Gated Love

"I've been searching for something, I didn't know what." He whispered, lifting my head to look me in the eyes. "And now I know it's been you. And I don't want to let go."

"Then don't." I whispered back.

Melody has been sheltered by her wealthy parents all her life. Living in New Orleans, she has been shaped by the music and food. Her parents want her to become an attorney, like they are, but Melody's dream is to become a well-known creole chef of New Orleans and to own her own restaurant on Chartres street. She doesn't have the courage to tell her parents what she longs to do, afraid they will punish her and force her out of the city where her heart belongs to. She sneaks out almost every night to her secret hiding spot, an abandoned building on the Mississippi river and dreams of how her life would be doing the thing she loves most. And every night, as she returns home and sits on her balcony, she hears the most beautiful voice drifting it's way down the streets of New Orleans. She longs to meet the owner to the voice, but never finds him. But one night, after sneaking out of her parents' ball, she does. He ends up changing her life and giving her hope for a better future and gives her the courage to follow her dreams.