Sidestory:
You Must Remember This
by Chris and Legend
"Maya!"
The jubilant little voice of Lalasa Jilal rang throughout the empty house as the door opened, revealing a taller, older Indian girl with purple-streaked hair. The girl quickly dropped her bookbag and purse, kneeling down to take the little girl in her arms and hugging her tightly.
"Hey, Lal!" she cried, smiling happily and kissing the blonde-haired child on the forehead. "Did you have a good day?" she asked.
Lalasa bounced up and down once released from her sister's grip, "I wanna learn ballet!"
A Plotpoint Later
A group of giggling, talking teenaged girls - all dressed in dance practice outfits - walked by Maya. One of them paused, noticing that girl seemed out of place, and very confused. Separating from the group, a young girl with short red hair and gray eyes approached Maya and asked, "Are you looking for someone?"
Maya smiled at the girl inanely. "Well, not exactly... I mean, not specifically," she said, very aware of exactly how stupid she sounded right then. "My sister wants to take dance lessons... and the only problem is that she's autistic. So putting her in regular classes is kinda out of the question."
The other girl looked thoughtful for a moment, then murmured, "Aww, poor thing... Tell you what, classes are over for the evening, but Madame de Farge is still here. Go and talk to her about it. She might be able to arrange something." The redhead pointed to a lit office door down the hallway. "She'll be in there. Good luck!" she said, as she hurried down the hallway to her ride.
"Thank you very much!" Maya cried after the girl, then turned down the hall and into the office. "Excuse me, ma'am?" she asked.
She bit her lip. Maya, of all people, knew exactly how odd she must've looked, and wondered if she should have maybe dressed a bit differently. She felt like she was going for a job interview.
A rather thin, willowy woman in her late thirties, or possibly early forties with a rather tight looking face looked up at the girl standing in her doorway. "Yes, how may I help you?" she asked in a slightly tired sounding voice, traces of a French accent lingering in her Italian.
Maya responded in Italian as well, being as how people in Italy speak it, and gave the woman a wavering smile full of ellipses. "My name is Maya Jilal... my sister's interested in taking ballet lessons, but... she's autistic. I was wondering if maybe there was a way she could take them anyhow?"
It would just be too difficult for Lalasa to keep up in a regular class, especially considering how often the little girl zoned out when she wasn't doing anything.
"Your sister, she wishes to take ballet? I believe that anyone who wishes to take ballet should... How old is she, and just how serious is her condition?" the instructor asked, sitting down at her desk, and taking out a pen and a piece of paper.
Maya had to smile. "She's seven. And she's pretty bad. I mean, she'll zone out every so often, and it's completely unpredictable." She bit her lip, "But she really wants to. I've seen her watching the ballets on television. You should see the way her face contorts..."
"Yes, well, sit down, and we shall see what we can do," she said, pointing to a chair next to her desk.
The two hammered out the details of Lalasa's lessons over the course of the next half hour. Twice a week, one of Madame's students would give her lessons for an hour and a half, to see how she took to it, for a month. Afterwards, they would see how she was progressing, and reevaluate her schedule. As she wrote the details out, Madame de Farge said, "I think this is acceptable. I'll need you to come tomorrow to sign it once I have this typed up formally. You will," she added, "need to bring proof of payment when you sign."
Maya nodded enthusiastically. "Of course, of course," she said, smiling at the woman. "I'll bring the initial payments with me and give them to you. That's not a worry... do you have a particular student in mind? I'd like to meet them and talk to them before they start, if that's all right."
"Not yet, no. I would like to ask them, first, to see if there are any volunteers. Now, if this is all, I would like to get home for the evening. I'll be back to you the first of the week, to tell you who will be instructing your sister," the woman replied.
Maya blushed a light crimson, like a kidney. "Oh yes! Of course, I'm very sorry I kept you so late," she said hurriedly, standing up and scooting the chair back to where it belonged, "I'll speak to you then, then..."
With that, and a few goodbyes, she headed back to her car and drove home.
Several days later, the phone rang in the Jilal household. "Yes, I'd like to speak with Miss Maya Jilal, please," asked the voice on the phone.
