Up Where We Belong
Chapter 6: Make bright our days and light our dreams,
"Some champagne, Lord Sexton?" Aurora asked, not even daring to look over at the four-poster bed. The old man lay there on the silken sheets with his pants already undone and his dress shirt unbuttoned, his saggy chest showing more wrinkles than the silk he sat on. It disgusted her to be in the same room as him, but she knew she could get this over with fast.
"I'd love some, beautiful. I'm so glad you could make it, and in such impeccable dress."
Aurora flinched at his leering as he sat up to take from her a glass filled to the brim with champagne and a little something extra to help along the effect. She had abandoned the usual black lingerie and stocking Satine had made famous to the Moulin Rouge elephant, but the strapless dress was certainly close enough. Now Aurora wished she had worn something a little less revealing. She felt violated with this horny old bastard drooling all over her. She just held her breath, stretched out on the bed, and waited for him to finish the drink.
The opium wasn't long in taking effect. Aurora had put in enough to sedate a small horse, so within seconds Lord Sexton was laying slumped over her lap in a drug-induced sleep. She quickly lifted the wrinkly face and scraggly white hair up from the expensive velvet of her dress. As the old man snored away, she went about disarranging the room, stripping him of most of his clothes, and throwing them about haphazardly. Remembering the champagne, Aurora sprinkled the remainder of the bottle over the scattered bedclothes and unconscious Prime Minister. As far as Lord Sexton would ever know, he had succeeded in getting the lovely Sparkling Diamond into bed. That way, Christian would get his money.
After a final overview of the disarranged room, Aurora picked up her discarded gloves and began to leave the room. With a final thought though, she picked up Lord Sexton's billfold off the table and removed all the cash. He had to believe he had paid for the night, after all. And with that, she took herself and the thousand pounds and went to get a good night's sleep before finding Christian in the morning.
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The next day, Aurora went to find Christian. He had retreated to his apartment rooms. Even with all the money he had gained, Christian continued to live in his broken-down rooms across from the Moulin Rouge. That was one thing he could not and would not let go from his old life. Aurora had always found it strange that he would choose to live in such squalor, but she was beginning to understand. If Satine had been even half as special to Christian as he was to Aurora, then she could figure even jumping off the top of the Eiffel tower for her. And from what she knew, Satine was possibly the best thing Christian ever had. It made Aurora jealous to think she would never be so important, but she got through by knowing she was still special to him, in an entirely different way. Satine had been Christian's muse, but Aurora was also a poet. It wasn't the same, but it was still love. Aurora could only hope it still existed. From what she had heard, Christian didn't take her decision well.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Christian asked. Aurora couldn't tell where he was, so she searched the small apartment, and finally found him out on the makeshift balcony, sitting on the neon letters of the sign and staring out across the Parisian landscape.
"I need to talk with you, Christian."
"Just go away, Aurora. Don't you have some old rich geezer to fuck?"
"Now that is outside of enough, Christian."
"No, I don't think it's even saying close to enough!" Christian screamed, jumping off the sign and storming past Aurora, where she stood at the door to the balcony. "We made a promise, and you broke it for fucking money!"
"Christian!" Aurora called to him, trying to catch his hand, but instead laying it lightly on his shoulder, making him stop and turn. "Christian, listen to me. I didn't sleep with him. I told you I wouldn't"
"You're lying again. Lord Sexton came by earlier this morning and gave me a whole shitload of money. He said he had been very satisfied last night. There's only one way to take that."
"He's a stupid ass, then. Men can always be fooled, especially the old ones."
"And how exactly do you want me to believe you fooled a premier politician into giving a high-priced brothel a half-million pounds?"
"A half-million? That idiot…" Aurora whispered.
"Idiot or no, he wouldn't have done that without just cause. Which means that you are a lying little bitch. Get out, Aurora. I never want to see you…"
"Christian!" Aurora cried, cutting him off. "Look, I'm not lying. The nasty old man didn't get anything last night except an overdose of opium. That's why he thinks he got lucky. I drugged him and then made the room look like something had happened. I didn't sleep with him."
"And why should I even believe you."
Aurora couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't stand having Christian this mad at her. She knew that if she didn't do something right away to amend things, she would lose him forever. So she threw her pride out the window, and became the soft-spoken lover she had never wanted to be. Walking up behind Christian, she gently wrapped her arms around him and cuddled her soft face into the crook of his neck. He involuntarily moved his cheek toward hers, but then quickly stiffened. She knew his stiffness wouldn't last for long, though. He could smell her scent just as surely as his was filling her senses and almost making her forget her words. She managed through, however, and did everything she could to bring her beloved back into her good favors.
"Christian, how could you even think I would want to sleep with anyone but you? You're everything to me. I'm beginning to wonder how I even got through before I met you. There's no one else I ever want to be with. Not for money, fame, fortune, or even love, because you're it for me. After you, there's no one else. You're it. You've done for me what nothing could ever before. You made me believe in love. You've lifted me up above the moon, stars, and everything in the cosmos. You lifted me up."
"Up where we belong…" Christian whispered.
"Yes. Where we belong forever. Until the stars freeze over and the oceans dry up, Christian, you are mine. Please, for the sake of love, believe me in that."
Slowly, Christian turned around to face Aurora, taking her comfortingly in his embrace. Lifting his hand to gently brush her ivory cheek, he pulled her face close and caught her ruby lips in a tender and forgiving kiss. He didn't know why he had doubted her in the first place. There was just still something in him that wanted to find fault with her. He still couldn't believe just how wonderful she was.
"I believe you, Aurora," he said when they finally broke the kiss. They stood with their faces only inches apart, bathing in each other's breath and not wanting to let go. "I think I always believed you. It's just so hard to change and let go. I'm still afraid to get hurt again."
"But I'm not going to hurt you, Christian, at least not purposely. I'm here to stay, like it or not, so I won't hurt you."
"Satine didn't mean to hurt me either."
"You let her die a long time ago Christian, but you don't have to forget. It always helps for me to remember the good times about those I've lost. That way they can't hurt me."
"I know, and I have been," Christian answered with some difficulty. But then his face brightened into a sudden smile as he said devilishly, "I guess this means we're going to have to get you some heavy sedatives so you can make you're fortune with the paying customers of the Moulin Rouge."
TBC….