The Phantom of The Phantom of the Opera

Chapter 25: Not on His Watch

A few days later, Catherine awoke early. She had to go to stage rehearsal and then she was going to spend the day with Mariah.

When she arrive at the Garnier, she called out, "Mari!"

"Catherine! Over here!" Mariah called back.

Catherine moved over to her friend.

"How did he take it?" Mari asked, her eyes filled with concern.

"I didn't tell him," Catherine sighed, "and I'm not going to. It would kill him."

—————

Josh made his way quickly across the apartment. "Matt?!" He called.

"Over here," Matt called back.

Josh moved over to his friend. "So," he said, crossing his arms, eyes filled with concern, "how did she take it?"

"What?" Matt asked in confusion.

"You told her you remember Mel?"

At the mention of her name, Matt cowered, his face turning dark and full of loathing. "I didn't tell her," he sighed, "and I'm not going to. It would kill her, make her feel I loved her less."

"Do you?"

"Of course not."

—————

"Cath you can't just avoid him forever," Mari laughed.

Catherine sighed. "Mari, he would doubt my love for him. I can't do that to him. I can't and I won't. For now, let him worry about me all he wants. I refuse to even text him. I know that if I do, I'll end up telling him. He's my broken, little Angel of Music. I can't hurt him more."

"Catherine, you're going to need to tell him eventually. The longer you wait, the worst it's going to hurt. Sit on that for a while," Mariah sighed.

"Just get to the dancing," Catherine moaned.

—————

"Matt, you're going to need to tell her eventually. The longer you wait, the worst it's going to hurt. Sit on that for a while," Josh sighed.

"Listen, can you just stop the lecture and get back to helping me?" Matt laughed. "How do I get her to text me back?"

"You're asking me?" Josh questioned in confusion.

Matt nodded. "Couldn't you like...I don't know, hack her phone or something?"

"Matt," Josh scoffed, "I'm down here for hacking. Do you really think I'd wanna risk my butt on some impossible scheme again?"

"Well...you could text Mari or something. Maybe she'll talk some sense into Cath," Matt thought aloud.

Josh turned a funny shade of sickly pink, nearly with disgust. "And why would I have her number in the first place?"

"Come on, man. I know you do," Matt smirked. "I've seen the notifications pop up on your phone."

"No," Josh laughed, "That's Mary, my cantaloupe provider."

Matt rolled his eyes. "Yeah, okay...I'm just worried about Catherine. She hasn't been responding to my messages and didn't want me to come over the other night."

Josh frowned. "You think she knows?"

Matt thought for a moment. "At the hospital, I remember her saying something like, 'I know everything. I'll explain it to you later.' Maybe she does know about Mel."

Josh opened his mouth to give a small high pitched shriek at the retention of such high importance information being kept from him, but his phone buzzed in his back pocket, and he begrudgingly took it out.