Okay, welcome phantom phans. This is actually my second story to be published on ffn so do be nice as I am still kind of getting the hang of things. That being said I'll give you a full summary.
It modern day Kay/2004 movie mix. Kay past, movie present/ending sort of thing cause quite frankly Erik should have lived to get a girl that would appreciate him. That also being said this is a Erik/Character of my own demented mind (did I say that?) Adele and Christine-Raoul story. You no like? Please no read and flame then cause I'm not twisting your arm and forcing you to read it.
So Christine chooses Raoul and leaves Erik in the ruins of the burnt opera house, where he remains in his own sorrow until an American business man buys the place as a gift for his daughter as an 18th b-day present (wish my dad was filthy rich and could buy me an opera house -_-;) Adele isn't just some spoiled little rich girl though, she oversees renovations and casting with an iron fist and is like John Wayne; rough, tough, and don't take no shit of nobody. And the more Erik watches, the more he likes what he sees, and decides she may be the one to run his opera house properly. Contracts, flirting, friendship, romance, FLUFF AND LEMON ABOUND! So... hope you like it, and enjoy.
Now to the fun part. *Sigh* Kills me to say it but I do NOT own the Phantom of the Opera. If I did me and Erik would be doing some real kinky stuff with that punjab lasso, I ain't even playing (well... so to speak) I only own Adele and Leland so far, but more characters I own are to come.
Adele was looking over the blueprints of the Paris Opera House while riding with her father in the back of his limo. Her brows were scrunched together in concentration. From what she understood there was extensive damage done from a fire resulting in an accident involving a chandelier. It was going to take a while to rebuild such a building exactly the way it was before.
Her father was sitting beside her, smiling at his daughter's expression. "Darling, if you scrunch any harder you shall get premature wrinkles."
Leland Stryker was the epitome of doting father when it came to his only daughter. Leland was one of the wealthiest men in America, a mixture between big corporation business, stocks, and oil. Handsome, he was tall with dark hair and brown eyes and a well-trimmed beard, tanned skin and stout almost lumberjack-ish. He married Cecilia, a French actress of great beauty, mahogany wavy hair and blue eyes, who gave him Adele before dying in a horseback riding accident when Adele was four.
Even at a young age Adele had a knack for business. She would sit with her father in his office going over contracts, proposals, and charts pointing out errors and oversights that even Leland had not seen. He encouraged her interest in business, paying for private tutors and expensive private schools to help her along.
But Adele's true talent and interest was in music. When her mother had died, she had asked her father if she could sing a requiem for her mother at her funeral. Thinking it dear, and willing to give his only child anything she desired, especially at such a fragile time in her life, he agreed.
He never expected the sweet, pure voice that came from her at the funeral. The sound so passionate, so heart wrenching that it reduced many to tears, himself included. To him she looked like a cherub standing there, dressed in white lace her cheeks still round with baby fat and her voice so beautiful. Not long after he hired her a tutor to focus solely on her voice.
Her instructor, Reginald, was a young man of twenty five and also came from France like Adele's mother had. They spent many an hour together, encouraging her young voice and soul to pour out of her body and reduce people's hearts to quivering masses inside of their chests.
When Adele turned thirteen, she told her father that when she was old enough, she wanted to marry Reginald. Her father smiled and nodded at her, telling her if Reginald was the man she wanted to spend her life with, and that if he was the one who made her happy, then he would let them marry.
Not two years later her dreams crushed in her chest, when Reginald was murdered on his way home one night after one of their lessons, by a druggie so desperate for a fix, he ended the promising life of a young man for the paper in his wallet.
Adele never got over it. And Leland watched in helpless agony as his daughter's once warm, cerulean eyes iced over and became hard, unyielding.
She never sang after that. She swore to herself that she would never be able to sing for anyone as she had for him, so there was no point in doing it any more.
She threw herself into her school work and graduated valedictorian. And for her eighteenth birthday her father asked her what she wanted as her first gift as an adult.
Her reply threw him off guard.
"I want the Paris Opera House father." She told him. "It went on sale recently. There was a fire about two years ago and the managers couldn't afford to fix it, so they finally decided to sell it."
"Why do you want a damaged opera house my love? Wouldn't you rather have one already in working order?"
Adele looked away from him and out her window, her eyes becoming distant. "No… no I want this one. It's special."
Seeing that look in her eyes Leland couldn't bear not to do as she asked. He negotiated with the previous owners and purchased the Opera Populaire for a fraction of what it was worth.
And so now he was accompanying his dearest possession to the opera house she'd asked him for, knowing that when he left when the week was up he would be leaving his little girl behind to take care of things on her own.
Made a sentimental old fool like himself want to cry.
Leland was brought out of his reverie when Adele looked up at him, eyebrow raised. "Wrinkles will be the least of my problems going into this."
Her serious tone of voice had him smiling. "You knew that when you asked me to buy the place."
"I know that." Adele rolled her eyes. "You seemed to have forgotten though, by bringing up something so trifling as wrinkles."
"It's not so trifling when a beautiful young lady such as yourself in her prime gets wrinkles."
"Daaaad." She groaned. Leland chuckled. He affectionately tucked a stray hair that had fallen out of her chignon behind her ear. She smiled gratefully at him. So rare was a smile from her that he could probably count the times on one hand, so he treasured every moment that he was able to coax one out.
The limo stopped. Adele looked up as the chauffeur got out, and came around to open the door.
Leland exited the vehicle first, and helped his daughter out.
Adele looked for the first time in person upon the Opera Populaire. Her eyes were bright and she looked it up and down, side to side.
"Well, what do you think of it?" Leland asked, monitoring her expressions.
"It's going to take a lot of work." Adele replied, trying not to let the excitement reach her voice. Leland heard it though, and smiled.
"Ah, Monsieur Stryker, Mademoiselle Stryker! Welcome to the Opera Populaire!" the two turned and saw two men approach. One was short with gray hair and a cheerful expression. The other was tall with black hair that was graying at the temples and a moustache.
"Gentlemen." Leland greeted, before turning to Adele. "Adele, these two are the former owners. Monsieur Firmin." He indicated to the taller of the two. "And Monsieur Andre." He motioned toward the smaller.
"It's a pleasure to meet you both." Adele greeted, shaking their hands.
"Now that that's settled shall we give you a tour?" Firmin motioned towards the opera house.
"Yes, merci." Adele answered.
They walked up the steps, and Andre took his key and unlocked the door.
And so Adele took her first step into the palais garnier.
And the first step towards her destiny.
Yes yes a little bit of a corny way to end that chapter but I'm from KY and we love our corn on the cob (and some KFC but that's not the point here now is it?) Next chapter will HOPEFULLY be up soon depends if my brain is functioning or not from lack of sleep cause my super creepy haunted house (the shadows... they move man! Ya know, maaan? I'm tellin ya, maaan, creepy stuff) but I has a lava lamp as a night light so maybe I'll get some sleep. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, R&R and all that jazz.