Eternal Melody (23 page)

Mr. Graysen
rushed over to Rebecca’s side, as the chorus members formed a comforting circle around her.  Still, no one seemed to know how to proceed. 
Finally,
Mr. Graysen turned
awkwardly
to face the audience and raised his voice for all to hear.

“Ladies and gentlemen
, p
lease excuse us while we get things back under control.  Drop the curtain
, please
.” He instructed, as the stage hands quickly obeyed.

The
heavy curtain
fell, protecting
Rebecca from the scrutiny and morbid curiosi
ty of the audience.  S
he began to bawl
,
unable to comprehend what had just taken place. 
Through her hiccupping
sobs
, she looked around for Luke, needful of his soothing voice
and arms, but he still did not appear.  Instead, Ryan ran over from the orchestra pit as Gloria came round the bend from the backstage door.

“My dear Becky,
are you alright?  Wh
o was that wretched woman?” Gloria exclaimed, completely flustered.

Rebecca was too upset to respond, so Ryan spoke up.  “She’s the singer whom Becky replaced.  Originally, Becky was the understudy, but Mr. Graysen made some changes.”

Gloria looked at her grandson skeptically.  “That wicked outburst was much more than a case of sour grapes.  That woman must have some sort of vendetta against our Becky.  Either that, or she should be institutionalized!”

Ryan looked down, unsure of whether to reveal what he knew.  In
Munich
, Ryan had observed Greta pursuing their colleague shamelessly.  He had asked Luke about it and learned of their
previous
torrid affair.

Gloria was too wise to be fooled.  She said, “Is Greta a friend of that boy Luke Springwell?”

Roughly, Rebecca wiped her tear-streaked and scratch ridden cheeks and said, “Grandmother, please let us not discuss this here.” Then, seeing that Gloria was not about to be put off, she whispered, “Ye
s, Grandmother, yes she was his…
lover.  Apparently she still
wants
him
and thinks that I am some sort of a threat.
” Fresh tears brimmed Rebecca’s eyes as she remembered the dumbfounded audience, still sitting in their seats waiting to be entertained.

All the while, Mr. Graysen stood gravely by, listening and literally wringing his hands in despair over what to do next.  With as much sensitivity as he could seize, the conductor asked, “Shall I tell everyone to go home and we will give them refunds if necessary?  I don’t see how the show can continue after
that disastrous spectacle.”

Rebecca nodded, wishing she could muster the strength to continue, but feeling too humiliated. 
Mr. Graysen gave her one last sympathetic look and ducked under the curtain to announce to the audience how the show was over
for the evening.

“Don’t worry, Becky.  She will surely be arrested.  That was criminal assault. Who knows?  She may even be deported to Switzerland.” Ryan said, putting a protective arm around his sister.

“Deported or institutionalized!” Gloria rejoined, fuming and itching to chase after the brutal chit to teach her a lesson about hurting her beloved
granddaughter
.

Rebecca remained sullen, hanging her head in a shame that continu
ed
to build, as she knew her family suspected that Luke was her lover, and they were right. 
She looked down at her dress, where the stitches had been
cruelly
pulled apart, a
nd
more tears dropped with the realization that
a
flaxen-haired wolverine had shredded
her grandmother’s
hand-sewn gown
.

Mr. Graysen slipped back under the curtain, rejoining the group.  Addressing no one in particular, he grumbled, “We had one excellent night that earned such encouraging reviews.  But we cannot ride the coattails of that brief flicker of success.  Tonight was crucial to show our follow-through and artistic stamina.
Greta has no right to interfere with the livelihoods of so many people.
”

It was the first time any of the orchestra members had heard a negative word from Mr. Graysen’s mouth, and it lowered the morale to som
e untouchable place below zero.
Rebecca bit down hard on her pinky nail, feeling responsible for the chaos that had erupted.  Even Ryan, usually chipper, looked ghostly pale and nauseated.

Surprisingly, it was Gloria who spoke next, snapping her fingers in front of her granddaughter’s mottled face and asserting, “Enough of this gloom!  I will not stand by and watch
an infinitely talented group of musicians crumble and wither into nothingness simply because some foolish girl threw a temper tantrum.  That’s all it amounts to, you know!  She has no power over any of you unless you let her.  Tomorrow night, you will all come back and be as new.  This horrific episode will be in the past, and more glorious performances will be in your future.”

Christopher Graysen stared at her in open admiration, as the life affirming luster slowly returned to Rebecca’s eyes.  The other musicians stood in the background, reinvigorated from the motivational speech.

“You’re a wise woman, Mrs. Meadow!” One of the bassoon players exclaimed
,
as his colleagues broke into hearty applause.

“You are indeed wise.  Thank you.” Mr. Graysen said warmly, in a low voice just for Gloria to hear.  Then, he addressed his team.  “Everyone, go home, get some sleep, and be back here at regular time tomorrow.  I will see to it that no such incident ever taints one of our shows again, you can be sure. 
Good night, and be safe.”

The musicians trickled out of the auditorium
in twos and threes, as Rebecca still stood
backstage,
immobilized.  Although her grandmother’s advice had been enlightening, she could not help but wonder if her peers were all gossiping about her on their way home.  But that was not her most pressing concern.  With a plunging heart, she thought how Luke had vanished right after the onstage attack, without a single inquiry about her wellbeing.  Could he have gone after Greta?  The ushers had likely
taken her to police headquarters, and Rebecca now wondered if Luke would somehow go soft on his former lover and try to bail her out.  The notion was enough to make her feel as though she were suffocating inside an airtight cell.

