. As though she was entering a whole new world.
Irene walked, her heels softer against the carpeted floor, her eyes roaming around.
"So this is the penthouse..." She muttered to herself.
A part of the hotel that was for really rich people. It apparently looked like a house and had everything a complete house would. Irene had yet to see the inside, but she was sure that it would be exactly like that.
She walked slowly towards the door and tapped on it. Almost immediately, Nelson opened the door... As though he had been waiting for her.
Irene looked down at his arms only to see that William wasn't there anymore. Nelson had probably put him to sleep.
Then ever so slowly, her eyes moved upwards. Trailing from his thick abdomen, which Irene was sure was ripped, his sleeves, which were rolled slightly, and then finally towards his hair, which was a little messier than before.
“I put him to bed,” he said and Irene immediately looked away, realizing that she had been staring at him.
She had been doing that a lot. Lately.
Irene nodded, her gaze fixed in the floor so Nelson wouldn't notice how pink her cheeks were.
“Okay.”
Silence fell between them. This time it was a little less tense, but it got Irene a bit nervous.
She exhaled softly, turning away. “I’m going to get some water.”
Nelson didn’t respond.
Irene didn't wait for one, she began walking towards where she suspected was the kitchen.
"Wow..." She exclaimed when she got there.
This place... It was truly beautiful.
Maybe if she hadn't seen Nelson's mansion, she would have been even more shocked at the beauty, but after seeing a place as huge and beautiful as that, everything paled in comparison.
The kitchen area was dimly lit.
Irene walked towards the counter, grabbed a glass, and filled it halfway before leaning against the counter.
She didn’t drink it immediately.
She just stood there, looking at the decor, her mind went back to events that had happened earlier.
From the time she discovered that Lawrence... Her high school crush was this Irene's lover, down to the concert hall.
She could only guess that just like her, Irene had liked Lawrence too.
But, if she did... Why end up with Nelson? Why marry him? And worse... Why was Lawrence such a jerk to her?
It looked more like Irene had been begging him to love her than them being in a relationship.
His thoughts lingered on the way Nelson arrived from nowhere and stopped Lawrence from hitting her.
Like a knight in shiny armour, he shielded her.
Irene immediately shook her head, refusing to think about that part.
She brought the glass to her lips, her mind going back to the concert again.
The piece... The song Elena Yu had played.
Still stuck on those notes.
On that piece.
One Last Love.
Her fingers tightened slightly around the glass, her heart beat slowly beginning to increase as she remembered.
"It's been a long time Kat..." She murmured, staring into space.
She hadn't talked about her in a while... She hadn't even thought about her.
Katarina Witt. Irene's late best friend.
It was the music that made her remember her. It was Katarina's favourite piece, and she could play it beautifully.
Irene's chest tightened.
But that was a while ago. She couldn't play it anymore because she was no longerer here.
She had died years ago. It was a car crash... Irene was in the car, yet it was only Kat who died. Irene had watched, helpless because she could do nothing but cry.
Her parents had been annoyed. They were grieving and they blamed her. Irene's parents noticed that their daughter was slowly breaking down, so they packed up one day and just moved.
They moved away so she could start again.
Only for Irene to meet Nelson in her new school. His constant bullying made her forgot about how tragically her friend died. She was always on her toes and had no time to think about it.
Maybe... He did do her one favor in her life.
Irene shut her eyes and then opened them immediately before the images would come back.
Before she could think twice…
She set the glass down.
And walked out of the kitchen and back to the living room.
She didn’t know why her feet took her there but as she roamed around the sitting room, Irene's eyes caught something.
At the far end of the room… A piano.
Irene slowed. Her steps faltered just slightly.
She hadn't expected to come across a piano here.
Her fingers twitched slightly at her sides as she stared at it.
It was beautiful. A huge piano... It looked old.
She walked toward it.
Each step quieter than the last. As if she was afraid something would stop her if she made too much noise.
When she reached the bench, she paused. Then she sat down, her fingers hovered over the keys.
Her mind went back to Elena Yu and how she had played.
Irene swallowed.
Could she play it like her? She hadn't played in a while so she wasn't sure.
“I can’t…” she whispered under her breath as she stared at the piano, the complicated tone already playing in her head.
The last time she had played this exact tone, was when Kat was still alive. Ever since she died, Irene hadn't played that piece. A part of her didn't want to remember those painful memories of her death. Of how she died.
Of how it was her fault.
Irene's fingers slowly lowered. She wanted to play something else. Something... Uplifting probably. That could get her mind out of this sad spiral that it was in.
She was thinking too much, her thoughts had gone really far. To the point that she had begun to wonder, if this was really another universe, was the Katarina Witt in this universe still alive?
It was a stupid thought, but... What if?
Irene shook her head and let out a small sigh, her finger began dancing on the piano.
Irene froze for half a second.
Well... She couldn't play any other thing. Her mind had somehow linked to her for fingers..
Her fingers moved again.
And again.
And before she realized it…
She was playing... The song.
Irene closed her eyes as her fingers danced on the piano, her breathing steady as she played.
She was good.