---

Previously...

”You…you’re the precious gift I was given. I am so sorry that I didn’t tell you sooner.”

“Did she turn you down? I’m second best…maybe not even that. How can I trust you?”

“I don’t know. All I know is I love you. I fell in love with you the first time we met…when I touched your hand and we kissed that first day…I know I’ve let you down, but if I never get to tell you another thing, I have to tell you I love you Linda. I am so sorry I waited so long and I can only hope that it wasn’t too long.”

He looked her in the eye and she saw and felt and knew that he was as trustworthy as the day is long, as they say. She pulled close to him and leaned up and kissed him. Their tongues danced and their sighs and sobs mixed in a wonderful mixture of sweet and powerful music.

After a few moments Linda pulled back and turned away. She began to weep harder as Tony put his hand once again on her shoulder. She reached back and grabbed his hand.

“I can’t be what you need, Tony…I can’t…I’m not…” She swallowed hard and lowered her head.

“I know.” Tony knew it wasn’t an argument he could win, but he began to speak anyway.

“We’re different. You and me….we’ll never be like everyone else, but who says we have to be. I love you, and that’s all I want or need…nothing else matters…only you matter.”

“I’m…I can never have children.” She wept, not only for him but for her, feeling cheated by fate into becoming a pretender…she wasn’t real…only the image…the facsimile of what Tony needed.

“I know that’s important to you, and I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t important to me. But it isn’t so impossible that we can’t make adjustments. And it’s so soon to think about what we can’t have, Linda…we need to think about and be thankful for what we have.” He smiled and pulled her close once again.

“And I prefer to be thankful for you. You have healed me...made me whole…made my life real and with meaning. I love you.” He kissed her once again and their tears mingled before falling to the floor.

---

The story takes place eleven months after the events of The Sweet Romance of Linda Piontak.

Julliard School of Music, Manhattan, New York City

"Jeez, Ms. Piontak...you don't take any prisoners, do you." Nate joked and looked over the music once again.

"It's just that I know you're capable of so much more, Nate! You're my best student." Nate beamed at the complement until he heard,

"But you're playing like you don't care...and that's the biggest no-no with me!" She half-frowned before continuing.

"You have a bright future in music, Nate, but only if it is the most important thing to you besides people."

"Come on, Ms. Piontak! I'm dating Cassie; that shows I care!" He laughed softly.

"No…that only shows you care about how she cares about you. Do you put her first in everything when you're together? Is what she wants and needs as important or more important that what's on your mind?"

Nate bristled at the question.

"What's so wrong about what's on my mind? You a prude?" He half-frowned.

"I have my own beliefs, Nate, but that's not what I'm talking about." She looked at him and then back at the piano in front of them.

"If Cassie is only important as a means to an end; to keep you satisfied and happy? To look at the music as just a way of meeting people or being popular? It won't work, and sooner or later, it will all just fall apart!"

"Are you talking about the music or Cassie?"

"Yes...both, Nate. If you see music as just a way to get ahead instead of the goal? If you see Cassie as just a way to make yourself feel better? It doesn't work, and in the long run, you'll end up empty-handed wondering what happened."

"Why do things have to be so complicated with you, Ms. Piontak?” Nate laughed and shook his head.

“I thought we were just practicing here, and I get a lesson about life. Jeez, why does everything have to be so hard?”

“Because we don’t do anything important alone; there are always people involved with anything that matters, hon!” She put her hand on his shoulder and smiled.

---

Linda's apartment, Brooklyn, New York

Linda sang softly to herself as she moved around the small kitchen in her apartment. Moving consisted of turning around to bump into the stove while opening the fridge and banging her knees on the oven door while getting dinner ready. It was the first time in weeks that Tony had made room in his schedule to come over, and she wanted to make it special.

"La luce che tu dai...Nel cuore restera...A ricordarci che...L'eterna stella sei. (I pray we'll find your light, and hold it in our hearts...When stars go out each night, remind us where you are...) Ow!" She banged her knees on the oven door as she forgot once again that she had left it open for the casserole she had on the counter.

Things had cooled off considerably since the middle of the semester. Between the classes she was taking and the teaching responsiblities, she had little time for leisure, but she had made a point to make time for Tony each evening, if only for an hour or so. He, on the other hand, had made little attempt to make time for her.

"Sogniamo un mondo senza piu violenza, Un mondo di giustizia e di speranza. Ognuno dia una mano al suo vicino, Simbolo di pace...di fraternita. (We dream of a world without more violence, a world of justice and hope. Each gives a hand to his neighbour, symbol of peace... of fraternity.)" She laughed softly as she thought of how much of a hand she had hoped for, even in singing the song. Their duets were sung less frequently and the alto harmony sounded odd without Tony's tenor to carry the melody.

As she placed the casserole in the oven the doorbell rang. Being careful to close the oven , she walked to the door and opened it. Tony smiled his engaging and warm "I've got something to talk about" smile at her. She kissed him on the cheek and pointed to the table.

"Oh...you made dinner?" He half-frowned; as if she had done something entirely inappropriate by being considerate of his schedule.

