(One soppy chapter, another half we are on the way to whump…)
Thanks to my friend Marilyn for the beta.
Would love to hear from you, my readers, I know you are out there.
Chapter 2 – The Happenings
(Trixie received an invitation to perform at the Governor's Annual Ball…)
The next morning, Trixie called to Jules, her mentor, conductor and friend. She told him about the invitation. Jules told her he knew about it and asked her what was the problem, and Trixie told him about her misgivings.
Trixie wanted to stop traveling and look after Rick, but Jules begged her not to give up. Instead he wanted her to take half a year to look after her new born baby and to come back at least for special occasions and invitations. She told Don, and he agreed that she should not give up but does as Jules suggested.
Jules said, "Trixie, this is nothing new to you. You are a first class pianist, one of the very best and the youngest. You can do this. This is certainly an honor to get selected to play in this grand occasion. Go on, accept it, and we'll go through the pieces you'll be playing."
After a bit more persuasion, Trixie said she would do it.
Jules made arrangements to come over to the condo to discuss what pieces she would play. The day before she rang her mother to have her bring Conchita to help look after Rick while she had her discussion with Jules.
That morning, her mother called. "Darling, why don't you pack Rick's things, and bring him to us for the day. You can come and get him when Don gets home."
"That's lovely, mom. Thanks. I'll bring him to you in an hour. That alright with you?"
"Yes, anytime. See you then, and drive carefully."
"Yes, mother dear, thank you."
ooooooooOOOooooooo
Once she had accepted the invitation to play at the Governor's Ball, she practiced with Jules giving her some guidance. They had selected four pieces to play.
She practiced in the late mornings when she finished her daily chores. Sometimes she brought Rick to her mother, and sometimes her mother and Conchita came to her place while she practiced.
Her piano music floated down from the Condo to the lower floors, and after a few days, people from around and near her Condo stopped to listen to her playing. She played flawlessly, and she was making such beautiful music, that after her playing, loud clapping was heard.
Conchita had been staying with Trixie and Don for a few days while Chantal and Matthew took a trip to New York.
Conchita was cleaning the living room while Trixie was playing, and Rick was sleeping in his cot. From the window, Conchita saw people gathering around. When Trixie finished the last note, Conchita told her that people below were clapping.
Trixie, curious, walked to the open glass doors, stepped out to the patio, and looked down.
She smiled and waved to people. Some of them friends she made after she came to the condo as Mrs. Don Eppes.
"Thank you for listening," she called out.
More clapping and she smiled again and went inside.
She told Don what had happened when he came back. Don teased her and said, "Did they ask for an encore?"
Trixie made a dramatic action with her hands and said, "Well, if they had asked, I would play more but alas…… your wife's playing was not that good."
"Oh you cheeky imp." Don grabbed Trixie by the waist, and soon, she was shrieking with laughter.
Don caught hold of her face and gave her a kiss. They looked at each other and kissed again, this time with passion. They were so involved with each other, they did not hear the 'ahems….' ahemming away .
Trixie heard, and when one eye opened, she saw Conchita standing by the doorway. Her hand pulled at Don to get his attention, but he didn't let go.
"Ow!" Don jerked up and looked at Trixie who was all smiles as she pointed to the door. Trixie had pulled at his hair, whatever she could grab, with her fingers to get his attention.
"Ah..oh yes Conchita?"
"Shall I heat your dinner now ahh ahh s….Don?"
Conchita was still not able to call Don without pausing. Don had told her to call him that instead of Sir.
Trixie used to laugh when initially she had called Sir then followed by Don.
She said Conchita had knighted Don, therefore Sir Don.
"It's alright, Conny. I'll heat up Don's dinner. Rick has gone to sleep?"
"Yes, bambino has slept, such a good bambino, he knew it was time for bed."
"Right, then off you go too. I'll see you in the morning, night Conny."
"Yes, Night Conny, thanks." Don echoed Trixie.
The day of the Governor's Ball came, and Don was suddenly called back to the office by the Director. He said he was sorry to call him back, but it was imperative that he get back to office ASAP.
Don was unhappy that he could not accompany Trixie to the ball.
Trixie was unhappy, but she didn't show it, " Go on, no problem, I'll get Jules to go with me."
Don wanted to get Charlie for her, but she said no. It was not nice to get Charlie at the last minute, and no, no she didn't want to bother either parent.
Don told her he would try to get back, but Trixie wouldn't allow him to do that.
