#FlashFictionMagic: The Concert

“Dude. Who are you looking for?” 

Dave, who had contorted himself in his seat to get a glimpse of the auditorium doors turned back around and glanced at his brother-in-law Isaac in the seat next to him.

“Nobody,” he said, shrugging. “Just a habit, I guess.” He always did this, even in places where there was no chance of seeing anyone he knew. It dated back to band practice in high school when he’d wait expectantly for his crush to arrive before settling in to play scales on his trumpet. 

“It’s an elementary school chorus concert,” Isaac said. “No one important is showing up. Trust me.” 

“Yeah, I know,” Dave said, and to help himself resist the urge to turn around yet again he flipped open the printed concert program for the tenth time, scanning for all the places Grace’s name appeared.

The thing was, though, he had done what Isaac had told him not to do. After five months of leaving Fern alone to have her own life, he had given in and texted her the details about the concert, and mentioned that she and Jake would be welcome to attend. He told himself he’d done it for Grace, and there was a grain of truth to that, but she wasn’t the only reason.  Life wasn’t the same without Fern, and he wanted to be friends again. 

And yes, despite what Isaac kept suggesting, he meant friends. He knew his brother-in-law meant well, and that he was just concerned that maybe Dave hadn’t moved on from Imogen as much as he should have after seven years. But the disastrous Summer of Laura had shown Dave that he couldn’t prioritize both parenting and dating. Since he refused to let his parenting slide, dating had to be the thing he let go. Besides, Fern seemed to have terrible taste in men so it seemed like this would be a moot point anyway. 

Dave fidgeted in his seat, and glanced at his watch. “They’ll be starting in a minute,” he said, closing the paper program again and tapping its corner on his knee. He started to turn around to look at the doors once more when suddenly a woman stopped at the end of the aisle. Her hair was different - curlier or shorter or something -  but it was unmistakably Fern. “Hi,” she said. “This seat taken?” 

Isaac, who was between Fern and Dave, folded his arms, sat back, and gave Dave a knowing smirk. Dave was tongue-tied for a moment as he felt a wave of tension rush out of his body, but he recovered enough to say, “Oh hey. No, sit down.”

“Wait, wait,” Isaac said, getting to his feet. “You two sit together. I’m not going to have you leaning across me to whisper your little inside jokes.” He moved down one seat toward the aisle and Fern stepped in to claim the seat beside Dave. Isaac took his opportunity to give Dave an exaggerated wink, and Dave shot him a death glare in return. 

As Fern sat, the house lights went down, and the school music teacher crossed the stage. Dave politely applauded, and at the same time leaned over to say, “Jake coming?” 

Fern, also clapping, leaned in closer and said softly, “No more Jake.” 

Dave’s eyes grew wide, and Fern laughed lightly. “You will not believe the story when I tell you,” she whispered. 

“Come over after,” Dave said softly, as the teacher on stage introduced the first group of singers and the first and second graders filed onto the risers. Their voices rose in unison to sing their first note but Dave was still able to hear Fern say the most welcome three words in the world: “I’ll be there.” 

And if Isaac was snickering on the other side of him as though he’d somehow won, Dave decided that was his problem.