A month had soon past and Christine and Catherine were now settled into their new lives and, pretty much, had a set routine for every day. In the morning they would leave their basement room together and go their separate ways, sometimes they would have lunch together with Jean-Claude, who became a sort of uncle figure to the girls, and in the evening after Catherine tidied the costumes away she would have her singing lessons with her 'Maestro' in one of the music rooms whilst Christine practiced her Violin playing in their room. Halfway into the month Catherine had begged for her 'Maestro' to allow her to tell Christine about their lessons with the promise she would keep their secret since she felt guilty about keeping a secret this big from her sister. After much reluctance, Erik gave Catherine his permission and true to her word Christine kept their secret and was happy that her sister was being given the lessons she wanted from the start and from there life went on as normal. The salary both sisters were paid even allowed Christine to buy new dresses to wear for performances nights. She tried persuading Catherine to buy a new dress but was happy with the one she already had and preferred to put her money aside for other expenses.
XXX
There were some in the Opera house who weren't so happy. For the entire month since he came Monsieur Cholet had been receiving several notes every day from 'The Phantom' and when opening night for the Opera House's production of Norma had come around he and the chief of police Inspector Ledoux were discussing the letters in the lobby.
"Listen to this one, just arrived 'Norma is a fine Opera and I approve of its selection. What I do not approve of is your wife being in it'. Does not approve of my Carlotta being in it, this is her Paris debut the most important of her career and THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA DOES NOT APPROVE!?" said Monsieur Cholet quoting from one of the notes and finishing with a tone of outrage.
"Monsieur it-it is only a note" said Inspector Ledoux trying to reassure Monsieur Cholet.
"From a ghost, since when do ghosts write?" Cholet asked rhetorically as he held up the pile of notes.
"This has been going on for a month everyday insults, demands! Listen to this 'I expect Box 5 to be reserved my own personal use at every performance signed The Phantom of the Opera'" he exclaimed.
"I was told the previous manager always gave him Box 5" said Inspector Ledoux as he walked around Monsieur Cholet and made his way toward the balcony that overlooked the rest of the lobby.
"Ha-ha! Inspector Ledoux he's getting no preferential treatment from me! Not in my Opera House!" Monsieur Cholet chuckled and exclaimed making it clear to the inspector his word was final.
XXX
Meanwhile in the dressing room, the chorus members were changing back into their regular clothes after the final dress rehearsal before tonight and Catherine was weaving her way around the women, picking up the costumes from the table whilst humming happily, much to the irritation of some of the woman.
"What had she got to be so happy about?" sneered one woman with light brown hair tied up in a bun as she stood in her undergarments.
"She and her sister have been here over a month and all she does is hum" commented another woman standing beside her who was stripping off her costume.
"She's getting better at it too" commented a third woman as she was tying the belt of her skirt.
"I can't stand her" said a fourth woman who was also standing in her undergarments.
"Dear have you or your sister heard from the count?" the fourth woman asked Catherine stopping her in her tracks.
The three other women laughed at Catherine, but she didn't let it get to her, she held her head up high and quietly left the room.
"That shut her up" commented the first woman while the rest continued to laugh.
XXX
Meanwhile in the hallway near the dressing room Erik was about to make his way around the corner when he heard someone coming towards him so he quickly hid in the shadows and saw it was Catherine carrying some costumes in her arms as she made her way down the steps. Erik breathed a sigh of relief that she didn't see him and watched her until she went out of sight and continued on his way.
XXX
On her way back to the Costume room Catherine bumped into Christine, who was coming back from rehearsals for a rest before opening night. She saw Catherine was having trouble carrying the costumes, so she took some from her sister to ease her burden and as they were walking down the hallway they heard Jean-Claude calling to them from behind.
"Christine, Catherine I found a nice family you can stay with not far from here it won't cost you anything" he said in a wheezy voice as he tried to catch up with them.
Both sisters turned around to look at him.
"Thank you, Jean-Claude we're very happy where we are" said Christine and the two sisters continued on their way.
"I am not supposed to let people stay here!" he exclaimed to try and get them to change their minds, but the sisters had already disappeared from sight.
"Jean-Claude let them. Please, as a kindness to me" said the disembodied voice of Erik which made Jean-Claude look all around him nervously but saw no one around and he reluctantly left it at that and returned to his office.
XXX
Later that evening opening night was well on the way with the whole auditorium filling up with patrons, all eager to watch the performance, especially since it was the debut of a new diva. It was just as busy backstage too with everyone setting up and getting changed into their costumes before the curtain rises, especially Madame Carlotta who was sitting in her own private dressing room powdering her face and neck whilst practising her scales. While she was doing this Catherine entered the room carrying a bouquet of Red and White Roses in a small golden plates vase.
"More flowers from Monsieur, Madame" she said walking up to her.
Carlotta continued practising her scales but with her right hand she pointed to where she wanted Catherine to place the flowers. Catherine made her way over to a shelf that was filled with wigs of all different colours and styles and placed the flowers down in front of it before turning around and making a quick exit.
XXX
Unbeknown to Catherine and Carlotta, a secret compartment behind the wig shelf opened and Erik reached out and grabbed the dark brown wig in the middle and quickly pulled it towards him before the compartment closed again.
XXX
Meanwhile in the hallway that leads to the entrances to the theatre boxes Madame Giry, who was the carer for the boxes, was checking the tickets of two couples who were waiting to be seated.
"Oh, please wait a minute" she said before making her way down to the end of the hall.
Monsieur Cholet was coming from the other direction and saw Madame Giry had a nervous expression on her face.
"What is it?" he asked.
"Number 5" she whispered nervously.
"Well open it" he instructed.
"But..." Madame Giry spoke but was interrupted by Monsieur Cholet.
"I said open it! I am in charge here not a ghost" Monsieur Cholet commanded in a whisper.
Reluctantly Madame Giry unlocked the doors to the box whilst Monsieur Cholet led them.
The two couples sat down in their seat. The women in the front and the men at the back. The two women looked out at the rest of the audience with their binoculars until the lights dimmed and they turned their attention to the stage. As the Orchestra began to play the silence of Box 5 was disturbed by Erik speaking from behind a hidden passageway in the wall.
"Excuse me, this box is mine" he said in a polite tone.
The two couples looked around but couldn't see Erik, so they brushed it off and continued to watch, waiting for the curtain to rise.
"I would appreciate it if you left!" he exclaimed loud enough for only the couples to hear.
The two couples were shocked and immediately got up and left to find Monsieur Cholet to complain.
XXX
Carlotta was still sitting at her dressing table powdering herself when there was a knock at the door.
"Places please" said a man's voice on the other side.
After quickly applying a bit of powder to her hands Carlotta got up from her chair and made her way over to the shelf of wigs and when she say the dark haired one was missing, she panicked.
"Where is my wig?! My Wig!" she exclaimed as she started looking around the room.
XXX
While Carlotta was looking on the other side of the room, the secret compartment opened again. Erik returned the wig to where it had been early and quickly pulled his arm back as the compartment closed.
XXX
Carlotta was becoming very frantic until she turned back around and saw the wig was there and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank God" she said and took the wig from the stand and put it on.