"You go back. It must be important that they called you back. Don't worry about me. But I'll be glad if you could manage to come to the hotel later."
The venue where the Governor's Ball was held was in a very well known, prestigious hotel in the business district.
"No promise, but I'll try. Megan, David and the gang will be there to hear you if not see you. They are all on duty. It was a special request from the Governor to have the familiar faces around him for security."
"Right then, I'll see you if you can make it. Don't worry too much about it if you can't make it, dear. You take care alright?"
"Oh, about Conchita and Rick, OK, this time I will call your dad. No, no, I don't want you to drive up and down. Let me talk to your dad first ."
Don picked up the house phone and called Matthew and explained the situation to him and after he put down the phone, he turned to Trixie who had heard only Don's side of the conversation.
"You mom and dad are coming in an hour's time. They will pick up Rick and Conchita and Rick can stay overnight, so that you will have a good rest after your recital. They will also drop you off at the hotel. You need not drive. If I am unable to come to the hotel, I'll get Megan or David to drive you home. Got that, either Megan or David and no one else."
"Wow, my husband the arranger. Next time I throw a party, you can arrange everything for me.
"Next time you throw a party, you won't need me at all. You know Dad and Amita will come running." Don said and poked at her pert nose.
"Come, let's go and see our son before I go back to the office. I have to tell him that his mamma is deserting him for the night."
"No, I'll complain to him that his daddy is deserting his mamma tonight."
Don whispered in her ear, "I will spend the whole night with you. We will play all night long."
Trixie poked him and laughed all the way to Rick's room.
Conchita was playing with Rick and when she saw Don and Trixie, she stood up and said, "Bambino just finished his bottle of milk. He's in a playful mood."
"Good, then I want to talk with him."
Trixie laughed, "You mean talk TO him, dear. Conny, Mom and Daddy will be coming to pick us up. Don has to go into the office now. You get Rick's things ready. He's staying the night with you all. We'll pick him up tomorrow."
"Ok, that's good, I'll pack his things. I'll take more just in case."
Conchita went out and Don said, "Take more just in case what?"
Trixie laughed, "Just in case mom and daddy decided to keep him longer."
"No way, I'll pick him up tomorrow early in the morning." Don said.
"What, daddy doesn't want to play with mommy, Ricky…."
"No, we play then we go and pick him." Don played along.
"But mommy wants to play till the morning….." Trixie pretended to pout.
"Ok, then we leave Ricky at Grampy's for a whole week."
"You rotter! Then mommy will go to Grampy's for the whole week too."
"OK, then daddy will go to Grampy's for a whole week too."
They both started to laugh, and Ricky heard his parents' laughter. He started to wriggle about wanting to be carried.
They saw him and laughed again. Don went down and picked him up from his crib.
"Hey little fella, no,no, daddy and mommy will not leave you, but only for tonight for mommy has an important engagement, alright?"
Don gave him a kiss and turned to Trixie, "Dear, I have to make a move. You take real care OK. You can always signal to any of the security people there, if you wanted Megan or David, right?"
Trixie nodded, taking Ricky from Don. They kissed and Don went out, "Thanks Connie." He called out to Conchita.
ooooooooOOOooooooo
After the applause died down, the Governor stepped up to thank Trixie personally in front of the guests, and he introduced the VP to her. They talked a bit, and Trixie could see the security hovering very near.
Must be because of the VP. They talked a bit, and then one of the FBI agents came up to the Governor and whispered.
He nodded and said to the VP, "We have to make a move now."
They both excused themselves and went off. The crowd was mingling once again.
Megan came up to Trixie, " Trixie, come and follow me."
Trixie collected her small evening bag and went with Megan.
Trixie followed Megan, and they walked across the ballroom and got outside in the corridor.
Megan held on to her, "What's the matter Megan? Expecting trouble?"
"Maybe, but Don will have my head if I don't get you out of here soon."
"I can go off by myself, Megan, if you are needed back there."
"No problem, I can go back there after I send you home."
"Really, I'm alright to go by myself."
"No Trixie, I have explicit instructions from Don, and I obey my AD. That was a very lovely performance there Trixie. You are really very talented. The guests were enthralled with your playing."
"Thank you Megan. I enjoyed it very much too. I miss my touring days. The excitement of playing in front a large audience thrills me to bits. Please don't tell Don. I don't want him to think he stopped my career. I had my days at that, now I am very contented with my husband and baby. I could sit still the whole day just looking at them both."
