"Gustave, come here and help me with my dress." Gustave came in from the doorway of the dressing room where he had been daydreaming. He helped lace the back of his mother's beautiful dress.
"You look lovely," he said when he was done with the corset.
"Thank you, Gustave," his mother smiled at him. She looked back at herself in the mirror and got lost in thought as she stared at her reflection. So much had happened to her in only a few short days since she and her family had arrived in America. She had good reason to feel this inner turmoil that she had been feeling ever since she found out who Mister Y truly was. At first what she had suspected seemed impossible, but then she had seen the dark silhouette of the man- could it really be a man?- standing in her room. At that point, all those memories of that night from ten years ago had rushed back, the memories and emotions she had chased away somewhere deep inside her brain.
"Christine? Christine, are you alright?" Christine's old friend Meg interrupted these memories as she entered the dressing room. "I'm sorry, I just came because I thought little Gustave might like a hot drink. It's so cold and dreary backstage here sometimes… Christine, are you alright?" Meg put the drink on the coffee table and hurried over to her friend.
"Oh, I'm fine," Christine gave a weak smile. "I was just thinking. It has been so strange to see all these old friends again… you and your mother, I mean. It brings back many memories."
Meg smiled. "I know, don't worry. I'm sure you'll do fine tonight. The aria is beautiful, and from what I can tell, you still have the same breathtaking voice you had ten years ago. You deserve this night." She turned to Gustave. "Now drink up, and let your mother rest. She needs to be ready for tonight." As Meg started to leave, she almost ran into Raul, who seemed nervous for some reason. "Goodnight, monsieur," said Meg as she curtsied and left the room.
"Christine, I need to ask you something…" Meg could hear Raul through the door, but decided against eavesdropping. She needed to prepare for the rest of the night.
Christine finished singing the aria and held the last note as long as she could. She could almost feel the magic coming back to her, the strange, nervous, excitement she used to feel standing on the stage at the Opera Populare. However, this did not feel exactly the same. She felt confused. Her insides had a bittersweet feeling she could not explain. Raul had asked her not to sing, and although she loved him, she had to sing. Or did she really love him? She realized in that moment, in the last note of the song, how forced her love for Raul had always been. They both knew after the honeymoon that they had rushed into marriage too early, but they didn't think it would have effects like this. She knew she had a duty to him as his wife, but she could not escape the feeling that he was not the one. Raul was safe, sympathetic, and emotional- at least he was when she first fell in love with him. But the Phantom... he was wild, seductive, and suave, like darkness over the surface of water. The note ended, and with it ended the uncertainty and doubt that had been building up inside her for ten years. The applause ended, but she barely heard it. She left the stage as swiftly and gracefully as possible and hurried to her dressing room, where she knew the Phantom would be waiting. She had already seen him in the wings, but she knew that he would want to speak to her in private. And besides, she knew Raul was on the other side of the stage and she could not bear to face him.
"Oh Christine, my Christine, what a triumph that was," said the Phantom as soon as she reached the dressing room. They both looked deeply into the other's eyes. They both felt the same electricity they had felt ten years ago. Ten years ago the Phantom would not have dared to touch Christine this way, but the magnetism between them was so strong he did not hold back and he kissed her passionately. And she kissed him back. They both knew that there had been something in that kiss, something they had not felt since the night before Christine's wedding. That one kiss meant more to Christine than the thousand of kisses she had gotten from Raul during their marriage. As they pulled apart, something on the table caught her eye. She examined it closely and found it was a note from Raul. She could tell his hand was shaking as he wrote that he had to leave her, that it was for the best. She could not disagree, but it still left a hollow feeling in her heart. However, the Phantom distracted her as he wrapped his arms around her from behind and glanced beyond her cheek to read the note. All of a sudden, she felt a strange surge inside. The room seemed strange and she could not see right. Her head felt light and her legs buckled a bit as she tried to see clearly.
"Christine! Christine, what's wrong?" cried the Phantom. Luckily, he already had his arms around her so he could catch her as she slumped over. She could barely make out his fuzzy image. And then everything went black.