Ready to Run

Chapter 3

"What's wrong?" she asked quietly. "Why isn't anyone saying anything?"

The terrace erupted, everyone at the table speaking at once. Lexi, wide eyed, began to shake. Phillip took in her overwhelmed expression and quieted the crowd.

"Lexi, you have the most beautiful voice I've ever heard. How is it that you don't know this?"

"I thought my parents were exaggerating. And I never really tried it out with anyone else after my best friend started making comments about bleeding eardrums when we were in middle school." She frowned as she wondered why Jenny had said that. "I'm sure I can't be that good, though."

Phillip was whispering in Jack's ear as Emma said quietly, "Darling, we don't exaggerate. We don't say things about music and voices that we don't mean. It's what we do."

"That good?" She was very quiet.

"That good." There was no doubting Phillip's sincerity. "I'd very much like it if you would sing at karaoke tonight, and I have another request. I want you to sing with Jack. I think your voices will complement one another. I know the song I'd like you to sing, but I suppose we should see if you know it. It's a little before your time. Do you know..."

Lexi beamed as he gave the title. "I know it by heart! It was my parents' wedding song. Can I still sing one on my own as well or will that be hogging the mic?"

"Love," Lukas smiled, "no one will complain about you having the mic."

"Oh, thank you. I'm feeling a little shaky right now, though. How much time until it starts?"

"You have an hour," Jack said. "Why don't we go run through the song a few times. Can someone print me up the lyrics? I know it, but not well."

Fyn trotted off into the villa.

"Shall we go somewhere quiet, you and I?" Jack offered her his hand and Lexi went willingly with him into the house and to a room strewn with clothing, food, electronics - anything and everything that said young guy. "Um... sorry 'bout the mess."

She waited patiently while he cleared one of the beds and motioned for her to sit as he opened his laptop and found the music for their song. Fyn came in with a printed page of lyrics for Jack, then lingered by the door.

Jack tsked him away, "Go on then, off with you and close the door behind you. Lexi needs some privacy."

"Thank you, Jack. I'm not sure what I think about all this."

"Don't think, just sing. Let me look at these lyrics just for a moment, with the music. You just listen this time."

As the music began, he murmured along with the female vocals until the male part came in. Lexi found his voice quite sexy, strong and a little rough, but tender, and she admired his intuitive phrasing, which was even better than the original. The years of watching Vox USA were paying off; she seemed to remember some of the vocabulary of singing.

"Wow," she said as he finished, "and you've never sung that before?"

"Nope."

"I guess I understand why Nigel was eager to have you. I really like your voice."

"Thank you. It's a bit different when we're singing the pop stuff. Still pretty good though, I reckon."

"Yeah, I reckon too. So, shall we try this? I've never sung a duet. Hell, I've never really sung."

"You do your part and I'll do mine and the together bits we'll sort out."

As they went through the song together, Lexi found herself in a sort of dream state, eyes closed, wrapped in the music and their voices.