The neighbors

Elena had come from a province, she wanted to pursue her career as a pianist, she needed a place to live where they'd allow her to give piano lessons and so not depend on her parents' efforts. But no one wanted to rent to her once she said she'd be giving piano lessons. At last she found a building that allowed offices, consulting rooms, and so on. There, a tiny two-room apartment. In the dining room the piano she'd had brought from her family's house barely fit, along with a small table and 2 chairs. The kitchen was a kitchenette. But she was happy.

She enrolled in the Colón music school, soon she had so many students that she stopped depending on her parents. The few neighbors who lived in the building, especially on her floor, complained about hearing the same little tune all day long: do, re, mi… Their complaints to the building manager got nowhere because she respected the rest hours, both at night and during siesta time. When she finished her work she relaxed by listening to classical music or playing through some concerto from the school's program. The only one who never complained was a young man who occupied the apartment next door, the neighbors said: of course, he's not home all day to hear her, the two young people didn't know each other and by the time he gets home it's the hour when she puts on classical music.

But one day she found a record that was a piece for solo piano and violin, she was listening to it for the second time. The doorbell rang, she checked the time, she got scared, she'd gone past the permitted hours. Being a girl from the provinces she thought they might evict her now. Trembling she opened the door, it was her neighbor, who had come to ask her the name of the piece she was listening to.

With naive candor she asked: «Didn't you come to tell me to move out because I didn't respect the rest hours?» The young man burst out laughing at such innocence, laughing he told her that for him it was a pleasure and a relief to hear music when he came home from work, but he didn't have a record player because the apartment was so small that between the work tables he could barely move, and the music helped him relax.

That's how they became very good friends, they shared concerts at the Colón, walks through the city that she didn't know, this friendship lasted a long time. The company where he worked as a civil engineer transferred him to the United States. She fulfilled her dream, she became a great concert performer. They kept up their friendship for many years. He married an American girl and she married a fellow orchestra member. When she was invited to play in the United States they met again, he introduced her as the neighbor who had made him discover and love music, she introduced him as the neighbor who had made her lose her fear of the big city. And so the neighbors went out to dinner to celebrate the reunion.