The Silver Stage

Chapter 8

Christian felt his blood ran cold as he stood face to face with the Duke. He wasn't sure what he should do or what he should say. He honestly thought he'd never see the man again and especially so after the passing of Satine. Wide-eyed with fear he tried to plan out his escape, but with a huff the Duke sneered at him and gestured for his manservant to remove him quickly. The bald man then stepped forward and was about to grab him and probably beat him to a pulp outside in the streets, when suddenly Abigail stepped in between them and smiled.

"Tell me, sir do you like the arts?"

Startled, the Duke began to twitch at the interruption and replied, "Yes young lady, I do, but if you could please kindly step away from that man."

Abby innocently paused and asked, "What man?"

Irked, the Duke stepped around her by the statue and shouted, "That man!" however to his surprise no one was there. The scandal had left. In then concluded that the girl must have been helping him. She aided in his escape.

"You—"

"Oh, sweetie-pie! Come, I want to show my absolute favorite artist."

Ms. Nightingale then latched onto her boyfriend's arm and started to drag him towards a large painting down the hall. He was so swept up in her delight that he didn't have time to finish what he wanted to say to Abigail. And all that came to pass was a dirty look form the Duke's brute as he followed his employer down the hall. Meanwhile, Abby felt distraught. She didn't know where Christian had gone or where he might be.

Nervously, she bit her bottom lip and looked around, but the gallery was crowded and she didn't know where to begin. She could just go about calling his name. It was likely make a scene and the Duke was already quite annoying as is.

"Christian…oh, where are you?"

Abby circled around the large ugly statue once and then spotted a man waving his hat near the lobby entrance. Puzzled, she saw that it was Christian. Agitated, she marched up to him and swatted at his arm.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

"Some date you are!"

Abby then headed for the exit and walked down the front stairs. She was about to hail a carriage, when Christian quickly grabbed her hand and spun her around.

"Abigail, please. Don't go."

"And why not? You said you wouldn't abandon me this evening and you did. You just disappeared when the Duke came along and I don't understand. Christian I am not that naive. That man dislikes you and I want to know is why?"

Anxiously, Christian began to fidget and rub his hat before finally meeting her eyes. He didn't want to tell her about Satine, the Moulin Rouge and the Duke. He didn't want to tell her he was involved with a courtesan and so he decided to fib.

"The Duke is a very bad man. He dislikes me because he was once my employer and I quit."

Christian could not believe how easy it was to stretch the truth. He knew what he said didn't even come close to the heartache he felt over his encounter with the Duke, but he felt that Abigail would not want any part of him if she knew the whole story. He just prayed that his lie of omission would be enough to satisfy her curiosity.

"Well, I still don't like the fact that you left me and ran away."

"Then, let me make it up to you. Let's go have dinner. Together, just the two of us. You saved me Abigail. It's the least I can do to show my appreciation."

Abby paused and began to pace. She eyed Christian critically and watched as he deliberately began to pout and make faces until she finally laughed and nodded her head in agreement.

"All right, dinner it is, but no more."

Christian beamed and grabbed her hand and said, "You won't regret it, Abby. I swear."

Giggling, the two of them took off down the street and began to search for a quite and romantic restaurant to eat. They didn't notice the bald manservant following them from the shadows.

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Location: the Silver Stage, next day

Meanwhile, the next day Mr. Fits was in a rage. The stage manager could not believe that Nightingale was late for rehearsals again. He also couldn't find her understudy that wallflower Abigail. It wasn't the sort of thing that boded well for the theatre if their leading star kept skipping out. It also didn't help that the owner was coming to pay them a visit.

"Where's Nightingale?" asked Mr. Fits to Cherie.

"I don't know, but I'm worried about my little Abby. I spoke to her landlady and she said she did not come home last night and she is not in the theatre."

"Well, go find her. Mr. Jenkins is coming and he expects the show to run smoothly."

Surprised, Cherie said, "Mr. Jenkins? You mean the owner, the wealthy American?"

"Yeah, so you better find your friend or it's currents for us all."

"Wee, I think I may know someone who'd know where she is."

"Good, and send someone else to drag the diva back here too. I don't know how she can go around thinking she's the queen of Sheba."

Cherie nodded her head and quickly dashed out the backdoor and headed over to a boy she knew that worked at the newspaper. Swiftly, she asked him if he knew a reporter named Christian and where he lived.

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Location: Christian's apartment

Laughing, Christian recited Abigail more samples of his poetry while he prepared them some breakfast. He couldn't remember having a better time in his life. Last night they hadn't left the restaurant until it closed. Then, afterwards they walked the streets together arm and arm and discussed bohemian ideals and literary delights. He discovered that Abby had a passion for novels and playwrights. She was a real dreamer like he had once been. She sought love, beauty and truth in everything.

And before daybreak they ended up at his apartment and cuddled on his bed until she finally drifted off to sleep. Reverently, he touched her face and hair and kissed her nose and cheeks. And as the sun began to rise and shine into his room he realized at that moment that he loved her. Abby was now precious to him. She was his nightingale and she only had to sing for him.

"Christian, you're going to burn the toast!"

He was suddenly shaken back to reality as he felt Abby bumped his over with her hip and began taking over cooking breakfast. Smiling, she kissed his cheek and said, "Go get some cups before you burn yourself."

He grinned at her and said, "All right, dear."

He was about to reach his cupboard when he heard a knock on his door. He wondered who it might be. He was expecting any guest, but when he opened it he was surprised to see that it was the girl from the Silver Stage.

She had her hand on her hip and she was glaring at him sternly. "You! You monsieur! What have you done with my little Abby?"

"Abigail? She's—"

She poked him in the chest and shouted, "I should have know you are a wolf in sheep's clothing. You most likely wooed my petite with your masculine charms and drop her like a rock after you had gotten you're kicks."

"Cherie! Stop that," cried Abby.

She moved the breakfast onto the table and marched up to her friend in bewilderment. She grabbed her hand away from Christian and asked, "What's the matter with you, anyway?"

"What are you doing in this man's apartment?"

"Cherie, nothing happened. Christian's a gentleman."

"Then, why did you not come home last night? Where have you been?"

Puzzled, Abigail replied, "I went out on a date. We talked—we talked so much that I lost track of time. But, Cherie, what is all this about anyway? I thought you wanted me to have romance in my life."

The dancer than gathered her up into a hug and exclaimed, "Yes, I do, but I was so worried. And the manager is in a jam. The owner is coming today and Ms"—she then looked at Christian and said—"Ms-no-show is missing again. The stage, she needs her star. You have to go."

"But, I'm a mess. I hardly slept, I haven't eaten and I'm wearing the same dress from yesterday."

"Wee, then we will swap dresses. I'm sure you can use Monsieur Christian's bath. Go, go get clean and then we must leave."

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TBC

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Author's Note: Sorry for taking so long to update. I haven't really been in the mood, but after watching Dawana Summers sing with Seal on TV I felt inspired to write some more.

Please review. Thank you.