Hey, guys. Sorry for making you wait so long, I had a huge paper I was working on. Thank you for all your reviews, they really lift my spirits.

Christine awoke the next day at the first ring of her alarm. Immediately her thoughts went to her audition that day and she was instantly nervous. She sat up in bed and turned her alarm off. She pulled herself out of bed and started getting dressed in her scrubs for work. She had the first day of the weekend off yesterday, but today she was working. She had work until three in the afternoon and her audition was at five. She was happy she was going to work if only for the reason that is would distract her from her nerves. She always focused on her patients completely when she was at work.

About an hour later Christine pulled into a parking spot in the parking garage outside the hospital. She took the stairs down and walked over to the hospital. She took the elevator up to her floor and meet her coworkers at the nursing station before beginning working. They chatted about meaningless things for a few minutes before beginning to work.

She checked the patients she was assigned to and went about her work. She allowed all thoughts to float away and dedicated herself to her work for the next hours

Later that day, around four in the afternoon, Erik began preparing to go to Christine's audition. He wanted to be there to support her. He was not worried about how hse would do, he was not lying when he reassured her that she would do well. He would admit that he was slightly biased, but he knew music, and Christine was extraordinarily gifted and not above working hard. A perfect combination in the world of music. he was dressed and ready to go, he had been for hours, so he decided to leave a little early.

He got there 30 minutes early and decided to use that time to find a concealed spot he could watch the auditions from. He did not like to interact with people and his mask often drew unwanted attention. While he wanted to see Christine, he was sure she would not want to see him and he didn't want to distract her before her audition. He did entertain the possibility of seeing her after the audition. His phone buzzed and he looked down to see a text message from Christine that read "Just getting to auditions, wish me luck!"

"Good luck! Although you don't need it, you will do amazing. Believe in yourself" he wrote back with a smile.

After texting Erik, Christine began to warm up. She ran through her scale, breathing exercises, and voice exercises that she usually did with Erik before their lessons. She smiled when she saw the text from Erik. It was nice to have someone as skilled as he was believe in her.

Too soon it was time for her auditions and she was standing on stage, next in line listening to her competition. She hardly heard the woman before her finish and didn't notice herself walking onstage and handing the accompanist her music. She took a deep, filling breath and sang. She sang with all the emotion in her heart and as she sang she remembered all her hard work and her lessons. She let her voice soar at all the right parts and she didn't miss one note. She just closed her mind and trusted her gut.

Erik watched with little interest as the singers before Christine auditioned. None of them were exceptionally talented, many were outright bad singers that made him cringe. Few were genuinely talented, but no one came close to Christine. Finally, it was Christine's turn to sing and she was up on the stage. Erik closed his eyes and let her voice wash over him as she sang. She did amazing. Her voice resounded beautifully in the amphitheater of the theater. He was glad, for she seemed calm and confident. Her voice at the moment sounded better than he had ever heard it and he knew she would get a spot.

Christine finished singing and she felt the breathlessness of reality settle back on around her. It was over, she did it. She may have not done perfectly, her mind was whirling with hopes and doubts, but either way, she did it.

The judges smiled at her "Thank you, Miss Daaé, we will be in touch". Christine smiled and thanked them, moving off of the stage. She was walking through the onlookers towards the exit when she spotted a familiar face.

A tall, blond man, with handsome hair and clear green eyes, walked towards her. She did a double-take when she saw him, she hadn't seen him in years. Raoul, if she was right and this was him, and she hadn't seen each other in years. They were the best of friends when they were young when both of her parents were still alive and she was happy. His family had a considerable amount of money, but he never acted like a spoiled rich boy. When her mom died they had become very close. They lost contact when Christine and her father moved away, but she had never forgotten him. He had grown from a young boy to a handsome young man.

"Christine?" he asked, his face mirroring her recognition.

"Raoul?!" she exclaimed happily "I can't believe it's you!"

Raoul chuckled merrily "I'm so happy to see you again, you were amazing up there" he complimented

Christine blushed "Thank you"

"So how did you end up here?" Raoul asked "Last I checked you and your dad were moving to Michigan. And now you're in Pennslyvania? How is your father?"

Christine shifted uncomfortably "He passed away years ago" she informed him "I moved here for work, I work at Greenwood General Hospital now. I'm a nurse there"

"I'm so sorry about your father, I wish there was something I could have done. I'm sorry for bringing up old wounds" Raoul said sympathetically.

"It's okay, don't worry about it" Christine waved him off "You couldn't have known, anyways what do you do now?" she asked

"I run the family business" Raoul answered "My father retired and passed it on to me, I'm trying to get it involved in more charity work. My father's built it up so it has more money to do that with now"

"That's great!" Christine exclaimed "That must be really exciting for you" she smiled.

"It is, I'm really happy" Raoul smiled "Hey, I hope I'm not being too forward but can I have your number? I'd really like to get back in touch with you"

Christine smiled and jotted down her number, handing it to him "I would love that" she gave him a friendly hug before they parted ways.

Erik watched their exchange grimly. He had been heading over to speak to Christine when he came over to talk to her. Cristine's handsome friend who seemed a little too close to Christine in Erik's opinion. Erik didn't hear their conversation but he was seething internally nonetheless. He had taken away Erik's chance to talk to Christine and that was reason enough to resent him in Erik's eyes. Erik headed home, brooding in the silence.

Later that evening after Christine had eaten dinner she got a text from Raoul "Hey, this is Raoul. This is Christine right?"

Christine texted back "Hey, Raoul. Yes, this is me"

"Great, I wanted to ask you to dinner. If you will accept me tell me when works for you"

Christine smiled at the text. She was working the nightshift tomorrow and the next night. She had a lesson planned with Erik Tuesday and breakfast with Meg tomorrow. "Does Wednesday night work?" she texted back.

"It works perfect! I'll pick you up at 7?" he texted back

"Sounds great" she responded before going to sleep.

End of chapter. Soooo... what did you think? What do you think of Raoul, I can guess that some of you are unhappy. What about Christine's audition? I'm sure she did great. And poor Erik didn't get to talk to Christine after :(. Please Reveiw, I always love to hear your thoughts. Also remember, my inbox is always open.