I turned around, holding a bright candle with soft white warm wax dripping down the sides. It was really Marius. He smiled at me.
“Evelyn. I can’t believe it’s really you.” I looked at the faint candlelight, then glanced around the opera house, to make sure no one was there.
“So, yes. It’s me. Are you sure you aren’t looking for Christine? She seems to be the only person the whole city’s ever seen!” My voice was bitter, and I could feel tears running down my cheeks.
“Evelyn, I haven’t said a single thing about Christine!” He looked very concerned for me.
“Oh, you didn’t even look at her once? Or are you lying to me? Or is Madame Giry lying to me when she said that I was valued? Or is my life just one lie when my mother sent me to live at the Opera House?” I screamed. I was too angry to control my emotions.
“Christine was beautiful, but”
“Oh, now you admit it! Christine CHRISTINE CHRISTINE! All anyone’s ever cared about! I bet you wanted me to please give my deepest respect to the lovely Miss Daae!” I put down the candle beside the stage, and I continued.
“You see this wilted rose? Christine has so many that she can afford to let one wilt! And what have I gotten for all my work? Not one PETAL!” I ripped off a petal, and threw it in the air
“CHRISTINE DAAE, THIS IS WHAT YOU DESERVE!” I finished, and collapsed onto the stairs. Marius sat beside me.
“Evelyn, I hardly noticed Christine. How could anyone notice her when your elegant movements, gliding across the stage, are like floating lillies and blossoms in the winds of spring? Evelyn, I’m sorry. I know how hardworking, dedicated you are. And I know that you are as simple and heartbreaking as Christine with your voice, twinkling laugh. Don’t think that I’ve forgotten about you.” I sat there, silent.
“I know it’s not true. Under praises, it’s all pretending.” Hope was one emotion that I was used to, one that always abandoned me. I remember how my heart had soared when the phrase exceptional beauty was mentioned, and the pain of it dropping,
“Well, I don’t care a bit about Christine. You were perfect. From that moment in the garden, I remembered you amidst the flowers, and I kept on wanting to find you.” I still couldn’t believe it, though.
“Well, if Christine hasn’t stained your memory, then-“
“Believe me. Evelyn, I’ve always loved you.” He pulled me into a tight embrace, and I dried my tears.
“Marius... I love you too.” Our lips locked, and we stayed in the darkness of the opera house, staying still in the depths of night. I broke the silence.
“The Opera House... it’s not big enough for our dreams. I don’t want to live in the shadow of Christine anymore.” I didn’t know what I was suggesting. I just knew one thing: that it was true. That I wanted another start, away from fancies, music, dance, and I wanted to just be able to look at the stars, the sunset.
“Let’s go somewhere else. I’ve just left my grandfather, so we can be together. You must have enough money from all the years you’ve worked at the Opera House!” He looked at me, and I felt like I was soaring. The future. Finally, the future.
“To the future.” I took the rose, and threw the petals into the tray of the candle. Wax dripped down onto the petals, and I lit the wax with the fire. The petals burst into warm, raging flames. Then, I placed the lily that had dropped from Christine’s hair into the center, and watched it burn.
“Tommorow?” I answered the question with my eyes. Then I quietly slipped back to my room.
Beneath the floorboard, I counted 500 francs out. It was a lot, but considering the almost ten years I had been working, and the extravagant budget of the opera house, it really wasn’t much. But I stuffed it into my old blue silk bag. I’ve had it since I first came to the Opera House.
“Evelyn, don’t forget that I love you very much.” I still remember that voice as a whisper, and the blue silk first touching my hand. It was as thin as gossamer, though it held my life. My first pair of ballet shoes. My broken hairpin. My journal. A rose from Marius’s garden. And now, I put in the five hundred francs, and the remains of the candle.
The night sky was blue, with a silver lining. The stars, in their multitude, lit up the darkness with contentment. Contentment, not resentment. For once, I had a heart full of love, and the night was bright as day.
I lay there thinking.
I remember that Marius had mentioned him leaving his grandfather. Could it be for political reasons? Everyone knew M.Gillenormand as a royalist, but I had seen the rosette pinned to Marius’s jacket. I ignored it, though. If the ‘cause’, as the so called revolutionaries spoke of it, was really that vital, I would know already.
I remember that Madame Giry had talked about my mother. Evannia Fantine Sader. The syllables rolled around my tongue. I only remember my mother as absolutely charming and alluring. Her cascades of gold pen hair, soft features, were like sunshine. I checked The Note again. The Note. It was pinned to my mirror, bearing the three words I love you. I tasted them. They were what Marius had told me. I was hearing my mother again through his words.
I remembered my full name. Evelyn Evadne Justice Sader. It was always so mysterious. Evelyn. Like a small cloud, floating in the galaxy. Evadne. I didn’t know much of it, except it being a name from Greek Mythology. Justice. This one puzzled me. Justice. What the revolutionaries spoke of. Did it really exist? I didn’t know. I didn’t even know what it was. Sader. It was simple and sweet. I felt like the depths of it were still clear. My own thoughts gave me sleep.
The next morning, I woke to another note pinned to my mirror.
