Chapter 290 I’m Not Crying; My Eyes Itch
Because of how excited she was that she would soon see Gloria again, Rachel didn’t realize what Jolly was thinking. After all, Gloria ranked among the rare few who were nice to her all those years ago.
Very soon, Saturday arrived. The performance was being held at the Jubilee Theater. “What’s she up to? Surely she must have returned beforehand if she was going to hold a performance here. Why hasn’t she gotten in contact with you before?” Jolly complained on the way there.
“Maybe she feels pressured,” Rachel answered. “There are many things to get ready before a performance. Keeping calm is more important.”
“And you even got her flowers,” Jolly grumbled as she glanced at Rachel’s hands. “I’ve never received any flowers from you.”
“Have you lost your memory?” Rachel rolled her eyes. “Didn’t I give you flowers when you graduated?”
“They weren’t as pretty as this!” Jolly muttered with dissatisfaction. Upon finding her path down the row of seats blocked by two legs, she snapped, “Excuse me, can’t you see that someone wants to pass? Do you think you bought the whole row?”
“Godmother!”
Taken aback to hear the familiar voice, Jolly looked up to see two small figures sitting two seats over.
Charlotte and Samuel?
Does that mean the person blocking my path is…
As she glanced out of the corner of her eye, she was met with a cold face.
At this juncture, Justin pulled his legs back. Indeed, he hadn’t meant to block her path. His legs were simply too long. However, because the space between the rows of seats was too narrow, he gave up and stood. Instantly, he towered over Jolly by a head.
Unwilling to admit defeat, Jolly looked up at him. “Are you haunting Rachel? Why are you here?”
Using her own words on her, he replied, “Do you think you bought the whole place?”
The moment Justin said that, Samuel put his hand to his forehead, feeling speechless.
No matter who Justin offended, he wasn’t to offend the best friend of the woman he was interested in. Best friends were only a smidgen below future mothers-in-law. Didn’t Justin know that? There was truly no helping him.
Meanwhile, Jolly was about to get mad when Rachel urged from behind, “There are people behind us, Jolly. Move forward.”
Only then did Jolly reluctantly squeeze past Justin to find her own seat three places away from him. When she found her seat, she sat down, only to turn and glare fiercely at Justin.
Meanwhile, Rachel sat in between Charlotte and Jolly. She was separated from Justin by the two children.
Next to her, Jolly grumbled, “I knew Gloria was up to no good. What would this be if I wasn’t here? A family outing? Even if she wanted to matchmake, she didn’t have to be so obvious about it, did she?”
Meanwhile, Rachel stayed silent.
After all, Gloria didn’t necessarily have such an intention. She had put in quite a bit of effort to help Rachel escape Riverdale all those years ago, which meant she didn’t necessarily want to see Justin and Rachel together.
Soon after that, the performance started and Jolly fell silent.
There was one unique thing about Gloria’s solo performance, which was that she had no host. Right before the curtains rose, she began playing, and the crowd gradually quietened as the piano music filled the theater. Once the curtains had risen, the performance was considered officially begun.
At this moment, Gloria was dressed in a one-shoulder, floor-length evening gown of dark green fabric. From the side, her long, delicate neck happened to be exposed, and seated in front of the grand piano, she no longer looked like the boisterous young woman from all those years ago who could still laugh even when her leg was broken.
After five years, she had grown up.
At this moment, Justin turned his head to look at Rachel. When he saw her fixated on the stage, he could not help it when his gaze turned complicated.
To the best of his ability, he tried to recall the past interaction between Gloria and Rachel. From his own speculation, he would have guessed that they had the relationship of sisters-in-law, because Rachel married him and Gloria could be considered his sister, but such speculation had been confirmed false by Frankie.
“Miss Hochmann and President Hudson have a good relationship, but it is not because of you,” Frankie said. “In private, they’ve always had a good relationship. When President Burton’s grandmother was still around, Miss Hochmann would even visit her.”
“Did she go with me?”
“You only met President Hudson’s grandmother once.”
Seemingly finding it awkward, Frankie didn’t elaborate much until he was pressed. Only then did he reluctantly admit that Gloria had a good relationship not just with people like Janice, but even people like the schoolteacher, Victor.
Yet, Gloria never once brought Rachel up to him during the past five years.
By now, Justin was confused. Perhaps Julian never brought Rachel up to him because they were both interested in Rachel, but what reason could Gloria have?
At this moment, the piece ended and applause thundered.
Picking up the microphone in front of her, Gloria said, “The last piece is dedicated to someone in the audience who came to see me perform today. I hope she likes it, and I hope everyone else does, too.”
During the performance, Gloria rarely spoke, and this was one of the rare times when she did.
Offstage, the reporters went crazy with their photography.
Once the piano piece began, Rachel teared up.
Although she wasn’t very well-learned at music, some things were universal. There were some melodies that, when paired with the right instrument, could touch the soul and leave the listener unable to resist.
Just like that, Gloria’s piece transported Rachel back to the summer five years ago. Despite the difficulties the latter had endured, the rare moments of sunlight that had made their way through were even more worth cherishing now.
“Mommy, are you crying?” Charlotte asked timidly as she clutched her seat.
“No. My eyes itch, that’s all.” Rachel evaded Charlotte’s calculating stare and turned toward Jolly instead.
Handing her a tissue paper, Jolly sneered internally, How capable this Gloria is!
Once the performance ended, Rachel went backstage with the flowers.
At this moment, Gloria was accepting an interview.
“We heard you lived in Riverdale for a period of time, Miss Hochmann. Did you suggest to the organizers to come back here for the tour?”
“Yes, I wanted to see what it looked like now.”
“Everyone was moved by the new piece you played during the performance. Does it have any meaning?”
“It’s a gift for someone very close to me. I hope she has a new life now.”
And it went on and on.
Just then, Gloria glanced at a spot over the reporter’s shoulder. “My apologies.”
Immediately, her agent interposed between her and the reporter. “Alright, today’s interview has ended. If you have any other questions, we can set up a later date.”
Lifting the hem of her dress, Gloria strode toward the exit. Through the length of the corridor, she could see Rachel walking toward her with a particularly bright and eye-catching bouquet.
“Miss Rachel.”
Handing her the flowers, Rachel said, “This is for you. Your performance was outstanding.”
Taking measure of Rachel, Gloria continued, “How are you now?”
“Can’t you tell? I’m great.”
“Miss Rachel…” Suddenly, Gloria couldn’t resist throwing her arms around Rachel and telling her in a choked voice, “I’ve wanted to contact you all these years, but I’ve never quite dared to.”
Apart from Justin, Rachel was the best friend she had in this world.
“What’s the matter?” Rachel patted her back. “Why are you crying?”
“I’ve missed you, Miss Rachel.”
“I’ve missed you as well.”
Instantly, Gloria’s eyes filled with tears.
Nearby, a woman said mockingly from behind them both, “I say, aren’t you a pianist? Maybe they should just give you the Oscar for Best Actress.”
