London Harmony: Minuette (14 page)

Tim looked over at me with concern etched on his face. “Is she alright Fran?”

I hurried past him. “I don't know.”  I hustled down the stairs.  Something had spooked Annette.  She had been acting more and more erratically as we zeroed in on Minuette.

I looked around the Pit but didn't see her.  I spoke into the air, “Zil, where's Nett?  Something is wrong.”

A moment later she said over the intercom, “In the lobby, Small Fry.”

I darted down the stairs and Jen was looking out the main door with concern on her face.  I asked as I arrived beside her, “Nett?”

She nudged her chin and I looked out to see her hustling across the street.  I was about to run after her, but she hopped on an arriving bus.  Damn it, what had spooked her?  I pulled out my phone and hit her speed dial.  It went to voicemail and I cursed under my breath.  I was worried about the girl.

I exchanged concerned looks with Jennifer, then sighed and headed back to my office.  I had to go to class in a few minutes, I only had one today.  I thought about skipping it and driving to Annette's, but she looked like she needed to sort through something.  Maybe I should give her a little time to sort through it.

I exhaled loudly and resolved to give her a few hours, then I'd go to her place with Tasha.

June and Vannie met me at the stairs in the Pit.

June asked, “What's going on, Small Fry?”

I shrugged and said, “I don't really know.  We were working upstairs and something really spooked Nett.  She ran off and hopped a bus.  I was going to give her some time to settle down then go to her place after class and talk with her.”

June nodded. “Sounds good, will she be ok?”

I shrugged. “I don't even know what is wrong.  We were just working on the fourth level of Minuette's work and she went pale as a ghost and bolted.”

Vannie, looked away from her hand in June's to me and asked, “Fourth?  I thought you said third earlier.”

I shook my head. “Yeah, Tim found another message in the third, Morse code.  I have Bear working on it now.”  I paused and smiled. “You should hear the emotion in the third.  And the words sound almost like a confession of sorts.  It's on the server, you should give it a listen.”

Vannie shook her head with a lopsided smile.  “Four layers deep, this had been inside the music, years in the making.  Can you imagine all the thought and effort that would be needed to be put into something like that?  And to make each level sound so compelling in each?”

June nodded. “My thoughts exactly.  We NEED Minuette.”  She shot a look at me.

I nodded and said in a silly drawn out manner, “Yes, J-Dub.  Working on it.  We are so close I can taste it. The Phantom Melody has ended, and I believe we have all the breadcrumbs Minuette has provided.”  I crinkled my nose at her.

She crinkled her nose right back and winked at me.

Then I sighed and headed up the stairs.  Tim was heading past with his tool box in one hand and tool belt in the other.  “I've done all I can here.  It was great seeing you again, Small Fry.”

He was always so socially awkward and he just stood stiffly as I hugged the man goodbye, his tools grasped in each hand.  He grinned a little and I said, “Bye Tim.  Make sure you and the girls drop by before you go back to the States.”

He nodded and smiled as he headed down the stairs.  I stood there a moment and looked around.  It was eerily silent.  I had gotten used to having Nett here the past few weeks.

What started out as needing her to help with information about Minuette turned into her becoming the most amazing assistant that not only I but a lot of the others here at London Harmony could ever imagine.  She did more work on things other than the Phantom Melodies than anyone here except maybe Zilrita.  I was going to suggest to June that we give her a big raise and steal her away from the temp agency permanently as the office's Girl Friday.

She was more than just an assistant, she was our friend.  Part of our oddball family of misfits.

I sat in my chair and spun for a moment.  Just what had spooked her so much?  I tapped my hand absently on my hip then turned to my computer.  Minuette?  I put on my headphones and listened to the third level again and again as I sifted through the wealth of non-information we had about the mysterious artist.

It brought a new appreciation for the work as I looked at all the audio files.  Like the ladies said, this was a labor of love, years in the making.  Was it telling us something that I just couldn't fathom?

An alert popped up on my screen, an email from Bear.  I opened it and looked at his simple message.  “Decoded the message, does it mean anything to you?  'MS IS IN LOVE WITH AC FOREVER AND A DAY'.”

Minuette was professing her love to someone?  All of this music, all this mystery, was... a love note?  MS and AC?  Wait!  AC... as in Annette Corrick?  Minuette was in love with our girl?  A smile quirked at the corners of my mouth.  MS.  Minuette S.

Wait, wait, wait!  Maybe not Minuette!  I leapt out of my chair and ran to the neatly stacked boxes of yearbooks and had to smile at just how neatly stacked and organized they were.  Nett's work.  I found the book I was looking for and thumbed through it as I mumbled, “What is her last name?”

