Confined in my sparkly splendor, I walked down the steps to the ballroom.
"Satine!" Satine!" I heard my name being called in a lisped voice. I turned, my eyes bulging out.
"Toulouse! What in the hell are you doing here?!" I asked quietly, yet exasperatingly.
"I heard there was a party." He smiled sheepishly at me, obviously drunk.
"By who? If you're caught here..." I trailed off.
"Your producer was talking about it. Peter? Right? Oh by the way, I saw the Duke. He's going to ask you to marry him."
"What?! What are you talking about, Toulouse? Oh never mind. Your to drunk to get a straight answer out of anyway. Just go, the Duke does not want anybody associating with Christian here. He doesn't even know that Christian is here in London." I said that last part more to myself.
"Well you're no fun, Satine. Come on, let me stay just for a while?"
"No! Go now, and don't call me Satine in front of everybody. The girl they know as Satine is dead." Toulouse gave me a little pout and then walked out. I prayed he didn't tell Christian who I was.
I walked on into the ballroom, thinking about what Toulouse said. I dreaded seeing the Duke. I felt a lump in my throat, I wanted to cry right then and there.
"Ahh! My dear! How lovely it is of you to grace us with your presence. You look beautiful." The Duke smiled at me and then walked over to me, putting his arms around me. "I can't wait to see how much you've missed me tonight." He said silently to me. I smiled at him a very week smile and soon he had me locked in a kiss. The hairs on my neck rose, and I shivered; despite the heat of the room.
I pulled apart, "Darling lets not make a scene. Besides I have to meet the guests." I walked away from him, walking elegantly around the room welcoming guests. The Duke and I danced. Dinner came and went. Desert was getting ready to end when the Duke stood up.
"I have an announcement everybody. I have an announcement." I wasn't really listening. I just sort of smiled. "It has been three years since I first met S... Gwen." He quickly fixed his mistake. "Because of my duties in France I have neglected to stay by her side as much as I would like. But now that I have gotten most everything worked out I will be able to be with her more often. Gwen Meire, will you marry me?" My smiling face faded and I looked quickly up at the duke. My eyes wide, my hand at my chest. My mouth went dry, my breathing got heavier and the weight of my dress seemed to suffocate me . He then produced a gold ring with a large diamond. For lack of better words I simply said,
"Duke, what a surprise." He smiled down at me with his pinched smile stuck into place. I looked over to see Harold looking at me as if to say "What are you waiting for?!"
"Yes." I breathed the words silently. I was hardly able to smile, but I managed to do so. Everybody cheered. The Duke engaged me into a long kiss. I broke free.
"Duke, this dress is rather tight if you wouldn't mind if I went to go rest. I promise I'll return as soon as possible."
"Yes of course. Would you like me to come with you?"
"No!" I said a little to quickly. He nodded, and I walked out as fast as I could. I ran up the stairs to my room. Clare was drawing a picture on my bed.
"Mummy! What are you doing here?" She asked getting off the bed running to me.
"Clare, love, were going to go out tonight."
"Where?!" She jumped up excitedly. "Where mummy where?!"
"Well, I thought we would go to the park for a little while and play there. And then we could go to a Hotel. And I'll let you stay up late and we can eat ice-cream." I explained this as I started to pack some stuff up.
"Really mummy? We can do all that?!"
"Yes darling of course!"
"YAY!" She shouted in delight.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Clare and I quickly dressed in warmer clothes and I packed some clothes that would do for until tomorrow.
I decided that I just needed to get out for a while. I would say that Peter called for me to give me information about the play. He hadn't come to the Duke's party because he was sick.
In 15 minutes we were creeping down the stairs and out the door. Clare was so excited she could hardly keep it in. You could see it written all over her face. Once outside, she skipped ahead of me, but always looked back to make sure she didn't lose me. She skipped all the way to the park and even when we got there.
One time when looking back at me she ran straight into a man and bounced off his stomach onto the ground, landing on her butt with an 'oomph'. The man gasped, I ran to her as fast as I could.
"I'm so sorry!" He squatted down to Clare's level. And when he did the moon illuminated his face. I saw it was Christian. I strangled a gasp, and fumbled for my veil, which lay atop my head.
