KEYS

Chapter 18: Lourissa King

Ross was standing on his balcony on a sunny morning staring at the Golden Gate Bridge. It has been several months since he heard anything from Rochelle or Debbie. His music career has been ascending so rapidly that he was able to afford a grand new house in San Francisco with an amazing view of the Golden Gate Bridge and the ocean surrounding it. Ross never liked the busy city life and therefore decided to buy a house in a more private estate with a Tuscan build structure and lots of fountains and garden structures surrounding the house. Even though Ross had a decent lifestyle he still was not able to take things easy. After the death of Mr Pibels he decided to negotiate with Octave International to offer him a more advanced record deal and obviously due to Ross's hypnotizing potential, the deal was approved and he has been busy performing at theatres and restaurants ever since. Ross and Trevor were busy making plans to travel to Germany to pay a visit to Rochelle and Debbie for the last couple of week. Trevor was paging through a traveling book while Ross were planning how they were to budget their money. The telephone rang and Trevor jolted up to answer it.

"Victor residence, Trevor speaking, how may I help? Yes he is, who may I say is calling? Oh wonderful, I will let him know sir. Thank you, goodbye. Ross get dressed that was Mr Da Silva's assistant. Apparently some CEO of a major record company will be having lunch at his restaurant on 5th Street and he wants you to perform for him and his associates!"

Ross got up instantly and headed to his room. He was major exited to perform today because of a strange feeling he had logged up in the back of his head ever since he woke up. Something told him that today will be a special day for him.

Men and woman dressed in suits and cocktail dresses were everywhere to be seen. Ross and Trevor arrived moments later at Mr Da Silva's restaurant. It was clear to them that this was a five star restaurant filled with amongst the riches men and woman in San Francisco. Trevor looked up at the stage with velvet red drapes hanging from the ceiling and saw Mr Da Silva's assistant signalling from back stage. Ross and Trevor moved swiftly back stage without attracting too much attention.

"Great Mr Victor you are here. The guy Mr Da Silva was talking about has not arrived yet, but that gives you plenty of time to maybe unwind a bit before you perform."

"I am actually fine thank you Calvin. Where is the piano by the way?" Ross asked looking behind stacked chairs and tables stored in the corner.

"The waiters just moved it out on stage." Ross and Trevor both peaked out from behind the drapes and to their shock realized that it was Ross's mom's black grand piano with the emerald green chair cover and the golden template reading M.L.Y. They stared at each other for a while in obviously still in shock.

"How is it that this piano randomly showed up here of all places?" Ross whispered to Trevor.

"Anything wrong Mr Victor?" Calvin said eagerly.

"No! No, not at all Calvin. Trevor and I were just admiring how beautiful the piano on stage is." Ross lied and signalled to Trevor that he should play along.

A few minutes went by and the CEO of the record company along with his associates arrived all looking very well dressed and ready for business. Ross took some deep breaths and whispered to himself while grabbing on to his chest "I know it is you mom, telling me that today is going to be a special one. Well then let us go and knock them dead."

Ross appeared from behind the drapes and elegantly moved towards the piano. He could feel his heart beat rapidly with every step he took. A bright spotlight was shining on him from the back of the restaurant. The audience started applauding and within a few moments fell silent as Ross sat down in front of the piano. He felt the keys at the end of his finger tips and took one last deep breath before playing. Beautiful smooth jazz filled the restaurant like a shivering wind blowing through an open window. Not a single person said a word and it was clear to Ross that every single individual got lost in his music. Couples were holding hands and stared at one another romantically. Old ladies held their hands to their chest and the men placed their hands on their chin and listened in amusement. Ross's eyes began to light up and he began to play even more arousing notes. He took a glimpse at the table where the CEO and his associates were seated and noticed that they were shaking their heads approvingly and whispered to one another. He also noticed that the woman sitting next to the CEO took out a card from her inside pocket and took some notes as she listened to Ross's performance. Ross knew that he had them right where he wanted. He wanted to play an even better song to impress them even more when he suddenly noticed something. One of the stage lights reflected on something shiny in the crowd at the table right behind the CEO and his associates. He titled his head to avoid the light and to his amusement saw a woman staring at him. She was beautiful beyond compare and Ross thought to himself that he never saw a woman this beautiful in his entire life. She had golden hair and an hour glass figure that sat there perfectly like an angel. Her eyes were such a bright shade of blue that Ross could see them clearly from the stage. For a moment he felt like he had no control over his finger as they continued to play still in the most beautiful manner. His mind was set on the woman and he completely blocked out everyone and everything around him. He thought to himself that is has to be his mother's spirit playing for his part because he had absolutely no control over the keys whatsoever. He was staring at her for what felt like hours when he gained consciousness and felt his fingers touching the keys yet again. His eyes returned to its natural shade of green and as the song finished he let out a great sigh and stared right at the keys looking quite impressed with himself.