Sing for Me

by Penelope Reece

  Seeing how the large sweater swallowed her petite frame, and the way the sleeves hung down hiding her hands, awakened a small fire inside his belly. With a sudden jolt, he realized the sweater was his. He’d given it to her one evening when he’d seen her shivering backstage. After all this time, she’d kept it. He wasn’t sure what to make of that.

  He let his gaze travel upward and focused on her face and how the dim overhead bulbs masked the light splash of freckles across her cheeks and nose. Yet another feature he’d not soon forget.

  Chloe had always been fair-skinned, but today she seemed paler. She looked so fragile in the bulky green sweater. So fragile, in fact, that the morning breeze would probably blow her away.

  He continued to watch her as she approached the counter. She didn’t seem to have noticed him as her big green eyes focused on the menu above the young barista. While Chloe read down the list of beverages, Rhys saw her bite her bottom lip in thought.

  How often had he thought she looked so alike to the beautiful porcelain doll his mother had kept in the small wooden rocking chair in the living room? He had never really understood just how fragile that doll was until he’d accidentally broken it while roughhousing with Bill. He still remembered his mother’s tears when she had discovered what they’d done. Rhys had always regretted breaking that doll.

  Now as he watched Chloe, she looked just as delicate. One strong tap and he feared she would shatter into a million pieces. Had she always looked so breakable?

  He waited for her to order. Her voice was soft and sweet like a soothing lullaby as she requested an herbal tea. And he thought back to another night when she’d clung to him and whispered his name. That was before the trouble had started.

  After Chloe received her tea, she turned in his direction giving him no time to prepare his expression. When their eyes met, she nearly dropped her tea. Her eyes darted down to the sweater and she blushed, making his attempted stoic expression waver slightly.

  He motioned her over, slightly enjoying her embarrassment. He knew he shouldn’t want to talk to her, but he couldn’t help it. She was like that porcelain doll, beautiful and off limits. No matter how he tried, he just couldn’t resist touching it.

  Maybe he was done being the obedient younger brother. In any case, he wanted to see Chloe again, and if stuff ended up getting broken then he’d face the consequences.

  Chloe arrived at the table and he made a point of staring at the sweater before he motioned for her to sit down.

  At his incessant stare, Chloe pursed her lips and sat.

  “So, after all these years you thought you’d get away with it?”

  Her eyes widened and he could see tiny flecks of hazel. They reminded him of an early autumn, a few yellow leaves mixed with green.

  “Get away with what?”

  “Stealing.” He said pointing at her chest.

  “I-I didn’t steal anything. You gave this sweater to me.”

  He arched a brow. “Did I? Now why would I give up my favorite sweater?”

  Chloe’s mouth dropped open for a second, the shock of his words sinking into her system. Her lip trembled slightly. Rhys suddenly felt like an ass.

  “I’m sorry.” She finally managed to say and lowered her gaze. “I’ll return –“

  “Chloe, I’m kidding” He said cutting her off. What had happened to the strong-willed girl he used to know? The Chloe back then wouldn’t have succumbed so easily.

  “Oh.” She blushed and shot him a look. “It’s hard to tell whether or not someone is joking when they’ve been out of touch for two years.”

  He smiled. There’s that fire.

  “You’re right it’s been a long time. How are you kid?”

  “I’m just peachy, you?”

  He smiled. How often had he rolled his eyes at her choice of idioms? What had annoyed him then only succeeded in delighting him now. There was no denying that he’d missed her.

  “I’m doing well.”

  “That’s good.”

  Rhys nodded and took a sip of his coffee.

  They were quiet a moment as Chloe opened the lid to her tea and rummaged inside her purse. She withdrew a packet of honey that she’d taken off the table of some restaurant. Dumping the honey into her tea, she stirred it. He continued to watch as she sipped her tea and looked about.

