Disclaimer: I don't own Moulin Rouge.
A.N. Thanks for the positive reviews. Sorry if this story seems to be moving slowly, but the horror known as final exams is fast approaching so I have to be a good little student and study, study, study!
A few hours later, Satine woke up. She looked to her left to see Christian at his typewriter. He was so focused on what he was doing he didn't notice she was awake. Suddenly Satine remembered what had happened that morning and began to cry. The sound of her crying broke Christian's concentration and he rushed to her side.
"Satine, what's wrong?" he asked.
"I don't know, Christian. That's the problem. I don't know what's wrong with me!" Satine said through her tears.
"Satine, you're going to be fine. You just weren't ready to go back yet, that's all. We'll try going back again in a week or so. Maybe you'll be ready by then.
"But what about the show, Christian? I need to keep rehearsing." Satine said. Christian walked over to his desk and grabbed the script for the show. "Well, for now we're going to rehearse right here, just the two of us" he said.
Christian opened up the script to a random page. "Alright, let's start from the scene where the evil maharajah" Christian's voice trailed off. He hadn't given the Duke a second thought. "If he comes back to work and she is still like this, we are going to have major problems" he thought. He kept these thoughts to himself for now. The last thing he wanted to do was upset Satine even more.
"The evil maharajah what?" Satine asked.
"Actually, why don't we just take it from the beginning, from your first entrance." Christian replied. Satine thought for a moment, and began to sing.
Kiss...Hand...Suddenly the words didn't come so easily to Satine. She couldn't remember the next line to the song. She looked at Christian, who was starting to look worried again. She hated to make him worry like that. "What is the next line? I should know this" she thought. A desperate look filled her eyes as she struggled to remember the next line to the song.
Christian saw her desperation and supplied her with the next line.
"It's "Diamonds best friend", remember?
"Yes, yes of course. It just slipped from my mind, that's all. I'm fine." As Satine spoke she looked at Christian as though she wanted him to verify that she was alright.
Christian nodded. "Yes, you're fine. Let's just keep going, alright?
Satine nodded and the two of them tried to continue their rehearsal. However, not much progress was made. Many more of Satine's lines slipped from her mind. Christian never grew frustrated or angry with Satine, but he did get more and more worried each time she forgot a line. Around the tenth time she forgot a line, in the second scene of the play, Satine broke down and started to cry. Christian got up from the foot of the bed and sat down next to her.
"This is so scary, Christian! I know that I knew all of these lines three days ago. Why don't I remember them now?
Christian pulled her into his arms and rubbed her back in an effort to comfort her. "I'm not sure what's going on, Satine. But don't worry. I'm sure whatever it is will pass in a few days." She seemed to calm down as he talked to her.
For a few minutes Christian just sat on the bed with Satine in his arms. He was very glad that he had taken Satine home with him. Christian noticed that not only was Satine not ready to be in the crowded rehearsal, she was not ready to leave his side. She didn't seem to remember that their love affair was supposed to be a secret. It would be nearly impossible to keep it that way if Satine kept having breakdowns at rehearsals. Only his affection seemed to stop them, and sooner or later someone would catch on.
Satine could sense that Christian was worried about something. "It's alright, Christian. I'm sure I'll be fine. Don't worry about me.
"I know you're going to be fine, Satine. It's just that this is going to make it a lot harder for us to keep our love a secret. Eventually, Harold is going to find it strange that you prefer being in my apartment than being anywhere else. I don't even want to think about what will happen when the Duke gets back and finds out about all of this." Christian said.
Satine had a blank expression on her face, and Christian could tell something was wrong. "What, what's wrong?" he asked.
Satine asked a question that Christian knew would make life a living hell for both of them.
"Christian, who is the Duke?
A.N. Wow, that chapter took a long time. I'm very sorry it took so long, but lets just say that exams are the living embodiment of evil. Hopefully the next one won't take as long because tomorrow is my last day of school. Also, by the way, GO SEE THE STEPFORD WIVES! I saw it yesterday and I loved it. Nicole Kidman is so great and Bette Midler is hilarious.