Christine's POV

I couldn't breathe. There was no oxygen. There was no escape. I would have to face the consequences of my actions sooner or later and I had decided that it had to be later. There was no way I could stay there a moment longer. What kind of monster does what I have done?

I could feel heated stares from the strangers who occupied the same subway car as me, it was as if they knew what I had done and what a disgusting person I was. Realistically it probably had more to do that I looked like an insane person still wearing Erik's satin pajama set and his oversized slip-ons. Regardless, I deserved to be judged.

Everything appeared to me as if I were living in some indie film where the shots were filmed in cool blues and greens, light was bright and white, teetering on grey. It was quiet uptown; nothing like the hustle and bustle of midtown Manhattan. I was thankful for the absence of people, the absence of stares. I had made it into our apartment without having to make any kind of small talk or acknowledgement from any of our neighbors, it was then, finally that I burst into controllable tears. Sobs shook my body as I tried to get myself from the front door into my kitchen. My mind set on trying to block out the last twelve hours, none of it could have truly happened. There was a bottle of rosé in the fridge, this will have to do, I uncorked the bottle and held it from its neck and guzzled its contents with shaky hands and trembling lips. It wasn't working. Frustrated I kicked the refrigerator door closed as I continued to down the bottle. I made my way over the couch, never letting that bottle leave my grip when I finally realized that Meg had my phone. God, fucking damn it! This couldn't get any worse.

Meg's POV

The series of events that transpired this morning were straight out of a Hollywood blockbuster. Christine was missing in action and I was left to clean up the mess. Not that I resented it, she is my best friend and I felt responsible for a good percent of what transpired. It hadn't occurred to me how manipulative Raoul really was, and for that I was a complete fool.

An alert went off on my phone, it was a notification from the popular celebrity news site: Page Six. I could not believe my eyes.

"Houston," I said, to the surprise of Erik and Nadir who had been conversing between themselves about God knows what. "We have a problem."

I handed my phone over to Nadir who just about dropped the phone along with his jaw. Erik immediately tugged the phone out of his hands to get a better look, "Shit." Was all he could muster to say.

The name of the article: DON JUAN TRIUMPANT: New York City's Reclusive and Highly Sought After Composer and Bachelor Seen Dancing the Night Away with Chorus Girl. It read: Last night, Erik Destler, composer and architect, was spotted with a female companion tearing up the dance floor at the exclusive Bar SixtyFive. The bachelor, who's reputation has been famously known as being withdrawn, took a night off from his upcoming musical Don Juan Triumphant to steal away with a chorus girl from his show. Sources have revealed the identity of the chorus girl as Christine Daaé, who will be making her Broadway debut when the show enters previews next Friday night. Not a lot is known about Destler, but it is clear to this writer (and anyone who has eyes) that he is absolutely smitten with Miss Daaé and feeling appears to be mutual.

The article continued with photos of Erik and Christine. One image contained the two of them dancing, Christine with her back to Erik, his left hand on her hip and his right lying flat on her stomach. Her head was turned over her left shoulder her eyes cast down with a giant seductive grin on her face, her fingers interlaced with his.

The last image on the page was of Erik holding Christine by her waist as they left the building and entering the limousine. I was surprised that none of the images contained any of Nadir and myself.

I could see Erik's face turning red as he seethed reading the article, "How could this have happened? Who knew we were there, Nadir?" he demanded.

"How should I know? You think I would rat you out to the press." Nadir said defensively. I could see that the two of them were going to get into it and I wasn't going to let that happen.

"Guys! What does it matter? It is out there in the world and I am sure you know who is going to read this and I'm pretty sure if he was suicidal before he will be homicidal now and we have no idea where Christine is!" I screamed.

You could hear a pin drop the room was so silent. I gulped audibly as Erik still had the look of murder in his eyes, "Miss Giry," his voice was as cold as ice. "If your friend went to see her boyfriend," he said the word as if it was the foulest thing he could think of. "Then she has made her choice and I will not be making an even bigger fool of myself by pursuing this further." It was as if he was looking past me, and he was. He was heading towards the island in the kitchen where he bent down to open up a cabinet within it, revealing a bottle of expensive bourbon.

How could he think about drinking at a time like this? "So that's it? You're just going to give up and let that asshole win?" I pleaded with him, and he wouldn't even look at me.

"I would hold my tongue if I were you, Miss Giry." He was emotionless, and made no eye contact. "After all, if it weren't for your meddling none of this would have happened."

He skillfully poured the contents of the bottle into the crystal glass. It took all of me not to knock the glass from his hand.

