Melody and I had quickly made our way back to our seats out front and settled in.

"So, this is the Law guy you and Lucy were talking about?" I asked her, taking a sip of my neglected water from earlier.

She nodded, throwing back the rest of her own drink. "Yep! He's one of the runners for the Parlor, and also a student at Juilliard."

I cocked my head. "Juilliard?"

Melody smiled at me. "It's a music school here in the city. Law plays the piano and sings. Link usually has him fill in when the girls are overbooked or someone's injured or sick."

I nodded in understanding. "Gotcha. Hey, that other guy with him, you said his name was Sparkles? How'd he get that name?"

My friend laughed a bit. "He's the Parlor's explosives guy. Chunk of his ear is missin' from a dynamite incident back in '25."

"Oh. Noted." I laughed a bit in bewildered surprise. The things I was learning from Melody were nothing short of entertaining, if nothing else.

We clapped, and I followed suit as my companion stood, Maude bowing onstage before exiting off to the side. The two of us sat back down, and Melody grinned over at me giddily.

"He's really good. I wish they'd let him play more often."

"Really?" I asked her.

She nodded. "Mhm. When he told us he was goin' to school for it, we were all so excited for him. Jenny was always sayin' he should do somethin' in showbiz. Says he's got the personality for it. She was right, of course. I mean, it's Jenny; she's got pretty good intuition, majority of the time. Although, ya didn't hear it from me," she said, lowering her voice and leaning in close to me. I leaned in, as well. "I think she might hold a candle for him."

I gasped, smiling a bit and enjoying this innocent-enough, girly gossip. I never had in my old life. "Really!" She nodded. "How can you be sure?"

"Oh, it's as plain as day with the way she looks at him. Practically worships the ground he walks on." She waved her hands as if in worship and I giggled a bit.

"Well, does he feel the same about her?"

Melody shrugged. "If he does, it's hard to say. He doesn't really act any differently toward her."

"Hm. You think it's unrequited love?"

She looked at me. "For Jenny's sake, I hope not. For the drama of it all, I'd be fibbin' if I said I didn't think it's possible."

I nodded. "That's fair enough. I hope maybe he just hasn't expressed how he feels to her, yet."

Melody nodded thoughtfully as the lights dimmed and we turned our attention back to the stage. "Maybe."

From the side of the stage reemerged the brown-headed man from before. This time he was clean and in a different set of clothing. He sat down at the grand piano sat in the middle of the stage, smiling down at the keys before beginning a song. His fingers expertly danced across the keys as he played an upbeat tune. It was one I had heard on the radio in recent days. Called "Sunday", I thought. His voice was strong and slightly raspy, and I found myself enraptured. As he progressed through the song, he looked out at the audience milling about in the lounge. When his eyes met mine, something seemed to click. I felt my heart skip a beat and my breathing quicken a bit. I felt myself being drawn in as he smiled at me. I was sure my face was flushed, but I found myself not caring as I watched him perform.

Melody noticed my staring and gently bumped me with her elbow. I looked over at her.

"You good, (Y/N)?" she asked me, a small, almost knowing smile on her lips as she considered me.

I nodded. "Oh, yeah. Just enjoying the music."

She hummed. "Or maybe the musician."

I felt my face flush further. "Melody! It's not like that! I don't even know the man; haven't spoken a word to him!"

She grinned. "Oh, we can fix that, honey."

"What? What do you mean?" I asked her nervously.

"I'm gonna set you two up."

I blinked at her. "Aside from the obvious we don't even know each other, what about Jenny?" I asked her quickly, trying to save my own skin while also considering the woman who was supposedly in love with the piano-player onstage.

Melody waved a hand in disregard. "Jenny had her chance, she never made a move. Besides, I think you two would make a downright charming pair."

I buried my face in my fingers, trying to regain at least some of my previous composure.

"(Y/N), relax, hon. It's not like I'm gonna waltz up to him and tell him: 'Oh, yeah! Law, this is my friend (Y/N). She's hot and Italian and you two should definitely pitch woo after this'."

