830pm

Fifteen minutes of searching the self help section of Amazon, and nothing. Erik had not come up with a book on romance, let alone one on how to improve yourself to attract the opposite sex. This was frustrating.

Erik switched gears and directed Firefox over to to order up some dripless candles for the lair. They have the best selection. Maybe he'd even pick up some scented candles for his bedroom. As he browsed the site, he saw something called a "ball" candle. Thinking they were pretty, he picked a few up for his dining room table. He would need to search for a pretty, and suitable, holder for these new candles.

After placing his order, Erik remembered he hadn't replaced the sheets on his bed. Putting away his credit card, he headed off to take care of the forgotten chore.

930pm

Once finished in the bedroom, Erik grabbed his sword for a long workout. He had some pent up frustration to work out. Maybe he shouldn't have spent so much time watching Christine today.

Sword in hand, Erik headed off to his exercise room. It was a lovely set up with some free weights against one wall, a punching bag in the corner, and mirrors lining one wall. However, the pièce de résistance was the sparring dummy he created himself. It bore a striking resemblance to Raoul. Erik liked it that way, it helped him work out his frustrations better. And after today, that dummy was going to get quite a working out.

Erik crossed the room and poked the dummy in the abdomen with the tip of his sword. "Take that, Raoul!" He cackled.

Stepping back, Erik lowered him into a sword fighter's stance. Eying his opponent, he yelled "En garde!" before lunging at the Raoul dummy.

He missed.

"Ah ha! Anticipating that, were you?" Erik called out in a deep voice.

Altering his voice into a high falsetto, he imitated Raoul. "Oh, yes, of course. I'm such a good swordsman I can sense what you are going to do."

Enraged, Erik grunted and swung his sword at the Roul dummy, making contact with the shoulder. "I bet you weren't expecting that!"

"Oh, no, I bow you your superior knowledge and skill."

"I bet you do. I call that my 'Super Awesome Slashy' move."

"It is quite an impressive move, I must say." squeaked Erik as Raoul.

Growling, Erik said, "Did we come here to fight, or to chat?! I thought it was to fight." And with that, he landed another attack on the dummy.

"How… Dare… You… Steal… My… Girl…" Erik panted as he took swing after swing against the dummy.

Grunting, Erik pushed the sword through what was left of the dummy. "Well, I guess that ends the workout for tonight," he thought as he surveyed the damage he had caused. "Well, repairing that will just have to be a project for another day."

Erik turned on his heel, and headed toward his bathroom for a shower, putting his sword away as he went.

1045pm

Freshly showered, Erik set off through the passages to see Christine. She's usually getting ready for bed about this time. He arrived at her room just as she was changing for bed.

This is always Erik's favourite time of the day. While he allowed the other girls in the opera house privacy at moments like this, it was too difficult to pull himself away from Christine.

Christine reached up to undo the back of her ballet dancer's clothes, and Erik had to stifle a groan. "God, she's so pretty. Why is she wasting herself on that fool Raoul?" he thought to himself.

Erik felt his pants grow tighter as he watched Christine slip her arms out of her sleeves. He could barely contain himself, he would have to leave before long. As her dress fell to the floor, he felt his resolve to stay where he was waning; Erik was definitely going to have to leave or he might launch himself through the two-way mirror.

Christine bent to lift her dress from the floor, she was striking in her corset and petticoats. She walked across the room to deposit the discarded garments into the laundry. Erik sucked in a quick breath as he watched Christine reach for the laces of her corset.

Time seemed to slow as she undid her corset to slip out of it. Erik didn't know how much longer he could stand it. He was already testing the strength of his pants seams. There was a knock at the door as Christine began to undo the first set of laces on her corset.

"One moment!" she called as she quickly tied the laces and grabbed a dressing gown.

"Damnit!" Erik said softly to himself. Raoul had entered the room and he left his head drop to the pane he was looking through.

"Who's there?! I know it's you, Erik!" Raoul yelled out. "Stop perving on my girl or I will find you!"

Sensing trouble about to start, Erik quickly hid.

"Oh, Raoul, he's just lonely. Let's leave him be… You're just in time to help me with something anyway…"

Raoul raised an eyebrow and looked at her. "Oh, I am? What is it you need help with, mon chérie?"

Christine tried to look innocent. "Well, it's just that… I can't quite reach to undo my corset… I was wondering if you could do it for me."

Erik groaned in disgust. This was not the way he wanted this to go, he wanted to watch her undress, but he did not want to watch that… that… Nancy boy undressing her. He didn't even want to watch Raoul looking at Christine.

"Christine, you are a truly evil creature. You know how I feel about that. I want to make an honest woman of you first."

"He won't touch her? He… He… He wants to make her an honest woman?! Who says things like that?!" Erik was outraged and turned on his heel and stalked back off down the passage.

1130pm

Erik returned to his lair and stormed about.

"What do I do? I can't have her. If he proposes… I'll have to get him out of the way…. But she truly seems to care for him. Will killing him make her fear me?"

Erik stormed off to the kitchen, needing something to calm his nerves. He opened a cabinet and pulled out his box of sweets. Ahhh… A Milky Way to settle him. That was exactly what was needed just now. As he tore through the wrapper, Erik contemplated what to do.

"Maybe one of those ballet harlots would go for me. They were all over nancies, André and Firmin. Maybe if I got a better mask, and only approached in the dark. I think I just need a little female company to boost my confidence a little. I can't believe Amazon didn't have any books on this subject. They have just about everything else!"

Erik sighed. He knew he couldn't let himself get worked up over these things. There was only so much he could do about the way things were right now. All he needed was time to plan before he could act. It would just be a matter of time.

Yawning and stretching, Erik knew he should turn in soon. It was still earlier than he usually went to bed, but he was still wiped out from the previous night.

12am

Erik set a bottle of water on his bedside table, before turning his covers down. He walked off to the bathroom to get ready for bed.

As he entered the bathroom, Erik reached up and gently removed his mask. He went to the linen cabinet to retrieve a fresh wash cloth, and began to wash his face. After wetting his face, Erik pumped a little St. Ives Elements Olive Cleanser into his palm and lathered up. St. Ives has always been Erik's favorite cleanser, and since coming out with this olive cleanser, he's been in heaven. It's help maintain the moisture balance of his skin. His skin is quite prone to dryness. Using the dampened wash cloth, Erik rinsed the cleanser off his face. A little Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturizing lotion, and he was ready to brush his teeth. Erik rinsed his mouth and left the bathroom, tossing the disposable cup in the trash as he went.

Erik loved his relaxation time before he slept. It was the one time of the day reserved exclusively for himself. He loved nothing more than curling up between the sheets with a romance novel. Harlequins were his favorite, but he would never admit that to anyone. Not even Adreanna, his closest friend and confidante. Erik cracked the book open as he snuggled deeper into the bed, knowing it wouldn't be long before he fell asleep.

Fin.

That's it, the Phantom's day is complete! What did you think? Please review.