I stabbed at a page as I smiled at the girl, younger than I knew her, who was smiling on the page.  I blurted out loud, “Stevens!  MS, Mindy Stevens!”

I slapped my hand over my mouth.  Oh, my God.  Mindy?  Annette knew this whole time?  I laughed out loud as almost everything came into sharp focus.  Why Annette tried so hard to tell us, she couldn't help us.  All the work she did around the studio was out of guilt.

My mind was racing a million miles a second.  No, wait... Mindy can't be Minuette.  Her damaged vocal cords...  she couldn't sing.  But Nett said Mindy played the piano.

My eyes flew wide.  Son of a bitch!  That's why Nett would never sing with us!  Minuette... the names Mindy and Annette smashed up.  And we had just assumed it was a misspelling, but Minuette is two people working together... THEY are Minuette!

I did a little dance, letting my tongue hang out and loll about.  I was feeling excited and silly.

Then I slowed as I thought of Nett's reaction.  Did she... not know.  They seemed so in love last Thursday Night.  Everyone there thought they were such a cute couple.  Was this a surprise to her?

No, she was spooked, scared.  Hold the phone, was she scared that... that we'd figure it out?  And be mad?  A sly smile spread across my face.  I think J-Dub is about to lay another exciting surprise on her.

I grabbed my phone's handset then paused before I buzzed June.  I felt the evil grin on my face when I realized I could have some fun with J-Dub too.  I thought for a moment then pulled up the personnel records and scribbled Annette's address on a notepad.

I tore the page out and held it as I stared at it, then glanced at the time.  I had just enough time for some fun before I had to dart off to class.  I skipped down the stairs, and still feeling playful, skipped through the Pit, people looking up to stare at my display.  Then I skipped into the conference room and paused.  June wasn't in her office.  She was in the conference room with Van.  The third Phantom Melody track playing over the speakers.

I just stood there bouncing on my toes with a silly grin on my face.  Van leaned in close to June, her eyes locked on me and she said behind her hand,  “She's finally done lost it.”

June snorted and cocked an eyebrow.  “Yes, Small Fry?”

I nudged my eyes to the speakers in the ceiling.  “So, what did you think?”

June narrowed her eyes in suspicion as she said carefully, “Beautiful, charged with emotion... almost sad in a way.  That mysterious woman has so many facets.”

I grinned and held the note out with both hands toward her as I chirped out, “Well, mystery solved.”

June's eyes bulged and her hand shot out, but I pulled the prize out of her reach.  I swung side to side.  “How much do you love me?”

She snatched at it again and I pulled it away and spun in a silly dance as she said, “A little less each second you withhold that.”

I dangled the note in the air just out of her reach and repeated, “How much do you love me?”

She sighed and chuckled. “More than the sun and the moon, Small Fry.”

I held the note with two fingers and cocked my wrist, dipping it within her reach and let her snatch it from me.  I fluttered my lashes.  “One home address to a certain Minuette you are looking for.”

I doubt she could have smiled any bigger at that moment, her eyes glittering with excitement and anticipation.  “You're sure?”

I nodded with a sly grin.  “Positive.”

She stood animatedly and took a half step toward the door when Vannie made and “Eent!” sound.  June paused and looked at my sister who was looking at the paperwork in front of her.  “After we finish here lady, you have put off the paperwork Zil has been funneling you for too long.  She needs approval on a few things before she can work on the new contracts you needed.”

June said, “But...”

Van just shook her head with a wicked smile.  June sat like a pouting child and looked up at me.  “I have absolutely no clue what possessed me to marry your evil slave driver sister.”

Vanessa fluttered her lashes at her girl and J-Dub melted.

“Oh yeah, that's what.” They shot each other loving looks.  I had to get out of there before the sugar levels in the room sent me into diabetic shock.

I called out,  “I'll head there after class.  I'm interested to see how things play out.”

June just nodded and sighed heavily as she picked up the paperwork.  She hated how monotonous the business end of the company could be for her, she preferred to be out in the field, where the music and excitement were.

I had to chuckle at myself as I left the building and headed for my car.  Now that I thought of it, I don't know how we didn't see it.  There were so many clues and Annette's actions should have clued us in.  I silently berated myself for not withholding the information from J-Dub until I got back from class.  I wanted to see Nett's reaction when June showed up on her doorstep.

Van chided me, “Come on June, let's finish up, then you can go hunt your white whale, Ahab.”

