A/N: I know in the story Carlotta has been with opera for a while… humour me.
Chapter 19- Affirmation
It was just sitting there.
Christine's eyes fixed on the new rose on her pillow, clothed with a black ribbon sitting on top of two tickets to the Opera. She had been to the kitchen for some food and had only been gone for around thirty minutes, but sure as the sun would rise in the morning, there was a rose resting on her bed.
She had definitely locked the door when she left, she always did, it was something that she had never forgotten to do, ever. It was locked when she got back, she remembered using her key to get in. In stunned silence she waked to her bed and lifted the rose from the pillow, along with the two tickets.
She was going to the opera with someone she did not know. Angel had not spoken to her for nearly a week, and it certainly felt like a long week. So far they had been doing her lessons for very nearly six months, in that time she thought that she would know him better, but instead she was more confused than ever. Now she had not had a lesson for over a week, she was feeling the strain of the pressure she felt under from him, to be better.
To better herself.
It was hard, she was struggling and inside part of her thought that maybe his faith in her vocal talent was a little misguided. She sighed and placed the rose and tickets on the dressing table.
She knew that it should worry her more that he had managed to get into her room and place the rose and tickets on her bed, but somehow it comforted her that he had access to her whenever he needed it. Why she felt that he could protect her, why she felt so safe when he spoke, she had no idea. All she did know was that when she heard him, somehow, things just seemed a little better and she felt that little bit stronger.
She heard a familiar noise and she looked around her; 'Angel?' she said, sitting herself on the stool by the dressing table so that she was facing the centre of the room.
'You go your tickets,' he said simply.
'And my rose,' she said, 'Thank you,'
'You're very welcome,'
'It seems like such a long time since I had a lesson,'
'Don't worry,' he said. 'Tomorrow evening after your final performance in the show I will come by late, I will give you a lesson then,'
'I'm surprised you got tickets for tonight's show,' she said, thinking of the short notice. Not that she minded, it just seemed odd to her.
'Well,' he said. 'You aren't working tonight and this happens to be the only night that your chaperone is free,'
She took in his words and thought for a moment, 'Who is my chaperone?' she asked.
'A man named Louis, normally I would send you with a woman but… well, he will take care of you,' he said. 'He will meet you at the back door of the Opera House and escort you to the opera,'
She nodded and that chastised herself inwardly. What was she nodding at, exactly? She was agreeing but she could not see him, only hear him... she could only ever hear him. Though she always felt his presence he still resisted her gentle pushing for him to show himself.
Deep down inside she wondering if Angel was actually Louis, and he was lulling her into this magical surprised. Of course, though she hoped, scepticism stopped her from buying into the prospect quite as much as she could have. She wished he would meet her tonight, wished he was her escort.
'What time?' she finally asked, managing to bring herself around from her day dream.
'He will meet you at seven,' he said and then the room fell silent.
She waited for a moment to hear any movement or sound, wondered if some day she would hear his breathing. There were no sounds now and she knew that he had gone. He often left without saying goodbye to her, though he usually had a parting piece of advice.
She stood from her seat and walked to the corner of the room where her wardrobe was situated. Opening it she peered inside at the few items of clothing she had been given from Meg. She had only one dress which would pass for an evening gown, good enough for the opera, so he fetched it out and lay it gently on the bed. It was a pretty dress and Meg told her she had never worn it herself.
Though her wish was that her teacher would be the one to take her to the opera, realistically, she knew this was not going to happen. She resigned herself to the, almost as pleasant, thought that maybe she would cast her eyes upon him whilst she was there. That thought would have to be enough.
The meeting of all of the cast and staff at the Opera Populair had been called for three in the afternoon by Monsieur Lefevre. They were to meet on the stage and wait for his arrival. Christine did wonder what it was all about, a slight fear that the opera would be closing tugged at her mind. She saw very little of the manager of the opera house and it always worried her when meetings were called. The last meeting to be called by him resulted in the sacking of one of the chorus members... Christine's stomach churned.
She sat in the corner of the stage, somewhat covered by the shadows of the curtains, waiting for Meg to sit down beside her. Her friend waved as she entered the room and Christine returned the gesture, tagging a smile on for good measure.
'Any idea what's happening?' Christine asked as Meg lowered herself into a seated position next to her.
She shook her head. 'No,' she said. 'But I get the feeling my mother knows,'
'I hope no one is going to get fired again,' Christine said as she looked around at all of the people wandering aimlessly around the stage.
'I doubt it,' Meg said, reasonably. 'The show run ends tomorrow night...'
