The Past and Future:
Chrissy left the office and headed down from the airy offices down to the bowels of the building. Here there wasn't any natural light but the electric light made things bright. The only security cameras on were those at the entrances at this time of day and there were enough places hidden that they were not in at all. It was here Chrissy found the phantom, he was not so bad looking in death, not at all. While in life he had been quite ugly, in death he was a pleasant enough fellow to look at. He was clad in evening wear and a cloak and smiled at Chrissy.
"So you are a great grand daughter of Christine?" He asked in flawless English.
"I am, and you are the phantom." Chrissy said, "you have stayed here?"
"Mostly, I can move on, but for now I wish to stay, so many pleasant memories here, the remodel made me so very happy. I know this grand opera house will stand for many generations hence. You sing lovely my dear."
"Thank you, but why, why did you not go with Christine?"
"It would not have been right, she was truly in love with Raoul, with me I was an infatuation, and it would never have worked. Her love would have turned to hate and her standing in society would have fallen."
"Why care about that, she could recover."
"Not in those days." Erik said, "her fall would have been permanent. If we had been born in this day, then perhaps we could have made it work, but no, she belonged to Raoul and he to her."
"You believe this."
"I do, he would die rather than betray her and his true love. He did love her more than life, and she him." Erik said smiling, "the novel was very good, and showed how I could have gone, it would have been cruel for me to do that as it would have nearly destroyed Christine."
"What do you think of the musical?" Erik asked.
"Oh that, so dramatic, but well done, the phantom is too pretty to be me of course. A half mask does not make a good looking man ugly nor scars on part of the face." Chrissy replied. "Are you truly happy?"
'Yes, I believe I am." Erik said.
"I have a question, when I first saw you, you, yes that." At Chrissy's unanswered question Erik turned to look as he had in life, "how do you do that?"
"I am dead."
"How did you die?"
"I went to the front, helped in the war, none care about my looks there." Erik replied, "I died by mustard gas, one moment I could not breathe, then I was here."
"Oh, I am sorry."
"Do not be, all is well now."
Chrissy spent time with the phantom, this was one of the rare times the opera house was being used for what it had been built for, and not just for ballet. The opera was the very same that her so many great grandmother had sung all those years ago and she had the lead role. Her voice filled the great hall and indeed nearly all the seats were filled. There was something about seeing an opera live that showed why opera had been so popular. The opera needed the theater to really shine. Chrissy was perfect as a soprano too, her ancestor had been very thin, but Chrissy was not. She was a full figured woman, in very good health, she rarely ate much processed sugar. She had a personal chief, her sister who traveled with her, she could afford it with her earnings as an opera singer, smart investments globally and part owner of three large apartment complexes in Colorado, Arizona and Texas respectively. Her family was flexible in growing and keeping wealth, and had weathered several financial crisis.
Chrissy had a fashion that was not shared by the mainstream world just yet. It was called neo Victorian, it took the best of the late Victorian age and moved it forward to the 21stcentury. So Chrissy could be seen in long full skirts in brown, grey, navy or dark green, with cute leather boots, shirtwaists in light colors and depending on her mood, a waistcoat and jackets at times or in long light summer dresses in pastels and in the winter dresses in heaver fabric in darker colors. So it was no wonder Erik came and saw her, she was bigger than Christine had ever been but she was strong too, she loved to lift weights, swim and walk so she was in great physical shape. She was going to miss her time here in Paris and miss Erik too when she left.
"You will go away?" Erik asked one summer day as she sat on the roof of the opera looking over the beautiful city below, Chrissy had a full plate of cheese, meat, bread and fruit she was eating.
"Yes, I have the tour to finish." Chrissy replied, "what will you do?"
"Stay here, I truly am happy here." Erik replied, "everyone likes me and lets me stay. One day I will move on, but not yet, I am happy here, and it keeps the bad away."
"What do you mean bad?"
"Oh you know bad, I do not wish to speak of sad things." Erik said, "I am happy had do love it here."
"I am glad then." Chrissy said. "Should I publish the story?" Chrissy asked.
"That is up to you." Erik said smiling at her.
The End.
