Seven years later, New York, USA.
It is a world tour of solo piano concerts.
The large music pavilion was filled to capacity.
The audience was silent as a melodious piano sound flowed from the stage.
In the entire music hall there was only one light, which overlooked a figure on the stage and the piano.
The young woman’s hands danced gracefully over the black and white keys like the wings of a butterfly, and a soulful rendition of “The Blue Danube” burst from her fingers.
Downstairs, in the VIP seats, sat a strikingly handsome oriental man.
The man was in his early thirties, with delicate, distinguished features and the businesslike aura of a man who has long been in a position of power, cool and unflappable, but when he looked up to gaze at the slender figure on stage, a touch of tenderness and deep emotion revealed itself in his cold eyes.
Severo Laris sat on the stage, hands casually clasped in his lap, listening intently to the piano performance.
This was the tenth recital of his tour and he didn’t miss it.
His girl, Severo Laris thought, had really grown up.
It is not too much to describe her as radiant.
Salvino, the special assistant who sits next to Severo Laris, took an important phone call after retiring a few moments ago.
Salvino leaned close to Severo Laris’ ear and whispered, “Professor Laris, the Magoo Group people have arrived at the company and the details of the acquisition still need to be discussed with you.”
Salvino’s implication is that this acquisition by Magoo is more important than the concert.
Because this type of concert is something the boss listens to almost every month and he travels all over the world for it.
Salvino doesn’t understand how the boss can listen so attentively to such a boring and bland piano concert.
But what Salvino didn’t know was that all the piano recitals Severo Laris had heard over the years featured the female pianist on stage.
The direction of the tour changes, the direction of the concert hall changes, but only the person playing on stage, never changes.
Severo Laris’ gaze, always fixed on the figure on stage, was tinged with a slight chill at the corners of his eyes when he said coldly, “Listen to the concert, don’t talk business.”
Salvino snapped his mouth shut.
He has been with his boss for three years and has studied some of Severo Laris’ habits and micro-expressions quite well.
This Professor Laris, who does not reveal her anger, is cold and decisive, and her methods are thunderous, making people feel fearful and under pressure.
Just now she spoke to stop him, already snorting.
Salvinolita’s sat to the side and silently followed the owner during this traveling piano recital.
At the end of the piano performance, the pianist on stage rose, bowed gracefully and acknowledged the curtain.
Most of the audience had left the stage, but Severo Laris remained quietly seated in his armchair, without getting up, as if still immersed in the piano performance.
Salvino didn’t dare say more, but inwardly he was frantic: the company had a multi-million dollar acquisition to negotiate, and here was the boss wasting precious time.
Yes, every second of Severo Laris’ time was priceless.
But the big boss, who always likes to waste his time on piano recitals, Christmas and similar nonsense and festivals.
It was hard to wait for Severo Laris to get up.
Salvino was about to say something about the merger when Severo Laris ordered in a soft voice: “Tickets for the next London recital, buy them in advance and cancel all work trips for that day.”
Salvino: Is this piano recital of … so scrambled?
“Yes, boss.”
As he left the music room, Severo Laris unconsciously glanced back, his gaze crossing the crowd and settling on the familiar slender back, warming up.
As the slender figure turned, Severo Laris narrowed his dark eyes slightly and turned, following the crowd out of the concert hall.
We have a long day ahead of us.
Even if I place myself in a corner where she cannot be seen, and watch her from afar, I will be satisfied with my peace of mind.
…
Paula Rouco, a little less energetic after a piano recital, sits in the nanny’s van and rests her eyes.
Her assistant Velazquez Moral handed her the camera and said, “Paulita, would you like to see the video of your piano performance this time?”
Paula Rouco had little heart and waved her slender, slender hand, saying, “It’s pretty much the same video every time, what’s good about it.”
“Not necessarily this time. By the way, I hear there are a lot of rich businessmen and apparently famous international stars in the audience who bought their tickets.”
