Author Note: Yay an update! And I am rather happy that I am now getting regular reviewers- they make me happy and are my muse!
My thank you(s) go to:
Erik'sTrueAngel
Nyasia A. Marie
Twinkle22
I am surprised I managed an update so quickly, especially with Life Debt too.
Enjoy the chapter!
TheDragonEye
Who is that in the crowd?
Erik had been in London and he had been in Paris, but neither of those two popular cities even came close to the massive size of New York City! As soon as he and Jacquelyn had left the air port and he merely looked around he was completely lost. The buildings were huge, the amount of people were many, and Jacquelyn had been right- he nearly choked on the air here.
Jacquelyn seemed to notice his discomfort almost instantly and shook her head. "We'll make sure to go to Central Parks regularly, alright? But I do think that every one of my clients adapt rather easily to this atmosphere- even grow attached to it."
Her masked client continued to stare wide eyed at his surroundings and blinked a few times. He was very surprised that no one who passed did a double take to stare at his mask.
"Please see many a weird sights here in New York, you very much do not come close, Erik."
"I'm weird?" he asked, his voice on edge.
"No, of course not, you misinterpreted my words." The woman tried to reassure him. 'Although. . you are a bit different in a world of different'. "Not many people go wandering about New York City in masks, besides on the occasional holiday like Mardi Gras. Now come, it's not far to the main building and I am sure you would at least like to see some sights- ever get lost though and call a cab and ask to go to the main Spotlight building at 5013 Boarder side. Got it memorized?" she spoke and started walking, flipping open her cell phone.
"Spotlight 5013 Boarder side." He echoed in response.
"Good boy." Jacquelyn smirked when he looked at her and did a double take, and dialed a number. "Zero? Yeah I'm here, swing by with a cab to get our luggage, me and Mr. Destler will be walking and do not need to lug our things with us. Yes. Good I'll give you five minutes. Oh, you're already here? Perfect, you're always so precise, yes. Oh yes, I can see you from here." She snapped her phone shut and watched as the skinny brunette male weaved his way past the bustle going in and out of the airport.
"Mr. Destler- Erik- this is Zero, one of my assistants at the building. Zero, Erik." She spoke as soon as the man had reached them. Both men looked over one another as soon as they shook hands, Zero for obvious reasons and Erik just so he wouldn't forget the face. If Zero was an assistant to Jacquelyn then he would obviously be seeing him again and around the building.
"Nice to meet you."
"Ditto."
The exchange of words between the two was rather quick and Zero broke gaze to pick up the bags at both their feet. "You'll be back soon, Ms. Sabor?" he asked her while trying to keep all the bags in his hands.
"Well, one never knows in a city like New York now do they? A trip down one street or two could take an hour. We'll just see, but I will be back at the building before three, at the most."
"Yes, Ms. Sabor." He nodded his head rather quickly- slightly long hair bouncing into his eyes before scurrying away to a waiting cab.
"Now, Erik, shall we continue?" she asked and without waiting she took him by the arm and into the awaiting city not knowing that today would be a bit more interesting then she could have ever imagined.
If Erik had thought the city had looked big from the steps of the air port, well then walking about the city he had shrunk ten-folds! Buildings towered over him as he walked, blocking out the sky from some views. Many a signs were advertising so many things that Erik could not recognize- he was suddenly thankful that he had taken English all through high school and college. Jacquelyn continued to point out different sights and they all interested him greatly due to his degree in architecture and on more than one occasion he was being tugged along by Jacquelyn who thought that they would not even make it back to the building until an hour after three.
"Now, Erik, are you hungry? We could get something to eat before we go back to the building if you would like." She offered. As if on cue Erik's stomach gave a dull rumble, having not eaten much since his departure in London and just the liquor on the plane. Erik nodded, "That would be good."
"Good, there's a restaurant just up ahead, we'll get some lunch and go to my office building."
"Sounds good." Erik replied simply after pulling his gaze away from another building whose windows had caught his interest as they reflected sunlight which also bounced off the gleaming metal of its structure.
The two of them wandered through the cloud- or more so Erik had been, trying to look at everything but follow Jacquelyn as well. He nearly ran into her as he walked and kept his attention on a street performer.
"It's right here, Erik."
"Oh, yes. .yes. . they have street performers back home as well." The word 'home' sounding as though someone had just removed a splinter from his side. What really was his home? Paris? London? Even he wasn't sure so he included it's entirety 'Europe'.
"I'm sure the food might taste a bit odd- people over in Europe have such rich tastes. I remember when I first tried cuisine over there. But anyways this building isn't much for your eyes to take in so the menu should-"
Erik hadn't heard all of her words, for he had began to tune out, his eyes remaining on the street performer. Not on the man himself, but on the young woman who had just bent down to place a dollar in the case. The young woman smiled up at the man and straightened up, swinging her back over her shoulder once more which gave Erik a good look at her face. No. . . it wasn't her. Another woman approached her and said a few things, making the both of them laugh as they walked away. Erik's eyes nearly bulged out of his sockets as he watched them on the opposite side of the street- walking away. "Chri-"
"Erik, what are you staring at?" Jacquelyn moved to touch his shoulder but Erik bolted off, trying to weave his way through the bustle of the crowd as if trying to swim upstream, all the while trying to keep the two women in sight. He finally moved off the busy sidewalk- or more so was shoved off and into the street. He hardly saw the cab until it was bearing down on him- his eyes still gazing into the crowd- he had lost the two. But he could have sworn that. .
