Annie shot you a terrified look.
"Annie? That was you?" that round woman asked, her head receding back to unintentionally accentuate her enormous double chin. Her tiny mouth, painted red to try and make it more noticeable, smacked with disappointment. "Didn't know you were like that."
Annie's head lowered. If she were a dog, her tail would have been right between her legs - and after watching her for a few moments, you could have sworn you saw a tear drop from her chin. She said nothing.
"'Course she is!" one of the drunk crew members called out. He was practically a new Joseph Buquet (and Erik had often brought up the idea of "accidentally" shoving him from the rafters). "It's always the innocent ones that get ya."
He offered a wink to poor Annie, who was covering her mortified face at that point.
"Well... Guess I was wrong about you, [Y/N]," another woman spoke up. She had raven hair, a long face, and a hooked nose. The provocative costume was intended to make her look younger than her ripe age of 37 (which didn't normally seem old, but dancing, stress, and six children had taken a toll on her body and gave her many premature wrinkles). "I never expected that -"
"I'm sorry, okay?" Annie cried out suddenly. Before you knew it, that curly head of hers was storming out of the auditorium, her hands wiping her face as a few heads turned in her direction. You were surprised that she had enough strength to push people out of her way and sob at the same time.
A silence lingered over all of you...
But you were the only one to go after her.
"Annie..." you began, your eyebrows furrowing with worry before you found yourself following her direction. "Annie - wait!"
You pushed through afterward, getting out of there just as the whispers and gossips started circling around again, and Annie's little feet moved quickly enough for her to scurry across the hallway faster than you had seen anyone do so before. She stopped only when she reached one of the supply closets, and quickly enough, she grabbed onto you and yanked her inside right along with you.
She really did seem to be upset.
"If you're going to ask if I really slept with Monsieur Matthew, the answer is no," she said quickly. She sniffled as she wiped her eyes, and as she stared up at you, you could just about see how she seemed to regret what she had falsely admitted in front of everybody... However, she would rather get shunned than to watch it happen to you.
"Why'd you say that, Annie?" you asked with a small frown. "You didn't have to-"
"To protect your dignity, [Y/N]..." she sniffled. "I knew it wasn't you, but they would all convince themselves that it was if I didn't pretend like it was me."
"How did you know it wasn't me who-"
"Because you wouldn't, [Y/N]!" she said. Tears brimmed her eyes as her voice broke, and she wiped her eyes as she shook her head and stared at the floor... she was about to add something else, but her voice seemed locked up in her throat. She just repeated herself. "You wouldn't..."
"I don't want you to take the fall for me, Anne," you said softly. "I appreciate everything that you've done for me— really— but you could ruin your chance as a dancer... This is too much of a risk for you to take."
She shook her head.
"I know, but—"
The closet door flung open. On the opposite side was a dancer— one with bright orange hair and a sunburn from stepping out into the street for half a minute. Sh snorted at the sight of Annie.
"Is she trying to seduce you too now, [Y/N]?" the woman asked. Annie just pushed past her to get back to dancing, and you just had to roll your eyes as you tripped over your mop...
It was going to be a long day.
***
"Matthew, what were you thinking?" you whispered. The both of you finally had some time together while the cast members mingled in the kitchen, eating whatever mushy potatoes and chicken was being served at the time, and you were just about ready to rip Matthew a new one.
"What do you mean?" he asked. "I didn't—"
"Your stupid decision made poor Annie give up her entire reputation for my sake," you said. "And I didn't even lay a finger on you.
"I still don't—"
"Who gave you that hickey, Matthew?" you asked, a sullen, disappointed expression playing on your face. "You could have risked everything we've fought for this far."
Matthew's expression fell...
Now he understood.
"I..." he started, though he frowned a little. This situation suddenly became a lot more difficult and sprouted a lot more problems than he ever thought it would. Firstly, it ruined Annie's reputation. That was just horrible... and secondly, you would get an earful if you said the "truth" about your "affair—" though if you said what had really happened between him and a woman, both detectives would be on your case and suspicious. "We'll figure something out, I promise."
"How?" you asked, ignoring the sputtering laughter of the drunk men just across the hall. You quickly wiped your eyes. "I can't ruin somebody else's life just because..."
"I know, I know," Matthew muttered, burying his face in his hands for a moment before he let out a long sigh. If there was anything that you knew about him, it was that he was a good person— so he probably felt even worse than you did. "I can't either—"
"[Y/N]!" you heard someone call out. You watched as Meg scurried down the hall, clutching onto her stomach as she tried to catch her breath. For a moment, you thought that it had something to do with her baby, though once she gulped and pointed in the direction that she had run from, you knew that it was something else. "There's someone you'll want to see."
Before you could stop her, Meg grabbed onto your hand before quickly leading you down the stairs— and you didn't even check to see if Matthew was following behind. To be frank, you didn't even care.
"Pardon us!" Meg would shout out every once in a while. As you passed through a couple sucking face in the hallway, you found yourself making a sharp turn before heading over in the direction of the auditorium.
People were surprisingly active in there.
You thought that the cast members would all be obsessed with eating their dinner and enjoying their break, although you were not-so-pleasantly surprised— it seemed like just about everybody was crammed onto that stage. The chatter and activity in there seemed to be buzzing just as much as it had when the entire situation with "Annie" broke out, but something told you it was something else.
"Pardon us," Meg would say time and time again... you broke through a circle of people surrounding someone else, but despite the fact that everyone was talking, you heard a voice above all else that sound oddly familiar.
It took you only a moment to realize who that voice belonged to...
After all, it was the woman who made your heart break.
Christine Daaé.
A/N: Hey! Sorry for late updates... sometimes, my inspiration is better than others, and I feel like this book is notorious for its dramatic plot, lol! Thanks for still sticking around. Anyway, updates may be more frequent, as I am beginning to feel a little more inspired, but don't take my word for sure on that! I don't want to say that and then not update in forever... but anyway, love you all, and see you soon! 💖