Stay
Back-story: Erik is a record producer and owner of Phantom Records; two years ago he signed a young up and coming Duo, Christine Daae and Gavin Jones. Over the course of the next two years besides making music, Christine and Erik have fallen in love. The only thing that stands between them and true happiness is Erik's wife…
This story is still in its editing stage and does flash back to previous times, please bear with me as it will all make sense in the end.
Chapter 1
IIIIII Flashback two months ago IIIIII
The shrill sounds of a telephone sounded through the dark quiet room startling awake the sleeping couple in the bed. A large hand untangled itself from the woman laying beside him, reaching for the cell phone and picking it up on the last ring; a groggy male voice managed to mumble his answer, "H…hello?"
A chipper female voice greeted him over the line, "Hi honey…I'm sorry did I wake you?" She asked over the line.
Erik rolled over on to his back and yawned, "Yah…we worked late…on a few songs. I slept in my office; I have an early meeting today."
"Oh ok honey I'm sorry I woke you…don't forget about that charity luncheon we have today. It's a 1pm." His wife Lara reminded him as she moved about their bedroom preparing for the day.
Erik stretched, turning to look at the clock on the nightstand he absently nodded, "I haven't forgot I'll see you in a bit."
"Bye Honey!" the woman replied as they hung up, Erik closed his phone setting it back on the nightstand. Rolling back over he was surprised to see the other half of the bed empty, glancing around the room he saw her enter her walk in closet dressed only in a pair of boy cut shorts and a sports bra. Groaning Erik sat up, "Damn it Christine! You know watching you get dressed in the morning is my second favorite thing of the day."
The only response he received was the slamming of the closet door, Erik just sighed rubbing his temples. He knew this routine very well; she'd get dressed in the closet then leave through the bathroom instead of coming back into her room. Sometimes he thought he knew her schedule better than his own, he knew she would go for a run before her morning work out then she'd come home to shower before work. Climbing out of bed he pulled on his boxer briefs and went to track her down before she disappeared and he wouldn't see her until he got back from his trip in a few days. Knocking lightly on the door he opened it calling out her name, "Christine…"
Christine was already dressed and had her hand on the handle in her hand when she heard him call her name. Pausing slightly she refused to look at him, "I'll see you after your trip." She replied somberly pulling on the door to open it only to have it forced closed again by Erik's large hand, she could feel the heat radiating off his bare chest onto her back
"I won't see you for a week and I don't even get a kiss goodbye?" He whispered in her ear only to have her shrug him off and moved away from him.
Christine moved across the room crossing her arms over her chest, "I have stuff to do and didn't know how long the conversation with your wife would last!" She retorted sharply at him.
Erik rolled his eyes and moved slowly towards her, "I thought we discussed this…"
"WE DID! I'm still wondering if you've even told her!" Christine practically screamed at him retreating out of the room throwing her arms in the air in disgust.
Sighing he followed he quickly, "Of course I've told her, I showed you the divorce papers didn't I?" He tried to reason with her.
"THEY WERE BLANK!" She screamed again moving to her nightstand to grab her cell phone. Turning back to him she didn't hide the tears of anger that threatened to fall, "YOU neglected to mention the fact you were married for four months, until I see you with your WIFE! YOU told me you were getting a divorce and…and leaving her after serving her papers over six months ago! And here we are a year later in the same spot…" She exclaimed shaking her head and turning away from him.
"It's a hell of a lot easier to get married then it is to get divorced Christine!" Erik shot back, "If I don't want to give her half my life I have to abide by my pre-nup to make sure I hold up my end of the bargain." Erik lowered his voice and moved to her wrapping his arms around her tightly, "Once all of those requirements are fulfilled, the divorce will be processed and… I'm all yours."
Christine shook her head, "You've been saying that since the day I saw you with your wife…" She replied sighing and moving out of his grasp, "Meanwhile, here I am Erik…constantly waiting on you. Waiting on your wife to call you home, and then just waiting on you to show up at my door…" Roughly she wiped away the tears the began to fall, she was angry: Angry at herself for believing him, angry at him for being able to hurt her like this and worst she was angry at her self for allowing him to.
"I'm trying Christine, I love you…" Erik replied grabbing her hand, pulling lightly on her to coax her forward to him. "I know this isn't easy, do you really think it's easy for me having to live a lie everyday?"
Unable to stop herself, she moved into his warm strong and open arms, "But you're still going to leave me…"
"I will be back," He whispered into her hair as he ran his hand down her chocolate locks holding her closely. "This is the first place I'm coming to once I get back into town, we can have the entire weekend to ourselves…I promise." Erik used two fingers under her chin to make her look at him, "Do you believe me?"
Christine couldn't bring herself to look into Erik's eyes; it would only lead to her giving in again like she did every time he left, promising to return. "Please Erik…stay with me."
Erik made her look at him directly in the eyes, "I Love You Christine…nothing will change that and soon I promise this will all be over…and we can be together."
