"Honey, I'm home," Erik called out when he entered. He closed the portcullis and took off the cape and hat, hanging them up next to the lasso.
"Welcome back," smiled Christine. She hurried from the adjacent room, kissed Erik and received the bag he brought. Christine peeked inside the bag. "Are you tired?"
"A bit." He sat down at the organ, and Christine hurried away into another room that served as a kitchen.
"The food will be ready in a moment," she announced from behind the wall.
The fire crackled happily as she roasted the meat he brought. The cellar filled with tasty smell, and Erik's sweet music.
As promised, soon she walked into their 'living room,' carrying their dinner. Quickly, she set the table, and invited Erik to eat.
"You should really do something about the dripping," Christine reminded her husband when they were both seated. "You said you'd take a look at it a week ago."
"Ah, yes," he replied absent-mindedly and started consuming the food. "I'll look at it tomorrow, first thing."
"Thank you," she said with a sly smile. "I'll be sure to remind you."
The Phantom cringed slightly, but didn't reply. He just continued chewing his food.
"How was your day," Christine asked.
"Not bad... I dropped another chandelier. This time it landed within inches of the centre of the auditorium, and clinked quite spectacularly. I think that I'm getting better with all the practice."
"I think you are," his wife smirked. "I heard it all the way down here."
Christine put the empty dishes in the sink and returned to him, as Erik continued telling her of the day's work. She came from behind and massaged his shoulders.
"The manager refused to fire his tone-deaf nephew, so I had to kill him."
"Oh, no," she shook her head. "Does this make this the third manager this month? Soon people are going to be reluctant to run the opera."
"I meant the nephew. I'll give the manager another chance – he's relatively new after all. He'll need time to adjust to the way things are."
"Oh," she nodded, relieved. "I see. Anything else?"
"Well, the meat disappeared from the buffet," he replied and turned around to face her.
"Now, that's an unfortunate occurrence," she laughed, and sneaked a glance at the dirty dishes.
Her fingers caressed his neck, then his forehead. Tenderly, she took off his mask and looked into his eyes. "Three years, and still, every day is like the first," she breathed as he put his arms around her. She hugged him back.
"Sing, sing for me," Erik said and sat back at the organ. He began playing the introduction.
Soon the dark cavern was once again filled with music.