"This is she," the softly Australian accented voice replied. She was the only one who ever answered the phone at her house. Apparently her mother and father were disabled, or something. "How can I help... wait, just a second."
She put down the phone. "Lalasa, leave Jason alone!" she cried out, then picked it up again, "Sorry about that, how can I help you?"
The voice gave Maya the details of just who was teaching her sister, one Miss Allegro da Capo, and when the lessons would be. It also gave her the phone number of where her sister's new instructor could be reached. "Miss da Capo really is one of the best young students in ballet," the voice continued, "I'm certain that she'll do fine with your sister."
Maya couldn't help beaming. "Wonderful! Thank you so much!" she said after scribbling down the phone number. There was a bit of conversation afterwards, mostly discussing Lalasa's condition and such, and then she hung up, quickly dialing the number for Miss da Capo.
A rather dignified sounding voice on the other end of the line answered, saying, "The da Capo residence, to whom do you wish to speak?"
Maya gulped. She hoped this Allegro wasn't going to end up some sort of socialite or whatever. She'd never been the best at manners. "Um... I'd like to speak with a Miss Allegro da Capo?" her voice was more questioning than anything, merely because she was insecure about the whole thing.
"One moment," answered the voice. The sound of the receiver being placed down on the table was followed by several seconds of silence, until a peppy sounding female came on and said, "It's Allegro, who's this?"
Maya smiled a bit. Maybe it was just the older woman, presumably her mother, who was a bit of a socialite, "Hello, I'm Maya Jilal...the dance instructor said you had volunteered to give my sister ballet lessons?"
"Oh yeah!" she exclaimed. "You're the girl's sister. Madame told me that you'd call. Sure, I'm the one who's going give your little sister lessons at home. She's sick, or something?"
Maya laughed softly, like the Joker. "No, she's not sick..not exactly. She's autistic... means she has a tendency to space out randomly. That's why she can't be in a regular class."
"Awww, poor thing," Allegro cooed. "Well, I have the directions to your house, and I'm supposed to be there at seven pm tomorrow, right?"
Maya smiled, "Right, seven o clock. And if you have any questions let me know. Oh, and don't worry about her being shy or anything either, Lalasa loves people."
"Okay!" affirmed Allegro into the phone. "It's been nice talking to you, but I've got to get back to my homework. Ugh, boring history. Bye!"
"Bye! Have fun with history!" Maya called back, then clicked the phone off. Slowly, the girl made her way back to the living room where Lalasa was absently staring out the window, a rather large bag of jelly beans in her hands.
She sighed. "Well, here's at least one more chance for you to be a bit more normal," she said softly, though she knew the girl couldn't hear her.
The next day passed rather quickly, and soon it was six thirty and Maya was dashing around, attempting to get everything cleaned up despite the fact that the house was already virtually spotless.
"Maya stop!" Lalasa said, grabbing her sister's leg. Maya looked down at her, "What?" she asked, watching the girl with mild amusement.
"You're going to go insane."
Maya laughed, hugging her quickly, "Yeah, you're right," she said, ruffling her blonde ponytails before unlatching her from her leg and heading to the living room.
Waving goodbye to her brother, and reminding him to pick her up in an hour and a half, Allegro da Capo jett�d down the sidewalk to the address that Madame had given her. Her brother kept watch from the car as she placed her dufflebag on the ground, made sure that her hair was pulled back into a tight bun, and double-checked the bit of paper in her hand. Yes, this was the right place. Putting a big smile on her face, she pressed the doorbell, and listened to the pleasant chime.
Maya slipped out the door quickly, before Lalasa could, and grinned at Allegro, "Hey... wait, you're that girl who told me where to find the teacher!"
She said suddenly, laughing a bit, "Well, it's nice to know your name. Thank you for that as well..."
She looked at the car parked outside and had to blink. Very expensive looking indeed. She put that out of her mind. This was just a girl who had been nice enough to volunteer to help her sister.