-Later that same day-
"Alright guys that's a wrap for today!" Their manager Caleb Jeffery called through the intercom and waved at them to cut and join him.
Christine nodded and started grabbing her things as her duo partner Gavin Jones set his guitar down; squeezing her shoulder he caught her attention. "You ok today?" Gavin asked wondering what had gotten into his partner today.
Shrugging she shook her head, "Nothing…long morning."
Gavin knew her better than that but didn't want to press the issue right now, "Let's go see Caleb so we can get out of here." He replied putting his arm around her shoulder and leading her into the next room, "How did it sound?" He asked the occupants of the room as they were finishing their editing.
Caleb held a headset to his ear as they were replaying the last song, as it came to an end he put the headset down and nodded his head. "I love this last set."
"Alright so that leaves us with what…one more track to finish right?" Gavin asked looking between Caleb and Christine.
Christine nodded silently and kinda shrugged, hoping to just finish up for the day and be able to head home.
Caleb shook his head, "I have to run it by Erik once he gets back, but I loved it."
Gavin raised a questioning eyebrow at him, "Where did he go? I thought he wanted our tracks finished by the end of this week?"
"I heard he had a business trip…" Christine replied quietly glancing at her cell phone, noticing the lack of messages.
Caleb waved them off, "What? Oh no there was no business trip, he took his wife on a cruise for a second honeymoon…"
Christine's mouth practically fell open, shaking her head she held off the tears. "Well if you have to wait for his approval then I'm going home." Turning on her heel she stormed out of the room leaving the two surprised men standing in her wake.
IIIIIIIIIIIIII-Present-IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
A loud persistent knocking sounded through her entire condo, it quickly reached her ears but Christine refused to budge from her position in the middle of her bed. She hadn't even changed out of her gown from the evening events at the awards show; she knew as soon as she got home Erik would be close behind her. Silent tears streamed down her face as she starred off blankly into space. The yelling and knocking at her door continuing to get louder and more aggressive with each passing minute.
"CHRISTINE!!" Erik yelled at the door as he tried his keys again in the door without any luck, 'She changed the locks on me!' Becoming more furious at his realization he began pounding on the door again. "UNLOCK THE DOOR! CHRISTINE!"
'Be Strong…' She heard Gavin's voice filter through her head as she tried to take a few calming breaths. She knew this was the right thing to do, that she couldn't continue to live her life in the shadow of another woman, loving a man she had to share every day. Christine stood slowly from her bed and made her way to the window when the sudden silence filled her entire room. Pulling back the curtains slowly she jumped back when the shrill sound of her cell phone pierced through the thick air.
Erik began to pace as he dialed Christine's cell number slowly, he kept gazing at his right hand that was now beat red and bleeding slightly at the knuckles. Hitting the send button he waited for it to begin ringing.
Christine moved slowly back to her bed and picked up her cell phone looking at the caller ID, taking a deep breath she hit the send button to accept the call.
Listening intently on the phone a female voice came over the line immediately, "We're sorry but the number you are trying to reach has been disconnected. Please check the number and try again." Stunned, Erik pulled the phone away from his ear and growled throwing the offending item at the door, shattering the cell phone on impact.
"Hi Gavin…" Christine said softly into the phone trying to hide the emotion in her voice.
"He's there isn't he?" Gavin cut straight to the point, he could her how upset she was the second she came on the phone.
"Yes…" She replied softly as the pounding began again causing her to flinch inadvertently. "He showed up about twenty minutes after I got in the door."
Gavin stood up and started for his keys, "I'm coming over; I knew I should have followed you home. You knew he would come after what happened tonight…"
"NO!" Christine replied to Gavin, "No, I have to do this on my own. I'm fine and he will eventually give up and leave. It's finally over…" Moving away from the window she picked up her remote, turning the TV on and spiking the volume to drown out the noise.
"I hope you're right…Call me if you need me ok?" Gavin replied over the blaring TV only to have a dial tone sounding in his ear. For as much planning and talking he and Christine had done she still loved Erik. Gavin would never understand her fascination with him but none the less she was in love and it had broken her heart. Sighing he sat back down on his couch and looked at the clock, it was a little after midnight and Gavin just shook his head. Closing his eyes he thought back to the night Christine had shown up on his doorstep and they had put this whole plan into motion.
IIIIIIIIIIIIII-One month ago/Late night-IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Gavin was humming to himself as he picked through his fridge for a late night snack, they had been at the recording studio late into the night and he wasn't ready to hit the sack. "There is nothing in this damn thing…." He grumbled as he grabbed a beer and closed the door only to come face to face with Christine, yelping he jumped back and dropped his beer causing the bottle to shatter on the floor. "Jesus Christ Christine! What the hell are you…" Gavin stopped mid sentence as he took in her appearance, before he could even say anything else the young woman had thrown herself into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
It took him a moment to realize what was happening but once he regained his composure Gavin wrapped his arms around the upset woman, hushing her quietly and stroking her soaking wet hair. "Christine….honey what's wrong?"
