The Orchestra - Sinfónia Lifsins - 70. 68 - History Walked

“Hey, Vác! It’s been such a long time! How are you?”

Vilém’s phone call caught me by surprise. I wasn’t used to friends calling me early on Sunday mornings. In Vilém’s case it was even more so. He had been my best friend since we were little children in the small Czech town of Rakovník. Even at that young age he already cultivated a no-love-all-hate relationship with alarm clocks set before ten in the morning. Vilém was never awake this early if he could help it. This couldn’t be good.

“Hi! Did something happen? Why are you calling me so early?”

“The short version is that I couldn’t sleep last night. The long version is that today is a big day for all History Walkers fans, and I know this means my best friend will be pestered by reporters until he retreats into an over-socialised ball of anxiety. So I figured I would keep your phone busy so you would talk to me instead.”

“Thanks.” I smiled, though Vilém obviously couldn’t see it. “If I tell you I forgot the special anniversary episode was airing today, would you still want to help me that much?”

Vilém laughed. “I knew it! Karl owes me £20! Of course I’m still going to keep the evil reporters away from you! I wouldn’t get to keep the title of a celebrity’s best friend by jumping ship whenever you showed how little you care about your acting career!”

“It’s not that I don’t care!” Even as I said that, Vilém laughed again. “I loved my time in History Walkers and the friends I made because of it! I wouldn’t change my decision to be part of it for anything in the world! But I’ve been so busy with work that once we filmed the episode and I got back home, I completely forgot about it.”

“Yeah, that sounds like you all right.” I could hear Vilém’s smile. “And speaking of work, Karl got a call from your people yesterday. Why were they asking a cellist from the UK to fill in for a sick guy in Iceland? What did you tell them?”

“Sorry about that! I was meant to warn you about it… Our Principal Cello got sick almost as soon as our concert ended last Thursday. We tried to get in touch with the usual people who replace him when this happens, but none of them could make it for this coming week. We weren’t sure what to do, so I said I knew a really good cellist who might be able to help. I know Karl doesn’t usually perform with ensembles, but I thought maybe if it was a chance for us to play together again he would take it.”

“You’re right about that. Karl only accepted because of you. So we’ll be arriving in Reykjavík tomorrow and staying for the week.”

“We? You’re coming to?”

“As if I could let my partner visit my best friend on his own! And it’s been ages since I saw Karl perform anything that wasn’t his students’ recitals. I miss proper music!”

“Are his students that bad?”

“Most of them are beginners, children who have a lot of energy and enthusiasm but can’t convert that into tuneful playing.”

“We all have to start somewhere. Remember how it was when I started playing clarinet?”

Vilém snorted. “Back then I was also a kid with lots of energy and enthusiasm. I didn’t realise how bad you were. Now I’m married to a professional musician and hang out with a whole bunch of graduates from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. I’ve been spoiled by your standards.”

“Sorry.”

“Stop apologising.”

“Sorry.”

“Vác!”

We laughed. I knew Vilém was shaking his head and grinning. If we were face to face, he would pretend to be annoyed and jokingly smack the back of my head.

“I miss you. You know you can stay here when you come, right?”

“I was hoping you would say that! I miss you too, and it’ll be great to have an excuse to spend a whole four days with my best friend!”

“Great! Send me the details of your flight, and I’ll have the house ready for you. I even miss speaking Czech… Other than my family and you, everybody else here speaks another language…”

“Don’t get your hopes up. We can speak Czech between us, but Karl is still struggling to get beyond the basics. I can’t say much because my German is just as bad and he gets annoyed at having to translate for his grandparents, but still…”

“It’ll still be good to have you around.” I savoured the easiness with which Czech rolled off my tongue. I had been in Iceland for a few years, but I still struggled with the language. At least I could switch to English if things got complicated, but it wasn’t nice to live in a foreign country and not be perfectly comfortable with the local language. “Karl and I will spend most of the day at rehearsal, but you can use your free time to explore Reykjavík. I can point you to some nice places if you want ideas.”

“Thanks, I’ll see what I want to do.” Vilém paused. I wasn’t sure he wanted to say something else, so I waited for him. “By the way, Karl spilled the news about our trip to Iceland to Roderich and Luca as soon as he had confirmed it with the orchestra. I think that means you’ll hear from them soon too.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ll let them tell you.”

