Free The Protege by Kailin Gow

solemnly
clasped before him.  “I have to find a replacement for Theodore before he
actually leaves us.  You’d get that great corner office.”
    Sebastian
cocked a cynical brow at his father.  “Corner office?  You think that’ll do it
for me?  A corner office?”
    “Bash,
honey,” Marika said.  “Mind your manners.  Your father is only trying to do
what’s best for you.  Why can’t you see that?”
    Grinding
his teeth, Sebastian dropped his gaze to his plate.
    “I’m
sorry.”  Mortified, Serena could not stay silent a moment longer.  “Have any of
you ever heard Sebastian’s music?  Have any of you ever bothered to sit back
and truly listen to the melodies, the harmonies, the lyrical musicality of
every single note he writes?”
    For
a long and uncomfortable moment, everyone at the table was silent. Though
Michael seemed genuinely embarrassed for Sebastian, and Mr. and Mrs. Faris
fidgeted in discomfort, everyone else seemed ready to pounce on Serena.
    “You're
his date for the night, darling,” Marika snarled.  “That hardly gives you the
right to speak about the direction he should take in his life.  I’m his
mother.  I raised him and I have a lifetime invested in him.  I will not sit
idly by and watch my son throw away his life, whether it be on a professional
level or a personal one.”
    “Are
you aware, Mrs. Sorensen, that your son has thrown away his life on a
Tony and a few Oscars?  Are you aware just how the world of music loves him,
reveres him, admires him?  He is not just a flash in the pan.  He’s the real
deal.  Every student at Irvine loves him, and while it might be easy to assume
that it’s just because he’s sexy and good looking, I assure you they love him
for what he brings to his music and what he can bring to their music.”
    “The
man is well into his twenties and he still hasn’t settled down,” Marika argued
with an indignant cluck of her tongue.  “Does he really think a woman like Willow will just sit around and wait endlessly for him?”
    Serena
put her hand out and counted off on her fingers:  “ The Flight. Sands of
Time.  Insane Love.   I bet you don’t even know what all that is.  Those are
songs his students can only dream of writing.  They’re musical masterpieces
that will far outlive everyone here.”
    Sebastian
reached out to quiet her down with the gentle touch of his hand, but she was
too impassioned to stop.  “I cannot believe that you would try to silence such
a musical genius.”
    “Serena,
dear,” Kaiser quietly said.  “I appreciate your desire to defend Sebastian, but
you are out of line.  As Marika has stated, we have a lifetime invested in
Bash.  You have what?  An invitation to a fundraiser?”
    “No.
Apparently I’ve been invited to a session of intimidation. How hypocritical of
you.  It’s clear the only reason you invited Sebastian here is so that he could
draw in loads of rich people. You want to profit from his celebrity all the
while criticizing the very talent that made him so. You people disgust me.” She
threw her pretty linen napkin into her plate and stood.  “I think I’ve seen
quite enough for one night.  If you’ll excuse me, I think I need to return to
the world of the sane.”
    Six
incredulous set of eyes stared back at her, but it was the amused smirk on
Michael’s face that caught her attention. She suddenly questioned her actions
and wondered if she’d gone too far.
    Somber
faced and silent, Sebastian stood, took hold of her elbow and led her away.

 
    Chapter 7
     
     
    T hey walked to Sebastian’s Roadster in silence.
When Sebastian opened the passenger door for her, he barely looked at her.  She
sat and stared straight ahead as he got in and started the car.  As he backed
out of the parking space and headed to the street, she noticed the tight hold
he had on the steering wheel as well as the hard and harsh manner in which he
maneuvered the car.
    “I’m
sorry,” Serena said