Megan laughed and said, "You really love Don very much, don't you? When you were young, not that you are old now, but you know what I mean, I suspected that you already cared for Don, correct?"
"Yes, truthfully, I was already very fond of him by the time I left for Switzerland, but then I knew that it was not right then, so I waited. I had confided in my parents when I was in London." at this Trixie stopped and looked at Megan.
"You know what my parents said to me then?"
"What? That Don's too old for you?"
"No, Megan, my parents told me to go for it. I was ecstatic, jumping for joy and I was eighteen. I told myself I will wait for another two years, and then I will make my move."
"You will make a move on Don, Oh Trixie, I wish I had known this. I would have helped you more. Each time when I talk privately with Don, I could feel him clamping up when your name came up in our discussion. Nothing bad, all good and we were all very, very proud of your success, especially Don."
"Yea, I know all about that now."
"Did you meet up finally?"
"Yea, I came back without my parents knowing one year before my marriage. We spent a whole 5 days in a cabin by the woods. It was fantastic, being with Don all the time. He taught me how to sit quietly and look at the scenes from a mountain top. We swam and sat side by side for hours trying to catch our dinner." Trixie laughed.
"What?" Megan asked while guiding Trixie out of the hotel to the parking lot.
"We couldn't seem to catch any fish that day, so we cooked what we had in the fridge, bacon and eggs, for dinner with a few pieces of cucumber. We had to do some real shopping else we would starve."
Megan smiled, and now she knew why Don took off secretly that particular year, and his secretary wouldn't tell them a thing, just that Don had gone on vacation.
And she was thinking that he must have gone to Charlie's place to be with his people for he came back all happy and smiling.
"Alright, where do you want to be dropped, your house or your parents. I know that Rick is with your parents."
"My parents' place please. I'll get Don to come and pick us up there."
"No problem. I'll let Don know. Don is still at the Hotel."
"He's at the hotel? I didn't see him. He didn't show his face in the ballroom."
"No, he didn't accept the invitation to go in there, but he hung around trying not to be noticeable. He met the Governor and the VP earlier though."
Some twenty five minutes later Trixie got out of Megan's car and thanked her and told her to remind Don for her.
"No problem, I will see you some other time. I miss little Rick. Has he grown much?"
"Yes, he's grown this much." Trixie said putting her thumb and forefinger out for Megan to see.
"Ha, ha… measuring him every week I bet. OK Goodnight then, bye."
" Bye Megan, see you soon. Thanks for the lift."
Megan saw her going up to the vast doorway of her parent's home. She waved and drove off.
She hoped nothing happened. She put back on her two way mini radio earplug in her right ear and drove back to the hotel as quick as she could.
Earlier..
While Trixie was playing on her piano to an enthralled audience of the Governor's guests and the Vice President, Megan walked about in the vast ballroom, a voice came on.
"Anything Megan?" David asked.
"Nothing unusual, your end?"
"Nope nothing. Hold on Megan, Don wants a word with you. Here Don, you can talk to Megan here." David held out a tiny mic towards Don. They were at the other end of the ballroom.
"Megan, I need a favor. Would you please send Trixie home as soon as she has finished."
"Are you expecting trouble, Don? Of course I will personally send Trixie home."
"FBI heard some rumors that a group of radicals is going to crash the party. I have already got more agents in, and hopefully after Trixie's performance, I can get the VP to leave with his entourage. Trixie might want to go back to her parents. Rick is there with them. I won't see her. I need to get to the VP's security, thanks Megan."
Present:
Megan came back into the ballroom, there were still people eating and dancing. She looked around, and she spoke to her hidden mic.
"David, anything happening?"
"Ah Megan, you're back. Yes, we have arrested four people trying to sneak in via the kitchen. Eric and his people caught them sneaking around. We searched the downstairs parking lot and found some arsenal- handguns and smoke bombs. It looked like they had not taken any with them, but we can't be sure.
Don had a hard time persuading the Governor to leave. They were at the special room at the end of the corridor."
"Right, you and your men stay where you are. I'll go and see Don."
"Bill, you have to leave, we can't be sure that there's no one else." Don was trying to persuade the Governor to leave with his entourage. He had successfully seen the VP leave with his people some twenty minutes ago.
The Governor didn't want to leave, saying that this was his Ball. He needed to be there with his guests, a lot of them foreign dignitaries too.
Suddenly there was a loud bang and some screaming was heard from the Ballroom.
Megan burst into the room, " Don!"
Tbc…