CHAPTER 2

Selena stood slack jawed for a few moments. "Wow… do you realize what control you had over her at that moment? She would have done anything you asked her to, all in the hopes of getting you back. Yet, you chose to act in the best interest of her long term future, rather than take advantage of her vulnerability."

Mike hadn't really considered it from that perspective before, but she was correct. It would have been all too easy to exact revenge on Amanda. It frightened him that he, if only for a few brief moments, had considered starting down that path.

Selena's voice turned soft, almost contemplative. "Mike, I have an heirloom that has been in my family for generations. When my mother gave it to me, she made it clear that I was only to give it to a person of, in her words, 'outstanding moral fiber.' Ideally, I'm sure she meant for this person to be the man who would be my husband, but for reasons I won't bore you with, that is not really a possibility for me anymore."

She reached under the table to her backpack, and pulled out a small brown box, appearing to be just the right size for a necklace of some kind. Opening the box, she showed Mike a beautiful gold locket, extremely old, but very well preserved. "When I think of how tempting it would have been for you to mistreat that poor girl, the fact that you still acted in the manner you did tells me everything I need to know about who you are deep down. If anyone could ever meet my mother's requirements, I have no doubt it's you."

She handed the locket to Mike as he began to examine it. It was perfectly round, with raised inlays of either silver or white gold across the surface, almost resembling vines. In the very center was a pale blue stone, so smooth and polished that Mike could see his own reflection in it. Mesmerized by its beauty, Mike suddenly snapped back to reality. "Selena, this is obviously an extremely precious item. I'm flattered, but I couldn't possibly accept something as valuable as this."

Selena simply responded, "Are you quite sure that you aren't meant to possess it? Look again."

Mike examined the locket again, only to now see a faint glow emanating from the blue center stone. "In all my life," Selena continued, "I have never witnessed this before. If that isn't a sign that my suspicions about you are correct, I don't know what is." With a smile, she slid the box the locket was contained in across the table to him.

Once again, Mike looked up and started to respond, "So you've seriously never seen…"

Nothing. No sign of Selena anywhere. The table in front of him, once covered with beautiful handmade jewelry, was now bare, save for the small brown box. Glancing at the locket again, Mike wondered what kind of elaborate set up this was, and who needed to be congratulated for going to such great lengths to freak him completely out. Maybe he just imagined everything? No, that couldn't be. The locket in his hand was clearly real.

Be-be-beep! Be-be-beep!

Mike's phone suddenly went off, reminding him he'd better get on the road home to beat the Friday rush hour. He packed the locket and box in the outer pocket of his trumpet case and started for the parking garage across the courtyard, meeting up with Darcy along the way.

"Well, you look like you had fun," Mike said.

"Yep, my mom and aunt both love abstract art, so I'm all set for their birthdays!" Darcy was always giddy after artsy events like this. "Ready to head to the parking deck?" Mike and Darcy always made a point of walking to their cars together, even in the middle of the day. It was still downtown Atlanta, and always better to be on the safe side.

"Sure thing. Oh, I forgot to ask, did you happen to see a girl selling jewelry at the far end of the gallery today?"

Darcy thought for a second, before responding. "Nope, I definitely didn't see any jewelry for sale there today. And if there was jewelry in there, I would definitely have found it!"

"Ok, I wasn't sure if I missed one of the tables or not." Mike was definitely confused now. He couldn't have imagined the entire encounter, could he?

As they walked through the parking deck, Darcy turned to him with a smirk on her face. "Ok Braxton, million dollar question time. How many hot dates have you set for this weekend?"

Mike rolled his eyes. She did this every Friday, even while he and Amanda were still together. "You really love seeing just how nosey you can possibly be, don't you?"

"What can I say? It's a gift," Darcy responded with a giggle.

"Well there will definitely be no contact of the female variety this weekend," Mike responded. "I should know tonight or tomorrow if I made the cut for the final audition in a week. If I did make it, I plan to be a music hermit all week. Plenty of time for human contact after the final round."

"Fair enough, Lord knows I was a freaking mess when I auditioned for the principal spot."

Mike grinned. "If by 'freakin' mess' you mean so hyped up on coffee and Red Bull that the orchestra actually started a petition to the maestro to promote you just to level you out, I agree!"

Darcy hopped in her car, laughing and sticking her tongue out at Mike. "Good luck this weekend! Remember, practice hard, but don't practice!" With that she exited the garage. Mike cranked up his car, set the radio to WSB traffic, and took off for home.

*****

The rest of Mike's day was pretty mundane. Arriving home at his apartment, he decided to reward himself with an afternoon of Call of Duty. He never pretended to be very good at the game, but it was a hell of a lot of fun, and a great de-stressing tool. Few things felt as fulfilling as having random preteen kids yell and curse at you for destroying them online. With dinnertime approaching, Mike bought a couple of cheese pizzas from Papa John's with a coupon, settling in for a quiet evening with his favorite superhero. Just as he had finished watching The Dark Knight Rises, Mike's phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Mike, Robert Spano here." It was the maestro of the ASO.

"Yes sir, good to hear from you."

"You as well. Mike, I'll get right to the point. I wanted to be the first to let you know that we've narrowed down the applicants for the principal trumpet spot to five, and I'm pleased to tell you that you are in."

Silently but enthusiastically fist pumping and victory dancing, Mike did his best to respond professionally. "That's awesome news. This opportunity means the world to me. Thank you very much."

"Well, you earned it. Rest up, and practice hard this week. The audition this Friday will be in front of a live panel consisting of the concertmaster, one guest panelist, and myself. We will let you know who that guest panelist will be once we confirm their availability, as well as your specific audition time. Also, be prepared for a short interview with some personal situations you might encounter in the principal job. Now, any questions I can answer for you?"

"No sir," Mike responded. "I'll be looking forward to it."

"Excellent. Take care, Mike. Bye-bye." Click.