Author's Note: I love reading different versions of POTO and decided to give it a try myself. Please don't get hung up on the terminology or technology etc. of that time. This is just something stuck in my head that I thought I would share. I named this first chapter Rain after the title of the story. This story will contain MATURE content. I do not own anything Phantom of the Opera. Enjoy! (:
Christine was just about to leave her dressing room at the Opera house when she turned and stared at the mirror. The trick two-way mirror that started and ended so many memories in her life. She could almost imagine a figure on the other side luring her into its dark intoxicating depths. She let out a sigh and shut the door behind her. It was dark walking through the main auditorium and smelled of saw dust and fresh paint. Luckily, the fire had not done as much damage to the sturdy opera house as what was feared when it first set aflame. Many rows of seats had to be replaced along with the stage itself. It had been six months since the tragedy and practice started again only six weeks later. As they say, the show must go on and Christine was to be revealed as the new Prima Donna! She nervously twirled her engagement ring around her finger until she flung open the doors to the main lobby then to the outside. Though the clouds were gray, the sudden change of lighting made her squint. "Ugh rain", she thought to herself.
The streets of Paris were as busy as ever even in the dreadful weather. Carriages strolled by with tall, proud horses slushing mud as they trotted by. Winter was approaching and the days were becoming shorter. Christine shivered and cursed herself for forgetting her coat. She headed left trying to walk as fast as she could without running. She stayed at a small apartment directly beside the opera house. She still felt the urge to stay close even through everything that had happened to her there. At times she would sit on her balcony and just stare at the opera house watching and waiting for any kind of movement or sign. "Was he alive? Was he dead? Was he still in Paris or did he leave the city? The country?" These thoughts haunted her daily. She felt completely drenched and started to shiver unsure if it was from the cold or her own thoughts.
Eyes of sea green stared intensely as she scurried down the street. Her curls had fallen heavily from the soaking rain. "Silly girl's head is too full of fame and fortune to remember to bring an umbrella and coat with her to practice. I don't understand why she doesn't have her rich fiancé offer a chauffeur back and forth to her apartment.", he scuffed to himself as he departed from across the road back to his route.
She unlocked the door to her apartment and grabbed a clean towel. She dried her hair and gave it a good shake. She stared at the mirror and saw her curls start to bounce back to their original twisted and tangled life. "My hair represents me all to well.", she pondered to herself. Walking over to her balcony, she opened the curtains to stare at the side of the opera house and down towards the entrance. She had no reason for doing so. It had started out of anxiety of him and what he may do then it turned into a habit almost longing of something. She absentmindedly drew a heart shape on the foggy glass.
She looked down at the floor and noticed no mail had been slipped in the mail slot through her door. Turning back to stare out the glass door, she wiped away the heart shape on the foggy glass to see out better. Raoul had not sent her any letters. He traveled a lot for business, but this had been his longest trip yet. He had been gone for almost three weeks already. She twirled her ring nervously again. Just before his trip, he had surprised her with plans of an elaborate house being built for them. It was two hours outside of Paris and already in construction. She couldn't hide her disappointment at the location. "What of the Opera, Raoul? I am to be Prima Donna. I have to be there several days a week to practice then every night to perform as long as the show is running!", she exclaimed. Raoul let out a sigh and brushed past the topic hurriedly. "Christine once the house is built you will have it to look after while I'm away. We will have servants that need managing along with our children who will need a full time mother's attention. Honestly, singing and acting is for lower class entertainers such as those who perform for a circus. You will be a de Chagny and have a certain social status you must uphold. Besides you can always sing at our business parties, at the house, if you must." It was soon after that day that he took the business trip that had lasted so long. Christine thought of a thousands different arguments and compromises to propose, but no letters came and she had no address to send one to. "Ugh, rain!", she exclaimed yet again today and shoved the curtains closed.
She drew up a hot bath and soaked in the tub filled with oils and bubbles. She hummed one of the songs from the upcoming performance in her head as she washed her hair. When she finished, she draped a towel around her going back to her room to put on her nightdress. She suddenly had a wild thought. "It's Friday night at 7 pm and I'm already getting dressed for bed. When did my nights become so dull?!" She thought of late nights as a child listening to her father play the violin then onto nights in the opera house exploring with Meg and telling ghost stories and lastly she thought of late night lessons with him again. "Damn it!", she thought to herself frustratingly. "That's it! I need a drink and I refuse to stay here all night again!" She slipped on her panties not worried about any other undergarments and grabbed a clean dress and slipped it over her. She knew it was dark and rainy and didn't care if anyone noticed the rest of her undergarments missing or not. She grabbed her hooded cloak and headed out the door back into the rain.