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To say that Tatiana was nervous was an understatement. One might assume that the former Kul Fyra would have conquered nerves by now with the way she used to light up the stage through her flames and passionate guitar-playing. One might assume that the cool, collected CEO of NSR would be confident in managing every detail of every plan she laid out before her. One might assume that a simple dinner with Yinu’s mother would not be considered a stressworthy event considering these facts, but alas: making these assumptions would be completely wrong.
Tatiana had spent the past week rearranging her schedule for this one night at this one time to fit. She was tidied up to perfection and was even early to Ediye’s place with a few minutes to spare. Realistically, there was no reason for her to be so anxious, but the rapid thumping of her heart in her chest and frequent glances towards her watch would not stop.
Ediye had captured Tatiana’s interest over the past several months as Yinu continued to rise in popularity as one of NSR’s megastars. She was already more than pretty with her heart-shaped face and sunny yellow eyes. With that being said, it was Ediye’s passion and protectiveness over her daughter that Tatiana could not help but be drawn to. While Tatiana’s original plan had been to ignore these feelings in favor of focusing 100% of her attention to pushing NSR to even greater heights, this plan was ripped to shreds when she went to see Yinu perform live in the Natura district.
As head of NSR, Tatiana made a point of attending concerts held by her megastars every once in a while to show her support and ensure that they were continuing to play quality music. One night, she had gone to one of Yinu’s concerts in the Natura Concert Hall, and as expected, Yinu never ceased to live up to her mantle of “The Golden Maestro of Vinyl City.” After the performance, Tatiana had waited in her seat to give her approval of Yinu’s playing when she stopped.
Everyone had filed out, and Yinu had run into her mother’s arms, satisfied with yet another fantastic display of her skills. The pure love and compassion Ediye had on her face had easily melted the ice wall Tatiana attempted to place around her heart. She could do nothing but watch the two embrace, and it was only when they had noticed her that she broke from her trance. At the time, she had clumsily complimented Yinu on her performance, the smile of a proud mother lingering on Ediye’s lips. It was only afterwards that she had to accept the truth of her feelings.
She had it bad.
From there, she continued to attend Yinu’s concerts, allowing the sweet piano to relax her fluttering heart before speaking with Ediye at each concerts’ end. Initially, their conversations had been short and related to Yinu’s music. Over time, however, the topics drifted from Yinu to NSR to each other as people. They would talk long enough for Yinu to become impatient and, once tired of waiting for her mother to stop chatting, would throw a tantrum that would cause Ediye to provide swift apologies before giving in to her daughter’s demands.
It was Ediye herself that extended the dinner invitation to Tatiana after one particularly engaging conversation about different types of flowers. Yinu was beginning to show her telltale signs of becoming upset with her mother, and Ediye, tuned into her daughter’s behaviors, wanted to continue their chat over dinner.
“No isn’t an option,” she had said gently as Tatiana prepared to politely decline. “You’ve been so supportive of my daughter’s music and of her growth as an artist for NSR. It would mean a lot to me to at least make you dinner to show my appreciation. Besides, it would be nice not to have our conversations cut short for once.”
At this statement, she had given a slight glance over to her daughter, who was loudly counting how many seats were in the concert hall, a task she usually did to occupy herself and to bring adult attention to her bored state. Then, Ediye’s bright eyes shifted to Tatiana’s and remained there until Tatiana had no choice but to submit.
“Alright, alright. I accept the dinner invitation,” she relented.
Ediye’s eyes seemed to shine just a little at that, and that was how Tatiana got where she was now: in front of her crush’s door waiting to be welcomed inside.
Her stream of thoughts was interrupted at the sound of the door opening with Ediye herself on the other side.
She was…. stunning beyond comparison. Flowers that matched her eyes were skillfully weaved throughout her hair, and a brilliant black dress with red roses gently hugged her figure. Ediye was wearing that beautiful smile of hers, and it was those lips that invited her inside.
“Tatiana, welcome! Please, come inside.” She stepped aside to allow Tatiana entrance into her home and closed the door behind her.
Tatiana wanted to compliment Ediye on how gorgeous she looked, but decided against it. She did not need to dig her heart into a deeper hole than the one it was already in.
“Feel free to make yourself at home while I finish setting the table,” Ediye said as she strolled into the kitchen.
With that, Tatiana decided to take a moment to take a quick look at the other woman’s home. It was smaller than she expected with plants in pots of different shapes and sizes scattered about the living room, and most likely in the other rooms as well. Certain pots were scribbled on with crayon, a tell-tale sign of Yinu’s influence. Pictures of the small musician and her mother were hanged on the walls, and Tatiana could not help but chuckle at the softness and silliness of a couple of these pictures. However, the centerpiece was definitely Yinu’s grand piano, which glowed with a shine and freshness that indicated the love and care that went into its maintenance.
A melodious voice called out to her.
“Tatiana, you can come in now,” Ediye called, peeking into the living room to look at her before returning over to the dining room.
Tatiana followed behind, and her breath stopped short.
The lights were dimmed with a single candle in the center of a tiny, beautifully-carved table, and the nasi kerabu with ikan goreng smelled divine.
The two took their places at the table to which Tatiana suddenly realized: it was only set for two.
“What happened to your rising star? Is she not having dinner with us tonight?” Tatiana questioned.
