"What do you mean by 'Advisor' Monsieur?"
The Phantom was intrigued, I got his attention.
"What I mean is this: you've been around for quite some time, some people claim you have talent and knowledge in the area. I want to make this one of the greatest opera houses in Europe and I'm already paying you a monthly salary. You'll advise me on new talents you've heard of, new operas that might gather a crowd and together we can change the world."
The Phantom sat there in silence for a while, carefully considering my proposition until he finally spoke. "I accept your offer Monsieur, but I have a few terms of my own: One, you must keep our meetings secret. Two, all meetings shall take place in your office. Three, all communications between us will be done in the form of letters delivered by Madame Giry."
"I accept your terms and look forward to working with you" I said as I reached to shake his hand. The Phantom shook my hand and it was time to start working on building a new era for the Opera Populaire.
Two weeks later we sat down in my office talking about ways to make the Opera Populaire bigger and better.
"We need to get more high profile singers if we want to attract more rich investors" I said. "True, we also need to renovate the house, we might attract more patrons if we make the building itself more noticeable." The Phantom was right; the façade was blank and the interior needed more redecorating.
"I do have some experience in terms of architecture and design; I might be able to create a new design for the opera, something grand fitting the title 'Opera Populaire'"
I took the Phantom on his offer; he was there longer than me and he did seem like a man of many skills so it was settled.
"You do realize that a renovation would cost a lot, which means we might have to cut down on your salary, at least for a while." I feared the worst that could happen; luckily he just smiled and nodded "Makes sense, I will give up to 50% of my salary in order to make room in the budget for the renovations, as long as you use my designs." We shook hands and continued. "I've heard about some good singers with the star quality needed to establish the opera house's name. Have you heard about Carlotta Giudicelli?"
"An Italian opera singer, soprano, great vocal abilities" I said, remembering the article I read a couple months before.
"She is an up-and-coming star and from what I heard she is very affordable at the moment, she might be the one we need. Sign her up and we can get started in changing the opera world." The Phantom was correct; we needed bigger names in the company and so I've decided to travel to Italy and see whether or not she was worth all the trouble.
