Blizzard Girl ©

Chapter Twenty-Six

We all said bye to mom and dad. Even though I tried to focus all of my thoughts on saying goodbye, my mind kept on wandering. Specifically, my mind kept on wandering on what Percival left under my pillow. 

So after Charlie, Jason, and I cleaned up the dining table, I headed to my room. Where I promptly locked my bedroom door. It's not like my mom was there to berate me. And my brother Jason was busy watching television and Charlie was busy getting lectured by a still cross Mr. Bunter. 

I sat on the bed before lifting the pillow. Underneath, were tickets for a performance of a play called Madame Butterfly. "Sounds like a nice and boring performance," I said to myself. 

"I won't spoil it for you but it does end with a cliffhanger." I jumped at Percival's words as I looked for the source of the voice. I thought I had masked all reflections and I had. What I didn't count on were my sunglasses being reflective enough for Percival. As I saw Percival's head in both sunglass lenses from the bookshelf they were on. "Hello Ventisca."

Shaking my head, I couldn't help but smirk at him. "I don't know if I'll ever get used to you Percival."

"I wouldn't want you to, " was his reply. "The whole air of mystery matter has been of great use for me for more than a few millennia's. Why break with tradition?"

"If I believed in your rhetoric then I wouldn't be American now, would I?" I waved the tickets in front of the sunglasses. "Now, why am I going to an opera house tonight?"

"Well, as it so happens, the Dumont's have been sponsoring the arts since Shakespeare started writing his plays." Percival said Shakespeare with such disdain that I knew he could only have the reaction because he met him. Which sent a chill down my spine. "They'll be at the Théâtre du Châtelet tonight and you'll be there much to their surprise." 

"Oh, I'm surprised," I replied as I placed my sunglasses back on the shelving. "I don't have to spend more of your money do I?"

I sat on my bed, waiting for him to speak. When he didn't, I sighed and looked at the tickets in my hand. "Is taking a nap for an hour out of the question? And--why do I have two tickets?" Are you coming with me? Because you said before that--"

"Ventisca!" boomed Percival's voice. I jumped and was angry at myself for jumping. "I gave you two tickets because you got stood up."

"Very funny, Percival."

"I'm serious about this, Ventisca."

"What?!"

"Yes, your reason for being there is becuase you got stood up. It also gives you ample opportunity to be alone with Jillian because you'll have an unoccupied seat. Remember, you're there tonight to earn her trust further. Hopefully, she'll be willing to pour her heart out to you soon enough." Percival said all of this with such ease that I made a huge mistake. I got lulled into a false sense of security.

"Alright, you've clearly given this some thought. I'll go." Then, before I could change my mind, I was transported to Percival's mirror world. "But I still hate the part of the story where I get stood up." 

"That part of your story is the best reason you're alone at an opera house." Damn, I knew he hand me there but I was not going to show it. 

"I was expecting a better excuse from an old man like you." 

"The best excuses are the simplest. Besides, you did get stood up, Ventisca. By me, but I intend to make up for my absence." After he told me that he grabbed a boutique bag I didn't notice on the floor before. "Come on, try it on," he said to me softly. 

Snatching the bag from his hand I shook my head. "How much did you pay this time, Percival?" I was already behind the screen when I was provided with an answer.