Ediye smiled and said, “No, Neon J will be watching her for me tonight. I trust him to watch her closely and make sure she doesn’t get herself into trouble. Besides.” At this next statement, Ediye stared at her food as if something interesting would pop up from the plate.
“She seemed excited to play with 1010. And with how big she’s becoming as an NSR artist, she doesn’t have many opportunities to be a kid anymore. I’m trying to give her these opportunities as they come by so that my little girl doesn’t grow up too fast.”
Ediye continued to eat, suddenly awkward and refusing to look at Tatiana until she gave a response.
Tatiana herself hummed in thought and replied, “That’s incredibly thoughtful of you.”
An upwards tilt of Ediye’s head showed Tatiana that she had her attention.
“When I was leader of the Goolings, opportunities came and passed me by because of how preoccupied I was with making sure everyone in the group was content. I never had much time for myself, and while my bandmates meant well, they were not thinking of me either. Yinu is very lucky to have someone like you looking after her and making sure she has time for herself as she continues to grow musically.”
The two women’s eyes locked, and Tatiana’s fiery pink eyes were filled with earnestness as they gazed into Ediye’s radiant yellow ones. They held this gaze, neither could have told you for how long, but once they separated, it felt like not much time had passed at all.
Ediye broke the tension as she worked to ease the mood into something lighter.
“How do you like the food? I know it’s not a dinner made by high caliber chefs like you must be used to, but-”
“This home cooked meal has been the most fulfilling meal I’ve had in a long time,” Tatiana interjected. “My best chef’s work could not compare. Don’t sell yourself short.”
While initially thrown off at the interruption, Ediye blushed a deeper red and gave a bashful “Thank you” in response.
Another silence permeated the space, and Tatiana stumbled to shift the mood.
“I see you’ve taken to growing your own plants. They’re lovely,” she commented.
“Thank you. Yinu and I actually started taking care of plants together not long after my husband passed.” Ediye admitted. “We’ve been planning to set up a proper garden, but with Yinu needing to focus on practicing, there hasn’t been much time to do so.”
Tatiana, realizing that she stepped into a sensitive topic and was already kicking herself mentally for it, replied simply.
“That’s beautiful.” You’re beautiful, she could not help but think to herself.
As if Ediye had heard Tatiana’s thoughts, she once again flushed a darker shade.
“T-thank you. What have you been up to in y-your free time?” Ediye stuttered.
Tatiana blinked at the question, caught off guard at its simplicity, but unsure of how to answer. With how focused she had been on the growth of NSR, and implicitly, on the bettering of Vinyl City as a whole, she had very little time for herself. How did she spend the free moments on her own?
“Well,” she started carefully, “I’ve been unsure of how I feel about this personally, but I fell back into playing the guitar. Not for an audience, but for myself.”
Tatiana took a closer look at Ediye, who shifted her posture a bit straighter, her features signifying that she was listening attentively and gave a motion encouraging the other woman to continue.
“I recently tried learning how to play piano once or twice, just to see what it was like, but with little success. I have even more respect for Yinu being so skilled at such a young age,” Tatiana confessed.
“Oh, really?” Ediye seemed a little more excited, a little more animated at the admission. “Well, if you’re interested, I could teach you. I’m not on the same level as my daughter, but maybe that would make it easier?”
“I appreciate the offer, but at this age, I’m not sure if I’d be able to pick up new skills,” she politely declined.
“Tatiana, you’re the CEO of NSR, the most powerful company of Vinyl City. With the kind of drive and motivation you have, I’m certain you’d be marvelous,” insisted Ediye. “But that’s also if you’re interested. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”
Ediye, upon realizing she may have come across too strong, backed down. However, Tatiana was stunned by Ediye’s faith in her and needed a moment to compose herself.
“Thank you, I’ll… think about it,” Tatiana faltered.
Taking a look at the time, she swiftly realized that more time had passed than she expected, specifically a couple hours, and decided that now was a good time to gracefully exit before she made any more blunders in conversation.
Standing up from her seat, she said, “Thank you for having me for dinner. It was superb.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for making the time to come by with your busy schedule,” Ediye followed in suit towards the door.
“Of course, it was my pleasure,” Tatiana crooned.
The two reached the door, and neither one seemed to want to allow Tatiana to leave. Rather, their eyes locked once again, emotion rippling through. Ediye’s right hand reached out to hold Tatiana’s while Tatiana leaned closer and closer until their lips touched.
And everything felt right.
Tatiana regretted not putting on lip balm beforehand, but Ediye did not seem to mind as they shared a simple kiss. Tatiana could not pay attention to anything else but how soft Ediye’s lips were and how perfectly they fit against hers. They relished in each other’s embrace and silently wondered why they did not take this step sooner. Eventually, Tatiana felt herself begin to overheat and was about to separate when Ediye pulled Tatiana just a little bit closer for a little bit longer before letting go.
They stood there and loosely held one another, longing to remain close in their tiredness.
“I wasn’t sure you felt this way.” Tatiana was the first to speak.
Ediye’s lips formed that stunning smile, the one Tatiana loved the most. “I couldn’t be more sure. Maybe I should make myself clear.”
They embrace once again, and Tatiana could not help but think that she not only survived that simple dinner; she lived it.