Chapter 14
Erik's eyes were still closed, but his neck was beginning to protest the awkward angle it was stuck in. Suddenly he felt fingers curl around his forearm and Erik jerked awake, almost tossing Christine off the couch as if she was merely a doll.
"What the hell?!" She shrieked as Erik snatched her before she could hit the floor.
His heart was clamouring against his chest as he remembered where he was and whom he was with. Air hissed out of his clenched teeth as it dawned on him how close he was to hurting Christine. He quickly pulled her to him as he sat up on the couch.
He snaked his arms tightly around her waist and tried to steady his breath. "Oh, Christine," he sighed, his voice thick with pain. "I didn't realize who you were in my sleep...and I...I reacted out of instinct...I'm so sorry."
She turned to face him and gently touched his exposed cheek. Her green eyes darkened with concern, her brow furrowing.
He took another breath, feeling his body start to return to normal. His fingers wrecked through his tousled hair.
Erik sighed deeply. "My past...is very complicated. There were many times I had to react quickly when sleeping in order to stay alive. Apparently those old habit are still there. I'm so sorry, my dear."
Christine straightened herself and studied him. He looked so lost, in an odd mix of his past and the present. "Erik, really, I am fine, I was just startled. You didn't hurt me."
"But I could have. And I would have if I didn't realize who you were fast enough!"
"Erik! Stop it. There will always be coulda wouldas but that doesn't mean anything. You didn't hurt me."
A ghost of a smile played on his lips and he leaned forward to press a soft kiss on her forehead. "Coulda wouldas. You and your terms. So glad the English department at the university is training you so well."
Christine rolled her eyes at him. "Okay, Professor. Just because I am an English major does not mean I have to speak properly all the time. The language is fluid, ever changing. Like music."
He chuckled and gave her a hug. His heart had finally returned to its normal speed and he was feeling much better. "Speaking of the University, it is time to get you back. You have spent far too much of your day here. I know you have lots to do. And I have work, unfortunately."
"When will I get to see you next?" She asked, her voice soft.
"Soon enough, my dear," Erik said, even though truthfully, it was never soon enough.
"Where the hell have you been, Miss Daae?!" Meg shrieked from her bed as Christine walked into their dorm room and dropped her backpack on the ground.
"Oh, you know, Miss Giry, around…" Christine said, trying to play it cool. She immediately broke down and hopped onto Meg's bed with her. "You will never believe my day, Meg."
"Try me! I have been waiting to hear from you since you left that vague as fuck voicemail on my phone. What was that?! And then you didn't even bother to text me back. God!" Meg complained, gracefully pulling her long blonde hair into a pile on the top of her head.
"Well...after class, Erik took me to his house…"
"WHOA."
Christine grinned. Meg was not normally easy surprised. "I know, right? It is massive."
"His penis?"
"What?! No, his house, God Meg. Can't you ever keep it in your pants?" Christine scolded, playfully hitting Meg on the shoulder.
"Well, that's disappointing about his goods…" Meg said, picking at her nail polish.
Christine sighed. "I am sure his...goods...are just fine. I haven't actually seen them yet. Just sort of...felt the general shape of them, is all…" Heat traveled up her neck to her cheeks, the telltale sign that Christine was bright red from embarrassment.
"What the hell does that even mean?! Spill, now. I don't want to hear about his house- which, yes, is massive, mom has told me that much. I need to hear about this general shape you experienced!"
"Ah, oh god, why did I even mention this to you. Swear to me on your pointe shoes that you will not breathe one damn word of any of this to anyone." Christine said, leaning over and grabbing Meg's favorite pair of dance shoes.
"My pointe shoes? Wow, this is serious. Of course, I swear. Please, tell me!" Meg said, holding her hand reverently over her well-worn slippers.
"Well, he told me to his place and was showing me his music room there...and well, things got a tad heated which resulted in me on top of his grand piano...without pants...or a shirt...and him about to be lacking those things, too." Christine could not believe she was actually telling her best friend these things. Meg's round eyes just kept getting bigger with each revealed detail.
"About to be? What stopped it?" Meg asked, kicking her legs over the edge of her bed.
"Not what...who. Nadir showed up," Christine closed her eyes, still feeling the embarrassment burn from that moment.