"Clare, darling, are you alright?" I looked at her with a worrying mothers look, as I also squatted down to her level.
"Ah, Clare! We meet again!' Christian smiled broadly, my heart skipped a beat, and Clare's sniffling seemed to melt away.
"And Ms. Meire, it is a pleasure to meet you again too." He said as he lifted his daughter into his arms with one hand, and helped me up with another.
"Yes, it was wonderful to bump into you again." Silence seemed to fill the air, except for the far off voices of children still at play.
"Mummy! Can Christian come with us to eat!" Even in the dark I saw Clare's large, gray eyes get big. "Monsieur Christian, will you please come with us?" At this her eyes narrowed down along with her brow, as her lip pulled into a pout.
"Yes, mummy can I come?" He asked jokingly. Damn I hate when he pleads with me. My thoughts turned to the time in the elephant when he asked me to love him. I remembered his face as he swung from the post on the elephant's back smiling and singing. "Just one night, just one night"
"Yes of course, if he isn't busy." I said without thinking. Damn! Well I couldn't take back the offer now. "Would you like to join us?" I asked.
"I would love to." He said smiling at Clare and then at me. I could almost imagine my heart just melting inside of my body.
"It won't be anything fancy. I had just planned on going to a cafe or something." I said as we walked.
"Oh that's fine. I wasn't really in the mood for a fancy restaurant anyway."
"Christian, why do your eyes look like mine? I was looking in the mirror today. And I noticed I had big gray eyes. And in the middle..." she paused for a second thinking of the word, "There's a starburst! Just around the black part. And I remember your eyes, they look like mine. Why is that?" Clare asked. I spoke out as soon as she finished saying her last word.
"Clare, I'm sure a lot of people have eyes like that. Stop talking nonsense." I said. Christian eyed me, and I could feel my cheeks get hot under his gaze.
"You're mothers right, I'm sure." Christian said backing me up. I looked at Clare, and I could tell that wasn't the answer she wanted.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The rest of the night (until Clare and I retired to the hotel) Christian and I talked like we were best friends. We talked about my latest productions, about my life before I became a famous actress. (which really was hard, because I had to lie to him) We talked about his books, his inspiration (which was Satine/me) and his childhood. Most of which I already knew about, but I listened intently, just to hear his voice again. Through out the whole thing I kept my veil on. I new he wanted to know why I kept it on, but being the incredibly sweet boy he was, he didn't say anything about it. Clare fell asleep about half way through our conversation.
"Gwen... I can't help but say. You remind me so much of Satine..." He said looking into my eyes, through the veil. I grew uncomfortable. I looked down smiling.
"Yes, but that cannot be." I breathed. "Your Satine is dead." My voice was shaking terribly, so it only came as a whisper.
"Yes... of course." He said solemnly.
"I'm sorry everybody but the Cafe is closing in two minutes. We need everyone to finish what they're eating and start on out." Announced the shopkeeper.
"I guess we better head on." He smiled at me, "And what about his one?" He asked, his head looking down the sleeping Clare laying on his chest.
"Well were heading for a hotel..."
"Would you like me to escort you?" He asked. "I can carey her."
"I would love to have you as an escort." I could have smacked myself for flirting so much.
We walked to a near by hotel. At the entrance he handed Clare to me.
"Thank you for a wonderful night." He said. "I'm afraid that otherwise I would have been quite bored."
"Oh it was my pleasure." I returned.
"Good night, Gwen."
"Good night, Christian."
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~
The next day Clare and I walked home. The Duke was upset, but I told him that Peter had called for me about the production and that we had gone over a few lines. It was late by then so Clare and I stayed at a near by Hotel.
My thoughts wondered to last night. I basically said yes to living forever in hell with the devil. The wedding was set for February 23rd. It was early but the Duke said that he wanted to get married as soon as possible. I wished for three things. One was to have Christian love me again and for us to run away. The second was that my fake death had been real. And the third thing I wished for was to throw up on the Duke like I had imagined on the train only 3-4 years ago. My life seemed doomed to eternal darkness. Void of any happiness. A place where love does not exist, and only lust resides. But that's where my story starts to change. Love would re-enter my life. And that void would be filled with happiness, love, song, and hope.
