Music To My Ears Ch. 03

There was another time when the staff at the orphanage found a packet of cigarettes on Peter and Eric had immediately came forward to claim that it was his and he was only using Peter to hide his little vice. For that, Eric was punished to mow the lawn for one month and Peter got away with it but Eric didn't mind. He saw himself as the big brother and protector of Peter for Peter used to be very skinny and small size and got pushed around a bit by the older kids.

Little did he know Peter would played him out and hurt him deeper than Katrina. For the first time in his life, he wanted to beat the shit out of Peter. When Peter tried to apologize after he was caught in bed with Katrina, Eric could feel the insincerity in his gesture and he thought he saw something like a triumphant gleam in Peter's eyes. He recalled John, their mentor had been dropping hints to him to watch out for Peter saying that Peter had an eye for Katrina but he brushed it aside and confidently assured his mentor that Peter wasn't that kind of person. Of course he was dead wrong, but no point crying over split milk now. What was done was done.

He got up from the sofa and walked into his bedroom to crouch down. From under the bed he pulled out a dusty suitcase and snapped it opened. Inside the suitcase were scores of sheet music he had composed over the years up to the week before he was attack. Some were completed work and some were unfinished. One of his favourites was 'Katrina, Katrina' which he never played for the public. It was his private collection. He had only played it for Katrina. She was so touched that she had cried and then they had made slow and unhurried love throughout the night.

In the suitcase were also old pictures of him with Peter from the orphanage days, from TPSO days and pictures of him with Robert, John his mentor and of course Katrina. As he sat there now on the floor reading, playing the music in his mind and reminiscing about his past while looking at those pictures, he felt sadness wash over him. He had wanted to destroy them all but he just couldn't bear to do it especially his sheet music and so he had kept them all hidden in the suitcase.

Next he picked up the gold plated trophy of a figure sitting on a piano. It was his first trophy after he won his first competition at the age of fifteen. He could still remember that joyous moment when his named was called out, he was so stunned that he didn't know how to react until the MC repeatedly called him to the stage to receive his trophy.

He replaced the trophy in the suitcase and his mind wandered back to Nicky once more. Seeing her eagerness to help people had sparked a life in him. Maybe, just maybe she was the answer to his problems after all? Maybe she could really be the one that was able to help him see the light at the end of the tunnel?

He snorted and wondered what kind of woman she really was. Apart from being determined and stubborn as hell, what else was she good at? She may not be tall but she had a nice figure - full breasted with rounded hips and shapely legs. She definitely had a fiery temper too when she needed it and that appetite of hers. Never in his life had he seen someone so small and could eat that much and yet stay so trim. Perhaps the running about kept her fit.

Deep down, he knew he wanted to crawl out of the hole he had dug for himself but it was easier said than done. The first step was always the most difficult to take. Maybe what Robert had said was true; he hadn't really tried hard enough? But could he really do it? Would he be able to stand tall again? Dare he take the challenge? The images of the attack flashed through his mind again. It was so clear it seemed as if the incident only happened yesterday. He gave an involuntary shudder and quickly downed the rest of the whiskey to calm his nerves.

I've got to give it a try. I owed Robert and John that much and I owed it to myself, he thought with grim determination.

Tomorrow, tomorrow he would take that first step with the help of that pesky nosyalluring social worker. There he went again.Alluring. Why did he keep thinking she was alluring? He pushed the thought off and snapped shut the suitcase and pushed it underneath the bed once more. When he was ready, he would bring out the sheet music again IF he succeeded in conquering his demons.

Usually his sleep was filled with nightmares, but tonight instead of nightmares, he dreamt of a pair of warm golden brown eyes that seemed to be watching him with warmth and understanding and a lilting sensuous voice that seemed to be telling him it was okay to come out of his shell, that there was no reason to hide anymore and then had lured him into a peaceful slumber.

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