"Oh...shit. You are so screwed...and obviously not in the good way," Meg said.
"Well...he didn't actually see anything. Erik was able to cover up the situation fairly well, so I don't think Nadir knows. But Erik did have to leave me to go to lunch with Nadir. That's actually why I called you, to see if you could come pick me up."
Meg frowned, "I'm sorry, girl! I would have been there in an instant if I coulda."
Christine shook her head. "No, I figured it would be a long shot anyway. No worries. So, I ended up just staying there and waited for him to get back." She decided to leave out the bit about running into Ray or snooping around Erik's place. She figured Erik's past was not her's to share. "Well, when he got back, we got in a bit of a fight, but then he held me in his arms and we napped for a bit. It was seriously the most comforting sleep I have had in years. Maybe even ever."
"Sleep? Are you fucking kidding me, Chris? You all got a tad bit handsy and then later on only took a nap like a pair of toddlers!?" Meg's brow was wrinkled in frustration. "As the only person in this room currently getting any sort of action, I expect better from you!"
Christine laughed, feeling carefree, the way only her best friend could make her feel. "First off, it has been, what, two weeks since you've hooked up with a guy? I think you are doing just fine-"
"Three! And a half!" Meg interrupted.
"Oh God forbid. Okay fine. And secondly, if it makes you feel any better...you were so right about Erik…"
This perked Meg right up. "Which part?"
"The part you guessed he was totally ripped. Like, oh my god." Christine said, pretending to fan herself with her hand. Truthfully, just thinking of how the muscles on his stomach, chest and shoulders were perfectly sculpted made certain muscles of her own clench in desire.
"Now this is what I wanted to know! What all did you see, how did it feel, oh god, I will never be able to focus in class with him ever again. He is so going to know that I know." Meg said, giggling.
"Tell me about it. I don't know how I'm supposed to sit in his classroom and pretend nothing has happened. I don't know when he has the time to work on his perfect body, but god, I can only imagine the amount of exercise that takes." Christine mused. She truly didn't understand how he did it since he spent so much time teaching and working on theatre productions, let alone tutoring her and writing his own music. Does he ever sleep?
"What about his butt?" Meg asked, her eyes shining.
"A butt to end all butts." Both girls burst out laughing. "Truthfully, I haven't had much chance to explore it, but I will share my notes on it, when I do," Christine said with a wink.
"Oh, my sweet Christine. I have taught you so well," Meg said, sounding proud.
Christine glanced at her phone and saw she had another text from Ray, plus the one she never had a chance to read while at Erik's. "Hey Little Lotte, just wanted to make sure you made it back to the dorms ok, let me know!" and the new one read, "Christine, for real, are you ok? I am getting worried something happened." A sigh escaped from her as she set her phone in her lap.
"Trouble with the Prof?" Meg asked, watching Christine stare at her phone.
"Hmm? Oh, no. Ray, actually," Christine said handing Meg her phone.
Meg glanced at it and shrugged. "I mean, that seems fairly innocent enough. Maybe a tad pushy, but nothing crazy. What's the deal with you two anyway?"
Christine let her fingers tug on a few of her loose curls and bit her lip. "I don't know. Not too long ago I would have said he had every chance of being boyfriend material to me...but now? With things happening the way they are with Erik?" She sighed and let her hands fall into her lap. "On paper Ray is perfect, you know? Kind, handsome, and we have the connection to Dad and all…"
"Don't forget he is rich," Meg chipped in.
Christine rolled her eyes. "His parents are rich. He is just well supported."
"Um, hello, trust fund? All of that will be his," Meg added. "But...rumor has it, our Masked Man is quite wealthy himself."
"First off, I don't care about the money! Second, really? But Erik is a professor….I know they make pretty decent money, but rich?"
"Oh, sweetheart. You really don't know much about Erik's background, do you?" Meg said, sliding off the bed and moving around the room.
Christine frowned. No, she did not know much about the mysterious man whom she was quickly falling for, but she also knew he shared parts of himself with her that he never shared with anyone. That has to count for something, right? And yet, she wanted more.