I tried to remember where I had heard that phrase before, mortification taking over once I realized that my uncle had used it the week before to describe a couple making love in the back of a bar he had stopped by with some of his work colleagues. I pushed Melody's arm, almost too embarrassed to speak.

"Melody!"

"What? I said I wasn't going to say that!" she said in her defense, holding her hands up.

I sighed, pausing for a moment before speaking again. "...Well, what would you say?"

She smiled triumphantly, knowing she'd won by my curiosity. "I'd just introduce you two and suggest a friendship, at first. You don't wanna jump the gun on something like this, hon. Didn't you ever have any beaus back in Italy?" she asked me, lighting another cigarette after earlier abandoning her first one in the ash tray.

I shook my head in response, my face slipping into a deadpan as memories from my later days in Italy came flooding back into my psyche. "No. The only man I'd been romantically involved with, if you could even call it that, was the man I was to be married to. An old man of twice my age with many children already, and saw me as nothing more than an instrument to finally give him the sons he so desperately desired in the wake of his first wife's death."

My friend laid a hand on my thigh comfortingly. "(Y/N), that's awful." She gave me a reassuring look. "Look, this could be a brand new start for you, not only in the freedom aspect, but in the romance aspect, as well. So what do you say? I won't do anything if you don't want me to."

I smiled a small smile over at her, appreciating her honesty and consideration of my own feelings. And as nervous as the thought of speaking to the man onstage made me, and how it so twisted my insides into knots, I knew I couldn't pass this opportunity up. What if this was my chance to find love for myself? I couldn't just ignore it. Sighing, I met her gaze and smiled a bit.

"Alright, fine. You can introduce us, but I'd appreciate it if you'd make me look as little of a fool as possible."

She smiled and laughed, wrapping an arm around me. "Oh, honey! Don't you worry your pretty head about it! You're gonna be the most-coveted woman in the area by the time I'm done introducing you!"

I smiled, shaking my head a bit at her over-the-top disposition that I had come to be fond of. I just hoped I could make a good first impression.

"Law, that was fantastic!" Melody squealed, throwing her arms around his neck as we approached him backstage. "Jesus, you're sweatin' up a storm!" she said, pulling away from him and wiping her hands on his shirt.

He pushed his damp hair up and away from his face, laughing at her. "Sorry, Mel. Stage lights are hot as hell itself." He grabbed a towel off a nearby wrack and wiped his face, neck, and hands with it, sighing in relief.

"Tell me about it. I'm always sweatin' buckets in all those feathers," my friend replied, taking the towel from him and tossing it into a bin with other soiled and used linens.

"Hey, uh, Mel, who's the dame with you?" he asked her, nodding my way as he met my gaze.

I swallowed the nerves and did what I could to calm my racing heart as I approached to Melody's waving me over to the two of them.

"Oh! Of course, where are my manners? This is my friend (Y/N). She just moved here a couple of weeks ago, from Italy," she added, wiggling her eyebrows at Law goofily.

I wanted to crawl into a hole, but held myself together well. "Hello," I said, extending my hand out to him.

"Hi, there," he said in a bemused sort of way, studying me curiously as he grasped my hand in his. It enveloped mine, and his grip was gentle but firm. "I'm Lawrence. Most everyone calls me Law, though."

He smiled good-naturedly at me and I felt my heart flutter again. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"And you, as well, (Y/N)."

Hearing him say my name just felt right, somehow. I couldn't explain it, but it sounded as if Law should have been the one to say it all along. I shook myself, psychologically chastising myself for being such a silly girl getting all flustered for no reason at all. I took a breath and tried to focus on the present.

"So, Italy, huh?" he asked me, flashing me another grin.

With a panicked flutter of my pulse, I noticed Melody was sneaking down the hallway and back out to the lounge. I'd ream her out later. For now, I was fighting for my life to hold my composure. I nodded, smiling back at him. "Italy."

"What was it like? Always wanted to travel, just haven't been able to with the climate and money right now."

I nodded in understanding. "I wouldn't travel right now, either. Especially not to Italy."

He whistled. "That bad, huh?" he asked, shoving his hands deep in his pockets.

I nodded. "Mussolini has been nothing but an oppressive blight on our nation. I couldn't leave fast enough."

