That Face in the Mask

Chapter 10: Leaving


Disclaimer: I don't own The Phantom of the Opera, but I watched the DVD so many times I broke it!

No, seriously, I really have watched the movie so many times, the last time I put the DVD in the player, the scanner said it was unable to be read from all the fingerprints, and it got stuck in the player and it snapped in half when I pressed the eject button and broke. So I had to buy a new one ;-)

Sorry, you probably didn't wanna know that, but oh well. I'm hyper. Deal with it. :)

Okay, just read the story now...


Meg collapsed onto the couch in the living room of the boarding house and dropped her keys onto the coffee table, flinging her cloak off onto the floor. She was too exhausted to move. Even though she had just gulped down two cups of strong coffee at the nearby cafe, she still felt sluggish and tired. She hoped it was just a loss of energy and alertness from her awful day and work, and she wasn't getting sick again. She looked over at all of the boxes containing her and some of Mme. Giry's belongings that needed to be unpacked, but she couldn't do that right now. They were still settling in to their new rooms and a lot of unpacking and moving still had to be done. Meg still didn't understand how their simple, modest possessions and furniture could take up so much space and take so much time to be unpacked. It was a frustrating mystery.

Work had been hell today, and Meg wasn't looking forward to going back to it tomorrow. Of course, she did enjoy dancing and singing, but not how the Opus Majestique forced her to do it. There was no artistry, or emotion in their movements. They were almost like mannequins, stiffly moving and dancing exactly how they were told, allowing no freedom in their dance. Meg just couldn't do that, and she was forever getting reprimanded by the Head Ballet Mistress, Mme. Alleber, or even by her own mother! She hated the Opus Majestique and their performance style, and missed the Opera Populaire so badly it almost hurt.

Besides the fact she hated her miserable job and all the extra work it entailed since she was new, she barely got paid anything. She resentfully felt the pay envelope in her pocket containing her wages. Not much. Her twenty francs a week barely amounted to anything, and the fact she had to use half of her pay to cover the rent each month left her with a miserable amount of ten francs, which was normally spent on necessities. Well, she supposed things could always be worse. At least she had her own room. She groaned and laid her head back against the couch. She was so tired she could drift right off to sleep...

Meg awoke much later with a start. She rubbed her eyes until her vision wasn't blurry with sleep and looked at the clock. Two hours since she'd gotten home from work. She realized she hadn't eaten dinner yet, and somehow managed to force herself up off of the couch and into the kitchen, where she made herself a sandwich and grabbed an apple and some milk to go with it. As she was almost finished eating, her mother came home from work.

"Meg? Meg, are you home yet?" she called

"Yes maman, in the kitchen" Meg mumbled with her mouth full.

Mme. Giry came in, dropped her purse onto the table and sighed

"Meg, I have told you a thousand times, it's horridly impolite for a lady to speak with her mouth full."

"Yes mother" Meg sighed. She really couldn't take any more from her mother after the day she'd had. And lately it'd seemed like Cedric was paying much more attention to her than normally. She wondered if he'd-

"Meg, where are those ballet slippers I asked you to bring home?"

"Oh Maman! They're right out on the coffee tabl- oh shit" Meg exclaimed

"Meg! There is no need for such language! You know better. Now where are those slippers?"

"Uh, maman?"

"What, Meg? This isn't the time to be fooling around. I need to alter those slippers by tomorrow, so where are they?"

Meg suddenly remembered she'd left those slippers her mother needed to alter for the younger girl dancers in the low ballet ranks on the table at the cafe that she wasn't supposed to go to

"They're at the St. Augustine's Cafe"

Her mother glared at her "Why are they there, may I ask?"

Meg felt a tremor of fury pulsing through her body and fought to control an outburst

"Because I stopped there for a cup of coffee on the way home from work. Is something wrong with that?"

"Yes, there is! You know how many loose men and rakes hang around there. I've told you before, I don't care how close it is to work, you are not allowed to go there. Why would you do something like that? How could you be that irresponsible? Meg Giry, I cannot believe how-"

Meg felt the blood rush to her head, and felt the right side of her face throbbing furiously. She couldn't take this anymore. She heard a furious voice screaming so loudly it made her head pound. It was a few seconds before she realized it was her own

"You know what I cannot believe? I cannot believe that I am seventeen goddamn years old, and my mother still acts as though I'm a helpless infant! You never let me do anything, you never let me go anywhere, my entire life is just dancing, dancing, dancing and working, and making sure I'm never out of your sight! Every other girl I know is a wife or mother by now, and I'm still living with my mother, and I will be until I die an old maid! And it's probably because she's sheltered me for so long, I'm too damn helpless to have my own LIFE!"

