Friday means bonus day! AND the chapter you've all been waiting for! Enjoy! :)

CH 10

Jenna took a sip from her water bottle as Chris took his seat at the table. They were meeting in the cafeteria for a late afternoon break. It had been a busy day for both of them, but Jenna just could not let it end without hearing about Chris's evening with Meg. "Spill! How was your date?"

"The entire evening was amazing!" Chris admitted, grinning from ear to ear and setting down his coffee cup. "We had a wonderful dinner, and then went dancing. I discovered that Meg's a ballerina."

"A ballerina!" Jenna asked in awe. "Oh, how elegant! Does she dance professionally?"

"She used to, in Paris," he replied

"Paris?" Jenna asked, her voice trailing of at the end. Does everything in the world conspire to make her think about Erik? If it wasn't roses just strangely showing up on her doorstep, it was ballerinas from Paris.

"Yes, Paris. She and her family just moved here from there. She's working as a cleaning lady for now at the hotel where they're living, but she used to dance at the Palais Garnier."

Jenna set her water bottle down loudly on the table. "You have got to be kidding me."

"No." Chris said, confused at her reaction. "Why?"

Because that's where I left my heart, that's why! "No reason," Jenna fudged. "That just … seems like a pretty big deal. So…" she changed to subject quickly, "Tell me more about her."

"Well, she's sweet, she's funny, she has a great giggle, and she's oh so lovely."

Jenna was warmed to see the glee on Chris's face as he enumerated the list of Meg's attributes. This was how he was supposed to be—happy, exuberant, joyful. This is what she never could have given him, no matter how hard she tried. She was so glad that he had decided to take her advice and ask this girl on a date. She only hoped that Meg wouldn't mind sharing Chris with her from time to time.

"You seem smitten," she told him with approval.

A slight blush rose to his cheeks as he confirmed, "I liked her very much, Jenna. Thank you for pushing me to go find her. You were right."

"As always," she winked. "But seriously, I'm happy you found someone that obviously gets you excited." She took another sip of her water, before raising her eyebrows and pointing at him. "I do believe you've been dazzled, my friend."

Chris looked at the only other woman who had dazzled him before. Oh Jenna, he thought. I still wish it had worked out between us. "Jenna," Chris reached out and took her hand from across the table. "I want you to know that this changes nothing between us. I am still going to be there for you and the baby. You come first."

"I know that you will always be there for me, Chris," Jenna said, squeezing his hand. "You've proven that time and again. But, as much as I appreciate that, I want you to put yourself first. And I think, right now, that means spending as much time as you can with Meg, and seeing what happens."

Chris smiled at her reaction, because he knew those were the exact words that would come out of her mouth. Jenna was always so self-sacrificing that it was simply second nature to her to put another's happiness before her own. It was a quality that was going to make her an excellent mother. Still, he could not deny that he was excited to see where things would go with Meg, since the chemistry between them seemed pretty magical the night before.

"When are you seeing her again?" Jenna asked, when Chris remained silent.

"Tonight."

"Wow, Romeo," she jokingly patted him on the arm. "You work fast!"

"Not fast enough," he responded. "I miss her already."

"Awwww," Jenna squealed obnoxiously, reaching forward and ruffling his curls.

"You're so cute, you're gonna make me cry."

Chris grimaced at her reaction. "Knock it off, crazy woman!" he laughed, reaching

into his pocket as he felt his cellphone go off. Looking at the screen, Chris's face went from amusement to confusion to horror. "Oh damn. Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn! No!"
"Good news?" Jenna asked, raising her eyebrows in response to Chris's tirade.

"I have to work the ER tonight." Chris told her, in disappointment. "There was a huge construction incident over at 10th and 46th. Lots of injuries—on their way here. Dr. Knowles called out sick, and it's my turn to cover for him. I'm not going to be able to see Meg after all."

"I'm sorry, Chris," Jenna said with genuine compassion in her voice. "I know you were really looking forward to it. But, she's got to know that, when dating a doctor, this kind of thing is likely to happen. Just call her and reschedule. Or maybe she could meet you here for your dinner break?"

The look of disappointment on Chris's face turned blank. He sat there, stonily silent, his jaw clenched, his lips tight, and his eyes not meeting hers.

"You still haven't gotten her phone number, have you?" Jenna asked him, as if she were stating a fact.

"No," was his one word reply.

