The Necklace

Marissa's grandma never went anywhere without the necklace.  Whenever Marissa would run her fingers over its diamonds in awe, her grandma would always offer the same words, "It's not worth much, but it's very valuable."

She never understood what she meant by that.  If something wasn't worth much, how could it be valuable at the same time?  She never had the chance to find out before her grandma passed away and handed the necklace down to her.

She had struggled with the decision of pawning it or not.  Not wanting her family to hate her, but facing the very real possibility of being evicted from her tiny studio apartment she felt that she had no choice.

And so, the day had come.  With a determination set in her jaw she headed to the local pawn shop, a sleazy place with questionable characters gathered around the front door offering to buy the necklace from her before she could even step inside.  Steeling herself against the whistles and catcalls, she felt the whoosh of the air conditioning as the door shut behind her.  Slowly nearing the counter, she pulled the necklace from her pocket, and kissing it she whispered "I'm sorry grandma."  She had never wanted to disappoint anyone, but becoming a concert pianist had turned out to be a lot harder than she had first planned, and unfortuantely for her, she was a horrible waitress.

"Whatcha got for me?"  The man's voice boomed from behind the counter.
She carefully set the necklace down in front of him, and gathering her composure asked him how much he could give her.
"Twenty five dollars."
Her heart thudded to her toes.  There must be some mistake.
"Excuse me?"
"Okay. Twenty dollars."
He didn't look like he was joking.
"But that's real gold, and these are diamonds and rubies! I'm sure it's worth more than that!"
The man smirked at her as she noticed leftovers of his lunch wedged between his teeth and replied, "Missy, I ain't even got to put my glasses on to know that ain't no gold, and them definitely ain't diamonds."

Marissa couldn't speak.  She could hardly breath.  The whoosh of air as another customer walked into the store snapped her out of her stupor for long enough to gather the necklace up, place it in her pocket, and make her way out to the bus stop.

As the shock subsided, anger took over.  Her grandma had left her a twenty dollar necklace?  All of those years of telling her that it was valuable, and it was hardly worth more than a meal at a fast food restaurant?  She choked back bitter tears as she climbed the stairs into the bus and found her way to an empty seat.  Her grandma had lied to her, mislead her, and disappointed her.  How could she have worn this cheap piece of junk out on all of her dates with her husband, knowing it was worth nothing?  How could she have so proudly shown it off to every person who stopped to admire it, knowing that it was a fake?

As quickly as the angry thoughts came, they subsided and she felt guilty for thinking such horrible things about her loving grandma.  She silently apologized, and slipped the necklace around her neck, clasping it shut.  She was late for her audition.

Pulling the cord to signal the bus to stop, she gathered her thoughts, letting her fingers flow over the back of the seat in front of her in silent preparation for what was ahead of her.
"I'm sorry I'm a bit late."  She whispered to the two ladies and one young man sitting at the table as she entered the room.  Quietly she slid onto the stool, straightened her pants, stretched her fingers, and began.

As always, as soon as she started to play the music seemed to flow through her fingers.  It was as if she wasn't playing the music, but the music was playing her fingers.  She imagined the walks she used to take with her grandma as a child, the words of advice she would give her when she came to her in tears, and the delicious smell of cookies, perfume, and the garden that would embrace her as she climbed into her lap.  She recalled the summer nights she would beg her parents to let her stay with her grandma, knowing she would let her stay up late, fingerpaint, and break her own eggs into the frying pan for breakfast.  As she played silent tears rolled down her cheecks, and gathered at the nape of her neck, filling the necklace with tears of love, admiration, and regret for her harsh thoughts earlier.

And as the song ended she smiled to herself, knowing that the practice had paid off.  All of those hours of sacrifice, neglecting her social life in order to play piano had all accumulated to this exact moment, and she had done all she could do.
She slowly rotated to face the three people in front of her as they whispered to eachother, scribbling onto papers full of mysterious notations.

"Marissa?"  The lady with the pink hair was the first to speak.
"Yes.  Yes, that's me."  It came out as a stammer.
"You do realize that if offered this position, you would have to move across country to New York?" 
"Yes, I realize that."  She fidgeted with the necklace, channeling her grandmother's strength.
"And you do know that you would be traveling ten months out of the year, playing a new venue every week."
"Yes, I know.  I have no family to speak of.  I have no obligations here.  Traveling would be just fine."  She realized packing would be a piece of cake too, considering the only furniture she had was her piano, a mattress on the floor, and a folding chair she used as her table when sitting on the floor to eat.
The three conferred one more time, slowly turning to face her.  This time it was the man who spoke.
"Well Marissa.  Congratulations.  We would like to offer you the position.  You played spectacularly, and if you accept our offer, we feel no need to continue the auditions."
The same whoosh of air she had felt in the pawn store overcame her, and she suddenly felt as though she was underwater.  She couldn't breath.  It was suddenly so hot in the studio, and she couldn't feel her fingertips.  She thought to herself, "Oh God, what if I'm having a heart attack?"

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted.
"Marissa.  Did you hear me?"
She nodded.  She swallowed.  She swallowed again.
"Yes sir, I'm sorry.  I heard you.  I'm just a bit overwhelmed you know.  Playing with your organization has been my dream since I was just a small girl.  My grandma always told me...."
My grandma.
Marissa smiled.  Suddenly she had all the strength in the world.  Standing up she quickly added,
"I would love to accept.  I can be ready as soon as you are.  Thank you so much."
The three smiled broadly at her, each shaking her hand.  As she started to leave the room, feeling as though she was walking on clouds the pink haired lady called her.
"Marissa!"
She turned to face her.
"By the way...I just love your necklace!"
Marissa smiled all the way down to her heart as she replied,  "Thank you.  So do I."

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