Ryan got up, sitting Stacy in the seat behind him as he walked to the stage with bated breath.
Would he get matched with his torturer?
Fortunately or unfortunately, Ryan saw an unfamiliar face getting strapped to the giant X as he stepped onto the stage.
Arriving before the announcer, he surveyed the various devices but shook his head.
The announcer raised her eyebrows. "Are you not selecting any device?"
"Does a pianist need a violin? Does a pianist need any accompanying instrument?" Ryan asked rhetorically.
When the announcer shook her head, Ryan nodded.
"Exactly, a pianist only needs a piano," Ryan said, indicating himself as the pianist and the piano as the lady tied to the X.
"While a pianist could use accompanying instruments," Ryan indicated to the devices, "it's unnecessary."
On the X, the lady looked at Ryan with awe and wonder in her eyes.
She had been expecting something rough but wasn't prepared for Ryan's elegant words.