1.3. Interference

When Frank came home, Angela was in the living room. He knew she was there even before he saw her, for one of her smooth and mellow Jazz albums was playing. She was sitting on the sofa, browsing through her latest patient files. She was young and sportive, but Frank had adopted the habit of reminding her to sit up straight - she had an inclination to hunch over things when she was sitting, and that was what she did now: she was bent over her little computer, absorbed in her work.

When Frank entered the room, she looked up. "So, big boy, you're back. Did you get to show off?"
"In a way", Frank answered, placing his notes on the dining table. "There was a surprise... New bloke watching me. Bit alienating at first, practicing with a stranger around. But then, you already knew about that, right?"
Angela grinned. Of course she knew, her and Miss Coltrane chatted routinely, and Frank didn't doubt his mum had played her part in putting Joel's classes next to his. She was well aware that the summer holidays were getting lonely for him, so hey, why not meddle about and cough up a buddy? Peculiar though it may be - she seemed to have a hard time realizing he was maturing - Frank did appreciate the effort.
"From what Miss Coltrane said, you two could get along nicely", she explained. "And since you complained that most of your classmates had no sense for music or art..."
Gosh, wasn't that right. Their minds were barely beginning to unfold, and all they spent them on were vogue, debauchery, the telly and the blossoming urge to get inside each other's knickers. Shallow, decadent twits.
"Well, we do like the same music", Frank observed. "I was surprised he recognized 'Lumière', so we chatted a bit before I left, and he said he knew it from 'The Idea of Gentleness'. Oh, and I didn't even realize there was a novel to that film, did you? He has it and he's going to lend it to me."

The song that was playing closed in a soulful, dulcet manner, and Angela smiled in contentment.