Thank you to all my newest followers, I hope you enjoy the story.

Thank you so much to everyone already following or just reading as well as those who have favourited my story. I hope you enjoy this latest instalment, please let me know. Thank you.

This is the penultimate chapter in my first story. I am already part way through the first chapter of the next story

I do not own anything by Gaston Leroux, Susan Kay or Andrew Lloyd Webber, everything else is my own work.

…..Wandering Hands!

Whilst Erik, Nadir and Christine had been unpacking after getting back from Perros, the replacement Don Juan finally arrived. Antonio Giordano, Ettore's brother; he was not what everyone at the opera house had expected.

Where Ettore, was a gentleman dedicated to his art and his wife Carlotta, Antonio was loud and arrogantly obnoxious, with a one track mind. He had only been at the Garnier since seven o'clock that morning and the Corps de ballet had already had enough of him.

"He has more arms than an octopus!" Jammes complained to Meg when she arrived for the ten o'clock meeting and introductions.

"You should have seen La Sorelli, she had to fend him off with a Parasol!" another ballerina informed her.

"He pinches your bottom and anything else he can get his hands on!" another member voiced her concerns, "I am black and blue and shall not be able to sit down for a week!" she finished.

The tapping of a cane on the floor indicated the arrival of Madame Giry, her face was a rictus of anger. "Ugh! That wretched new tenor, he is worse than the leeriest patron and Joseph Bouquet combined… God rest his soul!" Madame Giry complained, "He actually tried to pinch my posterior!" she growled. As La Sorelli joined the little group.

"I so wish the Phantom was still alive!" Raina Sorelli complained. "I would rather face him than that leech!" she complained rubbing her own bottom.

Meg looked at her maman nervously, "Err Madame Giry," Meg started just as her mother's eyes snapped up to meet her daughters from the floor where she had been staring. Both women's faces had gone pale with the same thought.

"Meg, go and wait for La Jardinier to arrive and inform her of the current situation please," Madame Giry instructed her daughter, before turning to address the rest of the ballerinas.

With a nod of her head Meg shot off, digging the spare key to Christine's dressing room out from her bag. Arriving at the door and checking there was no one in the corridor, Meg unlocked and opened the door, entered and locked it behind herself.

From there is was simple to locate the catch to the mirror and closing the mirror behind her Meg speedily made her way to the lake house.

ooo

With Meg making her way to the Lake house, Ettore and Carlotta arrived at the stage entrance to find their path was blocked with a testy Madame Giry, a furious Prima Ballerina and a murderous Corps de Ballet.

"I see my brother has already arrived!" Ettore sighed, as Carlotta looked at him puzzled. "He promised me he would be a gentleman this time, I shall explain on the way to the dressing room." Ettore continued before turning to look at the assembled ladies around him. "I shall speak to him and stop him from harassing you ladies. I am very sorry for my brother's behaviour." Ettore added before he and Carlotta headed to the dressing rooms.

ooo

Down at the Lake house a very out of breath Meg had caught up with Christine and Erik and had informed them about the discussion Ettore and Carlotta had with the managers about not performing at the gala and that the replacement Don Juan had arrived, his name was Antonio and he was Ettore's brother. Erik sighed, mumbled something under his breath about 'bloody Carlotta' finished his cup of tea, and wearing a deep burgundy Frock coat and dark grey trousers, grabbed a matching dark grey top hat instead of his Opera cloak and fedora and after kissing his wife headed out of the house, Meg was puzzled.

"What is with the change of clothing I have never known Erik wear anything but evening wear? She asked Christine as she watched her friend pull on her cloak and grab her bag before both ladies exited the house.

"Erik intends to direct his opera face to face this time rather than via notes to the managers." Christine informed her bemused friend, as they made their way to Christine's dressing room. "Erik and I discussed this before the Bal masque. He cannot turn up in the middle of the day in evening attire even if he normally wears it, there are too many people he will need to interact with here in the Garnier who still remember the Phantom!" she finished, opening the Mirror door and stepping into her dressing room.

Meg suddenly remembered the other matter she had to inform Christine of, "I need to warn you that Antonio Giordano is nothing like his brother!" she blurted out as she stepped into the dressing room with Christine and shut the mirror door behind her.

"Oh, would you care to explain?" Christine asked as she took a seat on the chaise lounge.

ooo

Meanwhile, front of stage by the conductor's podium, Erik was in discussions with Monsieur Reyer, when Andre and Firmin meandered down from their office.

"Good morning Monsieur Jardinier!" Andre called as he and Firmin; wearing their best pasted on manager's smiles, made their way to where Erik and Monsieur Reyer stood.

