My Love for You Broke Me

Chapter 608 True Friendship

When Eilam came home, he gave me a lovely rose and said it was from Shawn. After hearing that it was from

Shawn, I carefully placed it in a vase and set it out in the living room.

By the time Kevin woke up, I had already finished my breakfast. Eilam went back to his room to take a nap after

breakfast while I went out on a walk with Eins and Zwei. On my way back, I saw a new face at the entrance. He said

he was Eilam's bodyguard, Seth Zander.

I nodded in greeting. "You don't need to wait by the entrance. You can go back to the car. It must be quite tiring to

stand out here all day."

Seth was startled. "Yes, Mrs. Xenos."

I led Eins and Zwei back into the house. Kevin was done with breakfast and was in the living room playing hide and

seek with the two children. "What can they eat now?" I asked the nanny.

"They're being weaned from breast milk so they can have some milk formula."

"I'll go and prepare it then."

I volunteered myself for the task. Once I had finished attending to them, I got a call from Christopher. He asked me

in a warm, gentle tone, "Are you free today, little girl?"

I recalled what he had suggested the day before yesterday.

"Yeah. Are we leaving now?"

"It's just the neighboring city. If we leave early, we can come back earlier too."

"Can we get back by tonight?"

"Yes, of course," Christopher replied.

I went upstairs and got changed. When I came back down, Kevin saw me all dressed up and asked curiously,

"Where are you going, Ray?"

"I'm attending a concert. Do you want to come along, Kev?"

"Well, I have to report to the office later. Why don't you talk to Sunny about it on my behalf, Ray? Ask him to let me

take the day off and have some fun with you."

Kevin always wanted me to make such requests on his behalf!

"In your dreams," I rejected at once.

"Please, Ray? I'm begging you."

"I'm not familiar with the place I'm heading to today. Why don't I take you out a few days later? I promise I won't let

you slave away for too long, Kev."

"It's decided, then!" Kevin chirped happily.

I hurried out with the bodyguards following close behind. Although I didn't want to bring them with me, I knew I

couldn't be willful about it. Otherwise, if I did get into any trouble, I'd make things hard for Shawn again!

Since I hated car rides, I took a helicopter straight to the meeting place and waited for Christopher. He yawned a

couple of times when he arrived. I had never seen him this exhausted before.

"Have you been feeling very tired lately?" I asked.

"Emma gets off work quite late. I only sleep when she gets home."

"She's young enough to be unaffected by all her late nights."

Christopher sighed. "I'm getting old."

"You're still young too," I quickly refuted.

Christopher chuckled warmly. "Thanks."

"I got in touch with Serene just now. She said she'll meet us there. What should I perform today?"

"I'll make the arrangements for you when we get there."

Christopher was a world-renowned pianist. A lot of the finest talents gathered around him. It was my first time

being a part of such a grand concert, so I couldn't help but feel anxious. Christopher kept reassuring me the whole

time. He even picked out a gown for me.

When Eilam came home, he gave me a lovely rose and said it was from Shawn. After hearing that it was from

Shawn, I carefully placed it in a vase and set it out in the living room.

Before going up on stage, I practiced the piece that Christopher selected over and over again. When it was time for

me to go up on stage, I was quite nervous. Christopher picked up on that and rested his hand on my shoulder. "Are

you scared, little girl? You don't look at ease right now."

I tried my best to keep smiling. "I recognize the people in the audience. They're the top pianists in the world. For me

to perform in front of them is like asking a kid to play doctor in front of real professionals."

Christopher chuckled. "So, you're scared."

I shook my head. "Those people out there are far too illustrious."

It was hard for me to shoulder the pressure of performing in front of these great musicians.

"I'm even more illustrious than they are, so since you can perform in front of me, why are you afraid to perform in

front of them?"

He had a point.

"I'll do my best, Christopher…"

"I'll accompany you," he said genially.

I was startled. "What?"

"It's your first time performing in such a large concert. It's only natural to feel pressured. I'll perform a duet with

you, which should help you settle into the right groove. Take a deep breath, little girl, and we'll go up on stage

together."

Christopher was willing to help me through the pressure I felt.

"Thank you, Christopher."

