Love Didn't Die

A Performance in Paris

 I took a deep breathe as I stood waiting for the clock to hit 8pm so my concert could start. I waited in the wings dressed in a full length pink dress that matched the formality of this whole concert. I had my hair tied back in a neat bun, with small bejewelled clips added in so that they could reflect the spotlight. I knew I looked beautiful. I didn't need anyone to tell me. It was apart of my job to look pretty, to be a piece of eye candy while I sung. Many people questioned why I had come all the way to Paris to perform a one night only concert. Many if them came to the conclusion that the answer was that I was offered a lot of money to do this. Little did they know that I asked to perform here.
"Time to go on." The stage manager interrupted my thoughts. I gave her a curt nod before stepping out on the Palais Garnier stage. Throughout the 2 years, my stage fright had worn off due to how regularly I performed, but tonight I felt as nervous as I had the last time I had stepped onto the stage for L'Orfeo. I took my place at the center of the stage where a microphone had been set up. I honestly didn't need a microphone, the power of my voice paired with acoustics of the opera house meant that everyone could of heard me, but it didn't matter, since it just meant that I didn't have to sing as loud. The night went off without a hitch, it was a two hour concert with me singing a mix of opera, musical theatre and pop songs that were covered in classical stylings. I had a couple of breaks when the accompanying orchestra performed a piece that didn't have any vocal parts and when the guest star, a local tenor that was pretty well known, performed a song. Overall the night went swimmingly, and the audience enjoyed the show. I was pretty tired after the show, and didn't help knowing that I had a long flight back to America tomorrow. I headed to my dressing room and started pulling out the many pins in my hair. I was glad that I had convinced Claire to stay in America, because It meant that I could have some alone time as I got changed as she always came into my dressing rooms and would tell me what I needed to do in order to be more engaged with my fans or pester me into doing a live stream. It wasn't often that I got to be alone, so I decided to relish in it for aa little while. Closing my eyes, I stood in the middle of the room and just listened to the silence.
"Alina..." I heard Erik's voice whisper softly. My eyes shot open immediately. I went to go and call back to Erik, but I was interrupted by a knocking at the door. I went and opened it up and was shocked to see who was behind it.
"You sung amazingly Alina!" Alexander stood at the door with a dopey smile, presenting a large bouquet of pink roses.
"What are you doing here Alexander? I thought you were staying in America." I said with a small smile, accepting the roses.
"I couldn't stand to stay away from my Fiancé for so long." He answered.
"I left yesterday and I'm returning home tomorrow. I would have been gone for three days." I pointed out, raising my eyebrow at him.
"You got me." He revealed "I wanted to see your last performance before we got married."
"I can't believe our wedding is only a month away." I sighed "Are you sure that we don't want to push it back? We've only been engaged for 3 months, that's not a lot of time to plan."
"We're both taking off a full month to plan the wedding, that's plenty of time. Besides, we've been dating for over a year and a half, I've waited long enough to marry you." He assured me. Suddenly someone else came bursting into my dressing room.
"Oh my gosh Nina I haven't seen you in soooooo loooooooong!" A familiar, beautiful girl with long blonde hair and green eyes screamed excitedly.
"Hey Cecilia." I replied nonchalantly. Despite not showing it, I was actually shocked to see my sister. Cecilia was kind of the black sheep of the family, she had moved to England when she was 19 to become a model and rarely ever contacted anyone in the family.
"I'm so glad to see you again. You look so much different from when I last saw you. When was that again?" She asked again in an over the top bubbly way.
"When I woke up from my coma." I mumbled bitterly. I thought she had travelled back to America to see me when I woke up from the coma, but her visit was very short and I soon found out the real reason she had been visiting was to see a guy that she had been long distance dating. I also found out that she hadn't even known that I was in a coma until she bumped into Claire in the street while in the area who informed her that I had woken up.
"Who's this cutie?" She asked, turning her attention to Alexander.
"My fiancé." I practically growled. "What brings you to France?"
"Well I was in Britain, and I heard that you were coming to France, which is practically next door to us Brits, so I decided to see you." She explained.
"Well it's very sweet if you to come this all this way to see your sister. It was a pleasure to finally meet you Cecilia." Alexander smiled.
"It was a pleasure to meet you too Alex." She smiled back at him "I was just wondering if I could have a private talk with my sister." Alexander nodded politely and exited the dressing room.
"Alina I know your upset with me-" she stared
"Upset is an understatement." I cut her off.
"I know I've been a bit selfish lately, I haven't been a good sister to any of our siblings and especially to you. I wanted to apologise." She said softly.
"If this is all a ploy to get money, then I suggest that you stop wasting your time." I said sharply.
"Do you really think that badly of me?" She faltered "I'm not here for money. I have plenty of that. I want something that is worth more than money. I want to have my sister back, if she'll let me."
"Why the sudden change of heart?" My tone softened, but I was still skeptical.
She took a deep breathe. "A couple nights ago, I went to meet a guy I had been online dating. I-he had catfished me. I was so scared. If there hadn't been another man around to hear my scream, he would have-" I could tell it was hard for her to tell me all this, and I felt so awful for being do rude to her.
"I'm so sorry Cecelia." Was all I could say.
"I realised that I had no one to turn to. I missed mum and dad. I missed my siblings. That's when I realised that I had to set things right. I saw your concert advertised on my computer and I knew that I need to go, to see you." She was crying at this point.
"We were so upset when you left us Cecilia, it really hurt and we all missed you. I guess we all let our hurt turn into bitterness but I know that everyone will be glad to have you back, even if it does take a bit of time for some to get over their bitterness." I explained.
"You all have every right to be angry with me. Especially you Alina. I didn't even know that you were in Coma for 7 months and when you woke up, I barely spent 10 minutes with you. But I want to change, honest I do!" She cried earnestly. I walked over to my vanity and picked up a box of tissues and handed them to her. She hesitated before taking them and wiping her tears away.
"Let's go out to dinner, my treat. I know it's a little late, but we'll find somewhere to go. You can come back with me to America tomorrow and meet up with the family. Don't worry, I'll back you up. I'll just go get changed and meet you Alexander outside." I told her. She nodded and obediently headed out of the door.

I sighed, glad to be finally alone again. I walked over to the comer of the room in order to get the outfit I would change into. I placed it gingerly down on the chair and reached back to undo the zipper on my back. I let go of the zipper as soon as I heard the door swing open. I felt lucky that I hadn't actually began to unchanged since someone was about to walk in. I turned around to see who was at the door, but to my shock, the door was closed,
"I really must be hearing things." I muttered as I turned around to face the mirror. I almost fainted when I saw a tall man standing where the mirror had been.
"Erik?" I asked breathlessly.