"Meg, stop acting like such a child! This is ridiculous! This conversation is about you, not me, this is your fault and your responsibility you shrugged off! And, I will have you know-"

Mme. Giry stopped herself short and desperately tried to keep from saying that Cedric was going to ask to court her, so her comments about being an old maid were completely uncalled for, but Meg interrupted again, ranting and furious

" Mother, just SHUT UP! I'll have you know, I am so sick of listening to you! Every goddamn day, I did this wrong, I did that wrong, I said, stood, danced, cleaned, cooked, BREATHED wrong! Nothing makes you happy because you're such a strict, old, nagging bitch! All right, one time I shirked off my responsibilities. One time! And you went ballistic because I went out for coffee at a cafe across the street from where I have to WORK! Because I was so sick and tired and angry at the day, no week in hell I've had since I went back to work at the stupid Opus, which you made me do! You're so paranoid, and you think you know everything and you don't. You know what rakes and loose men there were in that cafe you keep warning me about? A family eating dinner, two old maids and the elderly waiter! I was in so much danger. Well, you know what? I WASN'T! You are so paranoid and ridiculously overbearing, I love getting away from you! I love not being near you! And that is extremely pathetic and sad when I have to tell all this to my mother!"

"Meg Giry, how dare you say such things to me! You have absolutely no right to do such! I worked my ass off to provide for you ever since your father left us and was killed. I did things for you that you wouldn't even believe, and you, the impertinent little thing that you are, have the gall to stand there and scream at me! When you are the one that's wrong, not me. Meg, this is too ridiculous to speak about. You are going-"

"Mother" Meg said in a cold, sharp voice, her eyes blazing "I am not going to do anything you say any longer. I've had it!"

Meg stomped out of the kitchen into the living room, her mother straight on her heels. She threw the door open and slowly turned to face her mother as she spoke.

"And just what are you going to do Meg? Hmm, enlighten me, why don't you?"

"Well, I am leaving and I am NOT going to stand here and take any more crap from you any longer! This is the last straw mother. I can't stand you anymore. I don't care if I have to go whore and starve in the gutters, I'd rather that than staying here any longer! Goodbye!"

With that, Meg swept her cloak up off the couch and threw it around her shoulders, slamming the door closed behind her. She loosely buttoned her cloak together, too furious to care if it was buttoned right. The night air had grown colder and more frigid since Meg had been out last and she shivered under her light cloak and thin ballet costume, but she was so furious she barely noticed the cold and kept walking right down the street. She had no idea where-

"Meg! Meg, wait up"

Meg turned around to see Cedric running after her and panting

"Cedric? What are you doing out?"

" I was just going to see you. Meg, I have something very important to ask you. I've been struggling over how to say it for weeks now, and I know now how to do this. Now, your mother probably already told you of this by now, but-"

"Oh, my mother! God, don't even mention her right now!" Meg said, wanting so badly to slap him.

"Why is something wrong between you two. And Meg, why are you out all alone this late at night? You'll freeze to death in that. I'm kind of worried about you Meg"

Meg had to struggle so badly to keep from hitting him right now. Between him and her mother, Meg was going to drown in a sea of concern.

"Cedric, I can't talk about it right now. Just leave me alone."

"But Meg, I can't just leave you-"

Mon dieu, what an arrogant fool he is! Meg thought angrily

"No Cedric, you can-"

"But, Meg, I have to ask you-"

"No! Cedric, whatever the hell it is, it can wait until later. It has to, for I can't take it right now. Just let me alone!"

With that, Meg took off running, into the pitch-black deserted city streets, running and running, leaving Cedric behind in the dust. She barely noticed the freezing cold air filling her lungs or the pumping sensation in her legs, going as fast as she possibly could. She ran and ran, drawing closer and closer to the one place she could ever truly call home, and the one man to whom her heart had ever really belonged.


Yeah, yeah I know, no E/M fluff, but the chap would have been waaaaaaaayyyyyy too long if I left the second half in, so I had to split it up. But, I swear, there will be E/M fluff in Chap.11! Promise! I swear! Cross my heart and-

Okay, you get the picture. Please, just review. And please tell me, was anyone too OOC? Any of the dialogoe too modern?

Let me know by clicking the button...