Secret plans
December 20th
Three months later, after the hanging incident, everything seemed to be going along okay. Nobody had seen, heard, or received any letters from the Phantom in quite awhile. Everybody was at ease, for the moment.
It was December 20th, just five days before Christmas, and everyone was rushing around. Workers rushed to finish opera decorations. People rushed to get last minute presents.
Clay and Alyssa went to a nearby jeweler. They were there to buy a ring for Heather. They looked at several cases before they found the one they needed. It was gorgeous. It was a silver band, set with a blue sapphire with tiny diamonds surrounding it in a circular pattern. Clay turned to Alyssa. "Remember, not a word," he reminded her sternly. She nodded and acted like she was zipping her mouth shut.
Heather woke up excited. It was Christmas day! She hurried to get dressed and ready to meet everyone else. Just as she was putting on the finishing touches of her makeup, someone knocked on the door. "Come in!" she called out. Alyssa slipped into the room and shut the door behind her.
"Ready?" she asked.
Heather checked her image in the mirror once more and nodded. "Yep." She got up and grabbed her coat from the chair. "Is everyone else?"
"Yep." Alyssa answered.
Alyssa and Heather left the dressing room, being careful to lock it behind them. They met Scot and Clay at the entrance. "You're sure she'll meet us there?" Heather asked for the millionth time, referring to Paige. The others looked at her and Alyssa visibly rolled her eyes.
"Yes!" they all answered in unison.
"Okay, okay, I got it!" Heather replied laughing.
The friends met Paige at a small restaurant in town. Besides the owners, there was also an older couple there. Paige didn't take Carlotta's wardrobe to an extreme like Carlotta did. Instead, she was dressed in a simple but elegant dress with a single silver chain and diamond stud earrings. Her hair, now red, was a little harder to cover, so she pulled it back into a ponytail. She didn't care if it wasn't in style or not. It was comfortable.
Instead of Scot greeting Paige like he normally would with a hug, he surprised her and everyone else by kissing her cheek. Paige turned red as she blushed, and the other's laughed. So much so, she almost looked like an apple!
The friends made small talk for as long as they possibly could, not wanting to touch on the subject of their predicament. Finally Heather couldn't take it anymore. "Where could they possibly be?" she said aloud. Everyone turned to look at her. "Sorry, but I couldn't help it, I've been thinking about it since last night," she apologized. "I mean, haven't you? We need to find them. We can't just let it go."
The others nodded. "Another reason to give Madame Giry that truth spell." Alyssa agreed. "And, we still need to find out what Andre and Firimin know."
"How the heck are we going to do that?" Scot asked.
"I'm not exactly sure yet." Heather admitted to them, "I haven't gotten that far." She looked at them. "Any suggestions?" the group shook their heads no.
"Clay, have they said anything more?" Heather asked him.
Clay shook his head. "No, I haven't heard them say anything about it. So we're still in the dark here."
Paige raised an eyebrow, "Maybe not." She said, "That's where Carlotta comes in handy. If I can engage them in conversation, Carlotta's side of the spell could take over and possibly lower their walls long enough so I can gather information," she suggested.
Her friends nodded thoughtfully. They all agreed that it would probably work. "You can do that the night of the ball while we give Madame Giry the truth spell." Heather told her. Then she remembered something. "Scot, have you gotten the ingredients that I asked for?"
Scot nodded, "Yes, but I need to pick up the last one in a couple days. I'll send it with Alyssa to you," he replied.
"Okay, but remember, I need it by New Year's Eve," she reminded him.