Chapter 12 – What if
"Perhaps we could string her up from the chandelier by her ankles and let people paint her face." Nicole said and took a sip of wine.
Erik sneered and leaned back in his chair. "Well, I purpose that we force her into a lowly servants' uniform, chop off all of that red hair she fashions into ridiculous shapes, and then parade her in front of all her adoring fans. That should kill her relatively slowly."
She laughed, "That might be hard to beat." She took another sip and hummed for a few seconds. "We could get her drunk, invite a reporter in to interview her and then let her read all of the dastardly secrets she told about herself."
Erik sighed with pleasure at the beauty of it. "She falls on her own sword."
Nicole allowed herself a self-satisfied smile and happened to glance over to a corner where a sheet sat draped over a bust. She inclined her chin in that direction, "Who is that?"
Out of the corner of his eye, Erik saw who she meant and turned his intense amber eyes back onto hers. "I modeled that bust after a woman who used to sing the leads here. Her name was Christine Diae."
Nicole settled back in her chair to hear the tale. His eyes became unfocused, seeing a past that had occurred long ago. "She had come to the Opera Populaire after her father had died. Through the years, I became quite interested in her undeveloped talent. I took her under my wing and in so doing…took her into my heart."
At this, Erik lapsed into silence, eyes still turned inward. From the sadness visible on the human side of his face, Nicole could tell that this story was not going to have a happy ending.
"Did you ever tell her how you felt?"
A deep, bitter chuckle escaped from his lips. "I caused half the theatre to burn down in the process of expressing my love to her."
Nicole let out a breathy "oh" to express her shock. After she had collected herself she said, "I take it she didn't quite appreciate your act of love?"
Erik looked at the woman sitting across from him, but he didn't actually see her. He saw only the woman who had rejected his all-consuming love for her; his need to have her in his life. But there was a woman who needed him and was sitting right across from him…talking to him.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" And he had been completely ignoring her.
Nicole seemed unfazed by his rudeness and repeated, "I'm sorry that things didn't turn out well for you. But, if you want my opinion, she mustn't have been very bright."
The Phantom suddenly glared at her, "How dare you make such an assumption! You did not even know her. She was beautiful, intelligent – "
"She left you." As predicted, he stopped short and looked at her incredulously. "I'm serious. If she didn't at least pine for you then she didn't know what she was missing."
His eyes pierced her intently for a moment, "Or she knew only too well."
In a bid to lighten the atmosphere Nicole stuck her tongue out at him. "You're just being silly."
A wry smile twisted Erik's features. "Says the girl with the wily tongue."
The tension was broken, if only briefly.
XXX
As Erik was cleaning up the remains of their meal (Nicole had already departed), he thought about what she had said; as if she really did know the real him. But that was the trouble wasn't it? Erik didn't even know the real him. He had tender moments when he envisioned himself and Christine together, sharing a life. He had passionate rages when something upset him. He had already proven himself capable of murder, but also of great musical masterpieces. Christine had liked his good points, but she could never find it in herself to accept the bad ones. Nicole, however, had. She accepted everything about him; both his musical brilliance and his severe tempers. Nicole was able to revel in one and weather the other. Unlike Christine, he wanted to show Nicole his true face…But what if…What if …
