Seven Years Unwed

Synopsis

During the orchestra's recruitment session, Sophie Brooks, a newly joined young recruit, suddenly pointed toward the grand piano sitting beside my fiancé, Leonard Sterling. "I've heard only your wife has ever been allowed to play this piano. May I give it a try?" she said gently. Leonard answered with a single word, no pause or hesitation in his tone, "Yes." Every pair of eyes in the room swiveled straight to me in an instant. All ensemble members knew the whole story well. I had stood by Leonard's side for seven years as his long-standing girlfriend, walking the road alongside him from utter obscurity to widespread critical acclaim. Even so, access to this precious heirloom piano left by his late mother had always been strictly off-limits to me. As I was stuck beneath stares brimming with sympathy and quiet curiosity alike, a cold truth settled softly over my heart. This lengthy love affair had run dry at last, and parting ways was the only sensible choice left.