“That’s mean!”

“No, it’s just me being a good friend. Actually, I think I hear Karl calling me for something urgent that is not at all an excuse to hang up on you. I’ll call you back in a bit, ok?”

“Vilém, wait –”

He hung up anyway. Should I mute my phone in case reporters tried to contact me like Vilém said they would (and I was sure they would. They always did)? But if Vilém was going to call back soon, I should wait for him. Hopefully nobody else would call so early in the morning.

The phone rang so suddenly I almost dropped it. Was Vilém already back? That had definitely been quick.

But the caller ID pointed to Luca, my fellow History Walkers colleague and Roderich’s partner. Did Vilém know Luca was literally about to call me? Knowing my friend, I was sure that was the case.

“Hi, Luca! How are you?”

“I’m great, thanks! Today is such a great day! Roderich and I are putting on a party to watch the episode together with our family and friends! Our kids called their friends from school, I invited my next-door neighbours and their kids, and we made Vilém and Karl and other friends promise they would show up too! It’s going to be great!”

“I’m glad. I hope you’ll have a good time.”

Luca’s enthusiasm made me smile. He was still as energetic as he was ten years ago when we met on the History Walkers set, and just like then that energy pulled me in and made me wish I had planned something like that too.

“What are you doing today? Did you set up a party too?”

“I…” I could picture Luca’s reaction to my words before I said them. “I kind of forgot it was today, so I don’t really have anything planned.”

“Nooooooo!” As Luca spoke, I saw him pulling on his hair, making exaggerated facial expressions and jumping on the spot. “How could you forget?! Today is the most important day since the filming! Aren’t you excited?”

“I am, but I was much more excited about meeting everyone again for the filming. Now that it’s all done and dusted, it’s almost like it doesn’t matter as much? And I miss you and Roderich and everyone else, so it doesn’t feel good to be on my own for this.”

“Oh, no! That’s not right!”

I heard some background noise like Luca was fumbling with something. His voice sounded away from the phone, saying something in Italian that sounded a lot like a swearword.

“Is everything ok there?”

“Yes! Yes! It was just a little almost-incident with the baby! I have to say, we’ve only had our children for a few months, but it’s been such a steep learning curve! And I thought I knew how to be a good parent!”

“I’m sorry. I hope you’re ok?”

“We are. I love being a parent!” Luca’s smile shone through the phone. “But back to more important things… Karl told Roderich who told me that he’s going to Reykjavík to play with you this week, so Roderich and I decided we’ll see your concert too!”

“What?” Of all the things Luca could tell me, that was the one I least expected.

“I figured you would be feeling alone, isolated in Iceland when everybody else is either still here in Glasgow or in Hollywood. I think Karl going to your orchestra is a sign that we should get together like in the old times. It’s also really convenient that Roderich’s days off fit perfectly to a little Thursday-Friday away trip. We even managed to get tickets on the same return flight as Karl and Vilém!”

“That’s great!”

“I know, right? I’m sure it’s a sign of some kind! We were meant to get together this week, and nothing will stop us! It’ll be like when we were students… Though this time I’m bringing the baby along, so it won’t be exact the same, but close enough.”

“Do you and Roderich want to stay with me? Vilém and Karl already are. I have enough space for everybody.”

“Can we? Even with the baby? Won’t it be too much trouble?”

“Don’t worry. I live alone in a big house that’s often too quiet for its own good. I think I need a bit more chaos in my life, even if for just a few days.”

“Thanks, Vác! Staying together will be even more fun! I hope our baby doesn’t bother you. Her siblings jumped at the opportunity to have sleepovers at their friends’, but she’s still too young for me to leave her alone.”

“I understand. You really don’t need to worry. I don’t know if you can take a baby to the actual concert, but I’m sure my colleagues will be able to help. I’ll be happy to have you all staying over, including the baby.”

“Then that’s settled! We’ll see you on Thursday!” Luca’s smile was once again audible through his words. “And now you don’t need to feel too bad about being alone today! The time for our celebration will come!”