She was right, it would be very unusual for them to fire someone on the night before the final show. Which led Christine to think that perhaps this was an announcement regarding the next show. She waited patiently, with crew members and cast, until Lefevre finally appeared at the door to the room. He made no rush on his way down to the stage and when he climbed the steps to stand before them he beamed a grin at them all.
'Good afternoon,' he said, smiling still.
Some people mumbled a quiet reply but mostly people remained silent, waiting to hear what he had to say.
'I have brought you all together for this meeting today to give you some excellent news!' he said, with such excitement that had it not been sickly it could very well have been infectious.
'Well...' he continued when no one responded to his enthusiasm. 'We have attracted two new stars to the Opera Populair who will be performing in our upcoming Opera ...' he let a dramatic pause fall into his words. '...'Hannibal'!'
So Christine was right, this was about their new performance. Mumbling had bubbled around the room, they all knew that Hannibal was an exciting and demanding show. Now all eyes fixed back onto Monsieur Lefevre, whose grin had almost spread all the way around his face.
'So... to help us with our upcoming task and to bring the Opera Populair back to the limelight of it's yester year...'
Meg rolled her eyes and Christine giggled.
'The suspense is almost unbearable,' she whispered through gritted teeth and Christine was forced to choke back a laugh.
Lefevre looked around and scowled at her, she tried to straighten her face.
'We have two new stars,' he continued, dragging his eyes from Christine. 'Very famous, incredibly talented... Carlotta and Ubaldo Piangi!'
The two of them 'swanned' onto the stage from where they had been hiding behind the curtains, they cut through the crowd and carlotta twirled for the crowd. She flashed a smile at Lefevre and bowed. Christine looked sideways at Meg who was wide eyed in disbelief. Everyone had heard of La Carlotta, and most had heard of Ubaldo Piangi but no one had expected to see them here.
Christine's eyes looked Carlotta up and down, and then Piangi... before she had chance to say anything Meg tugged at her arm and whispered:
'Looks like they eat well...'
Christine giggled quietly and stared at Piangi's robust figure casting a shadow out onto the stage.
'Feel sorry for our costume designers,' Christine whispered back, and Meg grinned.
Carlotta twirled again and stood by Monsieur Lefevre. 'I Thank you...' she said, French words heavily accented with Italian. 'We thank you all...'
'No,' Monsieur Lefevre said, taking her hand in his and kissing it with a bow. 'We... thank... you...'
Oh dear...
'Ahh, yes,' she said... so modest... 'We are here to help you how you say... fix this opera house and make it brilliant...'
With those parting words she jutted her chin up and, with Ubaldo Pinago in close pursuit, strutted from the stage and with the click of the rear door, out of sight. There was a collective sigh around the room as everyone looked at each other, a little bemused by what had just happened. Lefevre still stood in front of them, trying to regain some order, but it was gone. People began to chat more loudly and eventually all sense of control dissipated from the room.
Christine saw Monsieur Lefevre give a helpless glance towards Madame Giry, lifting his hands in a sign of surrender. Madame Giry stepped forward and banged her cane twice, hard, on the boards of the stage. The sound quieted everyone and echoed to the back of the room.
She stepped back into the shadows, as if she had not done anything.
'Thank you,' Monsieur Lefevre said, with a nod, and it was quite obvious that he meant it. 'Now, the production will open in two months we will start rehearsals for the new production in under two weeks,'
Christine frowned and glanced at Meg who mouthed, 'Two weeks'. Christine mouthed back 'Two months??'
As if reading their minds, Lefevre continued, 'I realise that this is short notice but it is of the utmost importance to bring this theatre back to it's former glory...'
There were a few nods around the room but most people remained dumbstruck, staring at the manager as if he had lost his marbles.
'We can not tempt brilliance here,' he said, obviously referring to La Carlotta. 'And expect them to wait around for us to get our acts together... the show starts in two months, you will all be ready...'
There were mumbles but Christine noted that Madame Giry did not even look in the least surprised. So, she knew about this.
'You can all leave,' he said finally, after some of the mumbling had once again died down. 'Madame Giry and I will let you all know of your duties after tomorrow nights finale,'
He turned, descended the steps to the stage and in seconds he disappeared into darkness. Christine turned to look at Meg who was shaking her head slowly from side to side.
'Can we do it?' Christine asked her.
'What? Get a cast, set and costumes together in two months?' she said, with a sigh. 'Get a performance, learn the words, steps and music before then?'
Christine nodded, knowing the answer, seeing it written all over Meg's worried face.
