Ella

Chloe slammed the front door behind her and sank to the floor. Another disaster. She’d thought he could be “the one”, he’d complimented her singing, made her laugh, but now she realized that his jokes had all been at the expense of other people.

At the jazz club tonight she’d been the butt of his jokes. He’d put her down all evening to his friends, made her sound like a popstar wannabe and, even more incredible, had the nerve to think he’d be sharing her bed at the end of the night. What a tosser, she thought.

With her favourite Ella Fitzgerald CD weaving its magic round the room, she poured herself a glass of wine and began to sing.

“Some day he’ll come along the man I love, and he’ll be big and strong, the man I love and when he comes my way I’ll do my best to make him stay. Maybe I’ll meet him Sunday, maybe Monday….. oh who am I kidding, who’s gonna love me.” She knocked back the glass of wine and dissolved into tears.

“My oh my, who’s feeling sorry for themselves? Just because one man turned out to be a jerk, don’t give up on ‘em all.”

Chloe bolted upright and looked for the source of the voice but she couldn’t see anyone. She frantically rushed to the front door to check it was locked.  

“Who’s there? You’d better get out now, I’m calling the police.” Her voice began to shake as she realized that she couldn’t see her phone.

“Oh, I wouldn’t do that honey, it’s me Ella, just turn the lights a little lower and you’ll see me.”

“Ella? It can’t be.” Chloe whispered “I must be drunk, too much wine” as she cautiously turned the lights down.

“Oh god, I can see you, you’re all hazy.”

“Well what do you expect girl? I am dead you know. Now you and me are gonna have a little chat. First of all, why you shedding tears over that no good man?

“I thought he was the one, you know the one I love. But I realized tonight he doesn’t really love me at all. He hates my taste in music. He was always putting me down. He says I can’t sing…..” her voice trailed off as she realized she was confiding in a ghost.

“Well, he clearly has no taste in music at all if he doesn’t like my music.” Ella rolled her ghostly eyes “your voice isn’t bad, of course it’s never gonna be as good as mine, but with a little training you could be real good. Now, I’ve got Freddie waiting for me, we’re scatting some Queen songs, so I’ll come back soon. You get yourself to sleep and stop crying over that no good man.”

“Wait, don’t go.” Chloe called as the hazy form began to disappear. Too late, Ella had gone. Chloe shook her head trying to clear it. “Too much wine” she muttered, “far too much wine and an overactive imagination.”

 The next morning was bright and cheerful, Chloe felt her spirits lift as she resolved to put the previous night behind her and start afresh. She went for a run, did some yoga and cleaned the flat thoroughly before showering. “Well what do I do now?” she thought as she surveyed her pristine surroundings “I guess I could do some singing practice.”

Chloe put the Ella CD on to play and listened carefully to Ella’s voice, her phrasing, tone and rhythm.  Turning the volume down on the CD player, she began to sing, trying her best to sound like Ella. “It’s no good, I’m never gonna be as good as her, I don’t know why I’m bothering, I may as well sing Lady Gaga stuff.”

“Lady Who?” came a familiar voice from the bedroom “in my day gaga meant you were foolish. Is the woman a bit crazy or what?”

Chloe peered into the dim bedroom and could just see a hazy shape sitting on the chair.

“Er, hello Ella. Lady Gaga is a pop star and she does do some crazy stuff, but people like her music.” Chloe flopped onto the bed “if I’m going to make a living from singing, I’ve got to be better and sound more like you did.”

“You know you’re too hard on yourself. There ain’t never gonna be another Ella Fitzgerald, so you may as well get used to it. But you’ve got a good voice, like I said, with some help you could be real good. You know I sang other people’s songs, did my own versions, made them my own. Folks just happened to like them. Everyone does it. I’m flattered you want to sing my songs, but you gotta sing them your way, put your emotions into them. You gotta sing from your belly, not your throat, let your breath push the notes out easy like. Try scatting with some of the songs. I gotta go now, Freddie’s waiting, you go try out what I just said and I’ll catch up with you soon.”