Looking up, "Oh, greetings," Erik replied before turning back to the score that sat on the lectern beside his top hat.

"It is so nice that you are taking such an interest in the performance of your opera!" Firmin remarked as he and Andre joined Erik and Monsieur Reyer.

"More than taking an interest, Gentlemen," Monsieur Reyer responded, "Since Monsieur Jardinier created the new arrangement he has agreed to be the staging and musical director for this production!" Reyer finished with a grin.

Andre and Firmin, felt their smiles slide off their faces as Erik turned to face the two managers and continued from where Reyer had left off.

"Well since I rewrote the opera, and my wife is the Prima Donna, I felt it would be appropriate for me to direct this production, and naturally Madame Giry will lead the choreography," Erik informed the now dumbstruck managers, "and of course I have the final say if this opera is performed as I am the creator of this version," he added.

Pasting their manager's smiles back rapidly onto their faces, Andre and Firmin understood the hidden meaning of Erik's last statement and they visualised Monsieur Jardinier stalking off with a possible Don Juan gold mine if they did not agree.

"It is such an honour to this house for you to direct this opera," Andre stated with such a sickly tone,

"I have to agree, we are so honoured," Firmin saccharinely agreed.

Erik grinned evilly, "I knew you would agree so if you are both happy to go back to your managers office and manage, then myself and Monsieur Reyer can get on with discussing the score," Erik informed them turning back to the lectern, "We shall see you again in half an hour for the cast meeting." Erik added firmly, his back still to the two managers, leaving no uncertainty he wanted them gone.

ooo

As Andre and Firmin took their cue and wandered back up the auditorium and out towards their office, Andre turned to his colleague, "I am having a very bizarre case of Deja vu," he informed Firmin.

Firmin stopped and turned to look at the doors to the auditorium pensively, "You are not the only one," he replied.

"Brandy?" Andre offered,

"Absolutely!" Firmin agreed as both men made their way back to their office.

ooo

Back in Christine's dressing room Meg had finished warning Christine about the replacement Don Juan.

"He keeps pinching bottoms?" Christine asked in shock,

"I have not met him so far, but apparently La Sorelli had to fight him off with a Parasol!" Meg informed her friend.

"That is bad!" Christine replied,

Meg looked at the small pendant watch, she wore with her day dresses, "You had better take your cloak off as it is nearly time for the meeting." She added as Christine got herself ready to meet her alternative Don Juan.

ooo

'Greasy Urchin' were the words that immediately came to Erik's mind when he met Antonio Giordano. Erik was more than aware that Ettore was a complete dichotomy of his brother. To the ballerina's relief, Antonio was currently keeping his hands to himself. The initial cast meeting and introduction was brief and as the librettos were being handed out, Erik garnered the attention of everyone assembled, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I shall be directing this opera and I have found that… the original creator has given me a vast wealth of preparations, blocking styles, costume designs and settings so in effect all I have done is re-imagine the plot and scoring to something my wife felt was more appropriate. Now since this is almost a brand new opera, I feel that I should be the one to direct the music and vocal performance." Erik announced to the assembled cast and crew.

"We have a lot to do!" Monsieur Reyer announced, "Rehearsals start promptly tomorrow, we shall see you all then!" he finished as he turned towards Erik and the two men headed into the orchestra pit and started to converse with the orchestra as the rest of the cast started filing out, leaving Meg, Madame Giry, Christine, Carlotta and the Giordano brothers on stage.

La Jardinier, may I introduce you to my brother Antonio," Ettore said as Christine turned to greet her second Don Juan.

Suddenly all thoughts of ballerina's bottoms fled Antonio's mind, grabbing her hand hungrily, he looked like a child at Christmas, faced with a huge pile of presents. He grinned leerily at Christine before almost salivating over her hand.

"Bella diva," Antonio said the grin never leaving his face as he continued staring at Christine like she was a choice steak.

"Senor Giordano," Christine acknowledged as politely as she could taking her hand quickly back from Antonio's grasp and discretely wiping it on the back of her dress.

"It is my greatest pleasure to meet you!" Antonio drooled seemingly oblivious to Christine's obvious discomfort as he stepped closer.

Thankfully Carlotta and Ettore did notice and came to Christine's rescue. "Ettore, we need to get your brother back to our home and settled in," Carlotta informed her husband who was watching his leery brother with a very jaundiced eye,

"Humm and soon it appears," Ettore said to himself before stepping in front of his brother cutting off his advance towards Christine.

"Antonio, let us leave we need to get you home and settled in before we begin tomorrow," Ettore said grabbing Antonio's shoulder and steering him off the stage, Carlotta following behind the two brothers.

