Romance in A minor: A musical romance Read Online Free

mostly attended by girls a few years younger than her, but other than that, she felt like she'd moved to a foreign country. Here were all these people who got out of bed before midday and who worried about pencil skirts and high heels.
    Justine, Donna, Katrina, Marisol and Fiona took the lift down to the food court at the bottom of the building. Lunchtime was full of talk about wedding dresses and different types of ceremonies.
    Was she getting married in the church? Was she going to have a party and reception? Could friends come to the reception? How many guests? How many bridesmaids? What about the dress?
    The girls told about experiences with their sisters, their friends and their cousins. None of them were married, but they knew everything especially Marisol, who came from a very large Spanish family and had a gazillion sisters and cousins.
    In the middle of all that talk, Justine met Fiona's eyes across the table. Fiona hadn't said much.
    "Do you have a sister?" Justine asked her.
    "Yes, but she's only twelve."
    Donna exclaimed, "Twelve?"
    People at the next table looked over their shoulders and frowned. Wasn't that just like Donna? Make a lot of noise and embarrass people. She did have a good heart, but if only she didn't blurt everyone's personal stuff out to everyone who was within earshot.
    Fiona's cheeks went red. "Yes, she's from my father's second marriage."
    Donna sighed. "Oh yes, don't talk to me about wedding and divorced parents."
    "Actually, my mother died of cancer when I was little."
    That resulted in a deep, embarrassing silence.
    "Oh," Donna said and her cheeks had gone beet red. "Oh, I'm sorry."
    "There is no need to."
    When conversation continued, Justine said in to Fiona a low voice, "Never mind Donna. She means well."
    "It's all right."
    But she could see the pain in Fiona's face.
    Then Fiona asked, "Do you have a sister?"
    Justine shook her head. "I don't have any sisters at all, no brothers either. Just me and my parents." That was why she was such a disappointment to her mother, who had wanted her to become a doctor or a lawyer or anything else that would impress her extended Chinese family.
    Guess she was a failure, and marrying Tom would improve that impression only a little bit. Her mother would be happy because she could tell her relatives that her daughter had married a banker. Also, Tom impressed her mother with his good looks and flashy car, but Justine didn't think that her father liked Tom very much. Whenever they visited, they were always very cool to each other.
    When lunchtime was over they all went back upstairs, chatting in the foyer and the lift, which was full of other people returning from lunch.
    To Justine, it was all rather surreal. It was as if this wedding was happening in a different world that didn't involve her. They hadn't even set the date yet. She might have said yes, but it didn't feel real to her.
    "By the way, I don't think I've said congratulations to you," Fiona said in a low voice as she walked next to Justine back to their desks.
    "Thank you." There was a kind of awkward silence. Fiona was the quiet type, and Justine felt like she ought to say something, but she didn't know what. "I'm sorry for Donna asking about your family. We didn't really need to know that."
    They had arrived at Fiona's desk and Fiona sat down, shifting her mouse so that the screen of her computer flickered back to life. "Don't worry about it. It's OK."
    "No, I don't think it is, but things get a bit crazy here sometimes. Too much gossip. Everyone just assumes things about you because of the way you look."
    She had never felt like that with her music friends. They didn't ask blatant things like why Justine looked Asian while her name was not. Those things just happened in the music world. It was very international.
    Fiona smiled. "No, really, don't worry about it. I don't usually fit in very well. I'm used to it."
    Justine didn't think she fitted in all that well either. She didn't care for