The Locket of Love  Chapter. 9 part 2 of 4

The Locket of Love
Chapter. 9 part 2 of 4

“Umm… no. James Blair, how do you do young man?”

“Mike Braxton, very well, thank you, sir.”

Lightly rubbing his back, Melody continued, “Mike has been working very hard lately, winning the principal job, preparing for this solo. Honestly, I doubt he would have been so successful without my help. I am quite good at providing… inspiration,” she said seductively.

“Ah, I see. In any case, I hope you enjoy the performance young lady, and good luck to you Mr. Braxton,” the man said, beating a hasty retreat.

Chuckling, Mike turned to Melody. “Yet another pompous idiot with no idea how out of his league he is.”

“Yep. That never gets old,” she replied with a grin.

Mike’s parents rejoined them shortly, his mom saying that they had a celebratory gift for his winning the principal position. “Mike, we want you and Melody to take a vacation to the beach. You pick out the time, reserve the hotel, and charge everything to your copy of my credit card. That includes your food and gas, young man!” she said as he attempted to profess her generosity as unnecessary.

“Mom, you really do not have to do all that…”

“No we do not have to, we want to. And we get to. It is not every day my son wins his dream job, after all,” she replied with a smile. Knowing that their minds were made up, Mike and Melody glanced at each other in confirmation before accepting their offer. Marveling at his parents’ gift, she thought to Mike about an observation she had during the previous conversation.

I see where you get your generosity. Not to mention your stubbornness.

Please. My parents got me beat on stubbornness six ways to Sunday.

As the lights flashed to indicate the performance was about to begin, Mike made his way to the greenroom to warm up, while Melody walked with Jane and Brad to their seats in the balcony. Melody sat in the center seat of the front row of the balcony, ensuring Mike would be able to see her once the house lights came back on after his performance. After the orchestra entered the stage and tuned up, the lights dimmed, and the performance began.

First on the program was Dvorak’s New World Symphony. The entire symphony was nearly an hour in length, and as such, comprised the entire first half of the program. Melody particularly enjoyed the lyrical second movement, which she could tell was based on the folk tune Lightly Row. The finale was exciting as well, providing many opportunities for Stuart and the low brass to let loose at full volume. Additionally, upon hearing the first notes of the finale, Melody leaned over to Jane and whispered a question.

“Isn’t that basically the Jaws theme music?”

Suppressing a laugh at her perceptiveness, Jane could only nod in reply.

After the intermission, the orchestra launched into Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, which featured Maestro Spano on piano. There were also several jazzy trumpet solos scattered throughout, providing the current principal trumpet, Ray Velazquez, one last chance to show off before retiring. After the frantic final segment of the piece, the piano was rolled offstage in preparation for Mike’s solo, the final selection of the evening.

As Mike stood just offstage, Maestro Spano spoke to the audience about the audition he had given to earn the principal position. Proclaiming him to be one of the fast-rising stars of professional classical music, he hoped that the audience would enjoy tonight’s performance, in addition to many performances to come. With a final introduction, the audience erupted in applause as Mike walked out onstage.

Shaking the Maestro’s hand as he reached center stage, Mike then bowed and took a deep breath, ready for the start of the piece. After a brief introduction from the orchestra, Mike entered an extended cadenza to open the solo. Showing off for a few seconds, he and the orchestra then launched into the familiar main tune of the piece. The audience oohed and aahed as they began to recognize the light, bouncy Italian music. As the piece progressed, the main theme began its variations, becoming more technical and flashier as time went on. By the time he reached the flurry of notes that closed the piece, Mike’s fingers were an absolute blur as he danced over the entire range of the horn. With a final grand cadence to close the final notes, the audience immediately jumped to their feet in a rousing standing ovation.

