I'd like to take a moment and thank everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter. Your words of support and encouragement are much appreciated. I am truly humbled. To those of you who I cannot respond to personally, just know that I truly smile after each and every review.
Hmmm…..So Erik appears to have a roommate for now and what will people say about the latest addition at the McCarthy home? Well, we will have to wait and see. For now, let's check on our other American friend, shall we?
Oh…. I own nothing. Like that even had to be said…
Suzanna sat up against the Oak tree where Phillip had requested they meet. She really didn't know how she got there in the first place. She was supposed to be editing and re-writing her story, yet she couldn't concentrate. Seeing Christine practically leap out of the carriage earlier that evening had her mind turning. She thought back to when she was in her room.
What would make her want to go to the stables at this time of night? Why didn't she say anything about it to me?
Without a second thought she got dressed and sneaked out her bedroom window. She didn't bother to go to the Valerius' stables. She knew Christine well enough to know that something else was on her mind. She then thought of how Phillip had been using her own friend against her and suddenly she wondered if this was some pathetic excuse to get Suzanna to follow her but in reality have her meet Phillip.
Seriously, how gullible and naïve do those two think I am? I mean really, as if I'm going to just…. She then saw Christine riding with someone back to her home. She ducked down so no one would see her but she had nothing to worry about. Christine passed her by without so much as a second glance while her companion; a tall, dark figure that seemed to control the wind with his movements, appeared to only be focused on her. "That's not Reggie….." Suzanna then smiled to herself.
"No way! Christine seems to have a secret suitor of her own. Finally, payback time! Oh, I cannot wait to give it to her for all the torture she has given me with regards to Phillip. Ha! I don't even like Phillip! But this…. This guy on a white steed who she meets in secret. Wow…..It's always the quiet ones."
She stood up and dusted off her knees. "Well, I for one better educate my young and innocent friend, as the male species are a complicated breed. I see she will need my guidance now more than ever." She smiled. "Wicked Swede."
As she was already out and about, she found herself heading straight to the infamous Oak tree and couldn't bring herself to turn back. So there she sat, motionless but not restless. Finally after a period of silent deliberation in her head, she forced herself to stand up and return home. She would have plenty of time to tease Christine tomorrow and work on her story revisions. As she glanced behind to look at the tree one more time, she saw Phillip come to an abrupt halt.
"Do you plan on saying something to me yourself or will you just wait until you can message Christine to tell me? I think she has far better things to do than act as your carrier pigeon."
"You came." The tone in his voice sounded as if he was still in shock. Truthfully, after all that had gone on tonight he almost didn't come. However seeing her there made him realize it was well worth it.
She turned around, trying to hide the glee inside her when she saw him. Despite her grandfather's attempt to make her feel better, the loss of the contest still stung and since Christine seemed to be occupied, having Phillip there made her feel better. Yet she wondered why it was so. I should go back…Why am I staying? His damn eyes…
"Phillip, next time you want to communicate with me, you can speak to me yourself or leave word in the tree, just don't involve third parties, okay?"
"I just felt if you saw she liked me, then maybe….."
"I make my own mind up about people, Phillip. I don't care what anyone has to say about someone. What matters is whether or not I like you. Are we clear?"
"So does this mean you like me?" He blushed as his head bent down a little, all the while not losing sight of her expression.
Damn it! "I….. Look, you said you wanted to see me and I wasn't ready for bed. It's been a long day. I guess seeing you is better than doing nothing."
Phillip grinned. "Well I'm happy to finally be of good use." He then pulled out an envelope from his inside jacket pocket.
"What do you have there?" She walked towards him and couldn't help but smile. He got me something? How? Christine couldn't have told him about the contest results…
"I read your story." He proceeded to open the envelope and pull out the copy she had left for him to read.
Suzanna sighed. "You did?" She didn't attempt to hide her happiness. "Oh Phillip, I'm so glad. I really just needed to talk about it. You see the judges….."
"Will be entranced, once you make a few corrections." He started to show her the pages he marked and highlighted in red.
"What the…..? These pages have red markings all over it!" She grabbed it out of his hands. "You butchered it!"
"No, no! I loved it. I just thought the main characters could use a little more depth and…."
"You thought the characters needed more depth? Who are you, the reigning playwright of the county? Who gave you the right to callously edit my story without so much as consulting with me why I made the choices that I made?"
"I…. I thought you would want the help. I know how much you want to win. It's a great story, I just wanted to enhance ….."
"You wanted to enhance it? Look, I may accept defeat gracefully when it is from a group of respected playwrights but I will be dammed if I am going to take critiques from someone who thinks Hamlet is a sandwich!" She shoved the papers back in his face.
"You know, you really need to calm down! You don't have to take everything on alone. If you want to win….."
"That's just it, you insensitive mongrel! I lost. I didn't win. Happy? Where were you with your award winning advice when it could have mattered? I can face loss and strive to be better but I really just wanted your support tonight. Not a reminder that even someone with no theatrical knowledge found my story to be trite and trivial."
