The next morning Christine and Catherine were awake and dressed just as the other employees began to arrive. After closing the door to their room and going their separate ways Catherine saw through the glass in the side door that the man in the red uniform had arrived and decided to greet him before she began her duties.
"Good morning Monsieur" she said coming up behind the man, which made him jump in surprise.
"Oh, Good Morning young Mademoiselle" he said with a chuckle.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I wanted to thank you for helping my sister and I yesterday. And forgive me I never got your name" said Catherine, giggling at the man's reaction for a moment.
"Again, is was nothing young Mademoiselle and you may call me Jean-Claude" he said with a friendly smile.
"And you may call me Catherine or Cathy if you prefer" said Catherine with a sweet smile.
She glanced down for a moment to see Jean-Claude was carrying a thermos under his arm.
"Have you not had breakfast this morning Jean-Claude?" she asked.
"I'm afraid not. I was hoping to purchase some Cheese Bread from the stall out there, but I was running a little late" he said with a downtrodden expression.
"Well why don't I get it for you. It's the least I can do" Catherine offered.
"Oh no you don't have to Catherine I can manage until later" said Jean-Claude, feeling reluctant to ask such a sweet young woman to do something for him.
"Oh, don't be silly Jean-Claude I can't possible let you go through the morning hungry. Just give me the money to purchase it and I'll be right back with it" Catherine insisted.
Jean-Claude was still feeling reluctant but seeing the sweet smile on Catherine's face made it hard for him to say no.
"Oh, very well then. Merci Catherine" he said taking some money from his pocket and handed it to Catherine.
XXX
The youngest Daae sister then made her way up to the side entrance and towards the front of the building where there many stalls and food venders were set up and right away, she saw the stall that was selling Cheese Bread.
"Cheese Bread!" called out the elderly gentleman that was running the stall.
Catherine approached him and held out the money in her hands.
"Ah there you go Mademoiselle. Let me wrap this for you. There you are" he said to Catherine taking the money from her hands, gave her some change and then handed her the Cheese Bread wrapped in paper.
"Merci Monsieur" Catherine smiled at the man before making her way back where she came.
XXX
When Catherine returned more employees had arrived and she had to weave her way through the people that were coming in and out of Jean-Claude's office.
"Here you go Jean-Claude" she said as she came in.
Jean-Claude was sitting at his desk, drinking his tea as she came in.
"Oh, thank you" he said with a smile.
"You are welcome" she said giving him a kiss on the cheek.
She then handed him the change and left the office to start her duties in the Costume Department.
XXX
After walking around the Opera House for quite some time Catherine finally found the door labelled 'Costume Department'. She took a moment to take a deep breath to calm her nerves before raising her right arm and knocked on the door. Behind the door she could hear shuffling and the sound of heeled shoes on a wooden floor getting closer to the door then suddenly it flew open and there stood a woman in her late forties with dark hair tied up in a bun, wearing a dark green blouse, a long black skirt and shiny black boots.
"Bonjour Madame, my name is Catherine Daae. I'm Madame Carlotta's new costume girl" said Catherine nervously with a smile.
"Ah yes I was expecting you my dear. Come let me show you your duties" said the woman as she closed and locked the door behind her.
She then led Catherine to a large dressing room with a table down the middle covered with different costume items.
"What should I do?" asked Catherine as she followed the woman.
"Sometimes they lay their costumes here. Sometimes over there. Their names are sewn on the back" the woman explained, pointing to the other side of the room to show Catherine where other costumes were left.
"You pick up the costumes carefully and put them in this cart" the woman further explained as she picked up some of the costumes from the table.
Catherine followed her example and picked up the ones she missed then followed the woman towards a huge cart that made a few pieces of costumes inside.
"Costumes are like people, you must handle them carefully" said the woman and then led Catherine out of the room to show her, her other duties.
Meanwhile hidden in the shadows Erik, who was wearing his masked made of shard glass, watched the young Daae sister from the moment she stepped inside the dressing room and continued following her. Taking care not to be seen or heard.
XXX
After showing Catherine around the woman had to return to the Costume room but before she left, she asked Catherine to clean in the dressing rooms whilst everyone was at rehearsal. She found a bucket and scrub brush in a storage cupboard and filled the bucket up in the sink then went off to the dressing room and began the hard, grueling task of scrubbing the floor from one this of the room to the other. Catherine didn't really mind the hard work and kept going at it until she was finished. Before she left the room, she did a quick survey to make sure there wasn't any more costumes were left lying around and when she couldn't see any she left the room and made her way back to the Costume Department. While she was walking backstage Catherine looked around with wander and awe and soon realized, she had walked a few steps onto the stage. Before she could go any further, she saw two men coming toward her and immediately turned around and continued on her way. When she returned the bucket and brush to the storage room, she returned to the costume room with haste.
The minute she walked through the door the head seamstress immediately placed a light grey dress with silver trim into her arms and instructed her to take it to Madame Carlotta's dressing room. When she arrived, she walked straight in and saw Madame Carlotta, Monsieur Cholet and two other costumers fitting the Diva into a Medieval styled dress that was Red, White, and Blue and Carlotta's long Red hair was braided and pinned up with White and Red roses.
"Darling tell me the truth, how do I look?" she asked her husband.
"You look like Spring. No better, you look like a young Spring. Like a Spring that is not yet even Spring. That Spring that is about to become Spring. That is Winter. No, no is not Winter it's a Spring. Definitely Spring" he said in a flirty way as he circled around his wife, admiring her beauty.
Carlotta was flattered by her husband's loving words. And, secretly, they also inflated her ego ever so slightly.
"You wouldn't lie to me, would you?" she asked in a sweet manner as she placed her left hand under her husband's chin.
"Oh no, no" he said. He then started making kissy noises at her and she did the same in return until both of their lips touched for a kiss.
Catherine watched the two as she placed the dress she was holding onto a manikin whilst holding back a giggle.
YOU ARE READING
Beauty Of Music
RomanceWhat if Christine Daae had a younger sister named Catherine who was the real singer and she wanted to follow in their father's footsteps to become a Violinist in the Orchestra at the Opera Garnier. When the sisters arrived at the Opera, Catherine's...