I didn't reject him as I had wanted to learn from him all along. With his help today, I'd be able to get used to the

environment and feel less pressured when I have to perform again over the next few days.

The concert was in the daytime and it was nighttime when I got home. It was a pretty fulfilling way to spend a day.

However, Shawn was especially busy all the time. The only time I saw him was when I got up in the middle of the

night to use the bathroom. I would see him lying down beside me.

He would be gone by the time I woke up the next morning.

Nevertheless, every few days, he would leave a piece of candy on my dressing table, and I always brought it to the

concert with me.

Half a month went by in a flash. I forgot about Kevin and he was also too busy to ask me to help him escape from

work. Throughout the past month, Serene and I improved a lot thanks to Christopher. He was truly an extremely

talented musician. Whenever something was tough or problematic for either Serene or me, he would be able to

help us resolve it at once.

One day, after the concert ended, Christopher looked rather tired. "Let's rest tomorrow and head over to Norway

for a performance the day after tomorrow. Once that's over, I'll take a break from performing."

"How long will we be staying in Norway?" Serene asked.

"Two days. We can't make it back to Finland the same night."

"Okay. I got it!"

On the way back, I asked Christopher out of curiosity, "What did you mean when you said you'll be taking a break

after the concert in Norway?"

Christopher massaged his temples and explained, "I have a fixed ensemble that I perform with internationally every

year, and I'll be done with my schedule for the first half of the year once the concert in Norway is over. Then, I'll be

taking a month off. I'll be busy again in August and it'll last until December when I'll finally be done for the year."

"How many months do you rest every year?" Serene asked.

"It's not fixed. I used to be a lot busier, but I carved out more time for resting this year. I also arranged for the

concerts to be held either in or near Bryxton, or within the vicinity of Finland."

Christopher arranged all of his concerts in places that kept him near Emma.

Right from the start, he never planned on being too far away from her.

After a pause, Christopher suggested, "You have a talent for music, Ms. Johnston. If you have time in the latter half

of the year, you can join my ensemble. I'll arrange for someone to mentor you, and once you're able to hold your

own in a performance, I'll let you go on stage to perform."

Serene was thrilled. "Thank you, Mr. Forger."

Christopher always gave me special treatment. He had allowed me to perform on stage right from the get-go.

After dropping Serene off at her place, Christopher dropped me off as well. During that time, he mentioned Serene.

"She hungers for success."

"This is her dream, but yes, she hungers for success," I replied.

"Yeah. I can tell that she has a bright future. I'm sure she'll make a name for herself in the music scene. I want to

train her into becoming a part of my ensemble while she wants me to be her mentor."

I hesitated. "You don't plan on mentoring her yourself."

"Everyone knows I don't mentor anyone, but I'm willing to let those in my ensemble teach her. I can give her a few

pointers now and then."

"Serene has found something she enjoys."

"Yeah. Her journey to fulfilling her dream has only begun."

"Thank you for your willingness to teach me," I said gratefully.

Christopher chuckled. "I think you and Emmie are the only ones I ever taught myself. Emmie's my wife so it's only

natural for me to teach her. It's expected of me! As for you… I've always considered you family. I care about your

feelings and your happiness. I care about whether or not you'd suffer in the future! Little girl, even though we can't

be together romantically, our relationship… If we include the nine years in the past and the two recent years, we've

known each other for eleven years now. We're old friends whose friendship has withstood the test of time. We'll

always be able to rely on each other. I'm sure I'm not the only one who can sense the affinity between us."

That was true. I once said that Christopher was like an old friend to me. I would always want to catch up with him if

we hadn't spoken for some time.

It had nothing to do with love or our past.

We understood each other's feelings. He had Emma and I had Shawn. We didn't feel awkward when we were

together. There were no misunderstandings between us. All we wanted was for the other to live a good life. It was

as if we saw ourselves in each other.

"Our friendship is mysterious, Christopher, and far too hard to explain, but I don't feel uncomfortable at all. Being

able to know you is one of the most fortunate things to happen to me."

Christopher smiled warmly. "Compared to Nicholas, you're a lot more at peace with life, little girl. That younger

brother of mine… I hope he can undo his knots one day."

"Thank you, Christopher."

There was always so much I had to thank him for.

"You don't need to be so courteous with me, little girl."