"Christine, where are you going?"
"Out." Christine finished sliding on her jacket and slung her purse over her shoulder. She grabbed her keys off of the counter and headed towards the kitchen door.
"Surely, Master Erik hasn't finished your lesson today?"
"Erik is still in his office on the phone. He never showed up."
"Then you should wait for him. He won't like it if you leave without telling him."
"Too bad. I don't care anymore. I waited over an hour for him. He expects me to be on time, but his own rules have no meaning on him at all. I am tired of it. I am not some doll that Erik can drag out of his toy box whenever he wants to play."
"When will you be back?"
"I don't know. I just might not come back."
Sarah's face suddenly paled. "Please don't say that. Would you at least tell me where you are going?"
"I am going to go meet Meg for a movie. Apparently, Erik still deems her fit for me to be around. I'll see you later." Christine shut the door before Sarah could say anything more. Sarah was worried. Although Christine was right, Erik would most likely be furious. When he came asking for her, Sarah was not going to mention what Christine had said about not coming back. Christine just needed to vent off some steam. It was understandable. Erik had a way of crawling under people's skin. Christine would be back this evening when she had calmed down.

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Erik emerged from his office a few hours later. He hoped Christine wasn't too upset over him being late for their lesson. Knowing Christine, she had probably found a book and was waiting on the couch for him. He walked into the library to find her absent. Maybe she had gone to take a nap. She hadn't had much sleep since she had begun rehersals for his opera. Erik frowned when he found her not to be in her bedroom either. Sarah would know where she was. He quickly made his way to the kitchen and waited for Sarah to notice him.
Finally, his patience grew thin, and he made himself known. "Sarah, where is Christine?"
"She's not in the house?"
"I am sure she is. I just don't know where. You always seem to know. Now where is she?"
"She left. I thought she would be back by now."
"What do you mean she left? She said nothing to me about leaving." Erik patience had worn out, and it was starting to show.
"She took her keys and her purse to go out."
"Where did she go?"
"Meg was suppose to be meeting her to go see a movie."
"I want her home. NOW." Erik growled out the sentence as he made his way back to his office. Christine was suppose to let him know when she was leaving. If she couldn't follow the simple guidelines that they had agreed on, then she didn't need to leave his side at all.

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Christine dug her phone out of her purse, trying to get to it before it stopped ringing. Once she saw who was calling, she no longer held any interest in answering the phone and threw it back into her purse. The moment it stopped, Meg's started ringing. Instead of following Christine's example, Meg answered hers. Apparently, Meg's conversation wasn't going so well as she didn't have time to say hello before the caller started bombarding her with questions.
"Yes, she's with me. Hold on a moment." Meg held her phone out to Christine. "He wants to talk to you."
"Tell him I have no desire to talk to him at the moment."

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"Erik, she says she'll talk to you later." Meg said softly.
"Megan Giry, don't forget who you and your mother work for. When I say I want to talk with Christine, I don't mean that I will talk to her whenever she feels like it. I want to speak to her now." Erik could hear the mumblings between the two of them. Apparently, Meg had her hand over the speaker as she pleaded with Christine to take the phone.
"Hello."
"Hello, angel. Sarah told me that you had gone out with Meg.I was wondering when you are coming home." Erik was going to get Christine to come home with inticement. There was no reason to be uncivil about it. Not to mention the fact that Christine seemeed to respond better to his gentle questions than when he commanded her around.
"Eventually." Christine let out a deep breath.

"Christine, I would like a time frame if you please." Erik tried not to loose his temper.

"I don't know. A couple of hours."

"Two hours, then?"

"Sure, Erik. Bye."

"Bye, Christine."

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Christine walked into a dark house. She started up the stairs when she heard Erik's voice coming from the kitchen. She started to back down the stairs to go to him, but her plan was changed when she heard his voice again coming from the foyer.

"Erik, where are you?"

"In the library, Christine." This time his voice actually sounded as if it was upstairs. Christine took a deep breath and headed upstairs. The library door was already opened. Christine found him sitting in front of fireplace, holding a brandy glass. Christine had never seen Erik actually eat or drink anything before. She thought it had something to do with his mask.

"Erik?"

"Have a seat, Christine." Christine took a seat in the chair that sat at an angle towards Erik. "Did you enjoy yourself?"

"Yes, thank you. Erik, have you been up here long?"

"Keys."

"What?"

"Your keys, Christine."

"Erik. Let's not be unreasonable."

"Then give me your keys, Christine." Christine dug in her purse and stood up, throwing her keys at Erik before she began marching out of the room. She stopped at the door.

"I hate you, Erik. You hear me. I hate you. I am not some doll that you can stick on a shelf and then dress up to take out to show to all of your high class fans.One of these days, you're going to look around and not be able to find any trace of me." With that, Christine slammed the library door.

Erik rubbed his temples. He didn't know who to blame. Maybe it was his fault for ignoring Christine for so long today.

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Christine paced up and down her room. She couldn't stay here. Erik was slowly driving her insane. He had managed to isolate her from all of her friends. He basically had complete control of her life. She was told when to eat, when to sleep, and when she could have visitors. She was basically being kept in a high priced prison. No more. She made up her mind and went straight to the telephone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, I am sorry I didn't mean to wake you. I was just wondering if you were still planning on going to see the game Friday night."

"I suppose. Do you want to go to the Eagles concert?"

"Yes. Let me know the score, Ryan." She hung up the phone and began praying to God that Erik hadn't found out about the code she had come up with one night with Ryan. It had been Ryan's suggestion in case she ever needed help. She needed to start gathering the few items that she would be taking with her when Ryan came in two days.

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A/N: Sorry, I haven't updated this week. Please review. Maybe I should just let Christine go off in the sunset with Ryan. Leave Erik all by his lonesome little self. Hmmmm? What do you think?