"I...found out some information about his childhood today-" Christine held up her hand to keep Meg from talking. "And no, I will not tell you about that. He would never forgive me, I wasn't even supposed to find out."
Meg paused and tilted her head to the side. "That's fair, I suppose...but I will tell you what mom has told me about him even if you won't dish to me." She stuck her tongue out at Christine for a moment.
"Thank you, Meg. This is why I love you. I know he has a masters in architecture and he designed the house he lives in." She paused for a moment to think. "And obviously he is well trained in music and theatre...he mentioned he typically masters whichever subject interests him."
"That is an understatement. He is, like, a Mensa level genius. He has a handful of degrees of various levels from all sorts of subjects, like music and architecture, but also math and biology. I really don't know how he ended up here, lord knows he should be at Yale or Oxford or something, but I heard he has lived and traveled all over the world."
This fact wasn't a surprise based on how Erik decorated his home and office, but now Christine wanted to know where all he lived. Where was he born? A tiny seed of doubt dropped into her belly when listening to Meg speak. She could really love this man, but she knew so little.
"So, I assume he hasn't only ever been a teacher?" Christine asked.
Meg laughed. "Oh, God, no. His house isn't the only thing he has designed. He has created all sorts of buildings all over the world, including a theatre in France. How amazing would that be to dance in the theatre he designed? I wonder if he has any pull there…" Meg was momentarily lost in the idea of dancing abroad, something she had wanted since she was little. She shook her head out of the daydream and said, "So, yeah. Lots of design work, lots of money. And, he is a composer, obviously, so his music is used in all sorts of things, movie scores, commercials, operas, musicals...he's dabbled in it all."
"Commercials, really? That seems...a tad below him," Christine said, scrunching her nose.
Meg shrugged. "Hey, music is music. Sometimes people commission him because they like his work so much."
"So, yeah, probably doesn't ever sleep, got it. Man, he makes our schedules look like a lazy Saturday." Christine suddenly felt guilty for all the time she took away from him. She would have to talk with him and make sure he knew that it was okay for him to to do less for her.
"Whatever, I don't want to be any busier than I currently am. Add anything else my plate and that means less time for dance."
Christine glanced at her phone and typed quickly to Ray, "Sorry! Made it safe and sound. Been chatting with Meg so didn't check my phone. Thanks!" Well, it wasn't really a lie, she just wasn't giving him all the details of the afternoon. No harm. Or, so she hoped.
"Okay, I texted Ray back. What should I do about him? I don't want to hurt his feelings...but…" Christine frowned, staring at her phone.
"But, you're too nice of a person to straight up cut him loose," Meg said bluntly.
"God, you make me sound like a tease!"
"Well, no, but honestly, if you want him in your life at all, you will need to be truthful with him. Maybe not about the whole dating a professor part, but you know, staying just friends with him. You gotta DTR."
Christine looked at her friend with a hint of a smile. "DTR? I swear you just make this stuff up."
"Define the Relationship. DTR. An important part of most male and female relationships. Or really any relationship where one person may be attracted to the other. He is obviously wanting to give you the D, and you're all nope, just friends, but he thinks you're on the same page as him. Defining that shit solves everything." Meg said with a confident nod.
Christine's mouth dropped open. "You know...somewhere in that insane statement, I think you're actually right."
"Of course I am. Okay, you know what we need? A girls' night. No men. Just us, dressing up, going out, having some drinks!" Meg already ran to her closet and threw it open to look at clothing options.
"Meg...we aren't even 21. How are we supposed to go out and drink?" Christine wasn't opposed to drinking, she would just rather do it where it wouldn't possibly earn her a minor in possession charge. But, she had to admit, a night out with her best friend did seem like exactly what she needed.
"I got us fake IDs. Figured they'd come in handy at some point. They're in my desk drawer over there. This guy I was seeing over the summer made them up for us." She pulled out a short black dress and held it up to her body before throwing it aside and popping her head back into the closet.
"Well...okay. You have to get me ready, though. I want to look hot tonight." Meg was obviously rubbing off on her, but at the moment, Christine rather thought that was a good thing.
"That's my girl! Let's get ourselves into trouble!" Meg cheered, clapping her hands together in excitement.
To be continued…
What sort of mess will those two get themselves into? Please review! Thanks!