A/N: My sincerest thanks goes out to Timeflies, Mominator, and Passed Over for reviewing last chapter. I always love to hear from you!
The News
"He's 42."
"42!" Christine exclaimed so loudly on the other end of the phone that Meg was prompted to move the receiver from her ear.
"So what?" Meg said defensively. "So, he's 42…"
"But, Meg," Christine complained, sitting in bed and receiving a strange look from her fiancée beside her. "That's so oooold!" she cried out.
"Uh, hello?" Meg countered, digging out some jewelry from the silver antique box in front of her that sat inside another larger cardboard box.
Erik looked to Christine and elbowed his beloved. "Hello?" he said impatiently with a wave of his hand. "Old?"
"Oh, I know," Christine replied dismissively, looking to the former phantom and speaking into the phone. "But Erik's forty, and anyway he hasn't been divorced three times!"
"Yes, well," Meg began, pulling some gold chains from her jewelry box. Her fingers fussed with the knot binding the three necklaces together. "Nobody's perfect."
"Meg, I just talked to you two weeks ago, and you never even mentioned going out with your agent, and now you're moving in with him?"
Erik looked to Christine in surprise, and leaned his head down onto Christine's shoulder to listen.
Meg could hardly believe it herself, and even though piles of her clothing were scattered about his bed, and boxes and suitcases of her personal belongings filled the room, the reality of the situation had not truly sunken in.
"David doesn't like to waste time."
It was true. Professionally, David had seized every opportunity since he had met Meg, and in just a short amount of time had accomplished enviable results. She learned that he was this way with his personal life as well.
Again the words of the gentle stranger echoed in her mind. Don't waste another day.
"I don't know, Meg. It seems too soon."
She had not expected any less from Christine, and though Meg had hoped her to be supportive, she knew it was too much to ask. Meg heaved a frustrated sigh, and bunched the impossibly tangled chains back into the shiny silver box. Quickly she set the jewelry box onto the smooth wooden surface of David's dresser.
"Please, Christine," she pleaded, moving to another corner of his king sized bed, and unzipped a large suitcase. "I really care for David, and he really cares for me. Can't you just be happy for me?"
"Sure."
Meg's brows furrowed together at Christine's surprising response. "Really?"
"Absolutely," Christine replied. "When I am standing there behind you at the altar, and David is putting a ring on your finger, I will be very happy for you."
"That's not fair!" Meg argued, lifting folded shirts and undergarments, and throwing them angrily onto the bed. "You and Erik aren't married yet, and you've been living together all this time!"
"Excuse me," Christine said, arms folded defensively. "I have known Erik for a very long time. Besides that, Meg, forget what I think. What about Mama? What do you think she's going to say?"
Meg froze for a second. She had been so engrossed in her life and relationship that she had not given a thought to what her mother's opinion would be.
"Meg?" Christine questioned. The silence caused her to believe that the line might have gone dead. "Meg?"
"I'm here," the blond said meekly.
"You still haven't told her you moved to California. She still thinks you live in London," Christine pointed out, looking to Erik for confirmation only to find that he was on his back sleeping peacefully.
"What she doesn't know won't hurt her," Meg replied casually, gathering a pile of white socks and placing them into an empty drawer. Though she said the words, she was not necessarily convinced they were true.
"Meg?!" she exclaimed, startling her bed partner, and evoking a very masculine, grumpy groan.
"I know. I'll deal with her. Don't worry."
"You'd better do it soon before she and Nadir decide to surprise you with a visit to London," Christine informed her.
"I'll take care of it," Meg assured her, taking another pile of clothing from the suitcase and stuffing it into another empty drawer without sorting it.
"Meg?"
Her voice sounded so small all of a sudden that Meg became concerned. "What is it?"
"You're still coming, aren't you? You told me that you signed a contract and that you're going on tour, but you'll still be here for the wedding, won't you?"
