A few days passed in relative silence. Stella found that the music which had carried her all her life suddenly sounded intrusive and the piano wasn't opened in the evenings.  She went to work, focused and practiced there, but didn't go out with her group for lunch like she used to. The weather had stormy for two days and she delayed running some errands even though she knew she was running short on time. She came home in the evenings, fed Tesla, ignored his cries at the door and went to bed where she would toss and turn telling herself she was an idiot to feel like she did. That she barely knew him, and it was just an idiotic crush, which it was. She knew she was being stupid, but sometimes even  knowing a thing to be true doesn't deter the idiot.<br/><br/>It was Thursday evening and she was about to leave the concert hall where they had been practicing when Brad strolled up to her, everyone had left but she had stayed back to play a little longer, enjoying the acoustics and solitude. "Hey Stella," he said as he approached her, "hey Brad" she replied. He looked down on her thoughtfully for a few moments and she was about to ask him what he wanted when he reached out and cupped her chin. Stella froze, not expecting this intimacy, but he merely smiled at her. "Tell him, Stella, he is clearly clueless, we guys can be that way, tell him." And with an equally unexpected quick peck on her forehead he turned and walked away. She just stood there, staring as he rounded a corner and vanished. That had been unexpected, she thought, am I that obvious?<br/><br/>She took a bus to the mall to buy some new clothes for the  upcoming concert season. She needed an evening gown, and two elegant but comfortable dresses for performances. Harriets was a women's store in the mall with upscale clothing and she knew this was an investment. A few well cut, classic garments would last several years. She always felt somewhat unsettled in these fancy stores, felt too fat, not tall enough, not pretty enough, not to mention that the sexy women in the advertisements on the wall looked nothing like her. Even the shop assistants barely bothered with her, while they slunk around sexily on tall heels. Still, she had to get those items, plus some sleek underwear to go underneath, and surveyed the racks.<br/><br/>She was inspecting the price tag on a lovely, charcoal, satin gown when she heard a  voice behind her addressing her.<i>Her</i>voice.