Author's note: Hello my darlings! I know that some of you longs for another chap' for "The secret garden" it's on it's way, be patient with me. However this is something that has been in my head for a few days, it took some time to reconsider but I think it actually works, those of you that have seen the movie "Casanova" will enjoy this I hope, and those of you who hasn't too.
"What shall we do, Firmin, what shall we do?" a very frustrated Andre asked pacing up and down the grand stair, the sweat was pearling down his temples. Once again HE had conquered another chorus girl, the phantom of the opera, the man who every woman in the opera house was talking of and of his skills in the bed. The man who knew the art of seducing so well that even deaf and blind women fell for him.
"I don't know, but something must be done, the female part of our staff are having trouble concentrating during the rehearsals" Firmin answered, every day girl after girl would come out from the dormitories wearing love-bites on their necks and bosoms. The legend of the amorous Phantom had increased so much that women from all over Paris gathered around the opera-house every day just to catch a glimpse of him.
"Think of our reputation! The scandals! The entire theatre has turned into a brothel."
"Yes, but you will be pleased to know that our brothel is selling tickets" Firmin announced.
"I know but the audience, at least the womanly part of it, comes for the phantom more than the performances."
"Well, we have guard's placed all over the house, yet he still manages to escape them. We don't even know his real name or what he looks like, he wears a mask, for God's sake!"
Suddenly the doorbell rang.
"Who could that be at this hour?" Firmin asked, it was only nine in the morning. Opening the door, they were greeted by a bunch of nuns.
"It's time for the Sunday preach, gentlemen" one of them said.
"Sunday was yesterday, sister, today it's Monday." The entire group of nuns blushed. "We're sorry, sister's, but there will be no meeting with the phantom today." The nuns just walked past the manager's and into the building, determined to find the phantom.
In another part of the theatre a very sated man rose from another glorious hour in bed with a woman who had been new to her resent experience.
"Have I disappointed you?" he asked, raising one eyebrow, making her melt.
"You could never" she responded breathless from the sensation and grabbed him by the neck, planting her lips against his burning ones.
Suddenly the sound of footsteps, running, was heard from the corridor outside the room. He released himself from her firm grip.
"The guards! I must bid you farewell, my dear." He started to dress quickly, pulling on his black trousers and white shirt and gathered the rest of his attire under his arm. Before he reached the door he could feel his latest experience grab his arm, turning him towards her.
"Tell me I'm the only one" she pleaded.
"You're the only one" he said as he had said hundreds of times before. Stepping out from the room, he turned around and found a new pair of lips and over his own, belonging to a nun.
"I found you before the others" she said triumphantly "tell me you'll never forget me."
"I'll never forget you" he said and started running down the corridor. All the doors opened up as he ran and all the women that looked out shouted after him, he turned around and blew them a kiss. Seeing the guards appear at the end of the room he turned to the other direction only to find guards at that part too. Locking to his left he saw his escape, the windows. Climbing out, he saw a large crowd of women on the ground beneath him, calling after him, he started to climb down, slowly but surely, till only five feet remained from the ground.
"There he is!" a voice, coming from a window right beside him, shouted. "Get him!" another one said. Swallowing thickly, Erik released his hold of the building and jumped down into the arms of the women below who caught him and putted him on the ground safely. Erik turned around to see the guards making their way out of the windows too, jumping down, the crowd separated itself from it's former position and the guards landed on the firm ground. Seeing them whimpering in pain, Erik smiled and jumped up on his horse, by the time he was up he noticed that the pockets on his coat and his trousers were stuffed with tissues and letters...again. Chuckling he rode off.
He soon reached his destination and knocked on the door. A very small man with a middle-eastern appearance opened.
"Another night, as every night" he said looking at the man in the mask. Erik only smiled and stepped inside.
"Have we had any visitors, Nadir?" ha asked as he rid himself of all the tissues that occupied the greater half of himself.
"The butcher and the tailor" he mumbled as he gathered all the letters that fell from Erik's coat. "You know we will never have to buy any wood for the fireplace any more, all your letters will be enough to keep us warm, sir."
"Nadir, take out some clean clothes for me I'm going back to the operahouse later."
"Again, sir? You spend more time there than here, sometimes I wonder why you insist on keeping this place, you still have your lair beneath the theatre."
"Yes. But I am being followed every morning by those wolfs who are disguised as guards, they would follow me down there for sure and my safety would be gone forever."
"Ah yes, those guards are hunting you more than the women. I must say that you never cease to impress me, sir" the Persian said as he started to pull out fresh clothes from his masters closet.
"You should be, all of those morons at the university always told me that I would never be anything because of my face, well today everybody are wearing masks. I believe the Venetians almost have a too big influence at the society."
"A relief for you, master, you should be thankful for the Venetians. However I have noticed that more and more men are walking around pretending to be you, wearing the same mask."
"Wonderful, then I can walk around safely" he sighed as he started to undress, a bath had been prepare for him. "If only my mother could have seen me now" he said dreamily as he stepped in.
"She must be turning in her grave."
"On the contrary, my friend, my mother was a very caring and loving woman. She wanted me to be everything that I could be."
"I don't think she meant everything that is occupying every woman in Paris's thoughts."
Erik smiled as he stepped out of the bath and started to dry himself off.
"I don't understand why you don't get married and settle yourself down peacefully, satisfying yourself with one woman only and stop sneaking around in the operahouse as the phantom, that you have now turned out to be, and make love to all these women heartlessly."
"You misunderstand me, my friend, I don't make love heartlessly" Nadir's eyebrows came together in a misunderstanding frown. "I just don't make love to them wholeheartedly."
Sighing, Nadir helped his master get dressed. "Well you do it enough to make them believe that it is wholeheartedly. You have never fallen in love, have you, sir? You must stop with all these lies that you are filling their heads with too."
Erik raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Funny, Nadir, because I have always loved truth so passionately that I have often resorted to lying as a way of introducing it into the minds which were ignorant of it's charms."
Nadir shook his head smiling, his master had smarted him out again. Dressed and done, they made their way out of the house.
"To answer your earlier question, Nadir, I can't leave my lair and the operahouse, music is my life, without it I would be destroyed."
"I know, have you started with anything new, sir?"
Erik's face brightened up once more, one of the most beautiful melodies had come to him last night as he had heard a new voice, purer than an angel's, sing last night on the stage. Her face had escaped him but her name had not, but her voice had touched his heart deeper than anything had done before. No matter what his friend thought, he was a man that longed for pure, unselfish love and hoped to be married one day.
"Yes, a duet, it came to me last night."
"Before your latest conquering?"
"You're wrong again, my friend, I don't conquer, I..."
"Submit." Nadir finished the sentence for him. "Yes, I know."
"Good, but until we move further with other things we have some plotting to do."
"What kind of this time?"
"We have to find information about a special young lady named Christine DaƔe."
Author's note: Like it? Hate it? Let me now, 0)
