More Whips; Fewer Chains

Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Concert

"I felt all flushed with fever; embarrassed by the crowd. I felt he'd found my letters and read each one out loud..."

Killing me softly with his song, Roberta Flack

"Let me get this straight... A mysterious man shows up outta nowhere, responding to an ad you placed, takes you on a ride in your OWN car, buys you lunch, and then gives you two free tickets to the show he's playing downtown tomorrow night, WITH the symphony orchestra?", Anthony stated incredulously.

"Yes.".

"He's ugly, right? He HAS to be ugly."

"Actually, he's pretty much the most handsome man I've ever seen."

"Bullshit!!!... Wait. What was his name?" Anthony's stream of consciousness suddenly came to an end.

"Fletcher Chambers."

The phone went silent. A moment later a scream came through the receiver.

"FLETCHER CHAMBERS... THE FLETCHER CHAMBERS GAVE YOU TICKETS TO TOMORROW NIGHT'S SHOW?"

"Yes. Am I supposed to know who that is?"

"Oh, my God, Katie, he's only THE hottest guy in classical music, ever!"

"So, you'll help me get ready?"

"Of course, I'll help you get ready, if it means I get to come along."

"Relax. He did give me two tickets.".

At 7:15PM, Anthony pulled his red 1985 Volkswagen GTI into the parking ramp across the street from the concert hall. He got out of the car, wearing a gorgeous Armani double-breasted linen suit. He vaguely resembled Philip Michael Thomas. I'm certain that was the look he was going for. He opened the passenger door for me and offered me his arm. I got out wearing the Christian Dior white and black silk-taffeta Mermaid flounce gown that I bought the day after Grampa Charlie died. I wore the pair of Ferragamo stilettos that I've always hated because they're so uncomfortable, but they went with the dress nicely. Dressed to the nines, Anthony and I began the arduous trek across the street to the concert hall.

As we made our way through the line to give the usher our tickets, we passed several large posters with Fletcher's black and white portrait on them. He was holding a guitar, and wearing that same tweed jacket, however this time he had on a light-colored turtleneck. The same, chiseled jawline and boyishly handsome grin on his face. He was sex on a stick; and by the looks of the crowd, Anthony and I weren't the only ones who thought so. The crowd, from what I could see was disproportionately female.

Rube that I was, in the ways of concertgoing, I was anxious to get to our seats. Luckily, Anthony was no stranger to this sort of swanky events. Looking around, I asked, "Should we go sit down?"

"Not yet. We need to make sure the maximum number of people actually see us make our entrance." He said with an air of superiority.

I rolled my eyes.

"I don't care about that. I just want to sit down; my feet are already starting to hurt.". "Then think about it this way. We'll be up front, with nothing to look at except the empty stage for the next half an hour. Plus, I'll get us some wine."

"Okay"

While Anthony attended to the refreshment situation, I made my way over to one of the few seats in the lobby. It felt good to sit down. To be honest, the shoes were actually a half-size too small for my feet. The store didn't have my usual size. A few minutes later Anthony arrived with two glasses