I'm dying, and no that's no exageration. I think that I am dying. 

If I was honest it had started a month ago when I realized I was approaching the two hundred year anniversary of my last contract. First it was just a cough that I covered with my powers so that my sisters and mother wouldn't know. Then it was the aching in my bones that occured two weeks ago. I didn't know that it would progress so fast and now almost a week from my two hundred year anniversary I couldn't even cover my sickly features. There was a new symptom almost every day but something happened yesterday that drained my power and made my chest ache.

I take a deep breath as Euterpe approaches and use my little bit of power to make myself look more lively than I was.

I notice Canan glance at me than at Euterpe whose eyes are sparkling.

"Professor Foster, I see you have met my sister."

"Just briefly." Canan says with little to no emotion.

Euterpe smiles with a great kindness. "How did you meet her?"

He looks at me and it seems like he's glaring at me as he ponders. "We met yesterday when she bumped into me, we got our papers mixed and she was returning my music sheet."

He was opting out the orchestra and I wondered why but let him continue talking to Euterpe. She seems to be enjoying his voice anyways. 

Euterpe takes a step forward. "Have you heard his music?" She asks with a grin.

I chuckle. "I met him yesterday." I remind her. 

She smiles then gestures to his brief case. "But you had some of his sheet music. I assumed you read it."

"Just a bit but not really." I slide my eyes to him. "I'm not invasive."

He looks at me and there's a bit of playfullness in his eyes. He's being weird. He's treating me different like I had potential he was trying to better understand. I didn't like it. 

I frown at him and he looks away. 

Euterpe cleaers her throat. "Well I understand that you have a morning class in an hour but do you think you can play for us the one song that has the C sharp minor scales." I would greatly appreciate it. "My sister also plays piano and I think she would also be interested." 

He looks at me a in consideration and without a word he begins to head to the classroom. "Follow me." He says heading towards the music rooms. 

Euterpe skips ahead to walk beside him and I can tell she's considering making a contract with him. It is quite a unique contract considering he wasn't famous and didn't have humans that followed him but I suppose that if he played for students and told them he had someone as an inspiration that would be enough to suffice. 

I let my powers slip a little as I remember my own life dwindling. I never had this happen before and I don't know what to do. I can tell mom about this but the problem is...I don't know if I want to live. 

I have lived a hundred lives over, I have been in love, I have seen death, I have even had children and friends leave and come. What was my life truly worth. 

My sister found solace in their long existence by living for humans and their contractees but I don't know if I could do the same. 

"Right Era?" Euterpe asks as we approach the doorway.

I blink my eyes and force myself to look healthy. "Sorry?" 

"Our sister Terpsi would love to have another person at the ballet."

I look Canan up and down then answer honestly. "Yes she would love a new person, we've seen the ballet dozens of times." Even though I dislike the man I can see what my sister is planning, she wants a contract. 

"I don't hang out with my students." He retorts.

"I'm not your student." I remind him. 

He glances over his shoulder and his face is just as alluring as before and I expect him to say something but he says nothing.

We enter the music room and he sets down his brief case on the desk in the corner then slowly strolls to the grand black Steinway and Sons. He slowly sits then test the white keys, he seems nervous which is strange but he begins to play the song with confidence. 

I can see why Euterpe wanted me to hear his music. I could tell just from the first few bars that he is a once in a generation musician who we couldn't pass up. The music he plays is soft and melodical, a bit hopeful and suspensful. 

I close my eyes and force myself to see past the music, to see the inspiration. It's the power that us muses have but we can see the vision far clearer when it's within our own category. Since mine is love poetry I see it clearer with writing and songs that have lyrics. Since Euterpe is the muse of music she must be seeing the vision as clear as day. 

All I see are pieces of a teared up paper in what I believe are Canan's hands, there are tears hot and warm streaming down his cheeks and then onto his hands. We can feel the emotions he was trying to convey when he wrote this piece and they are bittersweet. I open my eyes to see if Euterpe is crying since she can feel the emotions far more intensly but she isn't she's staring with sparkly eyes like she has gotten the answer she's needed for a long time and now all she had to do was just grab it. 