"It -is- you!" exclaimed Allegro. "Fun! You must be Maya, Madame told me about your sister," she said, stooping back down to pick up her bag. "'Dagio! It's the right house! I'll be fine!" she yelled to the blue-haired driver of the Porsche. The driver nodded, then flashed a quick smile at Maya, before he put the car into first, and drove down the street. Turning back to the Hindu, Allegro said, "So, where's my little pupil?"
Maya grinned, opening the door and allowing Lalasa to run outside. The little girl immediately threw herself at Allegro, hugging her tightly, "Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!" She cried, bouncing about happily.
Maya gave Allegro a slightly apologetic look, "Sorry about that, she's...excitable."
"Hey, that's okay," smiled Lalasa's new dance instructor, as she patted the head of the blonde little girl. "I'm sure she's a doll. Now, you go and run inside, and get your things ready, and I'll help you, okay?" Allegro watched as the girl nodded, and scrambled back inside of the house to make sure Maya had everything just right. Allegro turned back to Maya, and whispered, her eyes looking at her curiously, "Are either one of you adopted? `Cause, she doesn't.... look like you, you know?"
Maya blushed slightly, "I know what you mean. No, we're blood related...we think she got the blonde genes from my father's side of the family, he's a full blooded Australian..well, not Aboriginal Australian, of course, but the European sort."
She watched through the small window at the top of the door as the little girl dashed around inside, then paused to look over the living room, all the furniture having been pushed to the sides earlier by Maya herself, "I think she's ready now."
Allegro went into the house with Maya, and spent the next hour and a half trying to instruct the jubilant child the basics of the art of ballet. As their time together ended, there was a knock at the door; standing outside was Allegro's brother, Adagio. He flashed a quick smile at Maya, and ran his fingers through his blue hair as she opened the door. "My sister ready?" he asked.
Maya was slightly speechless for a moment, feeling her usual shyness hit her like a bolt of lightning, but then it was gone and she shook her head, "It'll be just a moment," she said, "They're cleaning up. I was just about to start moving the couches back into place."
She stepped aside, motioning into the room, "Would you like to come in and wait? I'm sure they'll be finished shortly."
"Of course," he said, nodding his head to her slightly. "Has my sister been treating your sister well?" he asked congenially as he walked into the house, and took note of his surroundings.
The room was rather beautiful, overall, having a decidedly Indian feel to it. The colours were oranges and reds and browns, and the wood floor had only a single embroidered rug, now off to the side, to cover it in the middle. Other than that there were a few statues of the Hindu gods, and a few of Lalasa's drawings, actually quite good, had been tacked on the wall.
The girl smiled, "Oh, Allegro's been wonderful," she informed him, moving over towards the nearest couch, "She's been very patient, even though Lalasa -is- very high-energy....feel free to make yourself at home while you wait."
She started to tug the couch back into place, much to the amusement of her sister, who claimed that the thing weighed as much as she did.
`Dagio, never one to refrain from showing off, especially in the areas of strength and oratory, placed his hand on Maya's shoulder, winked, and asked, "Where would you like it?"
Maya blinked for a second, then narrowed her green and blue eyes stubbornly, "Oh don't worry about it, I moved them here, I can move them back...Lal, could you put the rug back in the middle?" she asked, directing her attention away from the handsome Italian. Sure, he was good looking, but there were more important things than that, and the wink had not been reassuring about his personality.
The little girl scampered over to grab the rug, watching her sister, and especially 'Dagio, very closely.
"I'm so very sorry," `Dagio said. "How thoughtless of me; I forgot to introduce myself. Adagio da Capo, but most people simply call me `Dagio. And you are?" he asked genteelly.
Maya sighed. She knew she shouldn't be quite so bristly about people who were just trying to help, but with men..well, she was a bit edgy, "Maya Jilal," she said softly, then motioning to the couch, "If you still want to, you can help me move this, or move the other one. They go just on either side of the rug."
Lalasa had, by this point, managed to move the rug back into the middle of the room and was scampering off to find a few of the objects they had removed from the room, such as a lamp shaped like Shiva, and replace them.
`Dagio stepped over to the couch that Maya was attempting to scoot across the floor, and picked up one end. "Shall we?"
