Disclaimer: In my first 4 chapters, the titles formed a
sentence written by me to illustrate the plot. For the next 4 chapters, I will use a verse from "Of Old Sat Freedom
On The Heights" by Alfred Lord Tennyson. I am a fan of his work and use the verse to add to the integrity of my
story. I do not pretend to have
actually written the verse.
Up Where We Belong
Chapter 5: "That her fair form may stand and shine,
The night air rippled in silent
majesty across the skin of the two lovers. They stood looking up at the Midsummer sky, its reaches filled with a
million stars, like fairies dancing across the surface of a midnight lake. Together, Aurora and Christian stood on the
back of the elephant. Christian leaned
against one of the pavilion's posts with Aurora snuggled comfortably into his
embrace. Delicately, he bent his head
forward and softly kissed her auburn hair. She shivered at his unexpected touch, but then burrowed deeper into his
chest. They had stayed like that for
countless seconds, minutes, or even hours. Neither truly knew. They were
content just to be together. However,
all things must end, and Aurora knew to never get too comfortable. She eventually pulled away, but not
completely. She merely turned so she
was facing Christian, and caught his lips in a long, mesmerizing kiss, before
pulling completely away and walking towards the domed skylight at the
elephant's head.
"This place was special to you,
wasn't it Christian?"
"What do you mean?" he asked, stepping behind her, but not
touching her.
"I mean it was special to you
and Satine. I can tell. That's why you brought me here."
"Yes," he forced out after
a minute's pause. "The elephant
was special to me and Satine. It's
where I got her to realize she could fall in love with me. So I guess that is kind of why I brought you
here. I want you to see that it's not a
crime to be in love. The elephant just
sort of has a magic all its own when it comes to love."
Aurora looked off in the distance
for a long time. Christian had begun to
worry when she suddenly spun around and walked past him in the other direction,
towards the stairs.
"I know you're not over her
yet, Christian," Aurora said as she walked, "and that's fine. I just want you to know that I'm not jealous. I know what it's like to be hurt by
love."
"I wasn't hurt, Aurora. I was merely left behind. True love can't hurt."
"All love eventually hurts,
Christian. Especially true."
"And who hurt you, Aurora
Veritas?"
But Aurora didn't answer. She merely continued her walk down the
stairs and into the belly of the giant Indian elephant. She paused a moment, subconsciously waiting
for Christian, but still gave no answer to his question, only the cause for
more wonderment.
"You Bohemians, you say that
love is greatest about all, but how can love be so great when it is so
delicate. Beauty is fragile, but does
not crumble as easily as love. Freedom
clings on with surprising tenacity, but can be snatched away, just like
love. The only ideal that holds strong
is truth. There is nothing in the world
that can stop the truth, once it has been released. Death, famine, hate, war. None of these can overpower truth. Yet you say love is greatest. Sure, love reigns supreme for a little while in its golden glory. But in the end all love must fall, and
lovers drown in the insatiable tears they have born out for their own devious
insanity."
"Do you truly believe that,
Aurora?" Christian asked, placing
a gentle hand on her proud shoulder.
"I do."
"Then, forgive me for asking,
how do I know you will continue to love me for as long as I love you, if you
believe love will eventually crumble to the dust?"
Aurora thought a moment, then asked,
"Have you been in love with me since I first came to the Moulin Rouge?"
"No. In fact, I truly hated you for your haughty and superior
attitude."
"Then what made you change
you're mind about me?"
"That poem," Christian
whispered in an awed tone as her turned Aurora to face him. "It made me see more of you than I ever
would have thought possible. I read
that poem and saw in its writer a soul so beautiful that it had to be
loved. Your poem is what made me change
my mind about you."
"Then we do have something
stronger than love, Christian. You see,
I don't write anything but the truth, and that's what you saw in me. So if we have, between us, the truth in the
form of our writings and our words, then whatever bond we form can truly be
unbreakable, except by the Fates themselves. That is how you can know my promises to you are real, because we have
the truth between us, binding us together. There is no tie stronger than that."
"Then I can be content, my
sweet, in our love, and in our truth."
He kissed her again, pulling her
close with a passionate severity. As
she gasped in pleasure, they found their way across the pillow-strewn floor to
the four-poster bed, and spent the night euphorically in each other's arms.
********************************************
Trumpets sounded, symbols crashed, a
big puff of smoke, then there stood the great Zidler singing at the top of his
lungs "Got some dark desire?" for the first time in a year and a half. The crowd was the largest it had ever been,
and from all walks of life. Not only
men, but women too had come to see the grand reopening of the Moulin
Rouge. The can-can girls attacked the
floor, leaving rich men slobbering and begging for more. The masses were rowdy, excited, and
thirsty. The club would make a fortune
tonight. Christian could just feel it. Not only were drink sales through the roof,
but the English Prime Minister sat at table one with Christian, watching the
show and promising thousands of pounds from his very own treasury. Christian wasn't quite sure yet what the
catch was, but he didn't have time to ask. At that moment, Aurora descended from the ceiling in a shower of
glitter, while a bank of fog rolled slowly across the dance floor, covering the
feet of the patrons and making easy jobs for any pickpockets in the mob.
As Aurora began filled the hall with
her enchanting voice, Christian felt his heart melt. To think that she was his was much more than he could possibly
comprehend. He remembered thinking the
same about Satine, but this time it was almost an untamed passion because of
Aurora's nature. He listened to her
finish her string of acopella chords and remembered, almost wickedly the past
night. He was in love again, and with
the most beautiful woman in the room, he thought as the band struck up the
music and the hall filled again with light. Aurora took hold of the energy in the room and made it her own as she
floated her way across the floor, acquiring numerous priceless pieces of
jewelry along the way. Across the table
from him, Christian could see The Lord Prime Minister Sexton almost drooling
all over his opera cape and top hat sitting before him. The woman certainly stole the show, and
conquered it even as the Diamond Dogs joined in, performing at exactly the
right strength the were supposed to.