Canan finishes, takes a breath and then turns to us. He's looking for approval so I do something that's far harder for me to do than I thought, I smile soft and gentle. I approve of his feeling in his music because there is indeed a sense of love. I don't know if this is what Euterpe wanted me to try to find but if she later asks if it was there I will let her know that the feeling of love are deeply conveyed in the song. 

I bunch my eyebrows with slight sadness and he seems stunned by my reaction. He just stares for a couple of seconds looking for something in my eyes but I don't know if he finds it. 

"That was great!" Euterpe says with much enthusiam. 

Canan gives the smallest grin possible then looks down at his hands that were folded in his lap. "Thank you."

I clear my throat. "It was beautiful." I admit.

He seems stunned by this. "I appreciate that."

"Now the ballet?" Euterpe reminds him. "Will you attend with us?"

He tilts his head in consideration then looks up to the ceiling. "When is it again?"

"This Saturday."

He scoffs. "It's already Thursday."

Euterpe's expression is dimming, she's running out of ideas to convince him to go so in order to help my sister I use the art of highest persuassion, black mail.

I clear my throat and stand straighter. "Canan do you remember the suspicious activity I saw yeasterday."

He squints his eyes confused but catches what I mean incredibly fast. "You wouldn't," he grins and it's perfectly beautiful.

He's calling my bluff so well that he's smiling but I continue. "I was just curious because I think if we all go to the ballet I'll forget what I saw in your office."

Euterpe is watching us confused while Canan is clenching his jaw and its far more attractive than threatening. I could see why his student was throwing herself at him yesterday. 

"Why?" He asks.

It's a good question I can't answer right now but Euterpe seems to have prepared for this question. "We would like a male chaperone as we will have to walk three blocks late at night in the middle of downtown. Please say you'll do it." 

Euterpe was far better at convincing men than I was. They easily fell for her gentle charisma and her bubbly exterior that never seemed to melt away. She was more similar to a nymph than a Goddess with her optimism always overflowing and her pure ideologies of life.

"You two sound very suspicous but I will agree."

Euterpe's smile is luminscent. "Perfect, I'll text you the details."

I give her a quick glance at the realization that she had his number but hastily assume he's just one of those teachers that gave the students his number if they asked or told him that they needed it for better assistantance. I suppose his classes were small enough where he had the flexibility to do that. 

Euterpe takes a small gasp as she realizes the time. "I'm sorry but I'm late for class, I have to leave now. Bye Era goodbye Foster."

He gives a small smile and a short wave before she's out of the music room. 

Then it's just us. Calm silence that we spend staring at one another. Something seems to have clicked for me as I no longer hate him as much as yesterday.

He breaks the silence his voice serious. "You're so annoying."

Nevermind I still dislike him. 

"And why is that?" I glare.

He furrows his brows and leans forward. "What do you mean 'why is that'. You literally just blackmailed me!" 

"All I remember saying is there was suspicous activity yesterday."

"Don't play coy with me Erato, it doesn't work for your character. You're not cute."

I cross my arms. "And you are." I don't give him the time to respond. "Look I don't know why my sister wants you around either but she does. I on the other hand don't give enough care to continue bickering about what you decided to do in your office with your students. All I know is-"

"Nothing!" His face shows fury where there was once gentle patience with my sister. 

I stretch my hands out as he stands up. "Then enlighten me Foster!"

"Why does it matter to you, I'm an adult. I don't need to tell you anything."

He's right. It's not my concern, it's out of my hands now or better yet it never was in my hands. I barley even knew the man existed until yesterday so why was I trying to get the details of his private life. 

I take a step back in realization. "You're right Canan." I take another step back. "You're right." I turn to the door. "I'm sorry." I say quickly rushing out before I find another thing for us to fight about. 

It was silly of me to try to fight him I had much bigger things to worry about like the fact I was drifting into nothingness and no one knew. I had to make a decision of what to do by the end of next week otherwise I truly would be dead.

I just didn't know which to value? My feelings or my family's feelings.