"No! I…..Suzanna, I didn't know. I…"
"Great! So if you had you would have lied to me all night?" Her face was burning and the tears were starting to shed. "I was going to tell you about the contest and not because I wanted you to help me win. I just wanted to share with you why I lost and how I'm going to do better next time. Not with what you want me to write but how I'll make it better. Me! You really don't understand my passion at all, do you? I don't need some boy to make things right for me. I control my fate."
"No, Suzanna…I mean, yes ….I know that….." Phillip saw there was no reaching her tonight. She was now sobbing into her hands and his heart went out to her. He came towards her and cautiously placed his arms around her. "I'm so sorry, Suzanna."
She looked up but did not turn him away. She was about to say something when she heard his mother calling out to him.
"Phillip de Chagny, come in the house this instant! It's cold outside and you don't have a jacket!"
He let go of her and it caused her to jerk forward. "I better…."
She shook her head. "After all that you drop me the second she bellows?"
"Suzanna, it's complicated. I just don't know what to do. I can't seem to make any right decisions and after what happened tonight….."
"I'm not a complication, Phillip. Since you can't make a right decision when it comes to me, then don't make any decision at all."
"Suzanna, please. I'm conflicted…."
"Really? So you feel conflicted every time we see each other? Well I feel as if I'm not good enough. And I don't want to be around someone who makes me feel that way. So you hang out with people that bring you clarity and I'll hang out with people that aren't ashamed of me. Okay?" She ran back before he could utter another word.
When she returned home she saw the Valerius' carriage and wondered out loud what had happened. She ran up the stairs and stopped in front of the guest bedroom, where the door had been left opened. Her eyes however went to where two members of the household staff stood talking.
"John? Sarah?"
"Thank goodness you're home!"
"It's about time. As if the master doesn't have enough to deal with."
The servants gathered around Suzanna and she looked at them in confusion. "What's going on?" She then saw a woman lying on the bed. "Cassie?!"
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Christine took every word to heart that Erik had said with regards to keeping her tears inside until she was no longer in Cassie's presence. She even kept her tears at bay once they left the master bedroom and were out in the hallway with Reggie. However the moment Erik picked her up and securely placed her on Cesar, she allowed her tears to fall.
Erik carefully mounted the horse and wrapped his arms around her, whispering soft words of comfort in her ear. "Cry to me, my angel. Let it all out. She will recover and you will see her soon. For now, let me take care of you." He hummed softly to soothe her until he could get her back to the cabin. Once they arrived, he picked her up and kept her in his arms until he was able to place her gently onto the bed.
"Christine, do you wish for a cup of a tea?" She remained still on the bed and Erik took his cue to leave her. He was by the door when he turned to her. "I'll leave you alone then. I'll keep the door open and if you wish for anything, just…."
She sat up and called to him. "Angel, please don't leave yet!" She opened her arms to him.
Erik was at her side in seconds, wrapping her in his arms. "I'm here. I'm right here, and I will stay as long as you wish it, dear heart."
Despite her sadness, knowing Erik was with her made her feel safe. "How could this happen? Why did he hurt her like that?"
"I don't know, angel." He began to rock her slowly. "All we can focus on is that she is going to be alright."
"But…" She wiped her tears and broke out of his hold, so she could look at him. "How could a husband do that to his wife? I know he hurt me but Cassie is the one he is supposed to love. How does love turn to hate? What will happen when she leaves him?"
Erik thought about the love his mother must have felt for him while he was inside her womb, all the anticipation of meeting the life she had created with the man she loved. He then thought of how quickly that love turned to hate the moment she saw his face. Then he thought of the laws women were bound to and knew that ending the marriage, no matter how much Cassie should, may not be so easy.
"I am not married, Christine. I will never know that kind of love, thus I do not try and attempt to understand the inner workings of a husband and wife. What I do know is that marriage is supposed to be a sacred bond and regardless of religion, the law is very clear that it is binding and works more towards the favor of the husband than the wife."
"I'm not understanding you, angel." Erik now commanded her full attention. She was desperate to understand his explanation.
"Christine, I have always been led to believe that marriage between a man and a woman is untouchable. The feelings they share are a combination of partnership, intimacy, devotion and passion. Thus each inspiring the other to be better than they would be apart. For their lives, minds, bodies and souls are forever entwined so much that you don't know where one ends and the other begins."
She smiled. "Erik, I think that's the kind of marriage my parents had. That feeling of completion."
He nodded. "I think mine did too…." Yet that doesn't mean it passed along to their offspring. He shook his head when the memory of his childhood came into his mind. "That being said, Christine that doesn't mean that all marriages are like that. As adults, people can make decisions for a variety of reasons when it comes to marriage. Sometimes, love has little to do with the practicality of a union."
