PART 20 – CARLOTTA & PIANGI

"I 'av 'ad enough" Carlotta wailed in a high pitched squeal that seemed to echo around her dressing room

"Please Carlotta, I really don't think…" Ubaldo Piangi implored as he followed her into the prima donna's dressing room

"for ze last six months, zees is getting worse!" Carlotta gestured to her paint stained dress "Props have been falling over, scripts have been altered, and now, pots of paint are falling from the ceiling, as if by magic!"

"I know" Ubaldo chuckled as he recalled an incident when Carlotta's script had been 'amended' so that her lyrics read lyrics that were rather insulting, instead of the original lyrics. Of course, Carlotta had just sang from the lyric sheet and had been left blushing with humiliation after the whole company had laughed at her 'error'

He and Carlotta had been 'secret' lovers for over a year now and it seemed that as every day went by, Carlotta seemed to take her companion for granted more and more. Piangi had started to feel more like Carlotta's servant than her lover as everyday he would hear her calling him to fetch her puppy, fetch her water and generally do anything she asked.

"Ubaldo, I cannot put up viz zees conditions" Carlotta placed her hand to her forehead in an expression of stress "For 3 years I 'ave been afflicted viz zees humiliation and over the last six months it 'as been getting worse and worse"

"It is nothing personal" Ubaldo started to massage Carlotta's shoulders as she sank down at her dressing table

"Oh really?" Carlotta whirled around in her chair and pushed his hands away "Zen 'ow come it iz always my script that gets altered?"

"Carlotta, its just unfortunate" Ubaldo protested "I really…"

"And 'ow come the props always happen to fall near me?" she picked up the fan on her dressing table and started frantically fanning herself

"Carlotta, stop taking everything so personally" Ubaldo sighed "Accidents happen to us all"

"Then 'ow come the pot of paint fell on me?" Carlotta threw the fan back onto her dressing table "Look at me! My dress is ruined"

As Carlotta surveyed the mess on her beautiful, green dress, her facial expressions started to tighten.

"Eet is im! I am sure of eet!"

"Who?" Ubaldo frowned

"Ze Phantom of Ze Opera, who else?" she got up out of the chair and paced wildly around the room "He vants me to quit ze opera, well I won't"

"Carlotta, please don't start believing these ridiculous stories" Ubaldo laughed as he watched her pace the room

"Stories? They happen to be true Ubaldo!" she shrieked "One man died years ago when he was just searching around in the depths of the opera house for sets and props"

"So Buquet says" Ubaldo peered into the dressing table mirror and adjusted his bow tie "But are you really doing to believe the drunk of the Opera Populaire?"

"Eet is 'im!" Carlotta pushed Ubaldo aside and started powdering her cheeks with blusher "He is targeting me and he is trying to drive me mad"

"The Phantom of the Opera is a legend! A myth cooked up by eccentrics who have nothing better to do than to torment successful people like yourself" Piangi laid his hands back on her shoulders and chuckled "And I thought you were too intelligent and insightful to believe in such rubbish"

In the 6 years that he had known and starred alongside Carlotta Guidicelli in the Opera Populaire, Ubaldo had developed an admiration for the headstrong prima donna. He wasn't sure if he was in love for how could you love someone who spent more time gazing at their own reflection, than looking into your eyes. But he couldn't help but find her vanity somewhat endearing.

"Vot are you looking at?" Carlotta frowned as she noticed Ubaldo gazing at her

"Nothing dear!" he bent down and kissed her on the cheek

"Ubaldo!" she brushed him away "I have just applied blusher to my cheeks and now you 'ave gone and kissed me!"

"I am going to the bistro" Ubaldo walked towards the door "Shall I expect to see you later?"

"Maybe" Carlotta turned her attention back to her reflection in her mirror "Then again, maybe not"

At her last remark, Ubaldo sighed and walked out of the dressing room. Sometimes he just couldn't imagine why he bothered with that woman! But then again, he guessed that it was their vanity that kept them together. He too, was a proud man! And when he looked at Carlotta, he could find many similarities in himself. They were both rather large people, with rather large voices to match although, like many, Ubaldo had started to find Carlotta's voice a little highly strung lately. He was not about to confess that to her however, it just wasn't worth it, he valued his life and his facial features far too much.

And as for the Phantom of the Opera, well Ubaldo was pretty sure that all those rumours were merely imaginative creations by Joseph Buquet, in yet another drunken stupor. He certainly wasn't going to worry about an 'opera ghost' and was sure that all the recent accidents were just due to bad luck. But then again, Carlotta did seem to bear the humiliation of each incident, as if it was she who was being targeted.

Shaking his head, he headed towards the Opera House's entrance to make his way home.

"I do not believe in ghosts, phantoms or anything of the like" he declared to himself as he crossed the quiet Parisian roads.