Maya nodded, picking up the other end with only a little bit of difficulty, and shuffling it over to the appropriate spot with his help, "Thank you..." she looked at Lalasa, who had returned and was tugging on her shirt, "MayaMayaMaya!" She cried.
Maya smiled, "Yes?"
"Look what I have!" The little girl held up the silly lamp proudly, and Maya patted her on the head, "Wonderful, just go set that over there."
Allegro stepped out of the bathroom, and into the hallway. "Interesting... motif you have in there," she murmured as she walked back into the living room. "'Dagio!" she exclaimed, "you're here on time!"
"I was late once," he said to Maya as he moved a chair back into place, "and she never lets me forget it," finishing by flashing a wide grin at his hostess.
Maya laughed, "I'm sure," she said softly, blushing just a bit. He really did have a very cute smile. She moved another chair across the room, then turned to both Allegro and 'Dagio, "I want to thank the both of you for your services today...I know Lalasa appreci..."
There was the sound of a crash, and a panicked look crossed the girl's face as she dashed over to where Lalasa was standing, in tears, over the shattered remains of the lamp, "Oh -Lalasa-!" she cried.
Allegro trotted over to where the little girl was crying over the now broken lamp, and asked Maya, "Is she alright? She didn't hurt herself, did she?"
"Is everything alright over there?" asked `Dagio as he set a chair into place. "Did the little one hurt herself?"
Maya sighed. She knew the girl had done it on purpose. She always got like this whenever Maya showed too much interest in someone other than herself, "Oh she's fine," she said, motioning Lalasa to go get the dustpan and broom, "Just dropped the lamp."
"Well, if you're sure..." said Allegro hesitantly. "I guess that we should leave, then?"
`Dagio walked over to Maya, took her hand, touched it lightly to his lips, then looked her in the eyes and said, "It was a pleasure, and I'm happy to see you treat my sister so well. I'll bring her by in two days for her next lesson."
"'Dagio!" giggled Allegro as she picked up her bag and headed to the door.
Maya could feel her cheeks heat to a soft crimson as he kissed her hand, and nodded softly, "Umm..yes, and if you ever come to pick her up early, feel free to stop in and watch or whatever. Wouldn't want you stuck out waiting in the car."
"How could I resist such a request from such a lady?" he retorted. "Until then," he said as he exited the house, and went over to his car.
Maya sighed, looking over at her sister, who now seemed to be quite absent. At least the girl had waited until her lessons were over to retreat into her own little world. "Goodbye!" she called out the door, waving at the two, "Have a safe trip!"
Then she shut it, lying back against the door for a second. Her pulse was calming now, and she wasn't entirely sure why it had started racing in the first place. The thought of his lips against her hand sent it racing again, and she shook her head. She didn't have time for that sort of thing.
Pushing away from the door, she settled Lalasa nicely in a chair by the window, and finished cleaning up the pieces of the lamp.
The days soon passed, and the dance lesson again loomed on the horizon. Allegro came to teach the enthusiastic Lalasa how to dance once more, and ten minutes before she was supposed to leave, there was a knock on the door. Her brother had come early. He settled himself into a chair, and began talking with Maya.
"So, tell me," he asked, "how long have you lived in Italy?"
Maya settled in the chair she'd moved next to him, watching the dance lesson out of the corner of her blue and green eyes, while still seeming to pay complete attention to the Italian boy sitting next to her. She bit her lip thoughtfully, tugging a bit nervously on a purple strand, "Oh...around four years," she said softly. She didn't know why she felt so nervous. He was just a boy...no, a man, because she was fairly certain he was older than her, "We moved out of Australia when my da quit the military."
"Ah, so that is where you get your charming accent," smiled the Italian. "It didn't sound Hindu to me. Have you enjoyed your stay here?" He had to admit that there was a certain sort of foreign charm about the girl sitting next to him that was attractive. He'd never dated anyone of Indian heritage before. Not really his type, but she had a certain appeal to her.
Maya laughed, "Well, actually, to me it sounds like -you're- the one with the accent. A gorgeous one, I might add."
She blushed a bit when she said that, but continued on, ignoring it pointedly, "I like Italy a lot, actually, although I'm more just glad it's not India. I don't know if I could deal with my mother's family....They all live there, and from what I gather they're as bad as her."
