Ch. 3: The Pretender
While Elsa was busy planning her scheme Georg and Maria continued to talk to one another. Each intrigued by the other.
"So you have seven children!" Maria exclaimed amazed. "I am sure Elsa is happy about that."
"Well actually she hates children." Georg told her. "She doesn't get along with them to well at all." He told her.
"That is to bad." Maria said. "What are the children's names?" She asked trying to change the subject.
"Liesl, Friedrich, Louisa, Kurt, Brigitta, Marta and Gretl." He finished quickly. "They are all wonderful children." He sighed. "I wanted to take them with us because they had never been to Paris. Elsa refused of course."
"Miss them?"
"Yes," He smiled. "There my life."
"I always wanted a big family like that." Maria replied. "That way you would rarely feel alone." As Maria was speaking Elsa walked up to them, she noticed that after an hour they were still in deep discussion. "I'm really sorry about your wife Captain. You didn't deserve that, from what I know of your family, none of you deserved that."
"Thank you, Renee." He told her smiling.
"Darling it is time to leave now." Elsa told him. She was a bit shaken because of the fact Maria already knew about his wife. He had never even really talked to Elsa about her.
"Already?" He asked.
"Yes." She replied stiffly.
"Very well." He told her shifting his gaze back to Maria. "Renee I umm…want to see you again." He stammered. Maria's face lit up with happiness. "Would you like to join Elsa and I for lunch tomorrow, if you are not busy?"
"Sure I would love too." Maria answered happily.
"Great, where should we pick you up?" He asked.
"Umm…well…how about in front of the Opera House?" Maria asked not wanting to let him know she was in a very cheep apartment. He looked at her questionably, but soon smiled.
"Very well we shall meet you here at noon." Maria nodded excited.
"It was a pleasure meeting both of you." Maria answered as she smiled and turned away from the couple. Georg turned around and walked out of the room with Elsa.
"Who was that?" Hissed Aime. She had noticed Maria was very preoccupied the moment he had introduced himself to her.
"Captain von Trapp." She answered sweetly. "And that was his fiancée." Aime noticed the disgusted tone in Maria's voice, but decided not to mention anything. She could tell her friend was in love, but knowing Maria she would never admit it.
"The owners wish to speak with you after this is over Renee." Aime whispered to her friend. Maria smiled at her friend. It had been fun playing Renee for one day and she was excited about being able to sing in front of so many and touch so many. However a little bit of worry hung around her. She had accepted an invitation to lunch as Renee, not as Maria. She couldn't just tell the Captain the next day that she had lied. Then what would he think of her? Maria put those thoughts behind her for the time being and enjoyed the rest of the party. There were many people telling her how touched they were at her performance. The owners noticed it, which was one of the reasons for calling her down.
"Maria! Congratulations you did it! You took the world by storm! They loved you and I must say you played Renee very well." Mr. Barret told her.
"People may start loving her personality if this keeps up. I mean think of the money that would roll in if Renee had the same personality as you off the stage." Mr. Legard said. "We could make so much money."
"Well that is nice gentlemen are you umm…auditioning someone else for the part or what now?" Maria asked. She wasn't sure what they were implying by their conversation, but she didn't like the way they were going.
"Mr. Legard and I discussed that and we were wanting to put your name in the programs after tonight and tell everyone a new star had come. However after your performance tonight…well it was stunning. You gave Renee her stardom back that's for sure. People are in love with her all over again." Mr. Barret told her.
"So we were thinking what would happen to the Opera if we told everyone we fired Renee for a new girl, or that she just left? It would put a bad rap on all of us." Mr. Legard said. Maria sighed not wanting to even think about what she knew they were going to ask her to do.
"What are you implying?" She asked.
"We want you to be Renee until this show gets over." Mr. Barret finished. Maria looked at them sadly. It wasn't that she didn't want the lead role in the Opera. She had dreamt of it since she auditioned, but she didn't want it that way. Using a fake name and pretending to be someone else for a month? She didn't know if she could handle that. Maria was never good at lying.
"Well I…" She began.
"We know it is a very difficult thing to do. In a way it is wrong and shouldn't happen, but we couldn't disappoint all those fans now could we? After they have seen Renee turn around before their very eyes? What would they do if they found out that it was just some chorus girl? They would leave the Opera House and probably you would never make it big." Mr. Barret told her.
"How do you expect me to be Renee for a month? I don't have nice clothes, or and nice place to live…"
"We will give you money for all of that. You will not have to worry about it, for the next month you are going to be known as Renee." Mr. Legard finished. Maria sighed and nodded her head. She realized there was no way out of it. If she declined they surly would fire her and then she would be going back home to Austria.
When Maria arrived home she told the story to Aime.
"I just don't know if I want to be Renee for a whole month." She told her. "What if I slip? I am not the kind of person that likes to live like a rich wealthy person. I thought I was rich in other ways before this."
"Maybe you can do something else with the money." Aime suggested.
"Like what?" Maria asked.
"I don't know helping a charity or something. Use this month to change the world as much as you can in a good way. You have power now, make it positive." Aime sat up in her bed and smiled. "And go and win that Sea Captain over." Maria blushed and threw a pillow at her.
"Aime I barley know him!" Maria shouted.
"Yes, but you are in love with him." She countered.
"No I am not…"
"I saw the way you looked at him tonight. You don't fool me for a second." Aime told her laying back down.
"I'm not in love with him. I think he and the baroness deserve each other." She told her. "They can make each other happy."
"For some reason I don't believe you." Aime answered. "Goodnight."
"Night Aime." Maria spoke oblivious to what she was saying. Her thoughts were on the Captain and how it had felt when he had kissed her hand and how she would love to feel that feeling everyday.
***
"Elsa why are your bags packed? And what are you doing up here?" Elsa had come up to his room and was standing in the hallway.
"Georg darling I am up here to tell you that I am leaving." She told him.
"Why?" Asked Georg dumbfounded.
"Well because of Renee. I am going to find her."
"She is most likely living around here somewhere…"
"No Georg. She this is the reason; that girl was not Renee tonight. She was a devious little pretender whoever she was and I am going to prove it to you." Elsa told him.
"Elsa she was much nicer and far more beautiful then you described her, but maybe people just had the wrong impression about her." He told her.
"I doubt it darling. Change like that never happens overnight. I will come back with the real Renee. Oh and also I think you should have this back for now." Elsa told him handing her a ring.
"Elsa why?" He asked not understanding.
"I saw the way you looked at her. You have never looked at me that way before. I think you need some time before you decide to marry me." Elsa told him. "Goodbye darling." Elsa said as she walked away with her bags.
Georg stared at the hallway in shock. The only thing that surprised him more than Elsa's sudden departure was that he was not unhappy at all. He thought she had gotten way to steamed up over Renee, but maybe she was right. Maybe he wasn't ready to marry her. Maybe God had other plans for him.
He smiled when he remembered the next day he would be taking Renee to lunch. It would be even better now that it was just he and she.