CHAPTER 30
Kara had talked herself horse. When Lisa had disappeared from the house there was no questioning where she'd gone. When she'd returned with the villain in tow, it had nearly sent Kara into hysterics. She hadn't stopped from that moment for the next 3 days. Finally worn out, Kara did the only thing she had left to do.
Mrs. Aguilar's health was much improved, in fact she felt better than she'd felt in years. There seemed to be music in her ears and a joie de vivre that filled her every moment. Kara was hesitant about being the one to puncture the old woman's happiness, but for the sake of the friend she loved she was prepared for any consequences.
"I must speak with you Gloria." She said after having delivered the matrons mid-day meal to the sitting room.
"Of course, you've been moping around this place for days and barely talking to Lisa. What's bothering you?" she asked, sounding concerned.
"Has she said anything to you about… that man?" Kara inquired conscientiously. Gloria understood there was only one person to fit that comment, and the idea made her grin.
"She's told me enough, but you know Lisa. She likes to speak in riddles and prose." She said, waving it off like wisp of smoke.
"There may be a different reason why she hasn't said more." She began. Not allowing herself to stop Kara dove right in and relayed all she knew and everything she supposed to the old woman. Mrs. Aguilar listened fixedly, not interrupting the other woman's monologue.
Once Kara was done, she sat silently waiting for what she was sure would be an out pour of outrage. Gloria Aguilar often had a flare for the dramatic, and Kara was sure this would stir her hot Spanish blood. The old woman simply gazed back at her with a dull expression, but after a moment the ends of her mouth curved slightly into what could only be called a devilish grin.
Gloria shifted her gaze suddenly to the doorway of the sitting room, and Kara spun around to see Lisa standing in the doorway. Even though she was still confident in her stance, Kara felt contrite by the look of betrayal on her friends face. Had there been any other way she would have gladly followed it. The stalemate was broken when Mama Aguilar cleared her throat. She gestured for Lisa to enter and take a seat at table with them.
"You both must think I'm stupid or senile." She said. The other two look at each other with confused expressions. "Of course I've known from the moment I saw that man who he was. Maybe your memories may be faulty, but not mine. I know you were mostly comatose to the world at the time Mija, but Kara, how could you have forgotten. I was there." She said in a spirited voice. It took a moment, but when Kara realized what she was saying she leapt from her seat and gasped.
"I heard the Phantom's voice and saw his face the night the chandelier fell on the Opera Populaire. Not only did I see the dangling corpse of Buquet, but I saw Piangi strung up on the stage. I was in the second row and narrowly missed being killed. Salena's husband was quick enough to get us out a side entrance from the stage. It was all very exciting and tragically romantic." She finished by sipping her tea. Lisa remained sitting, because her legs probably wouldn't have supported her.
"How… how is it I don't remember this?" she asked.
"You were still so caught up in Charles and Armando's death, I told the others not to worry you. But you Kara, I'm astonished." said the old woman. Kara slowly lowered herself back into her chair as a steady stream of tears had begun to roll down her down her cheeks.
"I… I don't know. I remember it so clearly now. The three of you returned from the event so shaken and disheveled. I was half asleep, but I did what I could to calm you all down and you told me some of what had happened." She stammered.
"Yes, and I recall you saying that maybe it had all be part of the show, but when the morning paper came with all gruesome details you ate it up like good book."
"But if you knew, how could you have let such a dangerous man stay in your house, and even seduce your daughter?" Kara asked, unable to fathom what this all meant. Lisa looked at her friend with a stunned expression. Had she really been seduced, like Christine?
"It was all so long ago. Men in love often go too far in their pursuit, especially when there is competition. Besides, Christine is gone, the opera is gone, there's nothing we can do to resurrect them and he is a well-respected business man raising the child of his beloved." She said coolly, as if it was all common sense, but Kara's outrage was quickly escalating.
"That's just not good enough. What if he had…" Kara started, but in a change as quick as a flash of lighting Mrs. Aguilar turned on her with fierce eyes.
"Now you listen to me. I've lived on this earth much longer than either of you and I know what real danger is, don't presume to think that you know more than I or that I've forgotten the horrors of what we all endured. Whatever he may have done in the past has nothing to do with us and he was never any danger to us either, even after you too nearly blew his head off with those damned pistols." She revealed.
Would the revelations never end? Lisa was unsure she could handle much more and Kara felt near to fainting.
"I live here too, and in the quiet of the night I can here nearly everything that goes on in this house. Now, let me tell you how things are going to happen from now on. Kara, you will stop trying to play the hero or voice of reason and let things go according to the good lord's design. And Lisa, you will stop second guessing every little thought in your head and feeling in your heart and choose the path that calls to you." She said.
"But Madam Giry…" Kara tried.
"Don't talk to me about Giry, if that woman is in love with him too I wouldn't be shocked. You can be sure she has her own agenda and her own perspective of how things happened. Especially since her own child was involved." Gloria was starting to feel exasperated. She'd always known that these things would have one day come to light, but it was taking a toll on her already limited strength. "That's enough Kara. I know this is hard for you, and you only worry so because of your love for us. We love you too. You are like a daughter to me and I ask that you trust me once more. Now go, I need to speak with Lisa alone."
Kara stood slowly and retreated from the room like a chastised puppy. It was all so unreal that she couldn't think of what to say or do, so she went to the kitchen and started cooking. For whom or what she didn't know, she just cooked.
Mrs. Aguilar gestured for Lisa to come kneel before her. Lisa felt like a child again, coming to her precious Mama for advice and comfort.
"Mi Amor. I know you're scared, but please don't be. It's made me so happy to see you awakening to a new chance to love and live. It's been so long since either of us could really reach that place inside of us. Now we've both felt it again, I don't want to see it lost because of silly suppositions." She cooed to her daughter.
"Oh Mami, I don't know if I'm strong enough. If it were someone different, someone without such a history too maybe it would be easier."
"Our heavenly father doesn't do things according to what is easier for us or when he thinks we're ready, he has a plan for every one of us, but it's up to you to recognize and follow it." The old woman leaned forward and placed affectionate kissed all over her daughters face. If she could only convey the depth of her love for her only child through them, maybe the younger woman would finally understand how important all this was for everyone involved.
Mother and daughter remained in deep conversation well into the night, until Gloria's fatigue was just too much to withstand. In the morning Lisa would start preparing for her first Monster's Ball.