Ingrid's Dark Secret Passion Ch. 22

Having rejoined Ophelia, the three musicians took stock during brunch. They had in the past two nights acquired three gentlemen, to wit: Blake Lively, Dr Harry Campbell and Lachlan James for the their impromptu party after the Saturday night concert. Natasha and Ophelia were adamant that they intended to acquire two more men for the party while Ingrid was performing her Friday night program. However, they feared that with five men and only three of them, such an awkward imbalance might lead to an unsatisfactory party and hurt feelings amongst the gentlemen. Ingrid replied, "Since there is no matinée performance tomorrow, I feel there is no necessity for me to rest after my strenuous concert performance, like you two had to do for your nights. Therefore, I will go out as well after my concert, and snag another guy for the party. That way each of us could entertain two men instead of just one."

Natasha replied, "Oh! I like your thinking!"

That evening, being Ingrid's turn to perform at the Opera House, she opted for numerical progression. She started out with Chopin's Piano Concerto No 1, and followed it with Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No 2. This piece of music was destined to be her prominent signature feature of her career, considering her win in the Tchaikovsky Competition and her Grammy winning DGG recording. Ingrid finished her program with Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3. The audience was completely enraptured by her performance. As a result more bouquet of flowers were tossed onto the stage in addition to the presentation of a spectacular arrangement of roses.

Ingrid was tempted to count the flowers on the stage to determine if she had outdone Natasha. Of course, she refrained as it would betray a lack of sophistication. She did favor her audience with an encore by playing the hauntingly exquisite second movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto 21. Ingrid was dressed in a light pink formal gown that made her visibly appealing. The gown was cut low enough to display enough cleavage to remove any doubt as to her feminine sultry sexual appeal. Every straight male in the audience was at that moment in love with her.

Buoyed by good feelings from the audience's reaction to her exceptional performance, Ingrid was in a very good mood to celebrate. In company with about six other musicians of the orchestra, Ingrid and her companions repaired to a nearby bar. It was a boisterous atmosphere, and there was plenty of drinking and dancing available for the musicians to let off some steam. After a few drinks, Ingrid attracted a male patron who obviously took a shine to her. The gentleman started his introduction by exclaiming, "You are Ingrid Losnedahl, aren't you?"

Seeing that he was formally dressed, he was actually wearing a tuxedo; Ingrid exclaimed, "Why yes! Of course I am. So, since you know my name, and considering your spiffy threads, I can only assume that you were a witness to my performance tonight at the Opera House. Do you therefore, wish for my autograph? If you divulge your name, I would happily provide you with an intimate personalized memento."

The gentleman merely smiled as he replied, "My name is Roland Montague. However, if you're truly willing to provide me with your personalized autograph souvenir, I would request you direct it to my maternal grandmother, whose name is Lucille Weaver."

A little surprised Ingrid queried, "Your grandmother?"

"Yes my grandmother is eighty-two years old, and going to classical music concerts at the Opera House has been her life long passion. At her age she does not have the energy that she used to have. Thus, she has to be more judicious in choosing which concerts she could still realistically attend. She would have dearly loved to have seen all four of your evening performances this week, plus the afternoon recitals as well, but that would have been too taxing for her. Accordingly, since she had already previously seen Natasha Starikovich and Ophelia Hartley perform at the Opera House, limiting to seeing only you perform tonight was the only realistic option for her."

Ingrid observed, "So your octogenarian grandmother was your date for my concert tonight?"

"Yes indeed! Her husband, obviously my grandfather, passed away some years ago. Neither of my parents are into classical music. So as her only blood relative who truly enjoys classical music, it falls on me to accompany my grandmother to satisfy her sole genuine love, while she could still indulge during her sunset years.

"I will say this much about tonight. Your performance converted a self imposed duty on my part, into a most enchanting evening, which I shall cherish forever as much as my grandmother does. She had heard of your reputation as the second coming of Clara Schumann and thus, she was thrilled to have heard you before she has to leave this world. I'm cognizant that you might not ever come to Australia again, so I'm likewise thrilled to have had the pleasure of hearing a live performance of you, before my demise as well."

Ingrid scoffed, "I think your sentiments reflect an interesting proposition. It has been suggested that one's view of the past is predicated on the date of one's birth. Whatever has happened before one's birth is deemed as ancient history, bearing no semblance of the event's in one's own lifetime. There is no one alive today, who has ever heard Clara Schumann play the piano. However, contemporary accounts suggest she was a superlative pianist, and her compositions are preserved. So I think that there is a psychological need to suggest the existence of an equivalent. You should realize that this is my first month of my professional concert career so it's really premature for anyone to compare me so lavishly to established well regarded pianists and composers of of the past."

Roland replied, "That's a fair point you're making. But I understand that serious well regarded music critics have unequivocally predicted that you will become the most celebrated pianist of our generation. Considering my grandmother's age, she likely will be dead by the time your favorable reputation is without a doubt established forever in classical music history. So your modest protests aside do not detract from her, and for that matter my truly enjoyable experience of your performance tonight."

"Oh my such wonderful sentiments indeed! I take it your grandmother isn't right here with you now?"

"No she's not, as the concert and a light meal beforehand was all she could handle. I drove her home, and then I decided to drop in here for a night-cap so to speak before ending the day."

"Well I'll be happy to pen a personal message and autograph for your grandmother. I presume you have a copy of the program to make it a unique souvenir for her?"

"Yes I do, here it is,"

Having finished the task, Ingrid than said, "Considering your gallantry, I think you deserve a personal souvenir as well."

"Oh?"

"Yes! Why don't we fuck?"

"Really?"

"You do have a bed somewhere, don't you?"

"Why yes, I do live fairly close by."

"Well OK then......"