"She needed to know!" My anger could not be contained. "Contrary to what you may think, this has very little to do with you and all to do with Christine and what her happiness means to me. And if I thought for a minute that asshole was making her happy and I wouldn't have said a damn thing. She was unhappy with him and needed and out and I gave it to her. You wanted her and I trusted you would be perfect to her. But clearly I was wrong." I turned to leave, looking at Nadir who stood there stunned and silent. I loved the man to death but he was practically useless when Erik was in one of his tantrums. "You don't know how bad it is."

"You said she loved him." I heard the once magnificent and intimidating voice now turned sad and defeated. I turned to face him, the once full glass was almost finished. What he said didn't warrant a response; he had already decided that that was a fact.

"He beats her." I couldn't believe I said that out loud. I never told anyone that before. I could see Erik's knuckles turn white as he squeezed the counter he was leaning on. Quickly, I had to explain, "I don't think she knows I know. We never talked about it. " I walked into the kitchen and sat down at the island. Nadir came up behind me and sat down in the adjacent stool. "He had us all fooled. For a while we would all hang out as just friends, he charmed us and made us believe he was this amazing guy. We were super into partying and getting fucked up every single night of the week. Anyways, when he and Christine became officially and exclusively dating we went to a party at Mike's apartment. We had all been drinking and smoking and one thing led to another and Raoul and Christine were missing so I went to look for her. That is when I heard Raoul screaming belligerently at her and she was crying. Then I saw him slap her across the face and she went down and her began to kick her, hard. I ran and found Mike almost immediately and he got Raoul off of her. That was the last night I spent any time with Raoul and his friends."

Having to relive it all over again made me shudder as tears were escaping my eyes. "We never talked about that night. But ever since then I noticed all these little changes in Christine starting with her hair; I didn't think anything of it until I realized she had lost ten pounds. If he doesn't hit her he most certainly emotionally and verbally abuses her. He was over at the apartment and I overheard him calling her fat, then the next thing I knew she lost another five pounds."

I cried, I cried for my friend who I loved and wanted desperately to help but felt like I could not. She didn't want to believe the truth of the situation, until last night that is.

Suddenly a thought occurred to me in that moment to go through Christine's phone, "Wait, did you happen to see if she was wearing her Apple Watch this morning?"
Erik seemed to remember her wearing it. Bingo. I logged into the where is my iPhone app, a while back Christine and I told each other our Apple ID passwords in case of an emergency we would be able to track each other's phones.

"Thank fucking God!" I screamed horrifying my companions. "She's at home! Thank God!" I jumped off the stool and started for the door. "I've got to go and talk to her." And before I could let them protest I was out the door and calling for an Uber.

Nadir's POV

I couldn't help the feeling of guilt swelling up inside of me. I had tried to warn Erik about idolizing Christine too much, to not expect her to wait for him as Meg had waited for me. He truly believed in his heart of hearts that she was meant for him and him alone and that she was saving herself for him. I saw the sly grin on his face when she had admitted to being a virgin, a concept that I could not fully grasp knowing that she was in a relationship and the obvious fact that she had a body made for sin.

When Meg had told me that Christine's boyfriend was a dirt bag I had warned her not to get involved until she had tangible proof. Well, she finally had it and sure enough Christine was drawn to Erik like a moth to the light. I was beginning to question my warnings to Erik; perhaps Christine was meant for him. But it all came plummeting down when we received that fateful call. I could feel Erik's every emotion as the day progressed. What I hadn't expected was for him to give up entirely. Christine had left and we could only assume it was to assist her distraught young man; she cared about him and I believe that was hard for Erik to comprehend.

Bless my beautiful little Meg's heart, she had thought she could reach him in one of his famous temper tantrums, but it was no use; he had decided that he had lost. But when she began to tell us the truth of Christine's situation, I had dreaded what outcome Erik would have. I could see him thinking and working through the last eighteen hours in his head, and it was exactly as I feared: this was war.

"Do you know what this means, Nadir?" I could see that this was not going to end well. "She doesn't love him, Nadir. That manipulative asshole has attempted to destroy her spirit, feeding on her unfounded insecurities,"

I watched as Erik began to pour us another bourbon, it amazed me how much this man could drink and never really lose any inhibitions. I knew this behavior a lot more than I wanted to; and it scared me.

"This is excellent news, my friend. She had waited for me, the boy was just a passing fancy, she need not waste a moment longer with that arrogant fool."

"I wouldn't be too hasty. The situation is extremely delicate."

He looked at me wide-eyed and confused as if there could be no flaws in the plans he had devised in his head.

I continued, "It has been four years of mental terrorization, Erik. The strength she needs needs to come from within her. I think she knows on some level that this person is all wrong, hell he betrayed her trust in the worst way by making her look like a fool with another woman. But something tells me that there is a deeper problem here. I can only assume from the conversation that she and I have had in our coaching's together that she doesn't seem to think highly of herself,"

"Well, I can help with that. She needs to be removed from the negativity first and foremost."