Christine just shook her head unable to form coherent sentences, and continued to sob into his shirt. Her body began shaking as the cold from the outside rain began to soak into her thin bones.
Gavin slowly pushed her back trying to look at her face, "Christine I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong…" He exclaimed and led her to his living room grabbing a blanket off the back of his couch and wrapping his shivering friend in it trying to warm her.
Sniffling she lifted her head and wiped at the tears streaming down her face, mixed with the rain drops the seemed to flow freely from her sopping wet hair. "He….he's nev…never gonna…gonna leave her."
Gavin pulled back lifting her face to his, "Who Christine? Who is leaving who?"
Christine shook her head trying to calm herself, "Erik…" she replied sniffling a few times. "Will never le…leave his wife."
Gavin's shocked expression was hidden in the mass of wet curls that once again retreated to the front of his chest. Deciding against trying to talk to her in this stage Gavin just held her tight and rocked her softly trying to soothe her.
Some time later Christine finally pulled back from Gavin, somewhat composed, "Thank you…" she whispered to him.
Gavin nodded and handed her a tissue to wipe her face, "You ok?"
"No," Christine laughed sarcastically and shook her head, "I really don't think I am."
Running his hand through his hair Gavin realized Christine was starting to shiver, standing quickly he took her by the hand. "Go change into something in my room so you don't catch your death and I'll make some coffee…then we can talk ok?"
Silently Christine nodded and followed Gavin's instruction retreating to his room to change from her sopping clothes. She didn't know where else to turn this evening, it was killing her inside to be dealing with Erik and his lies and she couldn't take it anymore. She needed to tell someone and to get their opinion on the hell she'd gotten herself into. Reaching into her wet jeans she removed the soaked piece of notebook paper she'd brought with her, tucking it into the pouch of the hooded sweatshirt she'd slipped on and headed back out to the living room.
Gavin was bringing in the coffee tray as Christine emerged from his room dressed comfortably in a matching pair of sweats. Setting the tray down he gestured back to the couch where they'd just left, "Feel better?" He asked as he handed her a cup of hot coffee made specifically to her liking.
Christine nodded and eagerly accepted the warm beverage, letting the warmth of the cup warm her small hands. Taking a sip she noticed Gavin just starring at her with confusion on his face, "I've been sleeping with Erik…" She whispered softly avoiding his gaze.
"Ah…ok well that is a start." He replied picking up his own coffee cup and sitting back against the soft cushion. "How long?"
Hesitantly she delayed her response, at the stretch of silence she was beginning to become uncomfortable, "Over a year now…"
Raising a questioning eyebrow Gavin held in his retort to her answer, "And her promised to leave his wife for you?" He asked next trying to figure out the exact situation they were dealing with.
Christine nodded, "He showed me the divorce papers and that they were separated…but then his second honeymoon a few weeks ago and then today I saw them at Tiffany's and she was showing off her extremely large and expensive diamond necklace…that isn't' something you give to someone you are leaving."
Gavin nodded his head in agreement and understanding, "So after all this time a cruise and a necklace gets it through your head that he's just using you?" He asked softly as his sipped his coffee slowly.
Christine continued to stare at the dark swirl in her cup as she shook her head, "He said her name in his sleep…it was then I knew. I knew I was living a lie and believing that he loved me."
Reaching out Gavin patted her knee as a stray tear fell from her eyelashes, "You didn't know he was married?"
"Not until a few months into our relationship," She replied. "It never really came up and no one ever mentioned it, I didn't know until I was introduced to her at a record studio party."
Squeezing her knee gently Gavin just listened; it seemed that Christine needed an ear more than anything right now.
Christine just continued, "I confronted him that night and he said they were separated and he was filing for divorce….he even showed me the divorce papers. But every night he'd come to me after work and leave when his phone would ring and she'd call him home. Saying 'he had to abide by his pre-nup' and shit like that. And here I am over a year later, still the other woman scratching his itch while another woman shares his name and his bed…I can't do it anymore."
Gavin shook his head, Christine was upset and hurting and there wasn't anything he could do to make it better. "What can I do Chris? I mean is there anything I can do to help you end this and get on without him?"
Reaching into the pouch of her sweatshirt she removed the piece of note book paper, "I have this…I wrote it the other night and I think it'll be the last song for our new CD…and I think Erik will understand once he hears it."
Taking the paper he read over it slowly taking in each word feeling the pain hidden beneath the words, "You want to record this?"
"Will you help me? I don't want him or Caleb to hear it until its finished and on the cd…I want to perform it at the awards show at the end of the month…" Christine explained her bright brown eyes pleading for help.
Gavin finished reading and nodded, "Let me get my guitar and we'll put it to music tonight…"
A/N: Welcome again to another short fic. By the way: I have no rights to POTO or Tiffany's Jewelry company, just borrowing. What happened at the award show to piss Erik off so much? Did he finally leave his wife? Does Christine really want him to stay? New chapter in the works, hopefully the holiday bug will inspire a quick response! Leave love or hate just let me know what you think and that you are reading it! Always, Lady
