17 – The Mystery of the Broken Guitar (1)

Maple found herself on a double date with Kyra and her husband, Ethan. Her best friend had been wanting to meet Neil, and thought this was a good way to do so.

They had all agreed on meeting up at Callahan Mansion. Neil, of course, picked up Maple from her house. Kyra and Ethan were already waiting outside for them.

“We were just talking about seeing a movie here, and having lunch after,” Kyra said, after everyone exchanged greetings.

“Or eating first and watching a movie later,” Ethan said. “I never ate breakfast, so I’m starving.”

“I could go for food myself. Let’s eat first.” Neil didn’t ask Maple for her preference. But Maple didn’t care anyway. She just wanted to get this double date over and done with.

They walked inside, and meandered over to the restaurant. A waitress led them to a table, and took their order. After she left, Neil excused himself to use the restroom.

“Isn’t this so exciting?” Kyra asked Maple, as Ethan fiddled with a salt shaker. “A double date with our husbands?”

“Neil’s not my husband.”

“But he’s going to be.”

Maple wasn’t in the mood to argue, especially with Ethan sitting right there. “Have you thought of what you’re going to name your baby?”

That took the spotlight off of Maple real quick. Kyra listed off names she’d thought of, followed by how she hoped it would be a girl, followed by how she’d still be happy if it was a boy. After several minutes of Kyra’s monologue, Ethan loudly wondered what was taking Neil so long, and left to find out.

Kyra barely acknowledged him, and Maple found herself wondering if she’d feel that much enthusiasm if she ever found herself pregnant. Then again, Kyra always wanted a lot of children. Maple had never been interested.

“I can’t wait until you get pregnant.” Kyra leaned forward, glowing. “It’ll be the most exciting thing ever. Have you thought about what you’d name your children?”

“You know I don’t want any.”

“It’ll be hard to avoid once you’re married.”

The waitress arrived with plates of their food. Maple put her head in her hand, picking at her ravioli, wondering why Neil hadn’t returned. Not that she wanted him back. But ten minutes had already passed. It made her wonder. Where was he?

Just then, Ethan and Neil returned. They sat down, and dug into their plates.

“What took you so long?” Kyra asked.

“That’s not an appropriate lunch conversation, my dear,” Ethan said. Nathan smirked.

~~~~~

Stellaluna wandered her house, bored as usual. She kept an eye out for Yannick as she strolled about the corridors. Since they had just had a reading session the day before, they had no plans to have another one today. (Not that she had made much progress anyway. She’d long been ready to give up.) Still, having a chat with him would give her something to do.

Maybe he was in the music room. She made her way towards it, and stepped inside. No sign of Yannick. Only assorted instruments on display around the room. Stellaluna wandered over towards the wall of guitars, nearly tripping over an object laying on the floor. Stellaluna squatted to inspect it.

It was a broken guitar. The middle of it had been bashed in, and the handle had nearly been snapped in two. Only slivers of wood held it together. Stellaluna covered her open mouth. Barry would be upset. More than upset. How had such a thing happened? It couldn’t have just fallen, for it was nowhere near the wall of guitars. Even if it had fallen, it wouldn’t have been this badly destroyed. Would it? It was one of those acoustic ones. Those were easy enough to break. But the acoustic ones were displayed at the bottom of the wall. No. It was impossible for a fall to have broken it.

Someone must have done it. Either on accident, or on purpose. Could it have been Yannick? Or another servant? Had a guest made their way back here and done it? This area was off limits to the public, but she supposed a guest could have ignored the “closed to the public” signs.

One thing was for sure. Stellaluna didn’t want Barry to catch her at the crime scene. She hurried out.

And bumped right into Yannick. The man she was looking for, and someone she could share this bit of news with.

“How goes it?” Yannick asked her with a smile.

“Not good. Someone broke a guitar in the music room.”

“Really?” Yannick’s blue eyes rounded. Was it feigned surprise? Real surprise? Stellaluna hoped the latter.

“Yes. And we need to get out of here before Barry discovers it and suspects us.”

With a nod, Yannick followed her away from the music room. They walked down the hallway, towards an area accessible to guests. There, she spotted Jake among a crowd.

What was Jake doing here? Barry had no plans to meet with his father. Not only that, but Barry was still miffed about how Jake had been rude to him.

A horrible thought occurred to Stellaluna. Did Jake travel all this way to do something vengeful towards Barry? Maybe… break one of his precious musical instruments?

Given how Jake wasn’t that far from the music room, it was a big possibility.

A very big possibility.

~~~~~

After finishing their meals, Maple, Neil, Kyra, and Ethan all headed out towards the public theater. It was far in the back of the building.

There were a couple groups of people standing around. Maple’s own group walked past them, over to a kiosk.

“What movie do you want to see?” Ethan asked Neil. “I’d rather not let the women decide, if you know what I mean…”

Maple rolled her eyes as the men complained about “chick flicks.” Then, her eyes landed on a certain someone. Her heart rose in her throat.

Jake, approaching the theater. He winked upon noticing her, but strode past to use the other kiosk.

“There’s only ever two playing at a time,” Neil said to Ethan. “Unless we want to wait until later, we got either Bugnado or Forbidden Lovers.”

“Bugnado,” Ethan said quickly.

“But I’m afraid of bugs!” Kyra flinched. Maple wasn’t a fan either, even if it was all AI.

“They’re not real bugs. Come on.” Ethan tapped at the screen, and off they went.

Once in the theater, Maple kept an eye out for Jake. She had a hard time believing he’d see the other movie. Unfortunately, the men insisted on sitting near the front of the big screen. She kept having to look over her shoulder for him.

Maple sat in between Neil and Kyra, Ethan on Kyra’s other side. Maybe she’d feign needing the restroom after the movie started.

“Imagine how much fun this will be when we have our own children to bring with us,” Kyra said to Maple.

“Mmm-hmm.” Personally, Maple thought lugging a kid around a theater would be more annoying than anything. She glanced over her shoulder. A man sat a few rows behind her, but it was too dark to tell if it was Jake.

“Are you doing okay?” Kyra asked.

“Yeah.”

The movie started. Maple waited for the opening scene to end before faking the urge to go.

“You couldn’t have gone before we sat down?” Neil whispered, but he let her through anyway.

Maple slowly walked up the steps. It was a small theater, with less than ten rows of seats. There weren’t very many people in attendance either. She figured most people who wanted to see a movie would go to the actual movie theater downtown.

Luckily for Maple, Jake had chosen a seat near the aisle, towards the back. He nodded at her, and she took the spot next to him.

“Enjoying your movie date?” Jake whispered to her.

“I am now.” The words slipped out, and she blushed.

“I’m flattered. But I’m already taken.”

Maple mumbled an apology. “Why isn’t he with you?”

“He’s working all day today. We never come here anyway. I’m only here because I’m bored.”

They watched the movie, though Maple hadn’t a clue what was going on in it. She was too focused on how Jake’s knee occasionally brushed against hers. If only he’d put his arm around her. Why couldn’t he be single, and her older?

“You should probably get back to your boyfriend, before he starts wondering where you are.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.” But Maple knew Jake was right. What if Neil decided to get up and look for her?

Reluctantly, Maple left Jake, and returned to her seat next to Neil.

“What took you so long?” Neil asked as she settled in.

“Same thing that took you so long,” Maple muttered.

Neil responded by putting his arm around her shoulder, and kissing her cheek. Maple wiped it with her sleeve. Already, she wanted to go back to Jake.