Soap The Opera

She opened her mouth to sing but nothing happened. Ariana looked at the crowd, petrified at what was to come. Her will to stay on her feet was slowly slipping away. The color drained from her face, and her head was spinning faster than a top.
Sitting in the front row of the opera house, where she was set to perform, was her presumed dead husband. Paul had been diagnosed with an inoperable tumor and passed away during an argument. The details of which were forever etched into her memory. A local Doctor, who happened to be a world famous brain surgeon had developed an experimental surgery that could have saved his life.

Finally, Ariana found her voice. “You’re supposed to be dead! I buried you!”

The audience broke out in murmurs. Everyone wanted to know who the songstress was talking about. Before she could reveal anything,
Lana swept onto the stage. When she opened her mouth to sing, everyone stopped talking. The soprano voice sang the immortal words of Britney Spears, “I’m not that innocent.”

Ariana stepped off stage and tried to collect her thoughts. How in the world was Paul alive? After everyone left, she had stayed and watched them lower the casket into the grave and help throw the dirt over it. “What happened out there honey?”

Ariana looked up to find her new love, Ryan with a worried look on his face. “I saw Paul. He’s not dead! I don’t know how it’s possible.”

“You’re talking nonsense. Paul is dead, I was the one who declared him dead on arrival.” Ryan wrapped his arm around her. “You were probably nervous or something.”

“I know what I saw!” Ariana pulled away from him, fury burned in her eyes. She pushed back her long hair. “I know it sounds crazy but you could at least believe me!”

“Are you ok, Love?” Lana asked as she left the stage. Her long blonde hair was piled on top of her head. Ariana avoided the hug her colleague and friend tried to give her. “What’s wrong?”

“Paul is out there in the audience. And Ryan thinks that I’ve lost my mind or something.”

“It does seem out there, but I thought I saw someone who looked similar too. Maybe since this was your first performance since he died, you just wanted to see him.”

“I know what I saw. Why won’t you guys believe me?”

Ryan and Lana exchanged a look. Ariana tried to calm herself, but it bothered her that the people closest to her wouldn’t believe what she had seen. The stage manager came back, “Lana, we need you out on stage for another set.”
“I’ll be right back if you need me.”

From the corner of her eye, Ariana saw Paul again. This time she was determined to prove that she hadn’t lost her mind. She chased after him through the empty hallway and into the alleyway outside of the building. “I thought you were dead!”

“Listen lady, I don’t know who you’re talking to but I am very much alive.”

“Paul, stop it! Why are you doing this to me?”

The door opened again and Ryan walked out. "Babe, who are you talking to?”

“Paul! He’s right…” Her words left her when she turned and nobody was there. “I swear he was just right here.”

“Come on. Let me get you some water, you need to lay down for a while.” Ariana followed him back into the theatre and then into her dressing room. He handed her the water as she fell onto the couch. “I’ll come check on you in a bit.”

Paul had been close enough for her to touch, but yet Ryan hadn’t seen him when he came outside. There had to be some sort of explanation for it. He was there and he was real. She believed it with every fiber of her being. There was a reasonable explanation for it, and she was determined to get to the bottom of it.

The door opened and Ryan peeked in. Ariana softly closed her eyes, so that she wouldn’t have to answer any questions or talk about what had happened. Once the door was closed and she was certain she was alone again. She ran through everything in her mind again. She heard people talking and slowly made her way to the door. It was Ryan and Lana.

“It’s working perfectly. Our plan to drive Ariana bonkers is working to perfection.” Lana said.

“I know. It’ll help me sell a ton of papers tomorrow and get me a ton of pageviews for the blog tonight. Now all we have to do is convince her to marry me and when she’s shipped off to the looney bin, we’ll have all of her money.”

Ariana opened the door. The two betrayers looked at her in shock. “So you two have been plotting against me? Why?”

“What are you talking about? I think the stress has really gotten to you.” Ryan said shooting a look over at Lana, who just nodded her head.

“No, I heard you. My face is going to be all over your tabloid tomorrow and you’re writing a post tonight on Behind The Curtain. Maybe I should tell the world about what I heard and saw.”

“Please don’t. Everyone loves you and is rooting for your comeback! If they know my part in the duplicity, they’ll hate me and my career will be over.” Lana’s eyes filled with tears.

“Tell me what the plan was then.”

“We hired a guy that looks like Paul to derail your comeback. I needed to look like the heroic friend and he wanted a juicy story to goose sales.”

“Shut up!” Ryan growled.

“How could you do this to me?” Ariana asked as a reporter came running up.

“Ariana, do you have any comment on tonight’s freak out? Is your career over?”

“Yes, I do.” This time when she opened her mouth to sing, everyone heard her.