Ch.8: Deceived
"What do you mean she came back?" Maria asked horrified. She suddenly knew she was stuck in every aspect of the word.
"She decided to reclaim her part tonight." Mr. Legard finished. The rest of the cast began talking disappointedly. They loved Maria being the lead. Mr. Legard grabbed Maria and whispered to her. "Don't worry I am working on it. Everything will end up all right." Maria looked at him unconvinced. The rest of the cast stood still waiting for Maria to tell them what to do.
"Okay everyone lets go and get ready to perform and do the best we have ever done tonight." Maria said.
"Yes have a wonderful performance." Mr. Legard cried as he walked to the door. Maria's eyes met Aime's.
"What now?" She mouthed to her friend. Maria was horrified and worried that it would be easy to tell the difference in performances. Aime looked at Maria and for the first time didn't know what to tell her friend.
"Just go along with it." She mouthed unsure. Maria nodded and began to find her old dress that was used for her chorus position. As the event drew closer Maria felt even more terrified of performing out there with Georg and all his children watching. What was she supposed to do run? She couldn't let him see her in a chorus part. Maria decided she would just go as unnoticed as possible.
"Oh so there is the chorus girl who took my spot and lied to all the world." Snarled a loud voice. Maria looked up in horror to discover Renee glaring at her.
"Hi Renee glad to see you are doing all right." Maria greeted her calmly.
"Now you listen here girl. Realize that my name was the only reason people loved you so much. You and your rotten personality got you absolutely nowhere. Understood? If you even think you have a voice like mine, anywhere near as good then you are dwelling on a huge misconception my dear. Now is that very clear?"
"Crystal." Maria replied glaring back at her.
"Oh yes and before I go I hear I am engaged to a Sea Captain and I hear he is quite handsome. I can't wait to meet him." Renee laughed. "Good luck tonight in your chorus role girl. Maybe you should really literally break a leg. Ta, ta doll." Renee walked off quickly before Maria had time to respond.
The performance came and went quickly to Maria's genuine surprise. However, the performance was not all it was cracked up to be. By intermission all the members in the audience were talking about how terrible this performance was compared to the last hundred or so.
Even Georg was wondering. He knew it was not Renee performing that was for sure. He could just tell in the way she carried herself. The children were also wondering out loud to him. He didn't know what to tell them except that it was not Renee performing. The second half rolled around and suddenly he spotted her. He saw her dancing around with the chorus section and singing softly. Georg noticed that it was she, but he also saw some deep problems in the way she moved. He could tell she was troubled.
The show ended and to Renee's surprise she received no standing ovation and not even a loud cheer. One couldn't even tell the difference between her applause and the applause of the chorus and other characters. She looked angrily at Maria and instantly sped off to find her before Maria took off. Then Renee reminded herself that Maria would be at the party after the show and she would get even with her there.
Maria got dressed slowly, dreading the idea of making an appearance at the party. She knew that someone was bound to find out about what she did and Maria didn't want a big scene to develop because of her. Thoughts of leaving through the back door and heading for Austria overcame her mind. Then she suddenly remembered Georg and his children, she couldn't go back to Austria. Maria then thought of going to America, far away from everybody that was so anal about the theatre. Maybe she could act there.
"Maria are you okay?" Came Aime's small voice.
"No." Replied Maria. "I am sunk. There is nothing I can do. I can't do anything to work this mess out."
"Are you coming to the party?" Aime asked.
"No." Maria replied coolly.
"Why not?" Aime asked.
"I can't face him again, ever. He can marry Renee." Maria told her.
"He doesn't want to marry Renee. He wants to marry you." Aime told her putting her arm around her. "Now let me help you get ready to go."
"But, there is nothing that can be…" She began.
"Sssh, you can always pray. That is something you can always do." Aime told her while she helped her up. "Come lets go now." Maria nodded and took Aime's hand and walked to the ballroom for the party.
When she entered the room she found Renee being interviewed by dozens of people. She could see the pain on their faces when they realized that Renee was back to her old self. Yet, she could tell that some were not fully convinced that Renee was the same person as the night before. Maria wanted to run or hide, but she contained herself and sat down on a bench. Unfortunately Georg spotted her. He looked over to the Renee being interviewed and could tell it was not his fiancée. Georg then walked towards the bench when Elsa stopped him.
"Georg! How wonderful you are here to see the real Renee, hmm?" Elsa asked in delight. "Wasn't she marvelous today?"
"What? Who? Elsa, Renee must have been sick or something and that must have been the understudy because she was so terrible today." Georg told her.
