Free London Harmony: Minuette by Erik Schubach

likely, then I pulled out my silver permanent marker and wrote an M on the drive and placed it on Fran's desk.
    I sat back and listened to all of the tracks in order again, with all the missing tracks on my mobile and started to type out the words I could pick out of the Phantom Melodies from the ones that Fran didn't have.
    It would take me a bit to get even just one complete melody, then I'd only have the words, not the accompanying music.  Maybe that's why I gave Fran one.  I wanted to hear it just as badly as she and June did.
    When she returned it was pretty humorous.  She hung up her coat and came over to the desk and froze.  Then she bent and moved around in front of the thumb drive with an eyebrow cocked.  Then she crouched.  Keeping her distance like it were a trap, or it would snap at her.
    Then she looked up from her prize to me.  I couldn't help but grin at the silly look on her face as she nudged her thumb toward it, still crouched over.  “Thumb drive.”
    I nodded. “Indeed.  All those college classes are paying off.”
    She chuckled, snatched it up, and said as she pointed the drive at me.  “You're finally loosening up and getting playful.  It's nice to meet the real you.”
    I blushed then she prompted me, “I know it's a thumb drive, but where did it come from?”  She was plugging it into her computer.
    I shrugged. “Remember my friend I told you about?”
    She nodded and said, “Mindy.”
    I put my hands out, palm up.  “There you go.”
    She licked her lips in anticipation and then cocked an eyebrow.  “You said she didn't record the number.”
    I'm such a muppet sometimes.  I nodded. “She didn't but this was on her car.”  Lies, lies, all lies.  She did record it and we don't have a car.  I mitigated my lies a bit. “Well, my father's car.  We borrow it at times.”  Oh hell, why was I babbling about cars?
    She chuckled. “It's ok Nett.  Let's have a listen shall we?”  I nodded and moments later the space was filled with Mindy's unique piano music.  It thrummed inside me, in harmony with my heartbeat.  If I closed my eyes, I could almost imagine Mind was playing just for me.
    Before long Fran was humming along to my voice singing the tune, so I hummed along with her.  She got cute and modulated her humming so that we were in harmony.  Was it wrong that I was having fun?
    When it was over, she copied the track to the folder that held all the raw tracks and shot off an email to Bear with the track attached.  She looked at me and said, “He's a whiz and will have the Phantom Melody isolated within a day.”
    I smiled in anticipation.
    Then she added, “I'll have Zil cut a bounty check for Mindy.”
    I shook my head. “No, she wouldn't want it.”
    Fran paused to regard me for a moment then slowly nodded.  “If you are sure.”
    I nodded then got an idea and blurted, “Why not give it to the Flotilla Project charity?”
    Her smile bloomed as she nodded at that.
    We sat and listened to all the phantom melodies again as they formed a song.  Francine looked pensive.  “I think we need to work fast.  There won't be much more.  I hope she continues with something new afterwards.”
    Ok, now that was confusing.  “What do you mean?”
    She played the last bits she had. “Feel the change just there?  And the repeated line?  It is sounding an awful lot like a tag to me.  The Phantom Melody is ending.”
    I cocked my head as I listened.  Bloody hell, she was right!  Well of course she is, her life is music here at London Harmony.
    I felt cold and hugged my arms to my chest, the song was coming to an end?  After years of creation?  Mind had another one in mind for after this, didn't she?
    Fran asked with genuine concern, “Are you alright Annette?  You're shivering.”
    I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and then forced a smile on my face as I opened my eyes again.  I nodded and we went back to work.
    I suddenly had a million questions in my head for