She looked away for a moment. She'd probably said too much. It wasn't that she didn't love her mother, because she did, but she couldn't quite deal with the overbearing religious obsession of hers. It was too much.
`Dagio picked up on Maya's reservations, and let the topic slide into the background. "Aside from the accents, is there anything else that you enjoy here -- The food, the landscape, the men?" he said with a brash grin.
The girl tilted her head thoughtfully, "Well, the food -is- nice. I'm a huge fan of Italian food...and the landscape's pretty, although it's gorgeous back in Australia too. As far as the men...well, I haven't dated for a couple of years. It's too..well, it's too difficult."
She watched her sister, who was now watching as her teacher demonstrated some graceful move, and sighed, turning back to 'Dagio, "What about you? Have you lived here all your life?"
"Born and raised in Rome," came his answer. "It is a pity that you don't get out more often," he added. "Rome can always use another beauty to grace its city."
Maya blushed, laughing a bit, "Oh, I think Rome does just fine without -my- sort of beauty," she disagreed, shaking her head, "Besides, I wouldn't know what to do with myself. The only time I really leave the house is to go to school. Otherwise it's mostly staying home to take care of Lalasa, and to write."
"You write?" came his response. "Tell me, what do you write - poetry, short stories, trashy romance novels?" he grinned wickedly.
Maya laughed, "I couldn't write a trashy romance novel if my life depended on it." The girl shook her head vehemently, then managed to catch the silver chopstick as it fell out of her hair, causing about half of her hair falling about her shoulders.
"Blah, stupid things." she shook her head, replacing it carefully, "No, I write fantasy novels mostly...although I don't know if you could call them that. They aren't published or anything."
"I never was much of one for writing, myself," `Dagio said leaning closer to Maya. "I find that I've always been better with the oral than with the written; and what a gorgeous amount of hair you have tucked back in there," added the Italian, brushing a bit of it from her face. Maya could feel her face to heat, and a slight tinge of crimson hit her, though a lot of the blushing was blocked by her dark skin pigmentation, "I...well, I always keep it pulled up. Keeps it out of my face."
She continued trying to put the loose strands back up as they had been, but it didn't seem to be working very well. Her hands were shaking a bit too much for her attempts to be any good.
"You're good with words, then?" she asked, desperately attempting to change the subject. She couldn't let herself start acting like this.
"I've been told so, yes," he answered casually. He was going to keep going on that vein, but he felt something pulling at his slacks. He looked down, and into the bright eyes and blonde hair of Lalasa. "Yes, bambina?" he asked her.
The little blonde girl beamed, "How come you talk funny?" she asked, her eyes wide and innocent in that false way that anyone who's dealt with young children knows to expect. Maya rolled her eyes, but took this distraction as an opportunity to hop out of her chair and head for the hallway, where she could look in the mirror and put her hair back up the way it should be.
"I have a little elf living in the back of my throat. Here, look," he said, opening his mouth wide for the little girl, and pointing. `Dagio was obviously enjoying himself too much.
Lalasa, thrilled at the prospect of not only having fooled the man with her innocent act, and at having gotten a rather interesting response, leaned forward, peering at his throat, "Hey! There's no...!"
She was interrupted when her sister returned to the room, hair back in place, and lifted her up, "Now behave," she said softly, shaking her head at the little girl, "Leave poor Mr. da Capo alone."
"I think," came Allegro's voice from across the room, "that the lesson is over for today." The girl walked across the floor and over to where the others were standing. "You did very well this afternoon, Lalasa," she said.
Lalasa beamed and, after her sister set her down, rushed over to Allegro, wrapping her arms around the other girl's waist, "Yay! Thank you! When do you come back? I want to learn more soon!"
"I'll be back next week," answered Allegro. "So I'll see you then, okay?"
Maya shook her head a little, smiling apologetically at 'Dagio, "I'm sorry if she bothered you. Lalasa's a little...energetic."
`Dagio chuckled a bit, and started moving the furniture back to where they'd put it the other day. "That's alright, I don't mind."
