Chapter 4:

Ruby twirled a lock of her hair while she debated on whether or not make the long trip around the lake or to try to cross it. She was still somewhat unsteady in the boat but the trip around was very long and her feet didn't feel up to such stress.

Erik was out for the day, doing whatever he had in mind, and she was lonely. It had become her habit to go up to the surface and watched the practices or even listen in to the ballet girls' conversation. Though the subject matter was often very boring, it was better than nothing at all which was what she normally received at the house beside the lake.

While she bandied back and forth with herself on the pros and cons of her transportation options, the still, silent air was filled with the sounds of a pole dipping into the water and a boat cutting through the glass-like water. Confused, she called out,

"Erik, is that you? You're home earlier than usual." There was no response and Ruby began to feel nervous as the boat neared her. She had her back to Erik's front door and decided she could probably get inside and bar the entrance before anyone would have a chance to moor the boat and catch her. Her curiosity got the best of her and she waited until she saw the light of the lamp that hung from the masthead of the boat.

The light reflexed off the water and she determined that the shape in the boat was a man. It was too bulky to be a woman. She took a few steps back away from the wharf and watched from the safety of Erik's doorway as the boat docked and a rather average man stepped out.

In the light she was now able to see he was of ordinary height and weight. His hair was graying but had been, in the recent past, a rich black. His eyes were emerald green and his skin was of a dark tone. He wore an oriental hat on his head and reminded her much of the pictures she had seen in the books her father had owned many years back.

His honest face read pure shock at seeing her.

"Good morning, Mademoiselle." He said with a sweeping bow. "I wasn't expecting a woman to greet me." Ruby dropped a clumsy curtsy and frowned a little. She hadn't been expecting to see a strange man on Erik's stretch of shore.

"Good morning, Monsieur. I must say the same." She said softly, still prepared for flight. To her knowledge, Erik had no friends and this man, though kind in appearance, might prove a threat to her. In her time, she had seen many pleasant, fatherly men who were devil's own underneath the veneer of kindness. The man appeared to have noticed her wariness because he said,

"Forgive me for not introducing myself. I am Nadir Khan." Ruby pursed her lips a little and tossed the name around in her head. It was a foreign name, that much was sure. Yet, it sounded familiar. Her eyes suddenly widened as she remembered where she had heart it before.

"I know that name. Erik has often used it as a curse word." She tried not to giggled as the man rolled his eyes. He laughed a moment and his eyes sparkled kindly.

"Yes, that sounds about right for him." Nadir looked the girl over from head to toe and was absolutely confused. She had lived with Erik long enough to know Nadir's name was a curse word but not long enough for Nadir to actually meet her. She couldn't be a relative of Erik's. They had no likeness to each other at all. Her midnight blue eyes were quite a contrast to the yellow of Erik's and her red hair the opposite of Erik's rich black.

"Forgive me, Mademoiselle, but I do not know your name." Ruby blushed deeply and was about to say her name when she realized she wasn't sure what name she should use. Erik called her Midnight, her whore name was Ruby, and she'd never told Erik her real name. she didn't want to offend him by telling a complete stranger more than she had told him.

"Ruby." She said at last. "But, Erik calls me Midnight." Nadir smiled slightly, having noticed the girl's hesitation and wondered if those weren't her real names. The girl couldn't have been more than eighteen but she seemed to know the world well enough for those few years.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mlle. Ruby." He said before glancing at the door behind her. "Might I be so bold as to ask if I may come in?" Ruby looked him over one last time before opening the door and letting him inside. She didn't know how Erik would feel about this man inside his house but she gathered that since he knew Erik and knew how to get to Erik's house (not a small feat at all) he must be close to alright. Nevertheless, she was on her guard.

"Would you like some tea?" She asked as she played the part of a hostess, a part she had yet to practice. Erik had told her the basics but as they never had any company, she hadn't been able to apply any of the instruction. Monsieur Khan shook his head and sat down in the chair to which she then gestured.

Ruby sat opposite him and was silent for a moment, unsure as to how to make conversation. The silence shared between Erik and herself was a delightful silence. This silence was oppressive and she fiddled with her dress, nervous, feeling she had to say something to be a proper hostess but unable to find a single topic to discuss.