Paula Rouco wrapped the blanket around herself and laughed at her, “Talking as if the rich businessmen and international stars who come to my piano recitals pay more than the rest of the audience.”
“Ch, Missy, I know you don’t care about the money, you have plenty of it, but this little assistant of mine at least follows you to get some glory, the higher your popularity, the more I can talk about doubling my money even if I jump jobs in the future. I can tell the other party that when I was Momo’s assistant, I had seen many great scenes. How many rich and powerful people have fallen under the sound of Momo’s piano.”
Paula Rouco, annoyed with her, laughed, took the camera out of her hand and sneered, “I came to see how many rich businessmen there are, why don’t I pick you a young and handsome one, get in touch with them and you have a blind date with them?”
Velazquez Moral rolled his eyes, “Even a rich businessman has to be able to look at a short, poor guy like me. It’s possible for a rich businessman to look at you, but to me, I’d be more reliable as your assistant.”
Velazquez Moral chimed in and said, “But seriously, I really saw a handsome and incredibly handsome man in this blurry video!”
Paula Rouco scoffs, “How can you tell if he’s handsome if it’s a blurry video, maybe it’s the high blur filter.”
“I’ll find it for you if you don’t believe me.”
Velazquez Moral picked up the camera and carefully searched for the figure. After searching for a long time, the image quality was unclear because the human face was too small and because of the low light in the music room.
The screen is paused.
Velazquez Moral pointed to the face and zoomed in: “Look, isn’t he handsome?”.
Paula Rouco looked at him absently and her eyelashes fluttered; the face, somewhat familiar.
She picked up the camera and looked at it for a long time.
Velazquez Moral said, “Isn’t it very pretty, are you dazzled?”
The picture quality is too blurry and the man’s silhouette bears a slight resemblance to the man, but there are many similarities in this big world, and it must not be him.
It had been seven years since they had broken up and had not spoken to each other again, so how could she come to listen to his piano recital.
This idea was immediately rejected by Paula Rouco.
So she calmly handed the camera back to Velazquez Moral and said, “It’s too blurry to see clearly if he’s handsome or not.”
When he finished, he wrapped himself in his blanket and cocked his head to the side to catch up on sleep.
For the past seven years, the two things he did most were play the piano and sleep. He didn’t socialize much and his mind was much more collected and not as playful as it used to be.
Last year, Adam Rouco, Estrella Berrocal and Lucio Rouco, came to see her in Filadelfia.
We agreed to tour the neighborhood as a family of four, just as a trip, and let her be the guide, but as a result, when we left home, she didn’t even know where there were interesting places to visit or where to eat, and it was Lucio Rouco who ended up looking up the tips on the internet.
Living in Philadelphia for seven years and not knowing the food and beauty, it is evident how deeply he tends to experience the city.
Adam Rouco and Estrella Berrocal, seeing her alone in Philadelphia and not making friends, want her to return to The Holy City.
It is not impossible to return to her home country.
With only the support of the Fu consortium, she didn’t have to worry about internal development.
Her grandfather is getting older and misses her from time to time, so maybe it’s time to go back and spend time with her family.
Paula Rouco looked out the car window at the passing scenery and said, “Viv, don’t get busy for a while when this tour is over. I’d like to go home.”
She hadn’t told Velazquez Moral, who found it surprising: “Why so suddenly? What about the recitals scheduled afterwards?”.
Paula Rouco closes her eyes, not at all emotional, always light: “Cancel, I’m tired.”
Velazquez Moral bristles: Ha. Missy really not bad at all, says she’ll cancel.
She was very, very homesick.
Seven years and a handful of returns.
Everything and everyone about that man’s town, she automatically blocked it out, as if by not listening or looking, she could pretend it never existed.
Even Susanna, with whom she is so close, has rarely initiated contact in the last seven years.
She feared that Susana would inadvertently mention it, over the man’s movements.
And she, not wanting to hear it, would be upset.