  “So you still take honey in your tea.” He said remembering how he used to steal the honey from the refreshments table before the cast took their break. He still remembered how Chloe’s eyes kept wandering over the table in the hopes the honey would appear as if by magic. She’d been too cute in her bewilderment that he’d finally given it back.

  She took a sip of her tea and grimaced slightly over the bitter taste. “What are you doing here?”

  He raised his brows at her. “I could ask you the same question.”

  “I’m a student at the university.” She said.

  “How long have you been here?” He asked even though he already knew the answer. His little talk with Josie hadn’t gone as well as he’d hoped. But he’d still managed to get a few questions answered.

  “For over a year.”

  She’d been here a year and neither Bill nor Josie had said anything. It had been a few days now since he’d found out, and the thought of them hiding that from him still pissed him off. Rhys frowned and cursed his brother and sister-in-law under his breath.

  “So why this university? Why didn’t you go to school in New York?”

  Chloe opened her mouth to say something then quickly closed it. After a second she shrugged and said, “Just I wanted a break from the big city. And I remember how you and Bill said what a wonderful time you two had here, so I wanted to come check it out… So what classes are you teaching?”

  Rhys grinned. “Musical Composition. But being a spy, you already know that.”

  Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink and she took a sip of her tea trying to hide behind her cup. So it had been her he’d seen.

  Chloe swallowed and sat the cup back down. “My friend Heather is in your class. So I went with her on Monday out of curiosity.”

  “Curious about what?”

  Chloe’s cheeks were still red but he could see her eyes twinkling with mischief. “Just wandering if you were going bald. I mean – you’re what – thirty now?”

  Rhys chuckled. “Hardly. Besides, thirty isn’t old.”

  “Maybe not. But I do notice that your hair is a lot shorter.”

  “Yeah well, short hair doesn’t mean anything. I just got tired of the length. Maybe I am getting old. That shaggy look just wasn’t working for me anymore. Why? Do you miss my long hair?”

  “No, I think short hair looks good on you. It makes you look manlier.”

  Rhys chuckled again. “I’m glad it meets your approval.”

  “So… Are you still composing?” She asked trying to change the subject.

  “I am.” He said. “In fact one of the reasons I came here was so that I could work in quiet. However, with teaching every other day, my life isn’t as quiet as I would have liked.”

  “So what are you working on, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “It’s for a new Broadway musical called Lancelot. I’m supplying the musical score, and Bill will direct and produce.”

  “Wow, that’s really great.”

  “Yeah well it still needs work. If you want maybe I’ll play some of it for you sometime.”

  She gave him a small smile and then let her gaze fall down to her cup that she was now slowly turning between her hands. He could tell she was uncomfortable and trying to act nonchalant. And it might have worked had he not noticed the way her eyes continued to watch him from behind her thick lashes. She was probably wondering why he’d asked her to sit down.

  While he watched her sitting there looking so ill at ease as she sipped at her tea, he realized that perhaps she was still hurt over how they’d ended things. How he’d ended things.

  Chloe placed her hand on t
he table, her palm resting against the chipped surface. He had the urge to reach out and take her hand. He had to force himself not to.

  If anything, Chloe deserved an explanation. He knew that. Heck any female would want one after getting dumped without warning. After all this time, he knew he owed that to her. However, he was afraid his reasoning would only hurt her more.

  For as long as he lived he would never forget the look on her face when he’d told her he was leaving. When he’d seen her tears, it had nearly shaken his resolve. But he knew he couldn’t back out. He hadn’t had any other choice.

  His hand was almost across the table when Chloe’s sudden laughter startled him and he brought his hand back. Rhys blinked a couple of times as he tried to figure out what was making her laugh. Chloe gazed at the table where his graded papers were haphazardly stacked.

  “Are these for real?” She asked her voice light with mirth.

  “Unfortunately so,” He said and frowned.

  She picked up an ungraded one and studied it. “This one didn’t get a single answer right.” She snickered. “He thinks bass clef is what you call the neck of a bass guitar.”