"Satine!" Satine!" I heard my name being called in a lisped voice. I turned, my eyes bulging out.
"Toulouse! What in the hell are you doing here?!" I asked quietly, yet exasperatingly.
"I heard there was a party." He smiled sheepishly at me, obviously drunk.
"By who? If you're caught here..." I trailed off.
"Your producer was talking about it. Peter? Right? Oh by the way, I saw the Duke. He's going to ask you to marry him."
"What?! What are you talking about, Toulouse? Oh never mind. Your to drunk to get a straight answer out of anyway. Just go, the Duke does not want anybody associating with Christian here. He doesn't even know that Christian is here in London." I said that last part more to myself.
"Well you're no fun, Satine. Come on, let me stay just for a while?"
"No! Go now, and don't call me Satine in front of everybody. The girl they know as Satine is dead." Toulouse gave me a little pout and then walked out. I prayed he didn't tell Christian who I was.
I walked on into the ballroom, thinking about what Toulouse said. I dreaded seeing the Duke. I felt a lump in my throat, I wanted to cry right then and there.
"Ahh! My dear! How lovely it is of you to grace us with your presence. You look beautiful." The Duke smiled at me and then walked over to me, putting his arms around me. "I can't wait to see how much you've missed me tonight." He said silently to me. I smiled at him a very week smile and soon he had me locked in a kiss. The hairs on my neck rose, and I shivered; despite the heat of the room.
I pulled apart, "Darling lets not make a scene. Besides I have to meet the guests." I walked away from him, walking elegantly around the room welcoming guests. The Duke and I danced. Dinner came and went. Desert was getting ready to end when the Duke stood up.
"I have an announcement everybody. I have an announcement." I wasn't really listening. I just sort of smiled. "It has been three years since I first met S... Gwen." He quickly fixed his mistake. "Because of my duties in France I have neglected to stay by her side as much as I would like. But now that I have gotten most everything worked out I will be able to be with her more often. Gwen Meire, will you marry me?" My smiling face faded and I looked quickly up at the duke. My eyes wide, my hand at my chest. My mouth went dry, my breathing got heavier and the weight of my dress seemed to suffocate me . He then produced a gold ring with a large diamond. For lack of better words I simply said,
"Duke, what a surprise." He smiled down at me with his pinched smile stuck into place. I looked over to see Harold looking at me as if to say "What are you waiting for?!"
"Yes." I breathed the words silently. I was hardly able to smile, but I managed to do so. Everybody cheered. The Duke engaged me into a long kiss. I broke free.
"Duke, this dress is rather tight if you wouldn't mind if I went to go rest. I promise I'll return as soon as possible."
"Yes of course. Would you like me to come with you?"
"No!" I said a little to quickly. He nodded, and I walked out as fast as I could. I ran up the stairs to my room. Clare was drawing a picture on my bed.
"Mummy! What are you doing here?" She asked getting off the bed running to me.
"Clare, love, were going to go out tonight."
"Where?!" She jumped up excitedly. "Where mummy where?!"
"Well, I thought we would go to the park for a little while and play there. And then we could go to a Hotel. And I'll let you stay up late and we can eat ice-cream." I explained this as I started to pack some stuff up.
"Really mummy? We can do all that?!"
"Yes darling of course!"
"YAY!" She shouted in delight.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Clare and I quickly dressed in warmer clothes and I packed some clothes that would do for until tomorrow.
I decided that I just needed to get out for a while. I would say that Peter called for me to give me information about the play. He hadn't come to the Duke's party because he was sick.
In 15 minutes we were creeping down the stairs and out the door. Clare was so excited she could hardly keep it in. You could see it written all over her face. Once outside, she skipped ahead of me, but always looked back to make sure she didn't lose me. She skipped all the way to the park and even when we got there.
One time when looking back at me she ran straight into a man and bounced off his stomach onto the ground, landing on her butt with an 'oomph'. The man gasped, I ran to her as fast as I could.
"I'm so sorry!" He squatted down to Clare's level. And when he did the moon illuminated his face. I saw it was Christian. I strangled a gasp, and fumbled for my veil, which lay atop my head.