'No,' she finally said, as simply as that. She did not embellish further, there was not point. She was only confirming what Christine already knew.
Louis waited nervously outside the back entrance to the Opera Populair. The night was cool but clear, stars twinkled in the sky plastering it with patterns and puzzles. Sometimes he liked to think of himself as one of the stars; free and bright. A swirl of breeze wrapped itself around his legs and he pulled his dinner jacket tighter around his body.
He didn't really want to be here, waiting outside this opera house to take some woman he didn't know to another Opera house to watch a show he didn't care much for. He rubbed his hands together, he was surprised at how chilly summer nights could be sometimes. He checked his pocket watched a sighed, maybe he would just go and forget about this whole charade. He certainly felt like just leaving.
He wouldn't though, who would? It would be foolish to deny Erik Lambourne this simple request.
He leaned against the wall but as he did there was a click and the door swung open next to him. At once he was back, standing straight. He really had no idea what to expect but he assumed anyone that fraternised with Erik was probably not someone you wanted to spend an evening with.
He stepped around to face this woman, this Christine, and his breath was taken away.
She was beautiful.
Louis blinked, swallowed, tried to regain some sense of where he was and what planet he happened to be on. Her dark hair fell in soft curls over slender shoulders, large, chocolate eyes peered up through a loose fringe, full pink lips, soft cheeks...
'Louis?' she asked, a frown on her face.
Even frowning she was pretty.
'Yes,' he said, too quickly, too sharply. 'Sorry, I was in a world of my own,'
She nodded, eyeing him wearily.
I don't blame you, he thought.
'Christine, I assume?' he asked.
Another nod.
'Shall we go?' he asked, heart racing. This was not what he expected, she was not what he expected.
Instead of answering she took the lead, walking to the edge of the path and rounding the corner. He walked faster until he was by her side and then guided her out to the carriage that Erik had sent for them.
Was Erik in love with this beautiful young woman?
Louis opened the door for Christine and then held his arm out to help her into the back. He was staring, he knew he was, but he could not help it. There was something so enchanting about this woman.
In the carriage they barely said two words to each other, there were pleasantries but it was obvious that Erik had not told Christine what to expect either. Louis wondered briefly what she had thought when she had seen him, then he pushed the thought from his mind. He was here to do a job and that was all.
But could he not try to enjoy himself in the process.
The theatre was bustling and busy, people were gathered in crowds as they waited to be called through to their seats. Louis looked around him and noticed that there was a bar to the rear of the room.
'Christine?' he said, pulling her out of what ever trance it was that she had gone into.
'Yes?' she asked softly.
'Would you care for a drink?' he asked, allowing himself to show her one of his rarer moments... a smile on his face.
It seemed to work and immediately she smiled back, 'I would love some tonic or some orange juice,'
He began to walk away from her, towards the bar, but then remembered what Erik had said to him.
'You had better come with me,' he said. 'I was told to make sure that you were never alone and always safe,'
She blinked as if surprised. 'Alright,' she said, as she followed.
Louis considered for a moment having a stiff drink to cool his ever warming nerves. There were tingles all over him, he was on edge.
When he handed Christine her drink she took a small sip and eyed him over the top of the glass. He saw curiosity and questions in her eyes but she allowed the silence to linger between them. There was no attraction there, he thought, a little disappointed, but there was something hiding behind her dark eyes.
'So...' he said, trying to hide the tang of nervousness in his voice. 'Do you like the opera much?'
She stared at him. 'Yes,' she said simply.
Was she going to make conversation hard work all night?
'Do you live at the Opera Populair?' he asked.
'Yes,' she said.
'What do you do there?'
'I'm a dancer?'
He smiled. 'My mother was a dancer,' he said.
'Really?' she said, her eyes brightening a little. 'So was mine but she... she always wanted to be singer,'
'They do seem to get more adoration,' Louis said.
Christine nodded. 'I am learning to sing,' she said. 'That is why I am here tonight,'
'To learn??' he asked, confused.
'My teacher tells me I need to see emotion in action,' she smiled, he thought for the first time.
'Ahh,' he said. 'Well, I suppose that is important,'
'Apparently so,' she said.
'Is that how you know Erik then?' Louis asked.
She frowned at him. 'Erik?' she asked.
'Yes,' he said, wondering why she looked so confused. 'Erik Lambourne, the man who sent me... got you tickets...'
'Oh, sorry,' she said, but the frown remained.
'Are you alright?' he asked as the audience began taking their seats. They followed them and were then led to the front of the room, close to the stage.
'Yes,' she finally answered as the lights dipped.