"Darling don't you remember why I left? I left to find the real Renee and I found her and today she took back her rightful spot as Marie in the show." Elsa told him.
"No that can't be true, because I am engaged to Renee and she is sitting on the bench right over there…" He tried to tell her.
"Georg you honestly think that is her? I mean Renee has such a huge ego and that little chorus girl just doesn't stand a chance. I mean you are so gullible, you thought with that terrible voice and that childish face she was actually Renee?" Elsa laughed.
"She is not a child and her voice is stunning. Your just jealous." Georg told her. Just then Renee walked up to the two of them. She smiled radiantly as Georg noticed she looked exactly like the Renee he used to see in pictures.
"You must be Captain Georg von Trapp." She said lowly. He nodded his head. "I heard we are engaged." She continued and whispered to Elsa, "He really is handsome."
"I am sorry Madame, but there must be some mistake I am engaged to Renee Jeter and she is sitting right there." He pointed in the direction of Maria, causing Maria to instantly freeze and Georg motioned for her to come to them.
"I am Renee Jeter." She spoke as Maria stopped in front of Georg. "This is none other than a lousy chorus girl. She is an imposter Georg. Surly you don't want to marry this little nobody anymore. She is a devious little pig who lied to you to get your money."
"Renee tells these women who you are." He told Maria. She glanced at Georg with tears in her eyes.
"I…am…." She started.
"A liar that is all she is. She will never amount to anything she just got lucky and everyone was convinced that she was I. Now that you know she is nothing more than a common person you can desert that selfish potbelly pig. She will never accomplish anything." Renee spoke so loudly that the whole party was staring in her direction.
"Renee now would be a good time to tell them who you are." The Captain told Maria calmly. Maria looked to the ground not knowing what to do. She could feel his eyes staring at her intently, full of confidence and love, believing she was really Renee.
"I am what she says." Maria told him painfully. She couldn't bare to look up at the Captain's face. Georg's eyes widened at her response. "My name is Maria Rainer and I am just a chorus member."
"I see…" Georg said.
"I told you!" Elsa told him triumphantly. "I was right!" Elsa laughed as she and Renee hugged joyously.
"I can't believe it." The Captain muttered under his breath.
"I can explain Georg." Maria told him, putting her arm around his. He shrugged it off.
"It is Captain von Trapp, not Georg." He told her angrily as he shoved her hand away. "I can't believe you did this to me. You deceived the whole world and lied to me. How long was this going to go on? Long enough so I would be stuck with you as my bride?"
"I was going to tell you before…" She started.
"Before what? Before I died and you inherited all my money?" He asked.
"No I was going to before…I didn't want it to be like this it wasn't my fault…well I guess it was a little, but…" Maria started.
"I have heard enough." He told her. Maria's eyes shot up.
"What? You can't be serious…" She told him.
"I am dead serious. Thank you for all the fun times I spent with you, goodbye." He told her as he walked away.
"I can't believe it. I always thought you had something rich people didn't have. I guess I was wrong. I thought I saw something special in you. Your not the person I remember." She told him.
"Well you are not the person I thought you were either." He told her hauntingly. "You lied to me. How can I trust you as my wife if you can't even tell me your real name?"
"I wanted to, I just couldn't tell." Maria reasoned.
"You are just like one of them."
"Like who?" She glared.
"Like the common people who have no idea of what it is like to be rich." He told her.
"Oh yeah?" She asked.
"Yeah." He replied glaring at her. "You lied to me, a lie so bad I never need to see your face again." He shouted as he turned around.
"Fine!" Maria yelled as she took off her engagement ring and hurled it at Georg. It hit him hard in the head and he turned around just in time to see Maria's tearstained face as she turned around and ran out of the building and out of his life.
With anger Georg didn't care to pick up the small sapphire ring. Instead he turned around, not being able to face the shinny jewels.
Aime watched as Maria sprinted out of the party and Georg slowly walked outside. Glancing at Maria's beautiful ring she picked it up and shook her head. Aime never believed it would end that badly. She figured he would be upset, but not so upset that he would break up Maria and his engagement.
"They are just too stubborn." She mumbled to herself as she walked outside away from the party. Even thought she knew they were both stubborn she knew that most likely it would not have ended up that way if Elsa and Renee had not been in their presence. She sighed deeply when she saw the Captain standing outside looking out at the stars angrily.
Notes: I hope you like the chapter. I am not sure how mad the Captain would be, but I thought with the influence of Elsa and Renee fresh in his mind his first reaction could very well be a very angry one. So I made it that way, please don't throttle me for making him mad and making Maria fight back. Sorry this chapter took so long, I was busy and stuck! Please Review and tell me what you think!!