"Yes," She forced a smile, expecting he wasn't staying for dinner.

"I need to talk to you about something."

"Talk to you?" she thought. Not with you but to you always meant he had something important to discuss that involved him either reneging on a promise or springing something on her that he alone had decided they should do. She wasn't disappointed in her assessment as he spoke.

"I've got this great opportunity. You know how much you've been after me to start playing outside of school, right?" Ah, the obligatory "you" as a qualifier; it would be her fault if things didn't work out because it was her idea after all.

"Well, I've got a chance to play with an ensemble for the summer, right after classes end next week."

"That's wonderful...I know you'll enjoy it, honey." She smiled but his expression wasn't at all happy.

"There's just one hitch." One hitch with Tony was worth probably a hundred with anyone else. He cringed as if she were about to hit him. She'd never hit him, but he was right in anticipating how disappointed she'd be.

"It's in Europe…a tour all over the Continent. Isn't that great?" He smiled weakly as she frowned.

"Oh...okay." She continued to frown and she placed her hand over her mouth.

"You don't seem happy." An understatement to be sure.

"Tony...I am happy...for you. I'm just...we had planned on spending some time together. I haven't had much time with you as it is; and with you away all summer?" She bit her tongue; she wasn't going to cry in front of him, not now.

"You could come along? Couldn't you?"

"I'm teaching Summer School, and even if I wasn't, I don't have the money to go all over Europe; I'm sure someone is paying for your trip?" He nodded.

"Well, at least we can take a week off when I get back in August." He smiled at his solution, but she bit her lip, this time clear enough to be noticed.

"I have to be here for planning with the department as well as finish my own summer class. I can't take any time off."

"Just tell them you need some time for yourself." He smiled again

"If I don't teach, I don't get my stipend and this apartment, okay?" She was growing impatient with him, and he felt her frustration, but his response wasn't helpful.

"Well, I'm really sorry you feel that way. I mean...this is my big opportunity and you can't see how important it is to me."

"Tony, I know how important it is to you...I just...We haven't been spending any quality time together. You drop by when you feel like it and sometimes you don't even bother to call when you cancel. I'm not saying anything other than that I miss you and I don't feel like I'm important to you anymore. And feeling? It isn't feeling but reality. You have a full scholarship and room and board and a stipend for your tutoring. I barely get by on what I have. I'm not complaining, but you don't seem to appreciate how much effort I'm putting in for the two of us!"

"I try, Linda, believe me!" Tony held his arms out as if to plead his case.

"I can't compete with what you have; I put off...you know..." She looked down at her body, almost in shame. It hurt beyond words that he had forgotten about her impending surgery.

"Jeez, Linda....is it that time of the month?" Tony half-grinned at the taunt. He was completely surprised at her tears.

"That's so..." She sniffled once.

"I'm not going to cry...I'm not going to cry." She thought even as the tears began to spill onto the floor. He knew how much that meant to her...no period equals no children equals not a real girl equals not good enough....

"Hey...I'm sorry, okay. Let's try to make the best of this. You want to come out for dinner?" He used his hand in a broad gesture to point to the door.

"Tony...I made dinner for us...I've been planning this since Sunday."

"Well, I'm sorry...I forgot. Listen...the guys from the tour are downstairs waiting. You want to come or not?" He knew she wasn't in the mood for company; not after his news. She bit her lip and shook her head slowly; her anger was already replaced by a sorrow he still had yet to appreciate.

"Well, Okay...I'll call you tomorrow." He stepped closer and kissed her on the cheek before walking quickly out the door.

She ran to the window and looked down at the waiting car.

A tall attractive girl got out and gestured toward the building. He shook his head no and the girl shrugged her shoulders before patting him on the back as if he needed consoling. The car drove off and Linda followed its trail until it disappeared around the corner.

I'd give away my soul
To hold you once again
And never let this promise end

Linda slowly let the curtain fall back into place. She went into the kitchen and turned off the oven. She walked into her bedroom; closing the door behind her, shutting out the day. She looked at the pile of magazines on her bed. Modern Bride lay open to a photo spread for petite girls. She pushed the magazines aside and lay down on top of the covers, grabbing the comforter from the bottom of the bed. Covering herself she turned and faced the door; the mirror displaying her tearful face.

It was hard enough to compete in the outside world of music and school; she felt inadequate despite the assurances of her teachers and the department head. But here, inside, to compete with the pull of new opportunities and friends that Tony gained every day. And now another girl as well...a real girl? She felt incomplete, and nothing, even her surgery might ever change that. She rolled over, buried her face in her pillow, and cried herself to sleep.

I let you go
I let you fly
Why do I keep on asking why
I let you go
Now that I found
A way to keep somehow
More than a broken vow

---

Broken Vow
Words and Music by
Walter Afanasieff and Lara Fabian
As performed by
Lara Fabian
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFiUw9XdezU

Excerpts from The Prayer
words and music by
David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager,
Alberto Testa, Tony Renis
as performed by
Celine Dion and Josh Groban
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhxIjRO6WjI