“Yes, that’s right.” I smiled too. “I’m really looking forward to it. And I think I could actually do something today. I have a few colleagues who are History Walkers fans. I’m thinking of inviting them over, have a little party of my own.”

“You do that! And make sure that Roderich and I can meet those colleagues! I love meeting fans!”

“They’ll be looking forward to meeting you too.” I could even see Karen in particular pestering me every rehearsal about it.

“Then I’ll let you go and invite them! We only have a few hours until the broadcast, so every second counts for you now! Bye, Vác, and see you Thursday!”

“Bye, Luca! Enjoy your party!”

Luca was already shouting something in Italian to someone else while hanging up. Speaking to him always left a lingering smile on my lips and renewed my energy. I was so cheerful imagining our impending reunion that I didn’t even pay too much attention to my phone ringing yet again in my hand. It had to be either Luca saying he forgot to tell me something, or Vilém being done with whatever it was he was doing before.

“Hello. Am I speaking to Václav Tettauer?”

This was not a voice I recognised. The accent was that of a BBC news presenter. I didn’t like where this was going.

“Speaking.”

“What a pleasure, Mr Tettauer!” Yet the fake enthusiasm in her voice hinted at the opposite. “I am Caitlin Stewart, calling from The Time, and I am wondering if you have some time to chat about today’s broadcast of ‘History Walkers – 10 Years on the Run’? It won’t take long, I just have a few questions, and we will release a little note on our website.”

“I’m sorry, but –”

“You are in living in Iceland now, is that right? And you are no longer acting?”

I didn’t want to talk to reporters, but once she started to talk, I couldn’t just ignore her. “Yes, I live in Iceland. I play clarinet in an orchestra.”

“That’s great.” She didn’t sound that enthusiastic. “Does History Walkers still play a part in your life? Are you still in contact with any of your fellow actors? Or have you given up that life completely now?”

“We’re still friends. I made some of my best friends while filming History Walkers. Some of us even decided to stay together afterwards and go to the same university.”

“But you did not follow a career on acting. How do you relate to your other friends when you took such a different career?”

“I don’t understand that question. Just because I’m no longer an actor, it doesn’t mean I can’t relate to my friends. Roderich is not an actor either, he became a brain surgeon.”

“Do your friends look down on you because you chose to become a musician?”

“No! Why would they?”

What was the point in those questions? I had answered them a thousand times before to other reporters. Granted, most of those had come at the end of my run in History Walkers, when I applied to study music instead of carrying on acting like Luca.

The reporter didn’t even seem to register my answer. “Are you going to spend the day alone? Is there someone who can celebrate with you?”

“I have a girlfriend, but she lives in Japan. I’m alone today.”

“Oh, no, that’s such a shame!” For once the reporter sounded like she had some sympathy.

“It’s not so bad. Some of my colleagues are History Walkers’ fans, so I might ask them to come around later. And Luca and Roderich will come for our concert next Thursday, so I’ll see them eventually.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, I regretted saying them. The reporter was silent for too long, with the ominous sound of pen scrapping paper lingering in the background.

“I have all I needed from you, Mr Tettauer. Thank you for your time, and please check out our website later today!”

Over the next hour, the news that two TV stars were going for a short visit to Iceland blew all over the internet. Icelandic reporters joined the British ones in trying to contact me for interviews, and Karen took over my inbox with questions about whether I would introduce Luca and Roderich to her. Tickets to our concert were sold out even before the special episode aired.

What had I done?

Thanks for reading!
This chapter is more of a set-up/bridge than an actual chapter... I hope it didn't sound too boring or confusing. I do realise that the last time History Walkers featured prominently as part of the plot was back in chapter 39, around the time Gunni was exploring his asexuality, so if you want a refresher of what this was all about, you now know which chapter to go to.
We'll be back to Gunni next, to his reaction of Siggi getting sick and a bit more details on how that happened (plus some other stuff too...)
My patrons will get to see that next Saturday. For everyone else, it'll likely be the Saturday after that (24th), though that's the day my mum is arriving in Glasgow after crossing the Atlantic to spend Christmas/New Year with me, so there might be a slight delay...  
(This time we're late because I spent the Saturday at a work conference, and the Sunday recovering from said work conference)
See you in two weeks!