“Oh god, I really am losing the plot. Singing lessons from a ghost, and what the heck is scatting?”

Deciding she had nothing to lose, Chloe wandered back into the lounge and practiced singing from her belly, letting her throat relax. She sang several of her favourite Ella songs, then tried putting her own take on them, changing the notes and phrasing here and there.

After an hour or so, she felt quite pleased with her progress. Her throat was getting dry so it seemed like a good time to take a break and make herself a coffee. As the kettle was coming to the boil her front doorbell rang. She cautiously peered through the spyhole and recognized the man who lived upstairs. They’d passed each other a few times going in and out of the building but they’d never spoken.

She opened the door a few inches, “Have you come to complain about the noise? I’m sorry, I’ve been practicing all morning. I’ll stop now.”

“No, its fine, I’m not here to complain. I’ve enjoyed listening to you, I wondered if….,  look it’s a bit awkward having a conversation like this, may I come in?”

“Go on girl, let him in, this could be the one,” a ghostly voice echoed through the flat “he likes my music, he must be okay.”

Chloe looked over her shoulder “will you go away” she whispered urgently.

The man at the door held his hand up “sorry, I shouldn’t have disturbed you, I’ll go.”

As he turned to walk away Chloe called “no, I didn’t mean you, please, come in, I’m just making some coffee, would you like some? I’m Chloe.” She realized she was gabbling and shut up as she stepped aside to let him in. He looked big and strong, tick. He was good looking, tick. He liked Ella Fitzgerald, tick, tick, tick.

They both began to speak at once.

“I’m Steve, I play at the jazz club.”

“How do you like your coffee?”

As they drank their coffee, they discovered a mutual love of jazz, Ella, Jamie Cullum, Louis Armstrong.

“Have you tried scatting?” he asked.

“That’s strange, Ella, I mean someone mentioned it earlier. I’m not familiar with it.”

“It’s where you do improvisations on a melody using meaningless words like be bop de doo dop instead of the words of the song. Ella was considered the best at scatting in her day. We could find some videos on YouTube if you like.”

The next few hours flew by and they arranged to meet again the next day.

“I run in the mornings, do you want to join me?” Chloe asked, delighted when he said he’d love to.

A few days later Ella dropped by “well child, I see you’ve been practicing. You’re sounding real good you know. I like that Steve you’re seeing, he’s a man of good taste. Plays in a band at the jazz club. You gonna join his band?”

“I like him too Ella, we seem to have so much in common. But I don’t know if I’m good enough to sing with his band.”

“You listen to me now, if you don’t believe in yourself and give yourself a little love, how d’you expect anyone else to? I’ve seen you checking yourself out in the mirror. Do you think Steve looks at himself in the mirror and thinks I’m not good looking enough for Chloe, I’m not big and strong enough for Chloe? No, course he don’t, he’s just waiting for the right time to ask you to sing with his band. He’s gotta know you know you can do it. Do you understand me? He ain’t got time to nursemaid you on stage, you’ve gotta just go out there and sing your heart out. If he asks, don’t let me down now, d’you hear me?”  

With these words ringing in her ears, Chloe opened the door to Steve.

“You look gorgeous today” he said gazing intently at her. Without another word he pulled her close and gently kissed her. In the distance they could hear Ella’s voice singing “Some day he’ll come along the man I love…..”

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have done that” Steve apologized, pulling away.

“Actually, I think you shouldn’t stop” Chloe reached up and wrapped her arms round him, holding him tightly.

“I really came to ask if you’d like to try singing with my band at the jazz club. Would you do a few numbers with us? We could do Ella and some other stuff and maybe some scatting….”

His voice trailed away as he looked at her uncertainly.

“Too damn right I would. When do we start rehearsing? I’ve got a few songs in mind.”

And so it was that a few nights later Chloe took centre stage and sang from her heart to Steve.

“How much do I love you?
I’ll tell you no lie
How deep is the ocean?
How high is the sky?”



She could have sworn she could see, standing by the bar, Ella and Freddie applauding.