can’t even say if the fight is worth it, because I’m not her.”
“I get that,” Seth told him quietly.
“It’s up to her to decide. Her future isn’t bleak or hopeless. It’s just a longer climb to the top.” Nik drank what was left in his mug, the stale coffee now room temperature and too sweet. His mind was still on Adam, and he knew Seth didn’t deserve his bad attitude, but he hated when people wanted to dig under his skin to find inspiration.
“I’m sorry,” Seth told him as Nik climbed to his feet. “I know those questions are annoying, I was just hoping… I don’t know. That next time we talked I could tell her something she needed to hear.”
Nik’s brows rose, mostly out of irritation. “Look, I’m not a mentor for blind people. For anyone,” he added with a small grin. “I wouldn’t be any good at it.”
“Yeah, I kind of got that,” Seth admitted, and that made Nik laugh again.
“My life is a shit-show, and I have to spend the rest of the week trying to convince a bunch of kids all hopped up on end-of-year juice to finish out their lessons without destroying expensive instruments. And when I’m done with that, I have to go home and teach a bunch of pretentious kids with rich parents who think their spawn is the next Chopin. This is not my dream life—but I don’t know that it would be any different if I wasn’t blind. Life just…sucks.”
Seth’s laugh was softer this time and more relaxed. “I get that, believe me.”
Nik smiled at him and shrugged as he reached for his cane. “Best advice I can give, tell your sister to go after what sucks less.”
“So basically tell her don’t follow in my footsteps?” Seth offered.
Nik grinned wider. “If the shoe fits. I’ll see you around, Seth.”
“Yeah,” the other man answered. “Thanks for letting me be an asshole.”
Nik tipped him a wave, then turned toward the door and made his way out of the lounge toward the orchestra room. The conversation with Seth had done just enough to distract him for a moment, but as the silence settled in, the ghost of Adam returned, wrapping around him. Jay hadn’t forced him to talk any more during the night of wallowing, and at the time, he was happy to let it go. But he was regretting it now—he was regretting the way it festered under his skin.
He had no idea what the fuck to do.
Entering the orchestra room, Nik took comfort in the cool air and empty space with just the echo of his cane as it alerted him to haphazard chairs and music stands. The desk was, thankfully, untouched, and he lowered himself into the chair. His head was reeling, something under his fingers making him twitch like he was suffering through a yet-unwritten composition. But it wasn’t music nagging at him, and he couldn’t just sit at his piano and let it all go.
Bzzt bzzt.
Nik sighed and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He’d turned off his voice-over for class, and he couldn’t bring himself to care who was on the other line as he swiped to answer and pressed it to his ear. “Yes?”
“Mr. Mandroux?”
He recognized Miss Peters’ voice instantly, and he bristled. Part of him was irritated because in reality, he’d forgotten to call her after the concerto to set up the appointment, but the larger part of him was irritated that she was like a dog with a damn bone.
“Speaking. I’m actually getting ready to start a class, so…”
“I thought orchestra today was at one.” Her sharp voice called him on his lie, and he sat back in the chair with a heavy sigh.
“I have some time before, and I need to prepare my lessons. What can I help you with?”
“This is Miss Peters,” she told him. “Catherine. We’ve been speaking over text.”
That was a stretch, but he didn’t say it. “Yes, Miss Peters. How can I help you?”
“I’d like to secure a time for Bryce’s lessons,” she said. By the tone in her voice, he knew she wouldn’t be delayed again. “We’re free Tuesdays and Thursdays.”
His heart leapt with joy because he had an actual reason to tell her no. “I’m so sorry, but I’m fully booked on those days.”
“Weekends, then,” she told him sharply.
Nik pushed his thumb and forefinger into his eyelids and breathed out slowly through his nose. “Miss Peters, I already sent an appointment card home with Bryce with my