Hey everyone it's me. Thanks for all your amazing reviews. Sorry about the delay. I like to be a regular updater but I was on vacation in Florida with a strict no computers rule. Thanks for all you patience. Please read and let me know what you think!
~nibblesfan
"She's good," Natalie whispered to Erik as Christine made her grand debut.
"Well I should hope so," he replied. "I trained her." His face radiated joy as Christine finished the aria. It was the happiest Natalie had even seen Erik. But as she looked over to the managers' box, Natalie could see the one person who could destroy everything for the Phantom.
"C'mon." She grabbed Erik's hand and pulled him out of the box. "She always goes straight to the chapel after a performance. You can be the first to congratulate her."
Like clockwork, as soon as the curtain fell, Christine arrived and lit a candle next to her father's picture. Beaming with pride, Erik began to praise his prodigy. Before he could get out more than "Bravo" Meg burst into the room and pulled Christine away, chattering about how amazing she had been. The two disappeared, and Natalie and Erik climbed out of their hiding spot.
"Um, okay, I guess you can meet her in her dressing room," Natalie said with a shrug. But they arrived to see the Vicomte de Chagny enter.
"Who is that?" Erik wondered aloud.
"Uh, his name is Raoul de Chagny. He's a Vicomte."
"The new patron?" Erik asked incredulously. "Why is he in Christine's dressing room?"
Natalie sighed. "One: Christine was on stage and impressed him. Two: he is what is called a suitor. Three: he and Christine were childhood sweethearts and he wants to restart their old romance. Four: to make a long story short, he wants in your girl's pants."
Erik frowned. "What does that last one mean?"
"It means you've got competition and Raoul's got history with her," Natalie explained. "It means if you are to have any chance with that girl, you need to get a move on."
"I am her Angel of Music," he replied. "If I tell her to send that foolish boy away, she will."
"It doesn't work quite like that," Natalie interrupted.
Erik ignored her and kept talking. "Christine and I have a connection that no one else will ever be able to dream of matching."
"They have history…" she began but once again, he cut her off.
"He can't even dream…"
"Erik…"
"That she would ever…"
"Erik!"
"Even consider choosing him over me. I taught her to sing. I brought her up from nothing. I made her a star. What has he done? Nothing. Christine owes it to me."
Natalie sighed again. Erik was off on another one of his rants. If she was going to talk sense into him, she needed to get him to shut up first. She grabbed his collar and pressed his lips against hers. What felt like an electric shock ran through her and Natalie immediately released Erik. "Now are you going to let me speak?" she demanded.
He stared at her, his mouth hanging open. "What…what was that?"
"Somebody needed to make you think through this logically and you wouldn't shut up. That was a way to get your attention."
"Oh."
"Look at me. Now picture him. Now picture Christine. Think about this. Raoul is a real live human being. You're not. I know you are, but Christine doesn't. She thinks you're an angel, a voice in her head. For all intents and purposes you don't exist. You aren't a person. Right now she's in there telling Raoul about you, and he is laughing because he thinks it's a game. That gives him the advantage. As long as you remain an angel to her, you stand zero chance of ever getting her. You have to prove to her that you're a person too. You have to give up the game in order to be with her."
"You're saying I have to reveal that everything I've told her is a lie."
"If you want her, then yes. You have to show her that you're not an angel, you're Erik and that Erik is even better than an angel."
He hesitated then nodded. "Alright."
She hugged him. "Good luck! Go knock her dead. Wait! No, that'd be bad! Oh you know what I mean." Erik laughed at her then disappeared.
A few moments later, Raoul exited Christine's room obviously in good spirits. Natalie ducked out of sight to avoid being spotted. The second he was out of sight, Natalie slumped up against the wall. Wrapping her arms around herself, she wondered what she was going to do. When she had kissed Erik, she had definitely felt some serious chemistry. Like if she were in Moulin Rouge, the moon would be singing kind of chemistry. But she wasn't in Moulin Rouge; she was in Phantom of the Opera. And said phantom had gone chasing after Christine. But Natalie supposed it was for the best. After all, she had already decided that she was going to help Erik win over Christine. Besides, she didn't really belong in this story anyway. None of the various versions had a blue-haired crazy girl in them.
The sound of footsteps shook Natalie out of her thoughts. Raoul was coming back, assumingly for Christine. But by now, Erik must have taken her down to his home. "Looking for someone Monsieur?" she asked innocently.
Raoul jumped, obviously not realizing she was there. "Actually I'm here to escort Miss Daae to dinner."
Natalie raised an eyebrow. "Christine?" He nodded. "You can't."
Her remark seemed to surprise him. "And why not?"
"Because she's with her music teacher. They're off celebrating."
"Ah yes, the Angel of Music. Now seriously, I told Christine I was taking her out so we could catch up on old times. We knew each other as children."
"Good for you," Natalie retorted. "But I'm telling you that you are S.O.L. So outta luck. She is G-O-N-E. Guess you're going to have to find someone else to take to dinner."
Raoul pushed past her and opened the dressing room door. "Christine!" He looked around the now deserted room. "She's gone!" he exclaimed in shock.
"Thank you Sherlock for your keen insight," Natalie said sarcastically. "Have fun at dinner." Whistling, she strode away from the Vicomte. He really was a hopeless fop.