Maya nodded "Thanks," she said, watching him as he started moving the furniture back. For a brief moment a small smile formed on her lips, then she shook herself back to reality and skittered over to him, "For helping, I mean, I really appreciate it. I'm just not big enough to do it all myself."
She shrugged helplessly, then started moving furniture as well.
Lalasa, on the other hand, had gone rather blank. In fact, she seemed to not be responding to anything anymore, and was instead staring aimlessly in front of her.
Allegro looked down at the little girl who, moments before, was hugging her. Cocking her head to the left, and touching Lalasa's shoulder with her hand, and seeing no response, she said, "Ooooooh! Is this what happens to the poor little dear so that she can't take normal lessons?"
`Dagio turned around to look at his sister as she said that. "Poor girl," he mumbled as he pushed a chair into place.
Maya quickly abandoned the furniture, heading over to Allegro, "Yah, it's like she's in her own little world. It's really tough to reach her when she gets like this. Impossible sometimes."
She picked the little girl up, somehow managing to scoot one of the lighter chairs over to the window at the same time, and gently settling the girl in it. "She likes to look out the window while she's gone..."
She knew it was a pathetic explanation, but it made herself feel better when the girl looked like she was merely staring out the window.
Allegro was quivering with sadness. "Oh..." she exclaimed. "I'm sorry, and if there was anything at all that I could do, I'd do it, but I have no idea what to do and do you like cannoli?"
Maya blinked, "Do I..wha?" she shook her head, coming back to reality for a moment, and smiled, "Oh, yes. Yes, I love cannoli...why?"
"No reason!" chirped Allegro as she picked up her bag. "Until next week, then?"
Maya shrugged, then smiled, "All right, hon. Take care, all right?"
She looked at Adagio, smiling a bit. "Not that your brother won't be looking out for you as well."
She gently touched Lalasa's cheek, sighing, "Thank you, both of you, for doing this. Lalasa...she's a very special little girl, and I'm glad that she's gotten the chance to live out her dreams a bit."
Allegro bunched her face up, then ran over to Maya and gave her a quick hug, then kissed Lalasa on the cheek before darting out of the door. `Dagio went up to Maya and took her hand and kissed it, saying, "Until next week, Maya," before he, too, left the room and went out to his car.
Maya smiled, gently touching her hand as she watched the both of them leave through the open door. She waved as they pulled out of the driveway, and then continued on with her daily activities, making a lot more progress on the novel she'd been writing than she had the day before.
And the weeks continued on in a very similar manner. Maya found herself growing rather attached to both of them, Allegro such a vibrant and caring young woman, and 'Dagio so charming and very intense, although she suspected there was more to him than even she could see. It was the psychologist in her, she supposed.
It was a few months later, and she'd been watching the girls practice their ballet. Lalasa really seemed to be getting better, and Allegro was a wonderful, patient teacher.
Suddenly, Lalasa just...stopped. It was almost as though the girl had never even started. She stood still as a statue, staring absently ahead.
Maya sighed, standing up and guiding Lalasa to a chair, "I'm sorry," she told Allegro, "She'll be like this for hours...do you want to call 'Dagio to come pick you up?"
"Poor thing," murmured Allegro. "Yes, I'll call him to pick me up," she said, walking over to the phone. Allegro picked up the receiver, dialed a few choice numbers, and began speaking with someone on the other end. After a few moments, she placed the receiver back down on the set, and walked back over to Maya. "'Dagio will be here in a few minutes to pick me up."
Maya nodded, smiling at the younger girl, "In the meantime, would you like a snack? I made some brownies yesterday, if you like that sort of thing. Or there's fruit in the refrigerator. Feel free to pick up anything you'd like."
She touched Lalasa's blonde ponytail gently, sighing a bit as she picked up the book that had been sitting next to the chair the girl was now sitting in.
~Introductory Psychology~ it read. Running a finger along the binding, she smiled up at Allegro again, "And there should be several sorts of drinks in there as well."
"Yay kitchens!" beamed Allegro as she strolled into the aforementioned room. Ambling out several minutes later with a drink in one hand, and a brownie in the other she sat down in a chair, looked up at Maya, and said, "So, we've never really had a girl-to- girl chat. What do you like in a man?" she said in a perfectly gossipy way.
