Of Love and Discord

Chapter 2

It was about an hour before sundown when the maintenance staff of Carnegie Theater began climbing on top of the façade to put the letters on the sign for tonight's event. Traffic began dispersing as day turned into night. A day in the concrete jungle had ended for some, while the nocturnal life of entertainment, speakeasies, and crime had just begun. And it was here that the gods came to join in for some mortal fun too.

Coming up the street just to the corner of the theater intersection was a woman dressed stylishly for an event. Eris, wearing a dark blue fishtail evening gown, her heels clacking as she walked, came to a halt across from the theater façade in her mortal disguise for tonight. She adjusted her long hair that was tied back as her fingers gently combed her bangs away from her eyes that ran down her cheeks. She had come early for the show to plot a perfect situation that would lead to a perfect show. A stage lighting error that would kill a bunch of people? Or a show that ended up being a comedic discourse for tomorrow's paper perhaps? Pondering so, she stretched her arm out to view the theater in her compact mirror from behind her. She adjusted her eyeliner while she schemed as the line of her eyes became darker. As she was doing this, the director for tonight's performance came out from the front entrance to inspect the sign. He began calling loudly to the workers up on the sign:

"No! You have it crooked now! Adjust it to the left. No wait! Adjust it just a little to the right. Yes! My God gentlemen, you spaced it too close now," the director said as evidence of what was shown:

Carnegie Theater Events

PRESENTS AN EVENING OF THE ROMANTICS

BY THE UNIVERSITY OF PARIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

TONIGHT ONLY!

GUEST PERFORMANCE BY STAR PUPIL OF PROFESSOR FRANK VALENTINI

HENRYL__EON

"Never mind gentlemen. Just hurry back in. They need you inside now," he remarked after glancing at his watch. Just then, a taxi stopped in front of the theatre with a young man and an elderly woman stepping out.

"Henry! The star of the show. I'm glad you made it on time," said the director, touching the young man's shoulders.

"Professor, I'm so sorry. You said 5:30 but it's already 5:45. I was practicing at home after work and lost track of time... Oh, here are my new compositions I'm going to play," said Henry urgently, pulling his portfolio from under his arms.

"Yes, Yes. We shall be glad to hear them tonight, my boy," the director smiled, then turned his attention to the elderly lady who was adjusting the young man's tie.

"Hold still dear, you can't perform looking like you just got into a fight," she said, looking attentively at it.

"Oh no! Do I really look that bad?" The young man started buttoning his cuffs and then dusted off lint and a piece of string from his messy brown hair. He adjusted his tuxedo tail that had slipped inside his pants pocket.

"Ah, Mrs. Leon, I presume. It is an honor to meet you at last. Henry always mentions his darling mother." The director kissed her hand and smiled.

"The pleasure is mine, Professor Valentini," she replied kindly.

"Is it a full house tonight, professor?" Henry asked, looking nervously as he flipped through his portfolio to make sure that everything was there. His glasses glared at it while his slouched posture gave evidence of his nervousness.

"Yes, everyone is just dying to hear my pupil's debut. But don't worry, boy, you'll be fine. Just play as you would at my office." The director then patted Henry's shoulders.