Throw Him My Way

They all hoped to make it big, but secretly, somewhere deep inside, they were all sure that if only one of them made it, it would be them.

Except Mrs. Spinelli, she reminded herself. She believed that Heidi was going to be a big name by the time she was twenty-eight.

Well, two years left for that, thought Heidi as she decided to make chocolate chip cookies for dessert that day.

The music was just a part of her. She hit play – her speakers were her only real extravagance – and she sang along to Mariah and Whitney, then Nina Simone, until she lost track of everything but the music.

It was a good thing she could bake on autopilot.

By the time she had everything together and was on her way to Mrs. Spinelli across the hall, she could smell lunch, and her mouth watered.

“Mrs. Spinelli, I’ve got cookies,” she called as she let herself in.

She was family, she’d been told, and that was quite a compliment. Mrs. Spinelli held family in very high regard.

“You know where the cookie jar is. I’m just tossing this salad and I’ll be right there. Have you been practicing your arias? They were a little shaky still.”

Heidi had to smile.

“Mrs. Spinelli, there isn’t much call for arias in the music I do. I write blues, with hip hop beats.”

Mrs. Spinelli, comfortably plump but still elegant and holding on to the vestiges of the rare beauty she had been a few decades ago, waved her hands as if that didn’t matter.

“Being able to do arias makes it more impressive when you choose not to do them,” she declared, and Heidi couldn’t deny that.

They had their half an hour of singing before they had lunch. That’s when Mrs. Spinelli pronounced the sauce perfect, though not yet Heidi’s singing.

“Now, tell me what you’ve got planned for the evening,” she said as they settled down at the dining table, with elegantly and precisely placed china and silverware, to eat the absolutely magnificent lunch.

“Oh, this is so good. I’m so glad I walk so much. I’d never be able to eat all this glorious food otherwise, Mrs. Spinelli. So, tonight. There’s an open mic at Barney’s. He knows I’ll be there. He’s always glad for it. He says it brings people in. I wish one of these days, some of the many, many people I’ve sent my tapes to would be one of the people there.”

The older woman smiled at Heidi affectionately.

“It will happen, Heidi. I have faith in you. I saw the last video you uploaded on YouTube. I left a comment.”

Mrs. Spinelli would still choose to send postcards and rarely used her phone for anything other than what a wall-mounted phone used to be for, so that was a big deal. She wouldn’t get over her aversion to technology for many people.

Heidi knew what it meant that she’d not only gone on YouTube, but had also left a comment.

“It will be the nicest comment there is. What did you think of it? I know it’s a classic, but I thought I could put a nice spin on it.”

“I loved what you did with the guitar. And you did the falsetto very well, indeed. You shine and sparkle, my dear. You will not be here forever.”

That sounded almost prophetic.

Heidi grinned and tried to lighten the mood.

“Oh, but then what would I do for lunch? What if I have to start paying for singing lessons? No, that wouldn’t do at all, Mrs. Spinelli. I plan to be right here for a long time. I just mean to be able to afford a lot more than I do now. Why, I saw these shoes today when I was on my way to pick up Apple, and I could hardly restrain myself. I could hear my credit card whimpering in fear, though, so I held myself back. It cost me, and a lot, Mrs. Spinelli. You should’ve seen them, wine red and glittery, with heels so high! I would’ve looked like a star in them.”

Conversation turned to easier things, and soon, they were talking about Mrs. Spinelli’s stints as backing vocalist, and everything seemed to settle down again.

Of course, soon enough, she brought up the other pet subject.

“My dear, you need to date a few men. Why, you are lovely and young and smart and talented and interesting. There should be men queuing up to take you out to dinner. And dancing. And much more. The youth is wasted on the young. You should have at least one man and a spare.”

Heidi laughed.

Mrs. Spinelli, after she had given nearly everything up for love, had unconventional ideas when it came to Heidi’s love life.

The more the merrier just about summed it all up.

But Heidi kept disappointing Mrs. Spinelli there.

She just didn’t have time to date.

She was far too focused on her goal to waste time worrying about the silly rules of dating.

Should you call? Should you text? How long should you wait before you sleep with somebody? How much should you eat on a date? Who should pay?

The rules seemed to keep changing, and Heidi didn’t have time for it.

By the time she had done the washing up for Mrs. Spinelli – she always told Heidi not to, but Heidi never listened – everything seemed to be back to normal.

But Heidi couldn’t forget how Mrs. Spinelli had sounded when she’d predicted that everything would soon change, or near enough.

It had almost sounded like a warning.

That was silly, of course.

Heidi made her way back to her apartment, and saw that it was about time for another session of dog walking.

Dogs were uncomplicated. There was never any fear of weird conversations with them. You know what you got with dogs.

Heidi set all misgivings aside and set off to do the work that paid her bills.