I couldn't believe it when Fran had walked into the conference room where Nessie and I were going over some paperwork for Zil.  She had actually located Minuette.  I don't know why I have been so obsessed with the mystery woman's music more than I normally am with a new prospect.

Ok, fine, I did know.  The mystery that shrouded the woman, and the fact that she didn't want recognition for her musical artistry hit a certain chord with me.  It was so similar to my own entry into the music world.  I didn't matter, only the music mattered.  I didn't want the music cheapened by the fact that I was the daughter of a rock legend.  I wanted the music to speak for me and inspire others.

I wondered if this woman had similar reasons... no, the music felt like an admission to me, confessing emotions to someone that they couldn't express without the music.  And the genius involved was staggering, to be able to blend in three distinct melodies across years of work.  It seemed a labor of love.  Then to find another code buried in the final layer of music.

I paused at that thought, Small Fry hadn't told me if they figured out what the Morse Code said.  Maybe that's how she finally identified the artist.

I snapped out of it as Vannie cleared her throat and looked pointedly down at the paperwork.  She randomly touched the back of my hand again.  Her constant check to make sure I was really there.  It made my heart ache with sorrow every time she thought she had to do that.

She had gone for so long before she met me, not knowing what was real and what was schizophrenia induced hallucinations.  That now that she was stabilized, she didn't trust the medication.  I placed my other hand on top of hers and gave a little squeeze.  I could see the strain at the corners of her eyes relax a bit and could almost feel the momentary relief she got from the contact, rush through her.

She glanced up into my eyes and I was lost for a moment.  After all these years, how could she take my breath away every single time she does that?  I saw her seek out the music she said that played in my eyes and she relaxed further.  I had to tear my eyes from hers as I smiled.

I glanced at the address Fran had given me.  Sitting on the conference room table just to the side of the last equipment acquisition form Zil needed me to sign.  Eyes on the prize June!

I glanced at the acquisition form for the upgraded mixing panel for the iso booth.  Zil had somehow sourced one for a significant discount.  I had no clue how she did it.  She ran this place for me better than I could do myself, and I didn't even know why I had to approve the wizardry that she consistently accomplished.  Maybe so that I felt like I was actually contributing on the management end of things.

I signed the document and grinned at Van and popped up and headed for the door.  She cleared her throat again and I paused mid-step and teetered on one leg.  I squinted one eye and looked back.  She was holding the paperwork toward me and she nudged her eyes toward her and Zil's office.

I flopped my other foot down and sighed.  “Fine.  Party pooper.”

She gave me a toothy grin as I stomped back over and grabbed the papers from her.

We walked into her office on the opposite end of the conference room from mine.  I had to smile at Zil as she hummed and bounced in her chair to some music on her ever present earbud.  I admit to smirking when I noticed her inbox was actually organized and had little colorful tabs on each group of papers.  Squirrel's work.

I can't believe Zil actually let her touch her mess of a desk.  Nett must have some mad persuasion skills.  Our resident goth has a system.  We may not understand it, but she knows exactly where everything is in her mess.

Annette has been a godsend here at London Harmony.  We hadn't even known how disorganized and inefficient we were around here until she blew through like a force of nature and organized everyone's work.  She automated so much with her database work that everyone is mentioning how much more work they are getting done every day.

Which reminded me.  Fran has hinted a couple times that we needed to steal her away from the Lethridge temp agency, and pay her what she is worth.  I agreed.  We were so lucky to have found such a versatile and focused office assistant with so many skills.

Zil looked up with a questioning, “Grawl?”

That sound was always so endearing to me, ever since she started making it back in college.  It meant a lot of things and if you knew her, you could generally suss out its meaning in any particular instance.

Though most of the time it meant she wanted a hug.  She was so starved for human contact, I always wonder what her home life was like.  In all the years I have known her, neither me or any of our close-knit friends in June's Eight have been able to get anything other than general information from her about her childhood. It was almost like she started her life over, the day she became Hank's roommate at the art school we all attended.

We all happily supplied her with all the hugs she wanted, we just couldn't figure out how to escape them once she caught us in one.

This particular utterance, though, meant, “Yes?  What can I do for you today?  Does it involve hugs?”

I held up the stack of papers and tentatively started moving them toward her inbox.  She shook her head.  “Oh god no.  Nett would have my head.”  She wiggled her fingers. “Gimme.”

I grinned and handed her the paperwork.  She quickly sifted through it, placing different colored sticky tags on each group then placed them neatly in her inbox.  Then she squinted an eye at the box, stuck her tongue out at it, turned the top paper crookedly, and said, “Ha!  Take that Nett!”