Grateful to her best friend for changing the subject, Meg smiled. "Yes. David made a stipulation in the contract for that week due to a previous engagement, and so it is all taken care of. I will be there."
Christine's sigh of relief was audible. The young diva just could not imagine getting married without Meg there. The very thought of it was unthinkable. "Good."
At that moment, David entered his bedroom to find his new roomie unpacking. He found the image of the voluptuous blond settling into his house very appealing. Beautiful and sweet, she was cradling the phone to her ear with her shoulder, busily stowing away an empty suitcase underneath his bed. Quietly, he snuck up behind her, and encircled his arms around her small waist. His lips sought the creamy flesh of her neck just below her ear.
Startled, Meg turned to him and smiled.
Thousands of miles away, Christine sat in her bed, noting the bright light of the moon streaming in through the window, sober again with the realization that her friend was across an entire continent. To her dismay, her fiancée began to snore. Loudly.
"Is that Erik?" Meg asked with a laugh.
"Yes," Christine replied with irritation, leaning over and nudging him.
"Well, it's late over there, and so I'll let you go…"
"Meg?" Christine said again.
"Yes?"
"I miss you."
Meg's eyes began to fill with tears. She missed Christine so much that it hurt. "I miss you too." She pressed the button to end the call and let the phone drop lightly onto the bed.
"So, how did your mom take the news?" David asked, holding tightly to her back and swaying her from side to side.
"That wasn't my mother. That was my friend, Christine."
David turned the blond to face him. "Oh. Well, you were going to call your mother next, right?"
"No, she and my step dad would already be asleep."
"I wouldn't put it off too long."
Now that Christine's voice was not filling her ears with threats and uncertainties, putting off calling her mom sounded perfect.
"I don't know…" Meg said uncertainly.
"Just call and tell her tomorrow morning, Meggie. It'll be fine," he assured her.
"You don't understand. I never told her I left London," she admitted guiltily.
His bluish gray eyes widened. "Jesus, Meggie, she doesn't know you're in the United States?"
Her sheepish look gave him his answer. "You don't know my mother. It was hard enough breaking the news to her about Ryan."
David simply shook his head. "Well, when were you planning on telling her that you moved five thousand miles away? Before your friend's wedding? And then, are you planning to wait another six months before telling her about me?"
"No, no, I'm going to tell her. Well, I mean, I don't think that I'll tell her that we're living together just yet, but I'll say that we're seeing each other."
He pulled away from her then, still shaking his head, and walked to his oversized walk-in closet.
Christine's words flooded her mind and filled her with doubt. "David?"
He peeked his head out from the closet. "Yes?"
"Are you sure we're doing the right thing?" she asked, her voice full of doubt.
In a flash David was before her, and taking her into his arms. "Of course."
"Really? You don't think it's too soon?"
His eyes met the wide-eyed gaze of his client. She was so young and so naïve about the ways of the world. "Meggie, I am crazy about you. I am not some young man who is afraid of his feelings, and am certainly not going to go running back to any of my former wives. So, no, when I am as sure as I am about the way I feel about you, I don't like to waste time."
Seemingly, his little speech was reassurance enough, and after enveloping her in a kiss that left her breathless, Meg felt no more doubts.
"I am a patient man, and I am not so insecure that I can't understand why you will not tell your mother that you are living with me. Having you here with me, Meggie, is all that matters." He gave her a smile and retreated back to the closet to make more room.
The former dancer felt very lucky at that moment, and with renewed determination, she resolved to call her mother the very next morning.
Paris- the next day…
Antoinette shooed her husband away with a wave of her hand as she tried to listen carefully to her daughter on the other end of the line. She was seated in the study and busily going over the bills when the phone rang.
Nadir had appeared in the doorway, quickly intercepting the call. Erik had already forewarned him about Meg's call, and the good friend that he was, Nadir was sure to answer it before she did. After a brief conversation with Meg, he handed the phone to his wife.