“Come on, Becky.  Let me walk you home.  You’ve suffered enough trauma for one night.” Ryan put a supportive arm around his sister’s waist, as though he expected her to faint right there like feeble little damsel.

“I’m fine, Ryan.” She said, steadying herself without the crutch of his arm and beginning to walk ahead of him.

While Gloria and Christopher walked behind them, softly speaking amongst themselves, Ryan caught up to Rebecca and said, “
Greta knows about you and Luke.”

“What?” Rebecca asked, feeling her head begin to throb.

“She was in our apartment building last night, and she saw him coming down from your floor.”

“Why was she in our apartment building?”

Ryan averted his eyes from Rebecca and molded his lips into a frown that exuded a guilty conscience.

“Ryan, please tell me she wasn’t with you.” Rebecca pleaded, as they stepped out into the rainy night with a peal of thunder forming overhead.

“I wish I could tell you that, Becky, but she was with me.  I’m sorry!  I know that she was once entrenched in an affair with Luke, and he’s my friend.  I shouldn’t have been with her. 
I just couldn’t resist her.  S
he kept rejecting me in
Munich
, and then when we got back to Vienna, suddenly her demeanor changed.”

“Of course it changed!” Rebecca hissed, not wanting their elders to hear their argument. 
“She’s just using you as a pawn on her evil chess board, don’t you see?  It was very clear to everyone when she snubbed your dinner invitation before you and Luke went to
Munich
.”

Ryan shot Rebecca an uncharacteristically stern look that told her he would not tolerate this kind of treatment from his younger sister.  “Don’t speak to me in that tone, sister.  I do not have to explain my actions to you or to anyone else.  Why should I feel guilty anyway?  It’s not my fault that she’s a scorned madwoman on a rampage.”

Rebecca shrugged sulkily, knowing not to trifle with Ryan when he was of this temperament, but still hurt that he had inserted himself into what was now a quadrangle of emotional and physical ties.

“Why Greta?  Why not some other girl?” Rebecca sighed.

“She’s quite bewitching, that’s all I can say.”

“She’s quite a
witch
, that’s all
I
c
an say!” Rebecca hurled at him
.  Then, realizing that she had overstepped her bounds once again, she softened the blow.  “
I wish your involvement with her didn’t affect my life, but the truth is that it does.  Are you going to continue to see her?”

Ryan shook his head derisively.  “
Of course not!  After tonight, I wouldn’t go near her.  Besides, s
he ran out on me as soon as she saw Luke coming from your floor.  As much as it hurts my pride to admit it, you’re right that she used me as a pawn.  She made it seem as though she was feeling lonesome, as I was, but instead she merely wanted to spy on Luke.”

“Do you think she’s in love with him?” Rebecca asked, afraid of the answer.

Ryan paused and then spoke with bold certainty.  “No.  She is not in love with him or any other man.  She simply adheres to the metaphor that the grass is greener on the other side of the mountain.  And Luke is the other side of the mountain.  Plus, you know how competitive women are.  She cannot stand to
be second in line to anyone.”

“Especially me.  Second in line in love and career.” Rebecca
acknowledged
glumly.

At that moment, she heard the unmistakable ring of her grandmother’s voice, hollering behind her, “Rebecca!  Ryan!”

The siblings stopped and waited for their elders, who seemed to be enjoying the moonlit stroll in the rain.  “Dears, you go on ahead and don’t worry about me.  Mr. Graysen has been kind enough to offer to escort me to my hotel room.”

Rebecca looked warily at the old woman, wondering if it was Vienna and not Paris that deserved the reputation as most romantic city on earth.

Ryan looked amused and said, “Alrighty then.  Good night to you both and a safe trip out of the rain.”

Once they had gone their separate ways, Rebecca and Ryan stayed silent for the remainder of the walk, each immersed in contemplation.  Neither of them
imagined
that their grandmother would be bold enough to invite Mr. Graysen up to her hotel room, but there certainly was a romance budding between the two.

As she trudged up the stairs, tracking mud into the building, Rebecca watched Ryan slip into his chamber and lock the door.  Once he was inside, she stared down the
corridor to where Luke’s
room was located.  Peering through the slat under the door, there was utter darkness until a lightning bolt illuminated it for an instant.  With a confident stride, Rebecca ventured to Luke’s room and knocked loudly on the door.

To her surprise, he called from inside, “Come in.”
She pushed the door open to find him sitting at his desk, reading a book with a pair of glasses she had not known he owned. 
Upon recognizing Rebecca, he threw the book down and rushed to her side.  “Rebecca, I didn’t think it was you.  I thought it was your brother coming to yell at me.”

“Why would he yell at you?”

“
For what happened tonight.  I’m sure he must blame me
.” Luke explained,
frowning as he examined
the extent of the damage Greta had inflicted.  “Have you properly sterilized your wounds?”

At the mention of her injuries,
Rebecca’s anger resurfaced.  “Interesting that you should ask me that now, Luke.  Where did you go after Greta all but mauled me on stage?!
  Did you go after her?
”

Luke looked at her in disbelief.  “Of course not.  Why would I go after her?”

“Perhaps because you felt sorry for her that she was being treated like a common criminal?”

“
Don’t be absurd
.  If Greta is in jail right now, then she has no one to blame but herself.  I
only
came back here to avoid making a worse scene.
”

“What do you mean?”

“I didn’t want our colleagues
to conclude that you and I are lovers.  It would only make matters even more complex than they already are.  I was thinking of your reputation, Rebecca.  You are the star of the ensemble and don’t need a scandal tarnishing your career before it’s even had a chance to flourish.
  But, believe me, I didn’t want to leave.
”