There was a blazing horn and Erik looked up at the approaching car. Suddenly a arm seized him around his upper arm and pulled him from the street with a "Easy there" Erik looked up at the man who had just pulled him from the street, holding him as if he weighed nothing- his feet were barely touching the ground.
"Running into the street isn't the best thing to do, mate. Stick to the sidewalk." The man chided before letting go of Erik.
Erik stared blankly at the other side of the street. "Thank you, Monsieur." He spoke, blankly.
"Monsieur? You don't really hear that much around here. .nah, Chris. And your name? I'd like to know.'
"Err. . Erik."
"Ah, well Erik- stay out of the streets." He began to walk away when Jacquelyn finally caught up to them both. Her hand reached out and snatched the man's hand, twisting it painfully and Erik's wallet dropped to the ground. Chris scowled at her and darted off as she picked up the black leather case.
"Pick pockets and a close run in with a cab. Sheesh, Erik. Do you not worry about such things back home? Erik? Erik! God. . . why must all genius' be so difficult?" she shook her head and ran after the man once more who was running away again.
Erik finally stopped when he couldn't take trying to run through crowded sidewalks and sat down heavily on the steps of a building. It had been her! He knew it had been her! He. . just. . was too slow again. He couldn't reach her fast enough, he couldn't call her name or speak the words he wanted to.
"My god, Mr. Destler. . if you wanted to see the building we could have walked." Jacquelyn spoke, who had just caught up and threw his wallet into his lap through her frustration.
"Wha?" he looked up at her and then looked up at the building and then at the address- 5013.
"Are you sure you've never been in New York before? Or do you just have a good sense when it comes to directions and guessing?" she helped him back to his feet. "Come, it's better on the inside then it is the outside."
The two of them headed inside- Erik giving a longing look over his shoulder before the perfectly clean windowed doors shut behind him. On the inside it was white- very shiny marbled floors squeaky clean, a few logos and names breaking the white and giving it a elegant flair to it. A very prestigious building indeed.
It sort of reminded him of Beauty and the Beast except everyone inside was not singing 'Bonjour' but was saying 'hello' and 'good day' and 'good to see you again, Ms. Sabor'. Over and over he heard such things as Jacquelyn and him made their way through the building and to the elevators. She would lazily point out places like a person who had given this far too many times to even care anymore. It would have made him nervous if he had truly been paying attention, but he was too busy thinking about what he saw out on the streets. He knew it had been Christine! She. . looked so different, but he knew it had been her! But, where had she disappeared off to?
As soon as they got to a floor that Jacquelyn liked they both stepped out and the elevator snapped shut behind them. The sight could only be considered to be a office building you see in all the movies. Many cubicles, computers, and laughing people.
"This is where we sort through portfolios, reserve flights, search openings for auditions. Really where a lot of the main work goes on." Jacquelyn spoke in a matter-of-factly tone, smiling up at Erik as he looked about. "And yes, there are quite a few people needing to work on this level. My own office is up a few flights with my partner. You'll meet him eventually- sadly he just left this morning, it was planned out so that the both of us would not be missing from the building simultaneously."
"Close partners?" Erik asked, "I take it you're both not married?" he asked.
"How could you tell?" Jacquelyn asked.
"Your voice of him is a bit more respectful then it is loving as people speak of their husbands or wives. Don't get me wrong, I can just-"
She waved her hand. "No, I understand. No, we aren't married but we have grown to be good friends. Now come, Zero must be back by now." She led him through the area, heading a few more laughs and a few corny jokes told, then came the rounds of 'hellos', 'good afternoons' and 'good to see you again, Ms. Sabor'.
"Ah, Zero there you are." Jacquelyn disappeared into one of the cubicles and was met with another round of hellos meaning more than one person was inside.
Erik wasn't sure if he was just supposed to wait or not but he took a few steps back to that he could look inside and not look as though he was spying. Inside was indeed Zero and another woman whose cubicle it had to have been. The man's arms wrapped around another young woman as soon as Jacquelyn left, she must have said something about him for she headed back his way, but Erik was still looking at Zero and the other woman who stuck her tongue out at Jacquelyn as soon as she left and all three of them gave a few laughs, Zero giving her a kiss on the cheek before tickling her stomach sending her in another round of laughter.
"Zero is just goofing off, our stuff is up in my office. Oh and that's Mrs. Allegan- she found your musical in Paris and was the one who proposed it to me. Then again I didn't expect to come back with another person. The other woman I do believe is Zero's girlfriend- they sure act it. She comes here to look for auditions." Jacquelyn shrugged. "Let's go, alright?" she asked and once more turned to lead him away but he stayed rooted on the spot. "Erik? Are you alright?" she waved her hand in front of his face and he didn't blink. His face had gone a bit pale and was blank.
Slowly his lips started to curl into a twitching smile as if it was unsure to stay on his face or not.
"Christine. . .Christine Daae?" he spoke and the young woman looked up, her eyes going wide.
"Erik!?"
Ending note: Hah, I told you!
Hopefully I'll get more reviewers who have been lurking and reading. Please? P-please? Review? –puppy eyes-
See ya all next chapter
TheDragonEye