"I don't think it is as easy as that,"

"Enough! Are you suggesting that I just let her wander back to him? I will not be kept on the sidelines as a backup plan for when he inevitably fucks up again."

"And I am not suggesting you do that."

"Then what pray tell are you suggesting I do."

"Let Christine digest this, after all a lot has happened in the last twenty-four hours. The emotional stakes are way too high for anyone to make any kind of rash decisions. You included."

I could tell my words were settling in, he was truly contemplating what it was I was saying. The silence was almost deafening if not for the swirling of his glass, the ice hitting against the crystal. I sat myself down across from him but he denied me eye contact. If I knew anything about Erik it was that he was action now consequences later and for him the consequences were generally minimal, but this was new territory. Christine ignited something in him that even I could not put my finger on. I knew he was possessive and obsessive but this was even beyond that. I had never truly feared for her, until now.

What seemed like a lifetime of silence was finally ended when he ran his fingers through his hair, rising to his feet and walking past me as if I didn't exist. I saw him shuffling around the apartment, gathering his belongings. I couldn't let him leave without knowing what he was thinking, "Erik, please. What are you doing?"

"I am going to her."

"You cannot show up to her apartment unannounced."

"Do not tell me what I can and cannot do, Kahn." His voice cut through me like a knife. "Besides, I am sure that young man of hers has no doubt read that trash they call an article. And so help me, Nadir if one single hair on her head is harmed I will hold you personally responsible."

"Enough!" The sound that came out my mouth frightened me and stopped Erik dead in his tracks. "You need to leave her alone. For Christ's sake, I haven't even heard from Meg yet! For once in your life truly think about what you are doing before you just go ahead and do it. You need to stop thinking about yourself and what you want and consider Christine."

"Call her." It was just barely a whisper.

"What?"

"Call her. I need a drink."

Christine's POV

I can't believe after everything I could just fall asleep on the couch. My mouth was dry and my head was pounding. I rolled off the couch and went into the kitchen to fill up my glass gallon with Kangen water. I am a naturally fast drinker, with any beverage really. I needed to hydrate if I thought I was going to be able to sing tomorrow. Fuck, I have to go to rehearsal tomorrow. I could feel the dread fill up in my stomach at the thought of facing Erik tomorrow. What was I going to say? "Sorry I ran out of your apartment like a lunatic?" I was so pathetic I could not hate myself any more than I do now.

I heard the lock turn on the front door and I nearly pissed myself. Logically I knew it could only be Meg but my heart decided to skip a beat when she came into the living room, launching herself at me, tears streaming down her face, she embraced me, "Oh thank God you're here!" I started to cry too. I had worried my friend on top of everything else, I truly was winning the shittiest person of the year award.

"Don't you ever do that to me again, do you hear me?" I shook my head yes as we continued to hold onto each other.

We sat down on the couch, when Meg took my hands and looked me directly in the eyes. I could see on her face that she had new, and bad news at that. But nothing could prepare me for what she was about to tell me. I think I temporarily lost hearing as she told me about the Page Six article. She pulled it up on her phone and showed me the images of myself dancing with Erik. What upset me the most was how happy I looked dancing with Erik. But I had ruined everything. And when I thought all of this could not get any worse, the obvious had occurred to me. Other people have seen this article. The company has most likely seen this article. My uncle has probably see this article, but worst of all Raoul has most certainly seen this article.

Meg gave me back my phone and just like that it had started all over again. The missed calls, the stream of texts from both Mike and Raoul. I couldn't take it. I just wanted to die, right then and there.

Meg's phone began to ring, she looked down at the screen and rolled her eyes, "Hey Mike," I swatted Meg's arm and mouthed to her to put it on speaker. I needed to know what I was going to be dealing with.

"So, we saw the Page Six article."

"Yes and?" God I loved Meg, she really couldn't give too shits. I wish I was more like her.

"Is it true?"

"What does it matter?"

"What's with the attitude? I have literally done nothing to you."

"I'm sorry, but considering the circumstances I do not see why I need to explain anything to you. Christine has made it quite clear that she doesn't want to continue a relationship with Raoul."

"We are not so different you and I. I am trying to help my friend and I imagine that's what you are doing too." There was a pause. I looked at Meg and without speaking gave her permission to do what she needed to do.

"Mike, that article is completely irrelevant."

Suddenly the voice on the phone changed, "What do you mean it's irrelevant?" I could hear Raoul on the other end say. His voice sounded pained.