Jenna shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Look, I'm off in an hour. I will go give her the message that you cannot come tonight because of work. And then I will get her number for you, since you seem utterly incapable of accomplishing that task, and you can call her to reschedule!"

Chris sighed, annoyed at himself. "Jenna, you're pregnant. I don't want you traipsing around town just to deliver a message for me—especially since the hotel's right near the accident. There's going to be a major commotion in that part of town."

"Oh don't worry," she retorted, "After today, I'll never have to do it again, because you will have her phone number!" She laughed, taking his hand again, and said sweetly. "Seriously, though, Chris, you've done so much for me. Don't you know I would do anything for your happiness? Besides, I'm excited about meeting the little ballerina who stole my best friend's heart! And don't even worry about the accident. I'll just take an alternate route."

Chris looked at the twinkle in her eyes, and was reminded why he fell so in love with her in the first place. "You know, I wonder if I should be insulted that the woman I've been in love with for the better part of a year is doing all she can to set me up with another girl."

"Nope," she said, patting his hand and rising from the table. "You've finally come to your senses, and realizing that we are perfect as friends."

Shaking his head back and forth, Chris added, "Jenna, you know there's a part of me that's always going to love you, right?"

She nodded, with a crooked grin. "That's the part I'm going to be counting on for baby sitting and diaper changes!" With a wink, she turned to go finish out her shift, so she could deliver Chris's message.

Erik looked at the card he still held in his hand. He had been staring at it for what seemed like hours, turning it between his fingers, tapping it on the small writing desk in their room. Nadir, Antoinette, and Meg had been out this morning, working diligently on their daily tasks, by the time Erik had returned. He had spent the night wandering New York, pondering Meg's words, "Maybe you ought to let go."

Of course, it was impossible. There was no way he could live a minute of his day without thinking of her. The ache in his chest, where his heart should be, was a constant reminder of her absence. But he knew that she had gone on with her life since her return. She had a job. She had a baby on the way, and she had someone who cared for her—even if they were not romantically involved. She had been in love—in love enough to create the child she carried within her—and he… he had been nothing at all since she left.

He had accomplished nothing but to mope, and brood, and sulk—existing, but never living. And that was not what she wanted for him. He knew that she had been proud of him—that she had wanted him to live out in the open, to share his talents with the world. What would she say if she knew that since she left him, he had barely touched his piano—hadn't written a single note? What would she think to know that he was hiding here, in a decrepit hotel, performing meager tasks for his supper, just because it happened to be the first building they had walked into that first night? What would she think if she knew that he tolerated this truncated existence simply because it meant he could be closer to her?

"Go to her!" she had always encouraged him when it came to Christine. "Show her yourself as you really are, not as a ghost or an angel, but as a man." Last night, he had come so close to doing just that. He had been so ready to open that door and show Jenna that he was there. But would she have even wanted him? He wasn't the man she'd fallen in love with—the composer, the builder, the scholar. No, since she left, he had not been that man at all. He had truly been the specter that everyone had thought him to be back at the opera house. He lingered by the river because it had once brought her to him. He haunted the grounds of her apartment building, hoping to catch a glimpse. Since he had sent Jenna back, he had been living as a phantom, merely enduring his faded existence.

What good would it have done to go to Jenna and show himself to her as a man for her to only have seen a ghost? And what damage would it have done for her to see him standing there before her, and turn him away?

No, Erik realized, as he closed his eyes against that notion. He could never recover from that. He somehow had to find a way to start living again—to be the man Jenna once made him wish to be. But he knew he couldn't do it here. He couldn't live in a city knowing she was so close, and yet still a lifetime away. It was time.

With a deep breath, Erik picked up the receiver to the phone that was next to him on the desk. Looking at the card again, and remembering to first push the button "9", he dialed the numbers listed in sequential order. A low buzzing sound emanated once…twice on the line, before he heard a nasal female voice answer, "Hello, you've reached Big A's construction, office of Mr. Vincent Adolfo. This is Irene speaking. Can I help you?"

Erik paused for a moment before answering, "Yes, I wish to speak to Mr. Adolfo."

"May I tell him who's calling?" the nasally voice asked.

"You may tell him Batman is calling. It is time to request payment on a debt."