Antoinette could not be sure what had come over the man. With the stealth of a fox, he was behind her, and Nadir had taken to nibbling her ear lobe, greatly distracting the former ballet manager from her dear Meg's words.
"Stop!" she hissed to the olive-skinned man, covering the mouthpiece with an elegant hand. Quickly, she moved her fingers away and spoke into the telephone. "Yes, dear. I am listening."
His nimble fingers took to his wife's light brown hair, pulling out pin after pin, and unraveling it from its tight bun.
Thoroughly enjoying this, Antoinette shivered from the glorious release from the binding of her hair, and now from the magic Nadir was working as he caressed her scalp with capable fingers. Her daughter was speaking a mile a minute, and it was all Antoinette could do to focus on the meaning of her words. "Meg, slow down," she replied into the phone.
Nadir moved his fingers to his wife's neck, massaging and caressing, trying to hear Meg's voice on the line. He heard something about an agent, and in an effort to gauge his love's reaction he bent down and moved his fingers down to her back.
"I'm here," Antoinette said, closing her eyes, and thoroughly enjoying the wonderful massaging of Nadir's fingers. "I'm still listening. You said that now you have an agent."
"How do I feel about the United States?" she asked into the phone.
His blackish brown eyes widened, and in alarm he moved his lips to the soft skin of her neck. With a smile, he noticed her body relax.
Uselessly, she tried to wave him away again, although the last thing she wanted was for him to leave. "I would rather like to travel there one day, sweetheart. Just let me know when a good time would be and Nadir and I will come visit you there in California."
Releasing his lips from her neck, he moved to face her in surprise.
"Yes, of course I know, Meg. Actually, Ryan called weeks ago- the same afternoon you gave me the news about your breakup. He told me about his friend, David, your agent, I presume, and that he was sure you would be in good hands in California."
Nadir could hear the high pitch of Meg's exclamations.
"Yes, calm down, Meg. I have known all this time. I was just waiting for you to tell me."
Her gaze met her husband's with a sneaky smile, and she took a long piece of light brown hair and twirled it flirtatiously around her finger. "You are an adult, and besides, I have a life. My whole world doesn't revolve around you, love."
Wow, Nadir thought, that was rather anticlimactic, but in a good way.
He left her alone to her conversation, and was surprised when ten minutes later, after setting a cup of tea down on the desk in front of her, that Antoinette was now doling out advice about love.
"I don't think it's a good idea, Meg. You hardly know this David, and you're still trying to get over Ryan," she muttered to her daughter as though the young woman had no sense in her pretty blond head.
After taking a sip of tea, she blew a kiss to her husband and winked.
"Meg, listen to your mother. You are in a foreign country facing all these new experiences. Don't rush into a relationship with David. Take it slow."
Nadir smiled as he watched Antoinette advise her daughter on the ways of love, and adored the way the woman's long light brown locks fell into a soft curl around her elbows. It reminded him of their wedding day. It wasn't long before he was behind her again, his lips attached to her neck once more.
"You'll be here for the wedding, won't you?" she asked, closing her eyes as Nadir's lips took the desired effect on her body. "Alright, Meg, call me again soon. Yes, I miss you too. Oh, and one last thing, Meg, don't keep secrets from your mother."
There was a silence on the other end of the line, but Antoinette did not want to think about that at that moment as she said her final goodbye to her daughter.
The olive skinned man quickly hung the phone up for her, and claimed her lips as though he had not tasted their sweetness in months. "How was Meg?" he whispered huskily, now unzipping the back of her blouse.
"She's fine. Sounds like she's trying to rush a relationship with her agent," Antoinette replied breathlessly, now unbuttoning her husband's shirt.
"Is that right?"
"Yes," Antoinette giggled, her hands running through the dark hair of his chest. "Kids these days. Next thing you know, she'll be moving in with him."
A/N: You're probably wondering if this is ever going to end. I assure you we still have a ways to go, so please hang in there with me and read and review- please? ;)
