The Play (Part 1).

Dinner. Dinner for three. Dinner for three in her small, modest apartment! And none of the two guests has ever been there.

Yes, that's right. Within the year that Emily has been renting an apartment, her grandmother has never come to visit her. Firstly, Emily visited her grandma so often that the woman did not need to go to her granddaughter. And secondly... In general, the granny took it all easy.

But Emily began to bother about it very much.

Cooking and she are the same incompatible things as her scientific work and work in the Pharaoh magazine. On the other hand, if she somehow coped with the latter, then she would also cope with the former.

"By the way, Emily didn't tell me how long you've been together?" Grandma asked.

"For two weeks," Emily replied.

"For two months," the boss said.

Damn it! They discussed a meeting place, but did not agree on dates!

There was an awkward pause.

"So two weeks you are saying, huh?" Evans slowly turned his head and, with feigned resentment in his voice, clarified, "But what about all the time that I diligently tried to get your attention? Doesn't it count? Just do not say that you were messing with others on the side at this time and choosing who is better - me or some Billy or this Kevin guy."

The boss's resentment looked so believable that Emily felt ashamed. Damn, what the hell should she be ashamed of?! Look, Evans is not at all ashamed of outright lies in front of her grandmother!

"Justin, don't worry. I can vouch for Emily that all her thoughts were focused on another history book and not on some guy," Mrs. Hayes reassured the boss.

Somehow that didn't really stop you when you forced all sorts of potential husbands on me, granny, the girl thought bitterly.

"We met in a cafe not far from my house. Nothing special, granny. An ordinary meeting, getting to know each other better, well, then you can see how everything turned out," Emily decided to take the initiative into her own hands until someone too proactive sets the date of the wedding at the same time with the date of the dinner.

"Yes, she looked so cute in her frayed jeans and disheveled head," Justin said with a dreamy air as if it were one of his most precious memories. "No one has ever told me to go to hell in such a charming way like this kind girl sitting next to me."

"Emily Hayes, were you being rude to the person you just met?" Granny was shocked. Emily knew that tone. If she is not stopped, then Madame Hayes will turn on the educational mode.

"I was sleepy. And then I apologized. Did I apologize?" she asked the boss a clarifying question.

"Of course you apologized. I even have proof of your apology in my car," the boss was openly mocking her. A broken head light worth two months' salary was hardly an excuse.

Emily had already forgotten about it. Hmm, it was a bit awkward indeed.

"And then it turned out that we were working together. Can you imagine?" Evans took the wheel and steered their flimsy boat called the Fake Lovers into a huge new wave.

Boss, who pulls you by the tongue to disclose information that was not even asked about?!

"He's a model," Emily reported immediately until Justin had time to blurt out too much and trump with his status in the company.

"Oh, that explains a lot," the grandmother nodded, "I wondered where my granddaughter could get close to such an attractive man. Justin Evans is a pretty name. It sounds nice."

"Thank you," he smiled.

Among this couple, exchanging pleasantries and compliments, Emily felt like she was the fifth wheel.

"Granny, we'll probably go. And then Justin needs to go to work. He's shooting to do." Emily got up from the table and cast a glance at the boss, with the obvious hint to do the same.

"How? Already? We still have the half of the pie left! We haven't even seen your childhood photos yet."

No way. Never. Better to give up right away and agree to marry a philosopher from France than to show the boss this shame!

"Photos?" Evans cheered up immediately. He obviously liked the idea. "I want to see them!"

"I'm totally against that. It will embarrass me," Emily snapped.

"Darling, what's the big deal? Justin is almost like family. I'm not asking you to play the violin, in fact," granny frowned.

"You can play the violin?" Evans became more and more interested in the new abilities of his fictitious girlfriend.

Emily shifted from foot to foot. The situation was beginning to get out of control.

"A little," she focused on the toes of her shoes.

"Please play some. I really want to hear," there was a quiet request. The girl looked up and her heart skipped a beat for a moment.

She could see from Justin's face that he was not joking or fooling around. He genuinely wanted to hear her play.

She also wanted him to hear her.

But Emily got scared, she hadn't touched the violin for so long.

"Okay. But I haven't practiced for a long time, so don't expect too much," she replied, turned around, and walked into the house.

"She agreed…" Mrs. Hayes gasped, and the old woman's eyes moistened. "So what are we waiting for? Let's go to the living room," she got up and hurried Justin up.

The living room was a very bright room with two huge windows facing the other side of the garden. Large vases with flowers stood inside wherever there was a more or less free horizontal surface.

Madame Hayes was obviously very fond of flowers.

Justin looked around the cozy space and walked over to the piano in the corner.

"Emily's mom was a pianist. Talented and bright. They arranged home concerts with my son in the evenings. He played the violin and Louise accompanied him. Emily danced and circled around. It was a glorious time." The woman's voice faltered, but she quickly hid the pain of loss behind a slight smile.

"I'm sorry for what had happened," Justin ran his hand over the lid of the musical instrument.

"Over the years it becomes easier to deal with the pain, dear. It's a pity that music hasn't played in this house for a long time," Mrs. Hayes invited him to sit on a chair next to the piano, while she sat down in the chair next to her.