Nadir noticed her uncertainty and smiled warmly at the girl. She was so young to be living five stories beneath the earth. He leaned back in his chair and watched the fire crackling merrily in the hearth.

"Mlle. Ruby, might I ask where you met Erik? He isn't the kind of man to fraternized with the female kind." Ruby blushed deeper and for a moment wished the earth would shallow her up. she had been wrong, Erik had a friend. And, no doubt, this friend would frown on her presence in Erik's life. After all, she wasn't anything more than a harlot.

"Erik…um…we met…" She lowered her head so that her hair fell like a scarlet curtain in front of her eyes. "At a brothel." She whispered so quietly she wondered if he had even heard it. She was quiet ashamed of where they had met and was terrified that her admission was going to shine poorly on Erik. Damaging Erik's reputation was the farthest thing from her desires.

Nadir was astounded to say the least. The Erik he knew wasn't one to even court the company of women let alone seek out a woman, harlot of all people, and then bring her home to live with him. The girl seemed comfortable in house so he could only assume she had been there for some time and was more than a nightly visitor in his bedchamber.

He still remembered the day that the little harem girl had been given to Erik and he rejected her. Now, he wouldn't lie by indicating that he hadn't seen the desire in his friend's eyes. his surprise had been in the fact that his friend hadn't acted on the desire. Erik wasn't one for retraining himself but he had.

"Mademoiselle, but I am confused. The Erik who I was under the impression lived here has never once been fond of having women around him. I understand not why you're here. I was under the impression that Erik was pure." At least sexually. Erik was hardly innocent in any other way but in the art of love, he had as much knowledge and courage as a young child.

Ruby instantly glanced up, feeling that she should blush but finding she couldn't, and quickly reassured the foreign man of Erik's chastity. "Oh, Erik has never touched me intimately!" He barely touched her in any other way either, she added in her mind. "Erik came to the brothel, searching for company and found me. I was happy to be his friend. He came to my room every night and would play for me and tell me of all that he did in the Opera House." She smiled slightly to herself as she looked at the fire, recalling those times which had been the highlight of her night.

"How did you come to live with him?" Nadir asked, hoping he had assumed correctly in saying they lived together. He well knew it was highly improper for a man and a woman, both being unmarried and unrelated to each other, to live alone together in the same house. Yet, Erik hadn't ever been one to obey the rules of propriety so it wasn't that sizeable of a surprise he had ignored etiquette.

"He saw bruises on my body." She whispered and Nadir comprehended the situation immediately. He had little doubt that Erik had fallen in love with the girl and his possessive nature shone through.

"He brought you back with him." Ruby nodded.

"And, I have been here for a little over four weeks. He has been very good to me. I'm living like a princess!" She said, her midnight blue eyes alight with happiness. Nadir was sure now that Erik was very fond of the girl. More than as a friend. Erik was hardly a liberal man and looked out for only his own good. In his mind, people were expendable. It had to be a rare feeling haunting Erik's heart for him to suffer with having a housemate. Erik, loner that he was, didn't care for having people attached to him that he had to fret over.

Nadir rose to his feet and bowed deeply to the girl.

"I must compliment you, Mademoiselle. You have tamed the beast." Ruby rose as well and smiled slightly. She didn't believe she had truly tamed Erik. He had always been docile around her. No softening had been necessary.

"I fear there was nothing to tame." She glanced at the clock. "Oh! I must begin work on lunch. Would you like to stay? I'm sure it would be no problem." Nadir almost laughed. Perhaps she wouldn't find a problem with it but Erik wouldn't be too keen on his presence at the lunch table. Not that Erik's opinion mattered to him. To be sure, he was curious about this girl's cooking skills.

"I would be delighted." Ruby beamed at him and hurried to the door that led to the dining room and subsequently the kitchen. "Would you like an appetizer while you wait?" She asked, appearing every part the perfect little hostess. Nadir would have never guess a month previous she had been a whore a brothel. She had escaped before such an occupation had done permanent and true damage to her.

"No, but thank you. I believe I will sample Erik's fine selection of wines." Nadir had long ignored the Islamic rule of not drinking any alcoholic beverage. Never did he over partake of the liquor though. It was simply a social activity that he was sure would be forgiven.