I had to chuckle at her antics.  I shouldn't be so entertained, I knew it was just a matter of days before our obsessive compulsive office assistant gathered up enough courage to step into my office to start organizing my mess too.

I asked, “It isn't that bad is it?”

She looked at me, trying to keep a straight face,  Then she exhaled and grinned.  “No.  And actually, it makes things a little easier.”  Then her eyes went wide. “Don't tell her that!  She bribes me with hugs to let her do her organize-y thing in here.”  She wiggled her eyebrows.

Van snorted. “Hug slut.”

Zil nodded and affirmed the accusation, “Yuh-huh.”  Then she sobered quickly and asked, “Did Fran find out what was wrong?”

I furrowed my brow. “What do you mean?”

She looked a little anxious. “Annette... something was wrong earlier and she ran out of the building with Small Fry in hot pursuit.”

This brought my protective side to the forefront quickly, in my excitement I had totally forgot that Fran mentioned Annette's distress.  “No.  Fran mentioned the incident to us earlier.  Was Squirrel ok? Frannie said she was going to visit her after class to see if we can help.”

She nodded slowly.  Damn it, now I had something to worry about until I saw Fran again.  It put a bit of a damper on my excitement about Minuette.  I wanted everyone in my house to be ok.

I exhaled and said, “Well let me know if you see either of them before me.  I'm heading off to hopefully meet the elusive Minuette.”

She nodded again and I turned to the reason my heart beats.  I gave Vannie a crooked smile.  “Come with?”

She rolled her eyes and started playfully pushing me out the door as she followed along.  Zil smiled and said, “Don't stay out too late children.”

To her chuckling delight, I called out between my own chuckles, “Don't wait up mother.” 

A moment later, I was being led through the Pit on my girl's arm, in search of a genius songstress.  We smiled at Jen on our way through the lobby.  I had to grin at how elegant she looked and acted, I couldn't imagine a better first impression for our clients.

And she dressed impeccably.  I admit to being a clothes addict.  Even though my style resembles a relaxed and laid back hip rocker, looks can be deceiving.  Everything down to my shoes are high-end designer clothes carefully crafted for the industry.  So I appreciated the effort Jennifer put into her own gorgeous designer wardrobe.  A good chunk of her paycheck had to go into clothes and shoes.

She had been a lucky find.  Van and I had been at one of our favorite cafe's, Cavendish's, and she was in there drinking coffee.  I noted the business suit she was wearing was a Lane Bachman original and complimented her on it as we passed by.

We wound up sitting with her, discussing fashion.  I enjoyed her quirky personality and how she wielded sarcasm with an expert hand.  She had worked for a small fashion apparel company that had just recently gone under.

She was out that day going to job interviews.  It wasn't until she mentioned that it was hard for her to find a position because of bigotry and bias that I even realized that she was transgender.  I really hate the term because it is just a label.  She is a woman because she is a woman.  Why do people have to apply labels just because biologically she didn't start out that way?  A lot of the misconceptions come from a lack of education of the public on that and other trigger subjects like sexuality.

I had casually asked if she had a resume on her and she produced one from her leather Frederick Tourvell satchel.  Oh, how I still want that bag.  I scanned it over and was impressed.  By the time we finished lunch, I had her calling Zilrita so she could get a read on her.

Dear lord, that was a humorous meeting.  I swear that Zil started salivating the moment she laid eyes on Jen, which was odd since I was quite sure until that moment, that my old friend wasn't attracted to women.  I have never seen Zilrita Marx tongue-tied before.  By the end of their meeting, Jen was our receptionist and she had Zil wrapped firmly around her finger and I swear to God that both dense women do not even realize it.

I shook my head to clear it and get back on task, meeting Minuette, as we stepped out of the building and into a light drizzle.  You have to love late spring in London, it reminded me so much of Seattle.  My girl magically produced a little umbrella from somewhere and we huddled together under it to keep dry as we went along.

Once we liberated our vehicle from the parking garage down the block, I entered the address into my cell and synced it with the car's onboard GPS.  My free hand drifted down to the console between the seats, to clasp Nessie's hand, as my excitement started to build again.  We were finally going to meet with Minuette!

That brought us to now, standing in front of our own Annette in the doorway of her place, as Mindy paused in her playing of the beautiful antique grand piano that dominated their living room behind her.  I laughed in pure unadulterated mirth as I said to the girl we have been slowly folding into our odd little London Harmony family, “Minuette I presume?”