"Christine, I know you're there and I hope you are listening. I am so sorry; I get it completely now. You showed me how horrible it feels to be humiliated like that. I know now how much I hurt you because seeing that article really hurt me. I don't want to see you in another man's arms just as much as you do not want to see me in another woman's. Can we please talk about this?"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Did he truly believe I did this as some sort of revenge? Make him have a taste of his own medicine? This didn't seem right, how could he not be angry? How could he not be calling me a whore or a bitch or anything? Instead he's understanding why did what I did. But I didn't do anything, especially not with him in mind.

"Raoul, I was there last night, she didn't do anything the paparazzi took pictures and spun a story. None of this had anything to do with you and all to do with the media trying to get dirt on our employer."

It wasn't really a lie, not completely. I truly didn't do anything with Erik, and even if I had I would have been in the right to do so. Or at least that is what I wanted to tell myself. I didn't want to hurt Raoul I just want him to go away, be with a girl who isn't sexually anorexic. Find someone who wasn't focused on a career as time consuming as Broadway.

"That's even better. Don't you see this article was a godsend, I have learned my lesson, the idea of Christine with anyone else," he paused. "It destroyed me even more than the idea of her no longer wanting me. I know that I hurt her and I know that I destroyed her trust, but I will never make this mistake again. I know now that I need her, really and truly need her."

I wanted to run again, this isn't at all how I expected this conversation to go. I hated myself that there was a shred of me that wanted to go back to how we were. Back to before I knew that he was cheating on me, before I knew that I had longed for someone else.

"Raoul," I finally spoke up.

"Christine!" the excitement in his voice broke my heart.

"Listen, I know the need to want to fix everything as quickly as possible and just sweep it under the rug, but I simply cannot do that. I am going to need a little bit of time to process everything that has just happened." My voice began to break as the tears started coming. "I feel humiliated in more ways than one."

"Christine, you have to know how sorry I am for hurting you."

"I hear you, Raoul," I sighed, trying to regain composure. "But you have said a lot of things in both text messages and voicemails-"

"I was drunk and angry!"

And there it was, just when I thought he had changed and was truly sorry for what he had done. I could have thrown the phone across the room, "Do you not understand that nothing is going to be resolved right now?" Meg quickly took over seeing that I was about to either scream myself or just break down all together.

There was only silence on the other end of the line. Meg took this as an opportunity to speak her mind, "You have threatened to do God-knows-what today and got your friend, Christine and myself very upset, do you realize that that is not okay?"

Again, silence. I couldn't believe that Meg would bring up that Raoul had basically threatened to end his own life as a result of me breaking up with him.

"Again, I was drunk and angry and sad and I wasn't in the right head space. I know that isn't okay to say, Meg. I can't apologize enough for causing any more stress than I have. But I have known Christine for basically my whole life and I refuse to let this end because I made a horrible decision."

He refuses to let this end? As if he had any say so in the matter. He gave up his right to have any say in this relationship the minute he betrayed it. It all came flooding back to me, the awful text messages the voicemails on my phone telling me that it was all my fault, had I only just gave it up to him he wouldn't have had to find it elsewhere. He didn't just kiss this girl at the bar, they had sex, and I am guessing it wasn't the first time this had happened. God, how could I have been so dumb? I let my feelings blind me from what actually happened, he wanted to guilt me into staying with him by threatening his life, guilt me into believing that my time with Erik was some sort of revenge. I was going blind with hatred.

"I'm sorry to break it to you, Raoul but in life our decisions have consequences and if you cared so much about Christine and your relationship you wouldn't risk it by hooking up with some tramp." God I loved Meg, she could articulate my thoughts way better than I ever could.

"Alright we are just going in circles here," I heard an exasperated Mike say. "We can point fingers all day long, but all that is going to do is cause more hurt feelings."

"So what are you suggesting?" Meg replied probably more exasperated than him.

"You said it yourself, nothing can be resolved right now. The wound is too fresh. So I suggest that they both take a time out this week and have a conversation later about what they would like to do. Is that fair?"

Meg looked at me. It took all of me to not snatch the phone and tell them to both fuck off. But I hated to admit that they had a point, I didn't get to have a real conversation about what had happened with Raoul, I just sent a text saying we were done without any explanation. In fact, I told him we were done, ignored him, sent him into a rage and then he read an article about me being another man's love interest. I wasn't completely innocent and I did want answers, fuck I deserve answers. I reluctantly nodded my head yes, I would take the week to think about it and then sit down with him and come to some conclusion.

"Thank you, Christine. I love you so much." Those words would haunt me for the rest of the evening.

Author's Note: OMG I am so sorry that took me so long. I wrote and rewrote this chapter about a thousand times and still I am not completely satisfied. I really appreciate those of you who have been reviewing and giving me feedback it really helps! Anyways let me know what you think and hopefully it won't take me three months to update.