Romance in A minor: A musical romance Read Online Free Page A

gossip or tv. She didn't care much for clothes.
    Fiona could become a soulmate in this office.
    She was about to go back to work when she noticed an ad on Fiona's screen, with a picture of a violin. "Hey, what's that?"
    She looked closer. It was for the North Sydney Orchestra with a visiting violinist from Europe.
    Fiona's cheeks coloured red. "Oh, that's just... I was going to book tickets for that at lunchtime, but there's no time for that now."
    "That should be a good concert," Justine said. That was the orchestra where Darren played, wasn't it?
    "Yeah. I was going to take my mother. She loves concerts. I don't mind them. Do you know much about classical music?"
    Justine hesitated.
    Donna said, "Are you kidding? She used to be at the conservatorium before she joined us mere mortals."
    Fiona's eyes widened. "Is that true?"
    Justine cringed and nodded.
    "What did you play?"
    "The cello." Justine spoke quietly. Most of the girls thought she was being uppity about music, but she truly couldn't care less about the music the girls liked, and no longer had the money to go to concerts or the contacts to get in for free.
    "That's such a wonderful instrument. I love the strings. That's why we're going to this concert. You know I once went to a concert with Hiroshi Hideka? It was wonderful."
    Justine bit her lip.

Chapter 5
    W hen Justine came home, she stood in the doorway to the spare bedroom. The top of her cello case poked out from a couple of boxes in the corner. Tom's exercise bike stood in the way, but it wasn't heavy and she could easily move it aside.
    She carried a chair from the dining table and put it in the unused bit of floor just inside the door.
    The case opened with a familiar click. The lid was a bit stiff, but when it opened, that familiar smell wafted up from inside.  Two years of non-use had not made any visible marks on the instrument.
    She carefully lifted it out of the case. Her sweaty fingers left moist fingerprints on the wood. She took the spike from the case and screwed it into the bottom of the instrument.
    Then the bow. Two hairs had come loose, but she cut them off.
    She sat on the chair leaning the instrument against her shoulder. The feeling of it was so familiar, the feel of her fingers on the strings so comforting.
    The first note sounded quite dreadful, but after a few, she got back into the feel of it. She played a couple of scales. Whatever happened to her music books?
    She leaned the cello against the chair while she found her music in the cupboard. She couldn't find a music stand, so she got a second chair from the kitchen for the books. Most of the pieces were still familiar to her but while her mind could hear the music, her fingers didn't quite produce the sound she wanted.
    Oh boy, that was hard.
    If she wanted to play in an ensemble, she had better do some serious practice.
    Justine played until her fingers ached and until she realised with a shock that Tom would be home soon and she hadn't even started thinking about dinner. She packed away the cello and the music and took the two chairs back into the living room.
    She was just making coffee when there was the noise of the front door opening and closing.
    "Hello honey."
    Tom came into the living room. He carried a bunch of flowers, which he pushed into her hands.
    "For me?"
    There were pink roses and orange gerberas, some kind of variegated leaf and sprinkles of tiny white flowers. "How pretty. They smell so nice."
    Justine put the flowers in a vase and then poured coffee.
    "I'm sorry I haven't done anything about dinner yet. I was... busy."
    "Oh? Looking at dresses and venues?"
    Well, actually... "Uhm, yeah. Where would you like to have the wedding?"
    They talked for a while about the different places, parks and halls that could be hired. Someplace that overlooked the water, they decided, and they'd hold the wedding in spring.
    "Some of the places need to be booked a long time in advance."
    "Do we need that long?" Tom asked. "It's likely