"Eww!" Meg exclaimed, "he is worse than…I was lead to believe" she finished with a shudder.

"He is so slimy, and I deserve a prize for having to work with that during the seduction scene!" Christine stated with a grimace.

"It is worse than that!" Madame Giry whispered, as Christine looked straight at the ballet Mistress and realised what she was getting at.

"Oh no!" Christine groaned, "We must not and cannot let Erik find out!"

"Agreed," Madame Giry nodded,

Meg suddenly caught on, "Ah! Bouquet act two… God rest his soul!" Meg whispered.

"Precisely, it seems that in regard to my second Don Juan, I am going to have to do a lot of acting on and off stage," Christine replied softly.

"I shall ensure that my ballet girls are not wandering around alone whilst he is here, and that includes you Meg!" Madame Giry whispered urgently, as Erik grabbed his top hat from the lectern and made his way to where the ladies were standing.

"Madame Giry, are you happy with the guidelines for the choreography?" Erik asked in a puzzled tone.

"Yes very… Why do you ask?" Madame Giry replied breezily.

"Well because the only time you three ladies whisper it normally regards something one of you is not happy about." Erik replied his lips a thin line.

"We are just annoyed that Carlotta is still acting like a Prima Donna who can breeze in and out when she wants!" Meg quickly replied.

"Humm," Erik responded, "at least she did not leave it until the last minute and I suppose I cannot really complain, since I gave her the reason," he finished with a guilty tone in his voice.

"Leave the past were it belongs," Madame Giry sternly reminded him before turning to Christine, "Meg and I are going to have a cup of tea, would you like join us?" Madame Giry asked jovially.

"Erik?" Christine said turning to her husband.

"Thank you for me but no," Erik replied directly to Madame Giry, "However if you wish to my angel you are more than welcome, as I have to finish a few things before I can concentrate on my work with the opera," Erik finished as he kissed his wife, placed his hat on his head and bidding farewell to her, Meg and Madame Giry, Erik vanished into the shadows.

"Phew!" Madame Giry whispered wiping her brow, "Let us get back to my apartment and discuss this further," she added as all three ladies headed off the stage.

ooo

The following morning the cast assembled for the first time in rehearsal, and if they thought Monsieur Reyer was a slave driver focussed on perfection… Erik Jardinier was worse… much worse if they had sung through the first act once they had sung it through a dozen times and Erik still was not happy. However much to Christine's relief Erik refused to move on to basic blocking until the cast at least grasped the emotional direction of the new arrangement. So far, they had been working on act one, the whole day with only three short breaks.

"Aggh!" Erik yelled, "What part of my instructions does anyone not understand!" he growled, before turning back to Reyer, who merely shrugged his shoulders.

"We finish here for the day!" Reyer called out as everyone got up from their seats and left the stage.

ooo

The rest of the first week continued in much the same vein, until The cast were exhausted from the intensity of the rehearsals and Erik swore, he was going to rip all the hair from his wig in frustration; finally, a very exhausted cast reached Erik's expectations.

ooo

Week two saw the start of the blocking and to Christine's delight Ettore was working the blocking with her and Antonio was working with Carlotta as Christine's understudy.

ooo

The first day of the last week before the Gala was where Christine's acting skill set really did come to the fore. With Carlotta and Ettore now up to speed and ready, they took their leave until the Sunday after the gala, and this left Christine to rehearse with Antonio. The first run through of the seduction duet left Christine with some serious concerns. True, Antonio Giordano had given up harassing the ballerinas. However, this was only because he now had Christine in his sights.

ooo

The second day's rehearsals had finished, and with Erik still working out a few issues with the third trombone player back in the orchestra pit, Christine need to vent, "If he slips his hand under the frilled layers of my costume and pinches my bottom once more!" Christine seethed back at Madame's apartment as she sipped a cup of tea with Madame Giry and Meg.

Meg thought for a moment and suddenly came up with an idea. "Maman do you still have those mouse traps?" Madame Giry grinned, "Good thinking Meg, I think if I speak with Bernadette in the costume department, we can Bouquet proof your costume Christine!" Madame Giry grinned and Christine looked puzzled, "Bouquet proof my costume?" she asked. Meg was positively bouncing as she explained to Christine what Bouquet proofing a ladies costume meant.

ooo

The following morning with four days to go before the gala, Erik was sitting comfortably in box five watching the dress rehearsal. The Corps de ballet were just finishing a run through of the third act ballet when Nadir joined Erik in the box and as Reyer and Madame Giry picked up on a few points the two friends sat chatting for a moment, then Erik suddenly stopped speaking as Christine and Antonio walked on stage to run through the seduction duet. Erik noticed immediately that Christine was walking gingerly on to the stage and feeling annoyed, he wondered if Bernadette had left a pin in Christine's costume.

