Free Sing For Me by Trisha Grace

her.”
    He sat on the chair across from Josh. “Thanks, Josh.”
    Josh grew serious. “For what?”
    “For always … believing in me.” For the first time since knowing he might never sing again, he felt he’d let someone down. “And I’m sorry.” He gave Josh a pat on his arm, then stood and walked away.
    “The song she wrote for you, for the finals. It was a love song, right?” Josh stood and joined him by his side. “And you know how she writes her songs.”
    He stopped and hesitated. “Did something happen to … Chloe after … after she got to London?”
    “How did you know something happened?”
    From what Chloe had said. Though she hadn’t said much, it was enough. “What happened?”
    Josh shrugged. “She didn’t want to talk about it. I think it was something about college and her parents.”
    Of course it had something to do with her parents.
    He nodded and gave Josh another pat on his arm. “Goodnight.”

    Chloe looked toward the door when she heard the key. She draped her coat over the couch and smiled when Christopher opened the door.
    “I brought breakfast.”
    “Thanks.”
    Christopher closed the door. “Are you going somewhere? I thought … you’ll still be sleeping.”
    “I was just about to call you. Can I borrow your mom’s car? I have to head to L.A.”
    “You’re … leaving already?”
    “Not right now,” she said and took the bag he was holding. “What’s for breakfast?” She peered into the bag and pulled out the sandwich. “Have you eaten?”
    “Will you be … coming back?”
    She nodded. “I should be back tonight. I was going to L.A. next week, but my friend called me last night and asked if we could bring forward the date. Since I’m already in the States, we decided to meet today.”  
    She needed to speak with Jason anyway. She knew how busy he was, but maybe she could drop by his office and take five minutes of his time.
    She cocked her head toward the kitchen. “You really don’t owe me this house. You didn’t win the competition because of my song; you won it because of your voice.”
    “You told my mom that … the love stories in your songs … were the singers’ stories,” he said when he was next to her.
    “Yeah.”
    “The song you wrote … for me.”
    “Mm-hmm.”
    “It was a love song.”
    “Mm-hmm.”
    “Who … did you imagine me in … love with?”
    Herself; but there was no way she was going to tell him that.
    She wrinkled her nose and shrugged. “No one. It was just a life I imagined you having,” she said and turned to the fridge she had opened just so she could hide her head inside.
    “You said something to me … the other day.” He didn’t continue until she turned back to him. “Did something happen with your school?”
    She gave him a half-shrug. “I’d rather not talk about it. It’s over anyway.”
    He continued to watch her, but he didn’t say a word.
    She knew he wouldn’t pressure her for more information. “You should come with me to Italy. You can crash on my couch, and I’ll be your tour guide.”
    He shook his head.
    “I’ll pay for the tickets and all. Come on, you want to give me a house. Surely I can buy you tickets to Italy. You’ll love it there; I know you will. Remember all the documentaries we watched about Rome? Please?”
    His lips curled. “Stop that.”
    “Think about it,” she said. “The sculptures are amazing. You can drink the spring water right out of them.”
    “What do you have to do in L.A.?”
    Tell Jason that I can’t marry him. “My friend just wanted to meet up. She didn’t tell me what she needed, but she sounded somewhat desperate.”
    “Desperate?”
    She pursed her lips and shrugged again. “I guess I’ll find out later.”

    Chloe watched the numbers on the lift’s screen jump. She loved lifts that didn’t play any music. The steel walls were like a vault, shutting the rest of the world out. The only sound came from the low humming of the lift’s mechanics