Waiting for the new chandelier

When I woke up the second time, daylight streamed through our little window. I jumped up from my bed, thinking I had overslept.

"I wouldn't hurry to get up." Meg said.

I turned to see both Christine and Meg lounging on their beds, watching me curiously. I frowned, trying to work out what she meant by that.

Meg rolled her eyes. "Remember the chandelier falling last night?"

Oh yes, that!

"Well, I doubt we'll be able to perform for a while, not with no lighting. We have a little auditorium lighting but that isn't efficient enough and who knows how long it shall take to get a new chandelier."

"That isn't good." I sighed. "But what will you both do for work?"

"You mean what will we do?" Meg rephrased.

I pursed my lips as I thought about that before realizing she was right. I didn't have a clue how long I would be staying here for, but it seemed I was here for the foreseeable future.

"Well I'm hoping we'll continue to receive our salary. It's not exactly our fault that the chandelier dropped. They should have followed the Phantom's orders when they had the chance."

"His orders?" I repeated in confusion.

"Well yeah…shortly before the performance…actually, it was the morning you showed up here, the Phantom sent letters to Carlotta, Raoul and the managers. The one to the managers was stating that if they did not give the Countess role to Christine, then a disaster-"

"A disaster beyond your imagination will occur." I finished for her.

Her eyes widened. "Yes exactly that! But how did you know?"

I shrugged. "Let's just say I heard the phrase somewhere before…"

"Oh…well, as you know Christine was cast as the pageboy, the managers idiotically ignoring his warning, the arrogant clowns!"

"Meg! It's not funny, Joseph Bouquet died last night." Christine warned.

"I know it's not funny! I saw his hanging body for myself." She said, shivering violently at the thought. "But the managers must have known that something this terrible would happen. God forbid, I didn't think this would be it but the Phantom's already threatened them enough. Maybe they'll start taking him more seriously!"

"She has a point," I agreed. "You know; if the Phantom decides to continue threatening and killing."

I couldn't deny the hope he'd take my advice. Because I had a feeling everybody would get hurt in the process if he didn't.

We got up, deciding to get ready for whatever the day brought us, rather than lounging in bed and thinking morbidly. I was rather excited at the prospect of finally being able to wear one of my lovely new day dresses. I had only managed to buy a couple of day and night dresses but they were exquisite, well, compared to the fashion in over a hundred years they were.

The upper part of the dress I chose was a royal blue shade, with a sea green bow around the middle to match the long skirt. It was so beautiful and I couldn't deny I much preferred the clothes here than I did from the future. They were just so much more feminine.

I managed to clip my curly hair to one side, placing a green flower comb in the top to stand out against my hair. I smiled proudly, practically running over to Meg and Christine once I was finished.

"Oh you look beautiful, Charlotte!" Christine smiled. "And you styled your hair too! It looks marvelous!" Christine said with a grin.

"I'm almost certain that was one of the dresses I suggested you choose. I have to say, I feel quite fashionable seeing you in it now. Although, I do think somebody's trying to surpass me with her brilliant hair styling." Meg teased with a wink.

"Oh please, we all know that would be impossible!" I giggled.

We decided to see where the managers were to see about what was going to happen now. We wondered out the dormitories, taking the grand staircase to the main entrance where raised voices were heard.

André and Firmin were stood at the bottom, talking to the rest of the cast, who didn't appear too pleased at whatever they were telling everyone.

"Well this doesn't look too fortunate." Meg took the words out of my head.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are sorry for the convenience but there is just no work to offer at the moment, due to last night's events." Firmin insisted, with a sigh. "Of course everyone shall be paid the minimum salary until we manage to get a new chandelier. But until then, there isn't anything more we can do."

I glanced towards Meg and Christine, who shrugged at the news. "I guess that's something though." I insisted, trying to make light of the situation. They nodded in agreement.

We left everyone to continue to discuss this, whilst we left the Opera house, making our way over to the café directly opposite for a light lunch.

It was a lovely day! The sun glowed brightly and despite the circumstances, I was happy. Of course I missed everyone at home and a part of me did wonder if something bad had happened but I tried to brush that aside. There was no good dwelling on things that you didn't know for certain and I tried telling myself that if I sensed everything as clearly as I did here as though I was really here, maybe I really had just travelled back in time.

As soon as I started thinking like that though, I found I was no longer in the mood for lunch and a chit-chat. I played with my food, staring down idly at my plate.

I couldn't help but think about my poor Mum. If something bad really had happened to me, it would have broken her heart. And as much as I loved being here, I missed my Mum. She needed me.

"Hey, I thought you liked this café."

It was only when I caught Christine frowning at me from across the table that I realized she was talking to me.

"Oh…I do, I really do, but it's just…sorry, I was just thinking about something that's all. It's not important." I insisted, trying not to get too sad about it. I was right the first time; I should just try and forget.

"It doesn't look unimportant. Why not talk to us about it? It may help you feel better." Christine insisted.

"She's right," Meg agreed.

I smiled, but shook my head. "I doubt that. I'm just being silly."

"I doubt you are, and also you listened to me talking last night in the chapel. Now it is your turn."

I sighed. They'd done so much for me already and I understood how crazy it sounded to say I was from the future. I decided to take another approach.

"I'm just missing home, I guess. Well I'm worried about my Mother and I miss her too, so much. It was difficult enough being away from home but this…it just feels a lot more different and real." I explained. "Not that I don't adore being here too." I quickly added.

Meg smiled sympathetically as Christine reached out her hand, giving mine a squeeze. "You don't have to explain, we both understand."

"Oh dear, I probably sound so insensitive talking about how much I miss my family when you've lost both lost a parent."

Christine smiled. "Stop being silly, that's exactly why we understand. It's difficult when you're pulled away from a parent, especially when you have no control over it."

"Yeah, it really is." I smiled sadly.

"Come on, as it's such a lovely day, we could always go for a walk?" Meg suggested.

"Yeah okay, that sounds nice." I smiled.

We stood up from our seats and made our way over to the exit. As soon as we stepped outside though, we saw the Vicomte exiting the Opera house. He didn't take long to spot us and I heard Christine sigh from besides us.

"You can always stay here if you would like to?" Meg asked.

"I did want to accompany you on that walk but I do think I need to talk to Raoul first. I have a feeling I know what he'll ask me." She grumbled.

I smiled. "Well, do not do anything you wouldn't want to. Just…do what feels right."

She nodded, before glancing back at the Vicomte who was heading over here, an enamored smile on his face.

"Good luck," I smiled, before following Meg past her on the pathway.

Oh crap, well that can't be good! ;) Tee hee. Review please! :)