An Unsung Melody

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Justin: Did you have to find the most attractive real estate agent in Orlando?

Lynn: I don't see why it matters to you.

***

As they finished touring the second house Adam had lined up for them, Ashley had to smile as she heard Elle giving Justin instructions to make sure he fed her soon before her best friend signed off with him.

Justin walked up to where she stood with Adam in the foyer of this home and handed her phone back to her as Adam finished telling her about this home.

"So," the realtor asked, "tell me what you thought about both homes we saw tonight?"

Ashley grinned up at him in what she knew could be a show stopping smile, "They were beautiful, there were things I loved about both of them. Especially the pools. But," she paused and shrugged, "I think I'd have to maybe look around a little more. I don't actually know how much time I'll be spending in Orlando and I don't think I'd need something quite as big as either of these places and as much as it pains me to admit it, I don't think I'd use the pool enough to make it worth it."

He nodded his understanding, if not some disappointment, "So maybe looking at something smaller?"

"With a library," she teased, "If it's like the library in Beauty and the Beast, then you've got me sold."

Adam chuckled and she thought she heard Justin cover a laugh with a cough, "I've got my work cut out for me then. When's a good time to meet up to see more listings? I could drive you around to a few places this weekend."

Justin literally choked beside her and Ashley shoved him out the open door, "I'm going to be out of town this weekend," she confessed, "but let me give you a call when I get back into town and we'll go from there."

Justin practically yanked her down the porch steps and towards the car, "I've been instructed to feed you or you will perish. What do you want for dinner?"

Ashley decided to laugh at his antics, she was tired of being annoyed with him and it was a little fun to imagine he had been a little jealous of the realtor's innocent intentions.

"Pizza is the way to my heart," Ashley told him with a smile.

"Then pizza it is," Justin agreed, putting the car into drive.

He found a local pizza spot that didn't look too incredibly busy, it was mostly teens scattered throughout the restaurant, some at a pool table and others hanging around the small selection of arcade games on one side of the room. Justin went to order while Ashley found them a corner booth that kept them as much out of the view as possible. She realized that the last week she had felt like she'd lived a relatively normal life. Since she wasn't on tour, she wasn't surrounded by security all the time and that seemed like a breath of fresh air.

She absently tugged the Red Sox hat lower over her face then pulled the hair tie from her hair and tugged it around her shoulders as her thoughts circled through the day. The song she'd recorded that morning was as close to her heart as anything she'd ever worked on, that made her scared and excited. Scared to share those feelings and words with the world, but also excited that she'd had a part in creating it. Justin's melody had wormed its way into her life in a way that she didn't feel like she'd ever be separated from it again. She couldn't wait to hear it once they got the final product back.

The auditions this afternoon had been fun, trying to use her voice to express the emotions of a troll had been new and also an exciting challenge. She realized that she'd put herself in a box when it came to her career and she hadn't been looking for different options or things she could try.