"Clare, darling, are you alright?" I looked at her with a worrying mothers look, as I also squatted down to her level.
"Ah, Clare! We meet again!' Christian smiled broadly, my heart skipped a beat, and Clare's sniffling seemed to melt away.
"And Ms. Meire, it is a pleasure to meet you again too." He said as he lifted his daughter into his arms with one hand, and helped me up with another.
"Yes, it was wonderful to bump into you again." Silence seemed to fill the air, except for the far off voices of children still at play.
"Mummy! Can Christian come with us to eat!" Even in the dark I saw Clare's large, gray eyes get big. "Monsieur Christian, will you please come with us?" At this her eyes narrowed down along with her brow, as her lip pulled into a pout.
"Yes, mummy can I come?" He asked jokingly. Damn I hate when he pleads with me. My thoughts turned to the time in the elephant when he asked me to love him. I remembered his face as he swung from the post on the elephant's back smiling and singing. "Just one night, just one night"
"Yes of course, if he isn't busy." I said without thinking. Damn! Well I couldn't take back the offer now. "Would you like to join us?" I asked.
"I would love to." He said smiling at Clare and then at me. I could almost imagine my heart just melting inside of my body.
"It won't be anything fancy. I had just planned on going to a cafe or something." I said as we walked.
"Oh that's fine. I wasn't really in the mood for a fancy restaurant anyway."
"Christian, why do your eyes look like mine? I was looking in the mirror today. And I noticed I had big gray eyes. And in the middle..." she paused for a second thinking of the word, "There's a starburst! Just around the black part. And I remember your eyes, they look like mine. Why is that?" Clare asked. I spoke out as soon as she finished saying her last word.
"Clare, I'm sure a lot of people have eyes like that. Stop talking nonsense." I said. Christian eyed me, and I could feel my cheeks get hot under his gaze.
"You're mothers right, I'm sure." Christian said backing me up. I looked at Clare, and I could tell that wasn't the answer she wanted.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The rest of the night (until Clare and I retired to the hotel) Christian and I talked like we were best friends. We talked about my latest productions, about my life before I became a famous actress. (which really was hard, because I had to lie to him) We talked about his books, his inspiration (which was Satine/me) and his childhood. Most of which I already knew about, but I listened intently, just to hear his voice again. Through out the whole thing I kept my veil on. I new he wanted to know why I kept it on, but being the incredibly sweet boy he was, he didn't say anything about it. Clare fell asleep about half way through our conversation.
"Gwen... I can't help but say. You remind me so much of Satine..." He said looking into my eyes, through the veil. I grew uncomfortable. I looked down smiling.
"Yes, but that cannot be." I breathed. "Your Satine is dead." My voice was shaking terribly, so it only came as a whisper.
"Yes... of course." He said solemnly.
"I'm sorry everybody but the Cafe is closing in two minutes. We need everyone to finish what they're eating and start on out." Announced the shopkeeper.
"I guess we better head on." He smiled at me, "And what about his one?" He asked, his head looking down the sleeping Clare laying on his chest.
"Well were heading for a hotel..."
"Would you like me to escort you?" He asked. "I can carey her."
"I would love to have you as an escort." I could have smacked myself for flirting so much.
We walked to a near by hotel. At the entrance he handed Clare to me.
"Thank you for a wonderful night." He said. "I'm afraid that otherwise I would have been quite bored."
"Oh it was my pleasure." I returned.
"Good night, Gwen."
"Good night, Christian."
~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~
The next day Clare and I walked home. The Duke was upset, but I told him that Peter had called for me about the production and that we had gone over a few lines. It was late by then so Clare and I stayed at a near by Hotel.
My thoughts wondered to last night. I basically said yes to living forever in hell with the devil. The wedding was set for February 23rd. It was early but the Duke said that he wanted to get married as soon as possible. I wished for three things. One was to have Christian love me again and for us to run away. The second was that my fake death had been real. And the third thing I wished for was to throw up on the Duke like I had imagined on the train only 3-4 years ago. My life seemed doomed to eternal darkness. Void of any happiness. A place where love does not exist, and only lust resides. But that's where my story starts to change. Love would re-enter my life. And that void would be filled with happiness, love, song, and hope.