  Rhys scoffed and grabbed the test from her. He glanced over it and grimaced, these were by far the worst answers he’d seen yet. “Can you believe this guy?”

  She grinned and shrugged. “So how did my friend Heather do? She’s been anxious to get her placement test back.”

  “What’s her last name?”

  “Baumann.” She replied.

  He frowned as he riffled through his brief case. He’d already graded that class’s tests but hadn’t had a chance to return them yet.

  He pulled out Heather’s test and looked it over for a minute. “Heather Baumann. Brown hair, fake tan, wears too much makeup?”

  Chloe nodded and bit her lip. “She doesn’t wear that much makeup. Anyway, how is she doing? Are you going to keep her? I know it’s only been two classes….”

  Heather had received a perfect score on her placement test. Anyone could have as long as they weren’t lazy and loved to Google. But Heather’s in class assignments had been disastrous. She couldn’t play a single instrument nor could she read music.

  Over the weekend, He’d assigned them to write their own prelude for piano. Should she fail in her attempts, then he’d have no choice but to throw her out.

  “She did fine on the placement test. But I’m still undecided. I guess it all depends.”

  “Depends? On what?”

  “On whether or not she can compose her own piano prelude. I’m giving that class until Monday to wow me.”

  Her eyes widened. “Don’t you think it’s a bit too soon to assign something that huge?”

  He shrugged. “I have no intention of keeping students who don’t know anything. It isn’t fair to the students who are actually studied.”

  “I don’t think that’s very fair.” Chloe said crossing her arms over her chest and meeting his eye.

  Rhys rubbed his chin, a plan forming in his mind. “Maybe I could push the assignment due date back a few weeks.” He took a sip of his coffee. “So what’s your major? Musical Theatre?”

  “No. Actually I’m still undecided, but I’ve recently been leaning toward Folklore.”

  Rhys raised an eyebrow. “You’re an expert singer, and you’re thinking about majoring in Folklore? Tell me again how that makes sense?” He said. “So why aren’t you majoring in musical performance or theatre?”

  He was surprised when she merely shrugged. “Guess I wanted to try new things.” She said and tried to hide her apparent discomfort by taking a sip of her tea.

  Rhys frowned. Her tea cup shook in her unsteady hand making him wonder why she was acting so nervous. But he wouldn’t stop now. He had only begun to get the answers he sought.

  “But still, you at least perform in college shows, don’t you?”

  “No, I’ve decided to take a break from singing.” She met his gaze. “Are you really going to push the due date?”

  “Don’t change the subject. Why are you taking a break? You loved singing.”

  She looked down at the table. He could tell she wanted him to stop prying.

  “Just I needed a break okay?” She said a bit too defensively.

  “Why?”

  “You’re infuriating you know that?” She glared at him. “Because performing in The Magician was too stressful, okay. I just couldn’t handle the horror every single day. You know how dark that musical was and how demanding Earon and my mother could be. I got to the point where I couldn’t take it anymore. Being the innocent maiden was too much for me to handle. So I’m taking a break. Is that answer good enough for you?”

  He cringed at her sudden temper, and regretted pushing. Taking her tiny hand he gave it a squeeze. “I’m sorry Chloe. I didn’t know it was that hard on you.”

  Chloe had always seemed so cheery around him. He’d known the show was demanding, but he figured Chloe was handling it well. She’d never said otherwise. Perhaps she’d been suffering the whole time, and he hadn’t noticed.

  “You have so much talent Chloe, I hate seeing it go to waste.”

  “Well maybe I have other talents that shouldn’t be wasted by me singing.” She shot back then blanched at her own temper. “I’m sorry I got angry. Just I don’t like talking about it. I got too wound up in that role. I guess you could say I got frightened that the same thing would happen again should I take another role. Anyway, I’ve decided to give up my stage career. I hope you can respect my decision.” She said, her eyes on the hand holding hers.