"Are you saying that Cassie and Vincent were never really in love when they married? That this is what can happen if there are other motivations other than love?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "What I'm saying is that it is easy to not care of the obligations marriage brings when one is in love and happy to bind oneself to another human being forever. It's when things change or circumstances are not what were promised that make marriage a cumbersome burden. The laws we live under are clear that there is no real partnership. If there is love then love reins over all decisions. If love is not present than a man can manipulate and use the law to his advantage."
"Erik, No! Do you mean that Cassie has to stay with him? What if he kills her?!"
She began to get agitated and Erik brought her to him and embraced her. "Now you listen to me. Cassie is a very smart woman and she has a lot of friends in this town, including Suzanna's grandfather. I have no doubt she will be safe…..If she chooses to be."
She then looked up to meet his eyes but didn't break her hold this time. "Erik?"
"Cassie needs to want to be free, angel. Our country is dominated by a husband's rights. I am afraid the pressure for her to remain Vincent's wife will not be easy to dismiss."
"So we are to live in fear?!"
"Of course not!" He placed his hands on her face. "If Cassie wishes that life for her, then no one can stop her but if she even for a moment thinks you will be subject to that, she is mistaken. I, for one will never let anything happen to you and if she doesn't want to rid herself of that marriage for her own protection she better want it for yours. Otherwise, I will not think twice about taking you away from her. Your safety is never to be in jeopardy over anyone or thing."
"Erik, Cassie is so good what if she feels she has to remain out of obligation, knowing I would be safe regardless? I fear….."
"Calm yourself, my dear. Let's get her well first. Then we shall see about her options. And you are forgetting one very important factor, are you not?"
Once more she was confused. "I…."
"She has a friend in a certain Phantom we both know." He winked.
"You….. You would be her friend, angel?"
"Any friend of my Christine's, is a friend of the Phantom's." He wiped new tears from her eyes.
"But then Vincent might go after you? Or what about the law? Erik….."
"Calm yourself. Breathe. One matter at a time. First, we….."
"Get Cassie well." She recited his verbiage as if it were scripture.
"And make sure her daughter gets some rest. You must be exhausted, my dear."
She nodded and smiled. He pointed to the closet and showed her where she could change into her night clothes. He allowed her some privacy while he returned with a hot cup of tea.
"This will help you sleep, angel."
She got under the covers and then accepted the tea, remembering how she saw Erik place something on Cassie's washcloth to calm her. She made a mental note to ask him about that later. "Erik?"
"Yes, Christine?"
"Whar you said earlier about never knowing the kind of love between a husband and wife….That real, all encompassing, feeling of complete love…..Do you honestly believe you will never fall in love?"
He sighed. Now was not the time to make Christine his savior. She needed to rest and not waste her efforts on things that will never be.
"I simply know my lot in life, angel. I'm 29 and most men my age have been married for years. It just was never meant to be." He was thankful. After all, falling in love by yourself is a fate he would never wish on anyone. For who could love a monster like him?
"But angel, I thought….." She instantly stopped herself for fear of his reaction.
"What is it? Go on, say it."
She kept her head down and whispered, "If you love Antoinette, you can….."
"What?!" He began to laugh out loud at such a preposterous notion. "Me, in love with Annie? Oh dear God, no!"
She didn't understand her own reaction but suddenly she felt giddy and found herself laughing right along with him. "I just thought…."
He sat down on the bed. "I care for Annie but I am not in love with her. Goodness, could you imagine? She is so stubborn. I'm in a quandary by just being her friend, let alone her lover." He rolled his eyes. "I owe her a great deal, angel. And I will forever be in her debt. Do I want her to trust me and consider me family? Yes but it is completely platonic. She is like a sister or a cousin."
"I'm so glad, Erik. She does not possess the warmth and compassion you need." She took his hand and kissed it.
"Are you saying there is still hope for me, Mademoiselle Daae?"
"You are never too old for love, Erik and you are hardly old."
"On that note it is time for bed, no?"
She nodded but just before she was going to turn over, she sat up and called to him once more. "Erik?"
He turned around, pretending to be annoyed. "Tell me, Christine will all future bedtimes prove to be this difficult?"
"What if I have a marriage like Cassie's?"
The thought of such a fate brought Erik to her side on his knees. "Never! For the man you are destined to marry will love and honor you and cherish you, angel. I promise."
"How can you be so sure? Did Cassie know of her fate when she married Vincent? Who would choose that willingly?"
"I'll tell you how I am so sure. The man who is destined to be your husband needs to pass my inspection. Okay?" He poked her stomach and she giggled.
"Okay!" She grinned and slid herself back into place.
Erik smiled but couldn't understand the sudden feeling of dread that washed over him at the thought of Christine's future husband. He felt his stomach in knots and wondered if he was falling ill. He slowly backed away to the door.
"Goodnight, Christine."
"Goodnight, angel. I love you."
The feeling he felt left as quickly as it came when he heard himself respond, "I love you, too."