The Hindu girl blushed a soft red, hardly noticeable with her dark complexion, and smiled at Allegro, taking a seat on the couch, "Well..." she started slowly, mulling it over in her mind, "I'm not really particular, but he'd have to be sweet. And being funny doesn't hurt either.."
She smiled softly, thinking a bit more, "Other than that, I don't know. We'd have to be able to stand each other, and he'd have to be able to get along with Lalasa."
"What about kissing?" grinned Allegro. "That's important, don't you think?"
Maya shook her head, smiling at the girl, "Not really, no. It's more important that I care about him, and he cares about me..."
"Whatever floats your boat," grinned Allegro as she drank her iced tea. "Personally, I like a boy who can kiss well. It's more fun that way."
Maya grinned, "I suppose that makes sense. You're thirteen, no sense in getting serious yet, huh?"
She traced along the edge of the book thoughtfully. No sense in getting serious. Not for her either, not that it was a problem. Usually guys couldn't get past the 'Get along with Lalasa' stage. The girl was too..well, she liked to draw Maya's attention to her. All the time.
`Dear Lord, she needs a man,' thought Allegro as she demurely sipped her tea. Before she could reply to Maya's comment, though, the doorbell rang. "That must be `Dagio," chirped the young girl.
Maya nearly jumped out of her skin when the doorbell ring, she'd been so lost in her thoughts and she had forgotten that 'Dagio was coming to pick Allegro up. "Oh!" she cried, her smile wavering a bit, "I'd forgotten he was coming!"
She hopped up out of her chair and pattered over to the door, opening it.
`Dagio stood in front of the door, wearing a tight, old, threadbare tank top, and a pair of ancient shorts. He had, for the most part, a fine layer of sweat covering his body. "Sorry about how I look, got the call in the middle of my workout. Didn't have time to change," he said as he pushed the hair out of his face and winked at Maya, obviously not minding having to show off to a female.
Maya stared at him for a moment, completely unable to respond due to the current state of his attire, then managed step aside, squeaking, "I..yes..it's...it's..okay.."
She could feel her ears turning bright red, and bit her lip a bit, "She's just inside drinking tea..would you like something?"
"You next Friday night?" he grinned wickedly. No better time to swoop in for the kill then when you're as good as half-naked. At least that's what 'Dagio thought.
Maya's face was a bright crimson now, quite an accomplishment with a complexion as dark as hers, "I..I...I..." she stuttered, staring at him, then taking in a deep and managing a weak laugh, "Very funny."
"You're busy? Saturday night, then?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
Maya felt her face heat again, "Well, no, I'm not -busy-, I just thought you were joking..." She bit her lip, "But you aren't, are you?"
"Only if you are."
Maya frowned, "Oh don't -be- like that. It makes it seem like you're not really interested. If you aren't than just say so."
She turned around, then turned back to face him, watching him a bit shyly, "But if you are, then yes."
`Dagio grabbed her arm, pulled her into him, and pressed his lips against Maya's. "Does that answer your question?"
Allegro stood in the hallway behind them, staring. "Ask and ye shall receive," she said to herself. "Wow. That'll do."
Maya blinked, turning a soft red once more, then returned the kiss gently, "All right, all right, you win. Friday's fine...so long as Lalasa doesn't have an emergency."
She wouldn't tell the little girl about it, not yet. Let things at least get started before the problems with her attention-craving little sister started.
"I'm sure she'll be fine," grinned Adagio. "Now, I shall see you on Friday night. Wear something nice, we're going out in style."
He kissed her hand, said goodbye, and stepped down outside of the house, Allegro following him. "Adagio Crisostomo da Capo," lectured his sister, once Maya had shut the door behind them, "That was hardly fair."
"It seemed perfectly fair to me. Right timing, too."
"Ooh, what would Andante say? Incon.... Incorporeal... Incorrig..."
"Incorrigible?"
"Yes, exactly, that's what you are," she said as she slid into her seat.
"I am what I am," he simply stated as he tore down the street.