  “Are you happy with this decision?” He asked, his thumb rubbing hers. In the back of his mind, he knew he shouldn’t be touching her. He didn’t have the right to. But the warmth of her hand was affecting his brain and he was having trouble thinking straight.

  “Of course.” She said her voice a bit shaky. He couldn’t help but noticed the lost look on her face.

  “About Heather,” she tried again. “You promise you’ll push the due date back a few weeks?”

  “I’ll tell you what.” He said, “I’ll push it back an entire month if you’ll go out to dinner with me.”

  “And if I don’t want to?” She asked and he wondered if she were maybe dating someone.

  “And why wouldn’t you want to eat dinner with an old friend, especially when that friend is threatening another friend?” He asked.

  Chloe stared at him for a moment biting her bottom lip. When had she picked up this habit? He had never seen her do it before. Even so he had to refrain from grinning. She was even cute flustered.

  “You’re teasing me aren’t you? You always used to tease me.” She said squinting at him. “You shouldn’t tease me with such a threat. Besides, doesn’t this go against university rules, a professor propositioning to his student?”

  “Ah, but you aren’t my student.” He said and grinned slyly.

  “I could report you.” She said with fake bravado.

  “You could.” He said. “In any case, I’m being serious. I’ll change the date if you agree to have dinner with me. Tonight.” He winked.

  “Fine you big bully, but I get to pick the restaurant.” She pulled her hand away and stood up. “Don’t get the wrong idea. I’m only doing this for Heather.”

  “If you say so.”

  She pursed her lips and glared down at him. If she weren’t careful she would end up bruising that pretty bottom lip.

  Chloe glanced down at her watch. “Look, I have to go.” She grabbed her purse. “I have my Folklore discussion class now.”

  He stood up too. “Sounds like fun. I already have your cell number so I’ll call you later this afternoon with the details.”

  She frowned. “How do you have my number?”

  He shrugged. “I have my ways.”

  “Whatever.” Chloe said. She turned and began to head for the door.

  He called her back. “It was good to see you again kid.” Until that moment he hadn’t realized just
how much he’d missed her.

  She smiled, her eyes clouded, and brushed something off her cheek. Then she was out the door sprinting down the sidewalk before he had a chance to react.

  He watched her from the window for a moment then laughed when she stopped glanced around in confusion then turned around and headed the other way.

  Chapter Six

  Chloe ran from the café, her tears already clouding her vision. She didn’t realize she’d been going the wrong way until she’d seen the noodle shop in front of her.

  Shaking her head at her own foolishness, she’d turned and headed back the other way, keeping her head down so as not to be tempted to glance inside the café. Hopefully he wouldn’t notice her stupidity.

  Slowing down to a walk, she sighed in embarrassment. Why did she feel so shy around him? Had she been that shy before? Probably. Yes. She was. She remembered how she used to get all tongue tied and how the butterflies attacking her belly would be so bad that she felt like she’d swoon at any second. She’d been at the end of her teenage years then, still a child.

  She was an adult now, and shouldn’t let such immature intense feelings control her. Adults didn’t function that way, losing themselves over seeing their first love again. She couldn’t deny that she was happy to see him. That’s all it was. Nothing more.

  It didn’t help that he was gorgeous, but so were a lot of students on campus. There went one now. Oh and there was another. Chloe couldn’t walk ten feet without seeing an attractive male. The campus was full of them. Rhys was just another handsome face. If she could resist them, she could resist him.

  Chloe wouldn’t let her hormones get the better of her. It was just hormones. She didn’t love him anymore. Hormones, that’s all it was, and given time, she’d eventually flush those out of her system.

  She wished he hadn’t teased her. It hadn’t been fair hanging Heather’s future over her head like that. All because of dinner? Why had he asked her out anyway? How could he act like nothing had happened? As if their break-up hadn’t bothered him in the slightest? Did their past mean nothing? Was she that easy to get over? Or was she just clinging to the past?