"Ugh," Jenna muttered, wiping the perspiration from her brow. "Maybe I should have hailed a cab." It was hot, and Jenna was beginning to feel a cramp in her side from walking. Truly the hotel was not that far from the hospital—or from her own apartment, for that matter—but the heat was not making it any easier on her nine-month-pregnant body to make the journey. Maybe Chris is right, she thought. Maybe I really do need to start taking it easy. The baby could be here any time now. He or she deserves a well-rested mama, not one who is exhausted from running herself ragged right up to the onset of labor. She took a deep breath and kept walking, resolving to call her supervisor about maternity leave when she got home. She just had to deliver this message for Chris first. Then she could go home and rest.

When she got to the address, past all the sirens and flashing lights from the construction accident nearby, she looked up at the building before her with a little grimace. "Oh, honey," she said to herself. "We've got to get you dancing again, so you can afford to live somewhere other than this hell hole." When her mind turned to more romantic notions, she thought, Of course, another way to get out of this place is to marry Chris and make him as happy as he was this morning for the rest of his life.

Hearing her own thoughts, she shook her head. "Slow your roll, hormones," she scolded herself. "Let's go meet this girl, before helping them pick out china."

Jenna entered the lobby and went right up to the slovenly looking manager who was reading at the desk. Clearing her throat sharply, so that he could not continue to disregard her, she said, "Excuse me, but I am looking for one of your cleaning ladies. Her name is Meg."

Perturbed, the manager looked up from his magazine. "That's a lot of people who come in here looking for her. What do I look like? Her keeper?"

"Sir," Jenna responded in the sweetest tone she could muster, "you don't really want me to tell you what you look like, now, do you?" When the man just looked at her shocked, she continued, "Now, in case you missed it, I'm nine months pregnant. I literally do not have the time or energy to stand here and make small talk with you until you finally tell me what room she's in—because we both know in the end, that you will be doing just that. Now, tell me her room number, or I'll just have to go knocking on every door in the place. I'm sure that won't make your other patrons very happy, now will it?" She asked, smiling at him tightly, with a hand on her hip.

Looking mightily annoyed at her little tirade, the manager simply said, "Room 305. Stairs to the left."

"Oh," Jenna said, cocking her head to the side and putting a hand on her mountainous belly, "I know you're going to let me use the staff elevator. You wouldn't make a pregnant woman walk up three flights of stairs."

Rolling his eyes, he pointed, "Down the hall, right behind you."

"Thank you," she smiled sweetly, before turning to walk down the hall.

It was done. Erik placed the receiver back in its cradle. He had spoken to Vincent, and explained his desires, and in about a week's time, four new identities would be delivered. The identities would be accompanied with several thousand dollars in cash—something Vincent was throwing in, from the bottom of his heart, to get them started on their new lives. And then it would be finished. They would leave New York for someplace new.

Of course, he had not told the others yet, but he knew they would follow. With cash in hand, they would be able to do much better for themselves than living in this hellhole of a hotel. Meg might prove something of a problem, now that she seemed to have her heart set on the young man with whom she had spent the previous evening—but he was certain Antoinette would find a way to make her get in line. They would move from here and start their lives over yet again in another city of their choosing. And Erik would try to learn to live again, instead of barely tolerating existence.

A knock at the door pulled him from his thoughts. Had the Persian forgotten his key again? Although he had half a mind to leave him out there, Erik rose and quietly made his way to the door.

When he opened the door, he was greeted with a gasp loosed from rosy lips rounded in surprise. Tears sprang to the most beautiful eyes in the world, and hands that once held his very heart were trembling before him. "E…e…erik?"she asked in sheer disbelief, as she reached forward and lightly touched his arm, as if to check that he was real. Her hand sliding shakily upward, she tentatively cupped his cheek.

"Yes, Jenna," he stuttered, her face becoming blurry through the tears in his own eyes. "I'm here," he rasped, as he turned his cheek into her hand, relishing the feeling of her skin on his. "Oh, My Jenna, I'm here."

Tears spilled down her cheeks, as she took a step forward, but then became a bit wobbly on her feet. When he saw her eyes close, Erik reached out and caught her, just before she collapsed to the ground.

Well, There it is! Jenna is back in Erik's arms. Yes, I know she's unconscious, but that's beside the point!

Now you must know there is going to be some explaining to do. But at least they are back together -no more hiding!

also in this chapter, we got to see how Chris feels about Meg. And to see Jenna rail on him about STILL not getting Meg's number. (not that she had one to give him!). AND now you know why it's a good thing to have a mobster in your pocket. They come in handy.

please review and let me know what you think!