Here is the next chapter, I hope you like it.
Christine was sitting in Meg's apartment at the table across from her, her hands wrapped around a cup of coffee.
"So, are you going to tell me what happened the other night or not?" Meg prompted her.
"I broke up with Raoul." Christine said simply. If she'd talked to Meg a couple of days ago she would have been much more upset. But considering everything that had happened since then it all felt almost mundane to her now. She was much more focused on everything that had happened the day after. Everything that Erik had told her swirled around in her mind. She hadn't wanted to worry Erik in the moment, but she was far from finished processing the information. That coupled with her realization about her feelings for Erik took precedence over her breakup with Raoul. Not to say she wasn't still upset about it—his betrayal still stung her. But it felt like much less of an issue, all things considered.
"Really?" Meg asked her cautiously. "How'd that happen?"
"I went to his apartment to surprise him with dinner and I found him with another girl." As distanced as Christine now felt from that day, the words still sounded bitter.
"Oh, Chris. I'm so sorry. I wish I could have been there for you," Meg said sympathetically. She knew that Christine wasn't in love with Raoul, but she also knew that Christine still must be hurting. Christine had always struggled with her self-esteem and Meg could imagine how shitty she must have felt when she saw Raoul with this other girl.
"It's okay, you're here now. And I'm fine, really I am. I was really upset at first, but I'll be okay," Christine assured her.
"Have you talked to him at all since then?"
Chirstine shook her head. "No, I haven't. He has called me a ton of times and left a ton of voicemails and texts, but I've been ignoring all of them."
"Good, he doesn't deserve you." Meg said protectively. Mentally she added "Kill Raoul" to her list of things to do. "What did you do? When you couldn't get a hold of me?"
"Um, well. I kind of went to our bar, and I got a little drunk," Christine admitted, not too proud of herself.
Meg nodded. Christine's break up routine had always consisted of either ice cream or alcohol, oftentimes both. "You caught your boyfriend cheating on you. You deserve to get a little drunk. Don't make yourself feel guilty about it," she reassured Christine, adding sternly, "although you'd better not have driven home.".
"Oh, I didn't, don't worry. You know I don't drink and drive."
"I know, I know. I just thought you would have called me for a ride."
"I meant to," Christine told her. "But I kind of accidentally called Erik instead."
Meg's eyebrows shot up. "Erik? You mean your Erik?"
"He's not mine," Christine said, blushing. "But yes, I called Erik. I meant to call you and I called the wrong number. But he came and drove me home safely."
That didn't surprise Meg greatly, judging from what Christine had told her about Erik. Still, she couldn't resist teasing Christine just a little. "That's nice of him. Did anything else happen?"
Christine's face turned crimson "No! Nothing like that! Get your head out of the gutter, Meg."
If Meg had suspected that something was up before, Christine's reaction more than confirmed her suspicion. She didn't think that Christine was lying, but she knew her friend wouldn't have been so defensive if there was nothing going on. "So, have you talked to him yet?"
"Yeah, we talked the morning after."
Christine's voice was measured to sound nonchalant, but Meg could always see through her. There was clearly something weighing on Christine, so she said nothing and waited for Christine to fill the silence. After a long minute, Christine did.
"I realized something yesterday, when I was talking to Erik," Christine finally said.
"Hmm, and what is that?" Meg asked, hoping her casual tone would encourage Christine.
"I think I may have feelings for Erik. Like, romantic ones." Christine blurted the words before she could chicken out. As much as she feared making the confession, she didn't know how much longer she could deal with them on her own.
Meg blinked in shock, though not at Christine's feelings. She had long suspected that that was the case. What surprised her was the fact that Christine had finally admitted them to herself, and that she felt sure enough to tell her.
"Since when?" Meg asked gently.
"Since… oh, I don't know how long. I think I've felt them on some level for a while."
"Well then, what made you realize them?"
"A couple of things, I guess. One of them was my breakup with Raoul. When I was dating Raoul, I was too wrapped up in that to let myself see the possibility of anything else. But also, Erik told me some things. Some really personal things about his past, and we talked for a while." Christine sipped her coffee, her mind drifting back to that conversation. She hadn't been able to stop thinking about it.
"What sort of things did he tell you?"
"A lot of things. He did some pretty bad stuff in the past. Horrible stuff, really. It's not my business to say what, but it was bad. He said he wanted to be honest with me, and he was so worried that I would want nothing to do with him. But I didn't feel that way at all. I mean, I should have, but I didn't." The words were spilling out; it was a relief to finally share all of this, even if she didn't go into specifics. "I guess I just realized I care about him more than I thought I did."
Christine presented the last part casually, but Meg could tell that she felt deeper than she was letting on. But Meg knew that Christine didn't like to be probed or to feel vulnerable, a consequence of her fractured childhood, so she let it go and changed the topic for Christine's sake.
"So, how is work going?"
Christine breathed a sigh of relief and happily switched to a less sensitive topic. She'd had enough of thinking about guys for now. Not that her mind didn't wander to Erik, even as she talked to Meg about her work. As difficult as it was for Christine to deal with, she knew Erik wouldn't be leaving her head any time soon.