Antonio and Christine took their starting positions and the orchestra played the introduction and Christine began her recitative, as Antonio entered with his opening lines before making a bee line for Christine and as he began the duet, both his hands wandered into the skirts of her costume… He had not even completed the first measure when there was several loud snapping sounds and Antonio screamed as he ripped his hands out from under Christine's skirt and everyone saw why he had stopped singing.

Hanging onto Antonio's fingers were what looked like four large mousetraps. Christine pulled out her finest acting yet, holding her hands up to her face in feigned shock, "Oh, good heavens how did they get into my costume?" she asked in a shaken voice as people came running onto the stage to assist the stricken tenor, before turning quickly to face Antonio's shaken expression, and adding in an angry whisper so only he could hear, "That will teach you to keep your hands to yourself!" she then left the stage for her dressing room as the theatre Doctor attended to Antonio and his injured fingers.

In box five, Erik stood up in shock, he recognised the traps. He created them ages ago, at Madame Giry's request to protect the younger ballerinas from Bouquet's unpleasant advances. "Why did Christine have those in her costume?" Erik asked no one in particular.

"I suppose you will have to ask her yourself!" Nadir replied. Erik scowled as he left box five and made his way to Christine's dressing room.

In Christine's dressing room Madame Giry and Bernadette, the chief costumier were snipping stitches in the layers of frills that made up Christine's skirt removing the rest of the traps. "I doubt he will try to pinch you again after that," Madame Giry remarked with a smirk, as Meg entered.

"The doctor says that Antonio has five broken fingers and three severely sprained, he is splinting them up as we speak," Meg remarked, as she sat on the chaise lounge at the back of the room watching the last of the traps being removed.

A sudden knock to the dressing room door had Christine getting Meg to open it to a rather puzzled Erik, "One, why did my wife require her costume Bouquet proofed and two, why was I not told?" Erik asked the moment he walked through the door as Bernadette rapidly dropped the last trap into the box she was carrying, squeezed past him and left the room.

Christine looked at Erik with a glare, "Hello to you too dear Husband," she testily remarked, "Three Antonio kept pinching my bottom and I was fed up with it; and four I do not need you getting into trouble for another accident!" she remarked as she crossed the room to kiss Erik's cheek. "Now my dear petulant husband…" Christine started but was interrupted by another loud knock upon the door.

"Urgent cast meeting on stage five minutes!" the voice called.

ooo

Christine and the rest of the cast and crew gathered on the stage, though Don Juan was notably absent. Erik remained in the wings, as Andre and Firmin shuffled papers and looked nervously around them. "Erm, we may have to postpone the Gala performance until Monday!" Andre announced, to a chorus of groans, Erik had worked them all to the bone along with Reyer, on perfecting the revised opera.

Meg put her hand up suddenly, "Why does it need to be postponed?" she asked,

"Well Umm, Senor Antonio has refused to perform with his fingers in splints!" Firmin replied trying not to scowl at Christine.

"So, what you are saying is we have no tenor to sing the role of Don Juan." Meg pointed out.

"What we are saying Madame de Barbazac, is that until Senor Giordano comes back on Monday, we have no tenor who knows the role of Don Juan well enough to sing it without significant rehearsal time and we do not have time to teach someone!" Andre declared almost exasperated.

Time seemed to almost wind back, when Meg then rapidly piped up, "Erik Jardinier could sing it Sir!"

Andre and Firmin shuddered, with yet another horrible Déjà vu. "Do not tell us, he has been taking lessons from a great teacher?" Andre enquired.

Firmin sighed, as a shout came from Box five as Nadir yelled to the stage, he did rewrite the Phantom's opera you could say he knows the entire production by heart!" Nadir finished as Erik came onto the stage.

"Thank you, Meg and Monsieur Khan, but no, I do not think I would do well on the stage thank you!"

Madame Giry could not resist putting another nail in the coffin, "Let him sing for you monsieur, he has been well taught!" as Erik scowled beneath his mask at her and Meg giggled.

It took one last nail to sink Erik's coffin of hope before he caved in and agreed; that nail was provided by his dearest wife.

"Erik, since you took on rewriting this opera, I have dreamed of singing with you as Don Juan!" Christine declared breathlessly; knowing Erik could not refuse, as it had always been his dream to sing it with her and especially since he rewrote the part so that Don Juan is deformed from the start of the opera, the result being he wears a mask for the entire performance. So, Erik sighed, and with a round of applause and a few unspoken curses towards his friends and his beloved wife, he agreed to sing the role to save the Gala night.