To the End With Love

Erika laughed as she arrived at her desk. A large package had just arrived from her friends in France. Her friends always joked about her Phantom obsession but they never failed to send her anything related to the Paris Opera house.

Her love of Paris, the opera house, and the masked man who lived beneath it came from her mother. Who had named her after the famous phantom and had helped her start her own interior design firm appropriately named Box Five Designs. Erika smiled when she opened the package and read the note her friend Marie never failed to include.

Erika,

I found this portrait in an antique store. The owner called it a phantom portrait since it is not signed in anywhere. Thought you might like it or at least have some use for it. Hope you are doing well. Come and see me anytime.

Hugs,
Marie

Erika's breath was taken away when she saw the portrait. It was of a very beautiful young woman with a very dark background that complimented her face and dress perfectly. But what made Erika gasp was the pair of arms that surrounded her. It appeared to be a loving embrace but the man sharing the embrace was lost in the background. The women looked so happy and in love with the unseen person who held her so close.

Erika memorized every detail of the portrait trying hard to catch a glimpse of the man in the portrait but it was just no use. Who ever it was didn't want to be seen. Then her eyes swept to the frame the portrait was in and shook her head when she noticed it was severely damaged. As she turned the portrait over she noticed that there appeared to be a note stuffed between the canvas and the frame.

Once there lived a woman who fell in love with two men. One had the voice of an angel while the other had the face of an angel. The man with the angelic voice taught her to sing like an angel and guided her to a fabulous career. The man with the heavenly face was a childhood friend with enough money to give her a marvelous life. The woman was torn between the two men and knew that she would have to break at least one heart in the end. And she never forgot the sound of her teacher's angelic voice when she left with the other man. For never before had she ever heard such sadness in a goodbye. And soon she found that she could not forget her teacher or what might have been if she had just chosen differently. She was haunted by the memory of her angelic teacher all the days of her life until death freed her and she joined him in heaven.

After wiping the tears from her eyes Erika called for her assistant. Someone else had to see this. She laughed as Lilly's head bounced into her doorway.

Lilly: What's up?

Erika: Take a look at this portrait.

Lilly: It's so dark and yet so beautiful. The woman is so gorgeous and I wonder who is holding her?

Erika: That's not all. I found this note under the frame.

Lilly (reading): That's so sad. I wonder which one is holding her?

Erika: Don't know. It's not even signed.

Lilly: Too bad, it sure is hauntingly beautiful.

Erika: What do you think of us hanging it up here in the office.

Lilly: Yeah and we she name it. And add a plaque.

Erika: How about we call it To the End With Love and place the note next to it.

No one ever really knew who the people in the portrait were but Erika always did have an unexplained fondness for it. And it hung in her office long after she retired and her daughter Christine took over the business and her mother's Phantom obsession.

Please read and review. And try to be nice this is my very first fic.