"Oh, yeah, heard about that old gink. Christ, can't imagine what livin' there was like for a pretty dame like yourself."

Law didn't seem fazed by the nonchalant compliment he managed to slip into his comment, but I was doing everything in my power to avoid giggling then and there. I instead, arched an eyebrow, deciding to do my best to be coy and flirty, as well. Melody had said men liked that best in a girl, anyway.

"So you think I'm pretty?"

He blinked a bit, grinning at me. "Well, of course. You'd have to be blind to think otherwise. And I got perfect vision, babes."

I laughed at that, feeling myself slowly growing more and more at ease with Law.

"Say, ya wanna get some fresh air?" he asked me suddenly, jerking his head toward the back door that he and Sparkles had entered through just a little while before.

I mulled it over for a moment. "Hmmm... I don't know. After all, how do I know you're not some scoundrel?" I smiled cheekily at him.

He smirked, grabbing his hat and coat from a nearby rack. "Who told you I'm not?"

Law and I strolled side-by-side near the docks, the night air crisp and the waves choppy against the pier. The moon was partly shrouded by the clouds, so we relied mostly on the street lamps to cast their light on our path.

"So Melody tells me you're a music student?"

Law nodded, kicking at a rock in front of him. "That I am. Started at Juilliard two semesters ago."

I smiled over at him. "That's wonderful. My mother used to play the piano. She tried to teach me, but I could never quite grasp it."

He looked at me. "Maybe I could teach ya, sometime."

I met his gaze. "You'd do that?"

He shrugged. "Why not? You seem like the capable type. Besides, I like your company."

Another compliment.

"Well, I rather enjoy your company, as well."

The two of us settled into a comfortable silence for a moment before Law spoke again.

"So, your mother... You two are close?"

I nodded, smiling at the ground. "We were."

"'Were'?" Realization flashed across his face. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Didn't realize-"

I shook my head, turning to him. "Oh no no, it's fine, really. She passed when I was seventeen, so around five years ago."

"I'm sorry for your loss," he told me sympathetically.

"I appreciate it."

"So, twenty-two, huh?"

I smiled. "I'll be twenty-two next month."

"Ah, I see."

"So what about you?"

"Hm?"

"How old are you?" I asked him.

"Oh, turned twenty-five a few months ago."

I smiled. "Noted."

A gust of wind wafted across the water and over the pier, ruffling the hem of my dress and tangling my hair. I shivered a bit, goosebumps raising on my arms. Law seemed to notice, because a second later I felt him drape his own coat over my shoulders. I looked down at it before glancing over at him.

"You looked cold," he said, not making eye contact with me. I thought I could see the slightest hint of a blush gracing his face. "Don't make a big deal over it."

I smiled at the ground, pulling the coat around me, finding it comforting. The lapel brushed up against my cheek, and I caught the scent of sweet brandy and cigarette smoke. It actually smelled kind of nice.

"Come on, you're practically an icicle. Let's head back to the Parlor," Law said to me, holding out his arm and steering me back toward the way we had come.

"Alright, let's go."

We walked back quickly, squinting against the whistling wind laughing at each other stumbling back. He bustled the two of us into the back door of the Print Parlor, shutting the door behind us with a relieved huff.

"Feels good in here," he said.

I nodded, agreeing and rubbing my arms. "You could say that again."

"(Y/N)! There you are!"

My head whipped around to where Melody was coming down the hallway, looking worried before seeing Law right behind me. She glanced between us, a knowing smile immediately replacing the unease from moments before.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you. Law and I just went for a walk. Are you ready to leave for the night? It is getting a bit late."

She waved her hands. "Oh, you're fine, hon. And if that's fine with you, we can head on out. Figured your auntie'd want you back at a decent time."

I nodded. "I'm coming."

I started to shrug off Law's coat in order to give it back to him, but felt his hand on my shoulder. I turned to look at him quizzically.

"Just keep it."

I was taken aback. "What?"

He grinned, hanging his hat on the hatrack and backing away from Melody and me. "Just keep it. That way you'll have to come back and see me again to return it." And with a final mischievous wink, he was gone, disappearing in the racks of costumes and crowd of feathered girls.