Lowering his horn with a huge smile on his face, Mike immediately pointed up to the balcony where Melody sat. She waved and screamed excitedly, blowing a kiss right back at him. He then turned to shake the Maestro’s hand once more and, turning to do the same for Jessica, was immediately pulled into a congratulatory hug. Exiting the stage, he heard that the applause had not diminished at all, so he reentered the stage once more for a final bow, turning once again to thank the entire orchestra for their efforts. As the applause finally died down and the house lights came up, Mike made his way around the entire orchestra, thanking the principal player of each section personally. Along the way, he got a hug from Darcy and a friendly head-slap from Stuart, who playfully threatened, “Hands off my girlfriend.” As he packed up his equipment in the green room, Melody came in with Mike’s parents, marveling at his performance.

“You look like you had fun,” Melody said.

“I actually get PAID for this!” Mike responded with a laugh.

Saying goodbye to his parents as they started for home, Melody took Mike’s arm as they walked together to the employee party. As they arrived, there were quite a few stares and whistles, as this was the first time the orchestra as a whole had seen Mike’s girlfriend. Darcy immediately approached and excitedly greeted Melody with a hug. Even though Melody was a complete bombshell that evening, Darcy was equally stunning herself. She had changed out of her black performance dress and into a stunning royal blue gown that extended all the way to the floor. The garment was held up by a single, elegant shoulder strap that perfectly complemented her light brown hair. Mike caught Stuart’s eye as the girls chatted, giving him a thumbs-up sign in approval, which elicited a smirk from Stuart.

Throughout the evening, the couple made the rounds, munching on finger food and schmoozing with various members of the staff and orchestra. Mike got quite a few congratulations on his performance from the evening, as well as a few of the other trumpet players sarcastically asking if he only got Melody due to his promotion. She gave her usual flirty responses but always made it clear that she was with Mike the person, not Mike the musician. After about an hour or so, the pair approached Ray Velazquez, the outgoing principal trumpet.

During his short time with the orchestra, Mike had developed a deep respect for the portly Hispanic man that led the trumpet section. Now in his late sixties, Ray had worked with many orchestras around the country before finally settling in Atlanta some twenty years ago. In addition to his classical experience, Ray also had training in jazz and studio music, having played in Los Angeles studio bands for film soundtracks, as well as touring groups such as the OJ’s and Earth, Wind, and Fire. He was a true Renaissance man, eagerly dabbling in any style and medium he possibly could through his music.

“So, how ‘bout it Ray? We never going to see you again, or are you going to be in the audience all the time just to give your evil glares when we mess up?” Mike asked.

“You know, I really can’t decide. A nice, quiet beach in Tijuana sounds fantastic, just me and my wife, but I never pass up an opportunity to, shall we say, point out areas for improvement,” Ray shot back.

“Oh, ‘areas for improvement,’ is it? I thought it was just the smug satisfaction you get from being right all the time.”

“The fact that I am right all the time is merely coincidence,” he said proudly.

As Melody giggled at their exchange, Ray turned to her and said, “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure, young lady.”

“Of course. This is my girlfriend, Melody Roberts. Melody, meet Ray Velazquez. I taught him everything he knows,” Mike said with a grin.

“You wish, chico,” Ray replied, intentionally thickening his Mexican accent. Extending his hand in greeting, he addressed Melody. “Delighted, my dear. I only hope that you can reign in my friend’s ego a bit,” he said with a wink.

With her megawatt smile, she replied, “I will do what I can. He is stubborn, but I can be very persuasive.”

Stroking his greying goatee with his fingers, Ray said to Mike, “Sweet mama, you’d better hold on to this one, Mike.”

Mike pulled her close to him by her waist, kissing her on the cheek. “I plan to. You take care of yourself, Ray. You have earned a long retirement.”

The two musicians shook hands firmly as they parted. By this time, a jazz trio was setting up on the far side of the room near an area set aside as a dance floor. At first, they were local musicians the ASO had hired for the party until Robert Spano himself joined them at the piano onstage. After his performance of Rhapsody in Blue earlier that day, this brought about an excited reaction from the entire room. As he started playing along with the drummer and bassist, the vocalist began his rendition of Fly Me to the Moon. They played it at a faster tempo than Sinatra’s famous recordings, but their version was very enjoyable, being perfect for dancing.

To be continued