"There may come a time when a lass
needs a lawyer,
But diamonds are a girl's best
friend," the corps sang
"There may come a time when a
hardboiled employer thinks you're awful much, Oooooh!
But get that ice or else no dice."
Aurora changed into her dark purple ostrich
feather costume, dubbed Royal Diamonds, while the Dogs finished up the chorus
and went into a dance break much more rousing than any can-can dance attempted
earlier that evening. As the star
popped up for her solo ending, Lord Sexton was about ready to climb over the
crowd to get to her. Christian could
see where this was going, and felt both insanely jealous and sorry for the poor
chap at the same time. How could he
know that this new Sparkling Diamond had not wish to become a prostitute. He probably didn't even realize that the
girl wasn't Satine. It didn't
matter. As the show ended, Christian
called Aurora over to the table to sit and talk to the man. That was the only way he could iron this
problem out.
"Aurora, my dear," Christian called,
placing his hand deftly in the small of her back. "May I introduce you to My Lord Prime Minister Richard Sexton."
"My Lord Sexton, it is a pleasure to
make your acquaintance," Aurora said, curtsying as best she could in a
diamond-encrusted corseted body suit and high heels. Lord Sexton, in turn, took her hand and gave it a lingering kiss
that Christian suspected included his tongue.
"The pleasure is entirely mine, my
dear. Please, have a seat. That was a lovely performance. I've certainly never seen anything like
it. You must me parched after singing
and dancing so much. Can I offer you a
drink? Perhaps some champagne?"
"Thank you, My Lord, but I have to
finish up the act in a minute, and I need both my wits and my voice. In fact, I've enjoyed your company, but I
should probably be getting back to the floor."
"Then I'll get right to the point,
my dear. I am prepared to give a very
generous donation to your friend Christian and the Moulin Rouge. It could also include a large sum going straight
to yourself. I thought, possibly, we
could meet later in the Red Room of the elephant and iron out the details?"
"My Lord, I don't think…" Christian
began.
"That sounds wonderful," Aurora
interrupted. "I will expect you there
around eleven. Don't be late, My
Lord. I'm not a very patient woman."
And with that Aurora swept out of
the booth in a fluttering of rich purple ostrich feathers. She left Christian stuttering and Lord
Sexton in an almost drunken daze. Christian sat there dumbfounded for a moment, but then excused himself
in a jealous rage, leaving the Prime Minister in the anxious hands of Zidler.
Backstage, Christian immediately
sought out Aurora. She was in her
dressing room, being properly outfitted for her meeting with the Prime Minister. Marie was lacing her into a strapless black
gown that fitted so tight it would probably send the old man into cardiac
arrest as soon as he saw her. Christian
stormed into the room so quickly that Marie left without even a word from
either of them.
"I don't want you to see him," Christian
blurted out without even thinking.
"It doesn't matter what you want
Christian. This is my future and my
fortune." Aurora wasn't even looking at
him. She instead occupied herself with
putting on full-length black velvet gloves and black high heels.
"What do you mean it doesn't
matter? Just last night we pledged our
love and ourselves to each other. Not
to mention that you were against prostituting yourself in the first place. What made you change your mind, Aurora? It can't be that the Prime Minister is such
a stud. He must be going on seventy."
"I won't be breaking my promise,
Christian, and I certainly won't be prostituting myself. There are ways to get around that. Don't worry; I won't go back on my
morals. I'm still better than money."
"Then why are you doing this? It's not like the Moulin has a shortage of
income."
"But think of how much the horny old
bastard will give us. You could finally
finance the publishing of your love story, and we could build an actual theatre
for this place while still keeping the dance hall. Not to mention the amount of money I could get."
"Is that all that matters then, the
money? You told me last night that all
you wanted was right here. Why has that
changed?"
"Because I won't be supported by men
all my life!" Aurora shouted, finally
turning to face Christian. "Look,
Christian, you know how I adore you, but that doesn't mean I want you to
support me. I never told you, but my
father was a wealthy businessman in America. When I came of age, my father arranged for me to marry the son of a wealthy
businessman so I would be taken care of for the rest of my life. That's when I packed my bags and left for
France. I won't own my well being and financial
success to any man, even one I love. I
have to make my fortune somehow Christian, so just let me do it. I promise I will not shame our love in any
way. You know I'm a clever girl, so
trust in that. Now, if you'll excuse
me, the Prime Minister of England is waiting."
And she left him again, sweeping
away in a rush of midnight velvet. Christian thought he heard his heart break, and fell to the floor in a
sobbing heap. He couldn't believe she
would do that to him, not after what she told him last night. Yet she had gone again, to prove her
independence and break her poor lover's heart. He lay there the rest of the night, until Zidler found him there in the
morning, having cried himself to sleep.
TBC….
A/N: Lord Richard Sexton is made up. I'm to lazy to research into the real name
of the Prime Minister at that time. Also, yes, I made another character turn with Aurora. She is not, as someone said, your usual
Mary-Jane. She is a complex person, and
on top of that, both a performer and a writer. Take it from someone who is also a performer and a writer, those of us
like that are the most egotistical, self-centered, haughty, and completely
independent people alive. She is a
bitch, and so am I. That's just the way
people are made. Deal with it.