Ruby smiled at him one last time and hurried off to the kitchen.

Erik arrived at the house and scowled as he noticed both of the boats moored on the house side. That was something generally frowned upon, especially if he was on the opposite side. Ruby was lucky it had been shorter for him to come home the long way due to where he had been in the Opera House.

As he entered the house, he slipped off his cloak and was about to call out to Ruby when he saw a figure sitting in a chair by the fire and sipping on a glass of wine.

"You." He snarled, greatly unpleased to see his 'friend'. There was no love lost between them. They had saved the other's life more than once yet Erik always threatened to kill Nadir whenever the man annoyed him. though, as evidenced by the presence of the insufferable personage, he had yet to go through with any promise. Not that he hadn't thought of it more than once.

"Yes, me." Nadir said as he turned to look at his friend. Despite the mask, he well knew his friend's facial expression wasn't the most genial. "Oh, come now. Don't act so irritated. I'm sure you're very happy to see your old friend." Erik didn't respond to that; his golden eyes just glared as he stalked across the room to a chair.

"Why would Erik be happy to see you? You have invaded the privacy of his home." Nadir just smiled to himself and looked back at the fire, crossing his legs and settling in as he took another sip of his wine.

"I didn't invade. I was invited. There is a difference there." He pointed out with a smug little grin. One he knew would aggravate Erik to no end. Nadir was an old man, a lonely, bored, old man and one of the few pleasures he had left in life was needling Erik. The man's reactions were pleasantly amusing and well worth the danger of being strangled.

"Midnight!" Erik sprang to his feet in a moment, his eyes casting around as if she were hiding behind one of the chairs or about to step out from the walls. Nadir chuckled.

"Ruby, or Midnight, as you call her, is in the kitchen making lunch. She was kind enough to invite me." Erik snarled again but retook his place, his eyes belaying his displeasure. His possessiveness had grown even more with her living at his home. He knew she didn't care for many people and he was okay with that. In fact, he preferred it that way. He was even, to some degree, jealous of Nadir.

"Did Erik ever tell you how much he hates you?" Erik said and Nadir laughed again. That was the usual comment that Erik leveled at him. It was nothing new and usually meant nothing.

"You remind me every time I appear at your home, uninvited." He said, grinning at the last word and with his eyes, daring Erik to come up with a comeback. There was rarely a time when Erik couldn't think of something to hit back with but this was one of those times. He just snarled, again, and watched the fire.

Nadir smiled and then asked, completely out of the blue,

"How long have you loved her?"

Ruby sighed and brushed the flour off her hands as she turned to walk to the sitting room. The meal she had intended to make was going to take longer than previously anticipated. It was only proper of her to apologize to her only guest. As she approached the door leading into the sitting room, she heard raised voiced. One of them was Erik's and he sounded very upset.

Hands shaking, she laid her ear against the door and listened as Erik snapped, rather loudly,

"Why makes you think Erik loves Midnight?" Her heart stuttered slightly as her mind gathered the facts of this discussion. Fearfully she kept listening. Half of her wanted to run away so she didn't have to have her heart broken, while the other half was believing the lie that he might just love her. It was lie but one she was willing to swallow.

"Erik, you like to think your heart is an impregnable fortress of stone that no woman could penetrate. But, I'm sorry to disillusion you, it isn't. I have seen your reaction to women, my old friend. You react in fear of them. You fear women. Yet, I have seen you take in harlot, a harlot of all people and show her kindness you rarely even show yourself." Nadir sounded very convinced and Ruby felt as if her knees were going to buckle. Erik couldn't love her! She was a good for nothing whore. He deserved a virginal girl. Someone untouched and unsullied by the hands of the world.

Erik's voice shook slightly as he spoke the next lines, "Perhaps Erik took pity on her. She is a pretty girl and mildly enchanting. But, why must you assert that Erik loves her?" There was something off about his tone and Nadir instantly picked up on it as did Ruby.

"Say it out loud, old friend. You don't take pity on young girls. You have been one for that. In your opinion, your hide was the only one worth saving. Say the truth out loud." Ruby's very breathed paused for a moment as she swore that time slowed down. She heard Erik's intake of breath and then the three most glorious words ever,

"I love her."