Chapter 16

The following events would not have occurred if insult were not added to injury. Estelle was soon full aware that she was now the laughingstock and gossip of the opera house, even as she stormed by the others on her way to her carriage she could hear snickers behind her back. She could tolerate working with people below her social class, but this disrespect was too much for her to handle. With a scowl, and cursing the place under her breath, Estelle flew out of the building and did not hesitate to take off in her awaiting carriage without taking so much as a second look behind her.

Everyone who had been witness to the prima donna's tantrum was anxious to discover what actually happened in the office. Some of them lingered about the theater and foyer, hoping to overhear something or catch a glimpse of the directors. Many were sorely disappointed when all they got for waiting around after the rehearsal was cut short was to watch Estelle flounce into the foyer and through the front doors without openly acknowledging their presence. Judging by the expression on her face they deducted that she had not been mollified by the directors, yet that did not slake their hunger for information. A majority of the interested party were enjoying the irritation of the soprano, even though they knew it forecasted the wrath of the directors.

The two men did not leave their office for the duration of the day, but not long after Estelle made her exit Madame Giry descended from the stairs. Her face was pulled into a tight serious expression, which was not unlike her, and she gathered the people about her. They knew that she came from seeing the directors and so they were interested in what she had to say. She spoke calmly and as if she was under instruction. Everyone was aware that she worked closer with the directors than the others, making her a medium between the two groups. "Les directeurs have asked me to announce that there will be a meeting tomorrow morning in the theatre before the scheduled rehearsal. It is mandatory that everyone attend. Please pass this on to the others."

Murmurs were heard throughout the small crowd, and Madame Giry turned on her heels to leave in the manner in which she came. A man's voice stopped her from taking her first step towards the staircase. "Do you know what happened or what the meeting is pertaining to?"

She glanced back for a moment, cast a cursory glimpse at the person who addressed her, and then reluctantly opened her lips to reply. This woman was evidently not prone to gossip like her fellow workers were. Any other person would have quickly divulged everything they knew, but the reason that she was entrusted with information in the first place was because the owner had faith in her loyalty and honesty. Her words were short and reserved. "Everything you need to know will be addressed tomorrow at the meeting."

Then the woman retreated, leaving behind her a cluster of unsatisfied gossipers. They had the rest of the day off and so they eventually dispersed, making the most of their free time. Back in the dormitories the girls were sitting in groups, rambling on about Estelle and the incident of that day. Some of them had good enough memories to bring up the accident at a previous rehearsal when Maximilien's toupee was lifted from his head and the time when Estelle had a fit in the theater about some letter that she had received. They became convinced that all of the strange occurrences that happened in the past couple months were somehow connected.

One of the girls, a rather young one with dark brown hair pulled back in a ponytail, sat in the middle of a group. She had gathered their attention, and the others were listening intently to her as she chattered on in an excited high-pitched voice. "I was listening outside of the door when the directors were with Estelle," she claimed energetically, her eyes scanning the girls around her. "I heard Estelle threaten to cancel her contract and never return to the opera house. The directors begged for her to stay, saying that they would get to the source of the mischief and that it would never happen again. Then she said that it better not, or she would find another opera house to sing at and this one would have to go on without her. Very pompous, indeed! If any of us talked to them like that then we would be out on the street in a second! Anyway, she finally agreed to stay, on the condition that she gets a better dressing room, more private rehearsals, and that they fire Isabel."

"Fire Isabel! But she had nothing to do with it!" Nadia exclaimed. She had been listening to the girl babble on about what she had claimed to overhear, which by the sounds of it was highly probable. The demands of Estelle sounded exactly like something that she would ask for, but the firing of Isabel crossed the line. The young woman could not believe that the directors would fire the best soprano that they had due to a prima donna's unreasonable jealousy. Everyone was quite aware that Isabel was innocent of the prank pulled on Estelle, so it was completely unnecessary for her to lose her place.

"Exactly," the girl responded, ready to continue. Chorus girls like her lived for gossip. "That is what the directors said. They told her that they would immediately fire the person or people responsible for the incident, but that they could not afford to loose the soprano this far into the production because then they would have to find someone to take her place. I think that after Romeo et Juliette is over Isabel is not going to get another part in an opera here. Estelle made it very clear that she did not want Isabel in the opera business any longer. Poor Isabel doesn't even know, and I don't think that she understands why Estelle has such a vendetta against her."

Meanwhile the directors were locked up in their office. They decided not to mention this state of affairs to Monsieur D'aubigne, considering his current mental state, and figured that the situation would be settled once and for all the following morning. The men refused to see anyone, except for Madame Giry who they had asked into their office earlier that day. Running the opera house was proving to be more stressful than they thought it would be and they were beginning to doubt that they had made the best decisions when hiring. They would have to find a way to return everything to a normal state, for the show was to be put on in less than two weeks. The opera house could not afford to have any disruptions in the schedule.

Elle returned to her room during the chaos of Estelle's outburst, with nothing to do now that rehearsal was canceled. She retired to her piano, allowing her agile fingers to take over and the music to wash from her mind any unpleasant thoughts. It was this way that she spent the rest of her day, in ignorance of the rumors that were spreading like wildfire throughout the opera house. Madame Giry was kind enough to knock gently on her door and inform her of the recent news of a meeting. This information was not shocking to the young woman; actually it was exactly what she expected the directors to do. She planned to attend, even though she did not need to. That night she did not have a lesson, a visit from her instructor of music never came.

