Re: adrian's place; dietre & hugh
“No, I don’t need to go to bed. We can do another.” Maybe he answered a little too quickly, but it couldn’t be helped. He didn’t want Hugh to think he had grown tired of his company. Not that there was ever a danger of Dietre appearing disinterested in spending time with a friend. That had never been his problem.
Again, he hurried to replace the roll so that he could return to Hugh as soon as possible. Another six minute piece, Bethena by Scott Joplin. While Dietre was not all that fond of ragtime, he did very much love this piece. It reminded him a little of his mother. The story behind it was tragic. It was composed after the death of Joplin’s wife only ten weeks after their marriage. Stories about loss were always appealing to Dietre, he knew the feeling well. The piece was both romantic and sad, and perfect for a slow waltz.
Dietre took Hugh’s hand as he agreed, “Practice does make perfect. Or so they say.” Playing piano was all about practice. Every performance was practice, though Dietre didn’t believe that achieving absolute perfection was actually possible.
He shrugged a doubtful shoulder, “Maybe.” Learning to lead would only be useful if he planned on doing a lot of dancing. Who was he ever going to dance with, aside from Hugh? “But I’ll be happy to learn whatever you’d like to teach me.”
Bethena never failed to make Dietre feel a bit sentimental. He found himself squeezing Hugh’s hand, speaking in a soft voice, “Thank you for spending time with me…” He thought he had thanked Hugh for this before, but that didn’t matter. He’d thank him a thousand times and Dietre didn’t think he could ever understand how grateful he was. “It means a lot.”