Phantom's Understudy

Part Two - The Opera Ghost

It was a busy day for the rest of that day, and the actual showing was that evening. I must say that my nerves got the best of me and I began sweating a little more than usual in the Prima Donna room.

There were two knocks at the door. "Come in," I said.

The door slowly opened to reveal Christine and Meg.

"Beth!" They exclaimed almost in unison.

I smiled at the two.

"We're so happy that you had this opportunity. Maybe you will be the new Prima Donna after this! All those years of practicing extra is going to pay off." Christine said happily.

"I'm not going to get my hopes up but maybe it is so," I said, looking over the two friends I managed to make in the past three years. "I owe it to that stagehand too - if he hadn't dropped that backdrop on the queen I probably wouldn't be here." I laughed softly.

Meg shook her head. "don't go around showing gratitude to Joseph. He might get the wrong idea." She joked. "plus, it wasn't he. I think it was the Phantom of the Opera."

I sighed. "Maybe so. But I don't think I can go around thanking a ghost."

I suppose I can play this game. I still think Joseph is scamming the poor men who own the Opera. But. Maybe it's someone else.

"Regardless, I'm awfully nervous." I said. "It's been a long time since I sang the lead in front of so many people."

"You'll do fine!" Christine said. Her eyes seemed to be glowing at me, her curly brown locks perfectly laying on her back and out of her fact.

If I could just be blessed with her looks I think I could deal with being in front of a crowd.

I fought to not play with my hair after it had been curled and arranged. I had a habit of running my hands through my near black locks. They were naturally wavy, and usually I let them be natural, but for the performance tonight, I was required to have them curled.

"The show is about to begin," Christine mentioned.

I nodded slowly, noticing that these two managed to make my butterflies go away, but now they were returning.

"Don't worry. We'll be right there with you. We know you'll do well." Meg encouraged.

"Thank you both." Just like that, I was alone in the Prima Donna room again, just waiting to go on stage.

~*~

The performance went perfectly. My voice rang through the audience and was more powerful than it had been for years. I realized at the moment the curtain dropped that the audience had given me strength. I genuinely felt that my voice was stronger because of who was in front of me.

Maybe that is why I only got the understudy role. I was always scared to let my voice soar.

Making my way back to the Prima Donna room, I looked down to notice a note amongst the piles of bouquets. I gave the note a questioning look and picked it up to open it.

It was sealed with red wax, with the initials O.G. on the wax.

I pulled the wax away from the paper and lifted the flap. There were more knocks at the door, which caused me to instantly place the letter back on the table.

"Come in,"

The door this time revealed the Vicomte, who was holding a large bouquet of flowers.

"Hello, Elizabeth, is it?"

I nodded. "Hello, Vicomte de Changy."

"Please call me Raoul. You were lovely out there tonight." He said, handing me the bouquet.