Chapter 16: The Event

Laura and the string quartet received high praise for their music at the first event for Ricky’s law firm. The firm decided to make the string quartet and their music a permanent part of their events.

For Laura, it represented another few hours on a Saturday night when she did not have to focus on the guys, but just on her cello and music. True to form, she showed up wearing a white blouse and a long black skirt.

While she played at the event, she put every ounce of passion for and concern over casually dating the three men in her music. Nevertheless, she continued to struggle personally with her lack of resolution with choosing one of the three no matter how much music she played or how brilliantly she performed.

At intermission, she got a glass of seltzer water and mingled with the guys. Unlike the last event where she saw them and quickly brushed by them, now she had no excuse. They had a greater expectation this time: her attention.

“Ricky, Don, Alex, glad you came.”

“I did not think it was possible but you sounded even better this time,” said Ricky.

‘Yes, I agree, but something else was present in the music,” said Alex.

“I did not know that music from a string quartet could be so soulful and passionate,” said Don.

“What was the new factor?” Alex questioned.

“Well,” she responded, “if you must know, the X factor was you three. The conversations that we have had over the past couple of weeks have opened up new feelings in me. I guess that came out in the music.”

“Well done,” Don praised her.

“If I might be so bold, I’ve noticed something different in you three as well. I’m not sure what it is, but tonight we four seem to be cordial, but not friendly. I notice this especially among the three of you. You said that my dating all three of you at the same time would not cause any problems, but I definitely sense some sort of unresolved tension. Speaking of which, intermission is over and I have to perform the next piece. See you afterwards?”

The guys agreed.

“I’m only human. I don’t want to think about her with someone else, even if it is one of you,” Ricky stated.

“We’d better get back,” Don replied.

“Yeah, to hear the music of our girlfriend,” Alex lamented.

Once they were back in their seats, Don reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a box of candy and started snacking away and smacking his lips. With each chewy morsel he dreamed of a sweet kiss from Laura. Alex touched him on his arm and shh’ed him. Don poured out a handful of candy and threw a few, one by one at Alex. The third piece hit Ricky on his collar by mistake, leaving a chocolate stain.

Ricky picked up the failed missile in the form of a piece of candy and threw it at Don on a successful attack mission. Within minutes of the attack the three were audibly shh’ ing and tapping each other on the arm. There was no turning back now. Shh’ing turned to louder “shut ups” and “stop thats” with accompanying looks of disapproval from other concert goers. Moments later they were rolling on the floor. The ushers came and unsuccessfully tried to break up the fight, resulting in both of the ushers rolling down the stairs.

Laura knew that the show must go on, aware as she was that there was a commotion in the audience. It got so loud, however, that the rest of the audience noticed and the concert of four came to a halt while the fighting childhood friends were wrestling, rolling around in the aisles.

Laura stopped playing and the three other members of the quartet followed suit. She put down her cello and stood up, trying to see if the problem had been resolved. Upon moving to the edge of the stage she thought she could make out the three guys actively pummeling each other with their fists. It was horrible.

“The concert is over!” she screamed when she returned to center stage. She grabbed her instrument and left the guys behind to work out physically what they could not do emotionally. She doubted that they even knew that the music had stopped or she, the object of their affection, had left the stage.

# # #


She arrived home and sunk down to the floor and cried. They each seemed so perfect.

“I knew they were too good to be true,” she sobbed. She felt the emptiness of the loft for the first time since she kicked Luke out. Now her heart was breaking all over again and in three huge pieces.

# # #

Back at the event the three guys were in adult time out. They were sitting in a small room off from the lobby, restrained by the wounded, volunteer senior citizen ushers. The guys were embarrassed and angry. Had they lost her forever? What impact would this have personally and professionally in a small city like this? No amount of flowers, candy, or greeting cards could make up for this.

Their politeness with the volunteer staff did not extend to each other once they were away from the public.

“How dare you guys ruin her big night! And with a candy fight? Do you realize that my firm sponsored this event? That I will look like some Neanderthal who can’t keep his cool and over a woman? How would you like it if I came to your jobs and showed out? I doubt they’ll trust me with anything high profile again,” Ricky argued.

“Calm down, Counselor. You are not the only one who suffered tonight. You are always thinking about the impact on you and your career. What about us and Laura?!” Alex shouted back.

“Yeah, Man. I doubt she’ll want to have anything to do with any one of us,” Don retorted.

“You messed it up for all of us and all you care about is your reputation as a partner. You don’t deserve her, you lousy excuse for a gentleman,” Alex complained.

“Oh, is that a line from one of your trashy romance novels?” Ricky jeered.

“There you go. You think you are better than us because of YOUR career. It’s always about you being a lawyer or you making partner and what the partners expect or think, you selfish rat!” Don shouted.

“Well at least I’m better than a belly-crawling gutter snake like you whose only pleasure is womanizing and partying. You never left high school behind.” Ricky stated angrily.

He realized hitting Don and Alex where it hurt with his words was a low blow, but Don and Alex were also throwing verbal knock outs. If they were going to bring their fight’s impact on Laura up in their argument, then Ricky was going to go for the job jugular with Alex, or lack thereof in Don’s case. Ricky would show them that this lawyer that they criticized could give as good as he got and hit them hard where it hurt. They were lifelong friends, which meant that during a verbal argument they each knew how to push each others’ buttons.

The guys politely left the building to walk it off in separate directions and get some space away from each other to cool off. They had used harsh words with each other in arguments in the past, but the words they exchanged this evening were difficult to take back. Eventually, they would forgive each other and be close friends again as in the past. Already, each of the guys was feeling regret about losing control over their emotions. But what about Laura? Did they stand any chance to see her again?