15 New York's Opera Society Every Wants Something From Gosia
americanwriter writes
"It was after the performance that we all sat down for coffee during which it become plain to see that everyone wanted to talk to Gosia but what was strange was that they all wanted to do so for different reasons. First my mother wanted to congratulate her on her playing and to reassure her that she would be getting a lot of students and that she would surely recommend her to play at her friends' piano bars.
Second was my father who wanted to ask her if the next time she came over to the house she might play some more Beethoven or perhaps some Brahms and if she would come to a party he was planning for some people from his company and play for them for which she would get paid. She said she would gladly play for the people from his company however that she did not wish to do it for money, but my father convinced her to take the money as, it was not going to be money out of his own pocket but it was going to be money from his company.
Third was Brad who wanted to ask Gosia for 3 favors, the first one being if she could give him some piano lessons, once a week, then perhaps more. The second favor was if she could play the piano at a business party his bank was going to be holding at their offices, for which she would get paid up to one thousand dollars for one whole night of playing and not to worry that the money was not coming out of his pocket either but out of his bank's. The third favor was more of a request if she could give him pani Beata's number so that he might order some Polish food for the same party she was going to be playing at. Gosia agreed to everything and she added "it is no problem".
Fourth was Barbara who wanted to tell her (in Polish) that she felt great pride in being Polish American (I found out later what she asked for when Gosia told me) specially when she could hear music like that and know that it had been not only composed but played by someone from the country of her parents' birth. Second she wanted to know because she had heard from my mother that she lived in Green Point, if she would care to share an apartment with her in midtown Manhattan on the east side. She told her that her roommate had moved out at the end of the month and the rent would only be 500 dollars a month which was cheap for Manhattan. Gosia gladly accepted this offer as soon as it was made as it was really a good deal for her as well as for me as we wouldn't be living so far apart.
Fifth was Amanda who asked Gosia, if she could play the piano at her upcoming wedding something that Gosia accepted and considered to be an honor but however on that occasion refused the money which was being offered saying that Arturo and her could consider this a wedding present.
Last but not least was Arturo's turn to ask for a favor. He started by telling Gosia in his typical diplomatic tone that he felt that her playing had been very good but that he could tell that she had not been at her best. Something that Gosia not only did not take as an insult but even as a compliment which made her confess that she had not had as much time to practice as she would have liked to for that particular performance. Arturo also wanted to ask Gosia to play at their wedding but said that giving that Amanda had already asked, went on to his first and only request which was really a job offer, he told her that a friend of his owned a small club in Queens where an orchestra which he sometimes conducted played mostly Colombian and Latin American music. He asked if she would care to play there from time to time on weekends, he also added that she could make at least 100 dollars on a Friday or Saturday night (counting tips). He added that though the music played there was not serious it was a lot of fun to play. Gosia's eyes light up when she heard this and told him that she had always admired Latin music and that she would play there on any weekend when she was not going to be playing somewhere else.
I was so happy with the way this evening was going, it could not have gone any better even if I had planned it myself (well in fact the planner had been my mother). All my friends had accepted Gosia and she had accepted them as well, "New York's opera society" had another member who through her Polish background would be enriching an already culturally rich society.
The only downside to all this was that because Gosia was going to be moving in with Barbara so there would be no nightcap like there had been the night before due to the fact that she had agreed to move into Barbara's apartment the following day telling me she was going to need the whole night to pack her things in order to have them ready to move in to Barbara's apartment. She had to be at Barbara's bright and early at 7:00 which was just around the time Barbara went to school and being that she probably was not going to get home till midnight this meant that she was not going to get much sleep. I asked if l could help, to which she told me that would not be necessary given that she did not have much in the way furniture only her keyboard and clothes which she could pack by herself.
However when seeing my look of slight disappointment, Gosia did agree as a small consolation to meet me the following day on the net at 8 pm to chat about the events of the evening which was about to be drawn to a close by the hour which was rapidly becoming a late one."
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