The next day people rose early, heading off to the theatre for the meeting. Only Monsieur D'aubigne was ignorant of what was taking place, but even if he was aware of the gathering it was likely that he would not attend. Elle woke up earlier than usual for the purpose, having breakfast alone in the empty dining room. Then she joined the gradually increasing congregation in the large theatre, taking her typical seat in the first row of velvet seating. She watched as people came, spreading out in the great room. It seemed that everyone was present, even those who worked behind the scenes in various places of the opera house.

Elle saw Nadia enter the theatre with a group of chorus girls, and when the girl caught sight of her friend she quickly left the others to join her. Even though Elle did not spend time with her like she used to, Nadia still attempted to talk to her and remain friends. She sat down next to her and instantly began relaying to her everything that she had heard in the dormitories. Elle was shocked at the news pertaining to Isabel, both of them agreed that Isabel was the one who deserved to stay and have the lead soprano role. None of this seemed fair.

Around the time that Nadia finished divulging all the information she knew, the directors entered similar to the way they had the previous day, except this time instead of troubled they appeared stern and angry, taking their place on the stage in front of the entire congregation. The room became silent as soon as they were noticed, everyone was anxious to hear what this meeting was about. There was a minute or two of complete silence before Mister Tremaine spoke while Mister Bolster stood quietly next to him with a sweaty red face.

"You should all know why you are here, but in case you do not then I will explain," Tremaine began, in the sternest and most serious voice that any living man can muster. "Yesterday there was an incident during rehearsal, in which a prank was pulled on our lead soprano Estelle La Rous. I have assembled all of you here today to make you aware that behavior like that is not accepted in this opera house and will not be tolerated. Now, I know that it was one of you who committed this horrible act of mischief and so I am giving whoever it was who did this, whichever one of you it was, the chance to step forward and confess."

At this statement people looked around at each other and for a moment everything was still. Then a man who looked like he was in his late fifties, with his thin gray hair brushed back, stepped forward. He held a dark gray cap in his calloused hands, turning it in circles with evident nervousness. His face was slightly wrinkled, with deep burrows about his tanned forehead, and his thin drawn lips were chapped. It was another moment before he gained the courage to speak out and interrupt the current silence of the already irritated directors. His humble voice spoke out for all of the superstitious opera rats, voicing the majority's opinion. "It was the Opera Ghost, sir, the Phantom of the Opera."

The people around him murmured in agreement, nodding their heads, and adding to the directors' frustration. For once Mister Bolster was not grinning, nor did he have the usual amiability about him. Instead both of the men were thoroughly upset, their faces turning red with annoyance. Mister Tremaine's eyes turned to the man who dared to disrupt his speech and carefully scrutinized him. With a look of disdain he moved his eyes from the one man to the entire group of people. The statement had aggravated his mood, not to mention the assent that came from the others. Shaking his head he replied angrily, "There is no such thing as an Opera Ghost! You must think me a fool!"

"Not at all sir," the older man responded, his eyes lowered. He was speaking honestly, but obviously the director did not believe him. Calmly, he tried to explain what many of them sincerely believed. "This was the work of the Phantom of the Opera. He is back from the grave- haven't you heard about how he haunted L'Opera Populaire years ago? I worked here then too, and it was not uncommon for occurrences like this to happen."

"Nonsense!" The director shouted, throwing his hands up in the air. He did not believe a word of it. "Those ghost stories were simply a product of superstitious people's imaginations. There is no Phantom of the Opera, there never was. One of you did this," He pointed threateningly towards the crowd of scene-shifters, who were standing by the old man who had spoken out, with his index finger. "I am sure of it, and if someone does not come forward and admit that it was them then I am going to fire each and every one of you!"

No one stepped forward; they all simply stayed where they were, afraid to upset the directors any more than they already were. Elle watched avidly as the directors stood there on the stage for five minutes, staring out at the group of people. Mister Tremaine was furious and he had begun pacing the stage, saying that he would give them five more minutes before he would start firing people. Even this threat did not produce the response he wanted and everyone still stayed in their spots. When the five minutes were up no one had confessed to the trick pulled on Estelle.

"Time is up! If no one will admit to the truth then you will all suffer for one person's insolence. As of now all of the stagehands are fired, and you will not receive pay for this month. You are expected to be out of this building by this evening. The rest of you take this as a warning. This conduct will not be tolerated and I will not hesitate to get rid of more of you if this behavior continues. That is all, you are all dismissed. Rehearsal starts in one hour."

The directors then left the stage, leaving behind them a room of confused and disgruntled people. The stagehands were extremely upset at this unwarranted firing, and many people who were present did not find it fair that they were fired. The only way that they could explain the incident was the Opera Ghost, stories of whom were circulating the people of the opera house. Other people were glad that the rage had only been taken out on the stagehands and not everyone, but there was still a commotion. People began to file out of the theater, many heading off to prepare for rehearsal.

A/N: Sorry I didn't get this out sooner, I've been so busy. Anyway, hoped you liked it and thanks for the reviews.

Anri- That's good. Yeah, me too, those prima donnas deserve whats coming to them.

Galasriniel- I have about ten more weeks… Life has always been crazy, lol.

lizzie- Yes, sir!