The next day when Christine went to chorus practice, she tried to let it bring her back into the simple cycle of life. The craziness of the last few days had been a lot for her to keep up with, and she was happy to be singing with the chorus again. It really hadn't been long since she last sang in this theater, but the familiarity of it put her at ease. Talking to Cecilia and Judie during the breaks was part of it, but just singing was the most peaceful part to Christine. She practiced on her own everyday, and with Erik once a week, but singing with the chorus was truly special to Christine. It allowed her to stop thinking, something she had not been able to do since the breakup with Raoul. She could let herself get caught up in the melody of the song and the voices around her. This feeling usually stayed with her for about an hour after practice, although that would not be the case today.
After practice the chorus director let Christine know that she received another solo part, about the same size as her last one. He gave Christine the music and she started skimming through it on the way out to her car. She was about halfway through the music when she got to her car and finally looked up, only to find Raoul standing in front of her car.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice cold.
"I wanted to talk to you. Christine, please, you're not returning any of my calls."
"That's because I have nothing to say to you. Get out of my way Raoul." Christine pushed past him to the driver's side of her car, and Raoul grabbed her by the wrist to stop her.
"Christine, please hear me out. I'm really sorry, please give me another chance." Raoul pled.
Christine yanked her wrist from his hand. "Don't you ever touch me again. And stop trying to call me. Leave me alone. It's over between us, Raoul, and nothing you can say will ever change that. I'm blocking your number."
Christine opened her car door and threw her stuff onto the passenger's seat. Raoul was still talking, begging her to stop and listen to him, but his pleas fell on deaf ears. Christine pulled out of her parking spot and drove away without sparing him another glance.
When Christine got down the road a bit, she reached over to turn her music on. She felt freer now. Her peaceful feeling from chorus practice had left her the moment she saw Raoul, but now Christine felt like she left him behind for good. And she couldn't be happier about it.
All of the songs for Christine's next concert were romantic songs. It was the theme that was chosen for the concert, and Christine had to say that they chose some very good songs. That didn't make singing the songs during her lessons with Erik any easier. It was hard for Christine to sing such romantic lyrics without singing them to Erik. She knew it wasn't the right time for her to get into a new relationship, and she didn't even know if Erik would want that sort of relationship with her. She didn't want to ruin their friendship, even if it meant she couldn't be with him the way she wanted to. Still, it didn't keep her stomach from fluttering when she sang those romantic lyrics.
Since Christine had just gotten the new music, Erik had decided that they would run through all the songs, just to see where she was with them.
Just starting her first song made Christine think of Erik.
"Lying in bed, I hear the clock tick and think of you"
She did think of Erik a lot more these days. He was always on her mind, like a ghost haunting her every thought. She still couldn't get his story out of her head, but the uncertainty it brought up didn't stop her from feeling tenderly toward him.
"And I, I want to share
All of my love with you
No one else will do"
That was certainly true. For Christine, no one else could possibly hold the place in her heart that Erik held.
"You will always be
My endless love"
Christine couldn't stop herself from singing the words to Erik, wishing she could tell him that they were completely true.
Erik listened to Christine sing with equal rapture and longing. She seemed to sing the very words he felt and longed to hear from her.
"Oh my love, my darling
I've hungered for your touch
A long, lonely time"
Every touch that Christine bestowed upon Erik felt like the touch of an angel to him.
"Why do bird suddenly appear
Every time you are near
Just like me, they long to be
Close to you"
Christine sang and Erik didn't think there could have been truer words to describe how he felt for her. He constantly longed to be as close as he could be to Christine. The very fact that she allowed him to be close to her after everything he had told her astounded him. The lyrics seemed to be describing Christine.
"On the day that you were born the angels got together
And decided to create a dream come true
So they sprinkled moon dust in your hair of gold and starlight in your eyes of blue"
It was true—Christine's beauty was nothing short of a creation by angels. Nothing else could describe it. Erik had never placed much faith in a higher power, but Christine proved one existed. No one as good as her could exist in a world without a God.
The last line Christine sang left the pair silent.
"This, oh this, this is our fate, I'm yours"
Erik had no idea how much Christine meant it, and Christine had no clue how much Erik longed for those words to be true. If she was honest with herself, Christine knew she was Erik's, if he ever wanted her. But he surely didn't. He wouldn't want her invading his peace and privacy to that extent. They were better off as friends. At least, she could tell herself that.
Finally Erik cleared his throat.
"Well, that's an hour. If you have to go I understand, but I would love to go over some finer points of the songs if you have the time."
"I have another hour before I have to go to work," Christine agreed, more than happy to extend her time with Erik.
"Wonderful," Erik said. And just like that, they were diving back into the music.
I hope you liked it. The songs were Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper, Endless Love by Diana Ross, Unchained Melody by The Righteous Brothers, (They Long to Be) Close to You by Carpenters, and I'm Yours by Jason Mraz. Obviously I didn't use the whole songs, just a couple of lines. Please review, and if you don't feel comfortable reviewing feel free to PM me. - K