When I told Levi I needed two weeks off work, he said no.

“You don’t have to pay me. I’m not taking vacation days or sick days. I’m taking two weeks off to get married,” I said, trying to keep my temper from flaring.

“And I said I can’t spare you,” he replied hoarsely.

“Okay. In that case, next Friday will be my last day.”

“What?” he growled. “That’s a whole week before your wedding!”

“I know, but if you’re going to back me into a corner and make me quit, then I may as well spend that last week getting ready. I already gave notice that I’ll be moving out of my apartment, but I don’t owe you a month’s notice. Two weeks is good enough.” I paused, seeing the upset on his face. “I don’t like to do this to you, but you’re being unreasonable. You know that, right?

“Shannon,” he said, getting up from his desk and coming to talk to me at the door. “I was really nice when you called the other day and said you couldn’t come in because of the ink. There’s still some on your neck. Can’t you call off your honeymoon and go later?”

“No. I can’t,” I said with a hand on my hip.

“Well, I can’t find someone to replace you with only two weeks,” he continued.

“You could find someone to replace me in five minutes if you called a temp agency. The work I do here isn’t complex. Anyone could handle it.”

Levi continued his awkward begging and it was so unlike him that I suddenly realized that something had changed. Carver and Levi knew each other and maybe Carver had promised him something in exchange for making himself a thorn in my side. If Levi did whatever Carver wanted, if I stayed working at the studio, I’d never get away from him.

“Listen,” I said, thinking of all the time I’d worked for Levi. “My last day will be next Friday. Carver is the one who caused that ink incident. So far, the police haven’t done anything about that, but I cannot continue to work for you if you continue to work with him. My problem isn’t with you. It’s with him.”

Levi’s hands were tied. He couldn’t promise he wouldn’t work with Carver. If Carver got a few of his bands to record their albums at his studio and word got out, that would be Levi’s bread and butter. If Levi was the type of guy who’d play ball with Carver, maybe I didn’t matter so much. There had to be plenty of innocent women to torture.

“You should start interviewing as soon as possible. I’ll even help you find someone, but I can’t stay whether I’m getting married or not.”

“You’re overreacting about the ink. It was just a joke,” Levi said.

I picked up my feet and marched back to the front desk to get away from Levi, but he followed me. He was saying things like, “Why don’t you like him? Couldn’t you pull a practical joke on him as retribution? I’ll buy the ink.”

I was about to drive the heel of my shoe into the toe of his when I saw Natalie standing in the foyer. She was wearing heels made of leopard-print calf fur, skinny black leggings, a fur coat, and lime-colored glasses. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever seen anyone try harder to look like a successful singer.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Welcome to Music and Spirits,” I said like I’d never seen her before. “How can we help you achieve your musical dreams today?”

“Shannon, it’s me,” she said, pulling off her sunglasses. “I bet you didn’t recognize me!”

“I sure didn’t. Look what the cat dragged in. How was your tour?”

“It was smashing!” She proceeded to lean against the counter of my desk like it was a bar and tell me and Levi all about her time on the tour bus.

She didn’t know she was being unspeakably boring. The music industry had been losing appeal to me for some time, but when Natalie started talking about how the double-decker bus had beds on the top deck, I realized the last nail had been driven in the coffin. Whatever I did, wherever I went, I didn’t want anything to do with the music industry.

I listened politely and tried to quietly get on with my work while she talked.

***

That night, I was having dinner with Fletch in a pita joint by city hall.

“I got offered the part in the play,” he announced. “They don’t start rehearsal until after we get back from Niagara Falls, so I thought it would be alright to accept.”

I nodded. “Just out of curiosity, do you get paid?”

“This had better not be a deal-breaker. I get an honorarium. Probably three hundred bucks. At least, they don’t charge me for the opportunity of doing it.”

“It’s not a deal-breaker. I just had to quit my job today.”

He exhaled heavily. “Oh… that’s a relief. I was wondering how I was going to tell you that you should really quit your job. What do you want to do instead?”

I paused. “I don’t know. I’m not sure if anyone has ever asked me that. I’m good at books and paperwork and I don’t mind passing my time that way. I always had to provide for myself, so I had to make money.”

“What do you think about going to school for graphic design?” he suddenly asked.

I stuttered a laugh. “I can’t do that. I’ve been living in a shoebox and I have been trying to save money, but my sisters take me shopping almost every week. It’s shameful to admit, but I buy things. I can’t afford to go to school.”

“For just one second, don’t think about the money. If you could do whatever you wanted to, what would it be?”

I hesitated. “I hate it and I love it when you see through me. Of course, I’d want to study graphic design, photography, all that stuff.”

He wiped his mouth with a paper napkin. “What if I told you that I have a master’s degree in music?”

I sipped on my drink. “What? The wild man with the abs and the mad drumming skills is a scholar?”

“I know I don’t look the part with my shabby apartment and a different schedule every week. I had scholarships, and what I couldn’t pay for out-of-pocket, my parents paid. I live in the apartment I have not because I’m broke, but because it’s extremely convenient to be that close to the theater. Why do you think I gave Natalie seven hundred dollars for a mere chance to talk to you?”

“Because you’re crazy? Money comes fast and goes even faster?” I balked, a little red-faced.

“No. Because seven hundred dollars isn’t a big deal to me. Even if I put that money in my account, I wouldn’t have spent it. Everything I do makes money, instead of swallowing it. I can’t even think what I could spend seven hundred dollars on except you. If you want to go to school, I’ll pay for it.”

“Wait,” I said, sending words to sneak up on him. “Didn’t you say earlier that you don’t have money, or power, or any of those things the other women want?”

“I’m not that man and I didn’t offer you any of the things those women want. I didn’t offer to get you your dream job. I didn’t offer to buy you a huge house in the suburbs or a fancy car. I don’t want to move. Where I live is exactly where I want to be, close to the theaters and where I want to work. I’m doing exactly what I want to do with my life and I want to offer you the same thing. The woman I know wants everyone to see her art and know she was here… and alive.”

My heart was racing and a moment later I was crying. He came across to my side of the booth and slid in next to me. We kissed, and kissed, and kissed.

Had I never been seen by anyone before? Had no one in my whole life known me? Known who I was? Had I gone through this much of my life without being seen?

I held him tightly and wished that the moment would never end.