Author´s note: Three days without a new chapter – I´m sorry. But I had to write a one-shot in between to satisfy my need for seriousness…
7) A new player
"How can I help you?" Erik sounded perfectly friendly, as if they had never been more than teacher and student. "You seemed to have a problem with the rhythm in the second line – is it that?" "No, it´s not the singing. It´s …" Christine sighed. Never in her life had she felt so awkward. Well, there had been this one performance when she had accidentally knocked over Carlotta on stage, who in turn had made half of the chorus girls fall down. It had ended with about ten people shouting at her.
"Meg and you seem to be very happy together.", she said uneasily. "Meg´s a wonderful woman. She loves me … and she´s not afraid of showing it." "I noticed.", Christine commented dryly. She also noticed that the conversation wasn´t exactly going into the right direction. She couldn´t talk about her relationship to Erik without sounding jealous. But then, she was jealous…
"Have you ever thought about the possibility that something could have happened between us?", she asked, approaching the topic very slowly. He leant back, obviously enjoying himself. "You didn´t want me.", he reminded her. "You always said you loved the Vicomte." "Maybe I was wrong. Maybe my feelings for you are stronger than I knew myself." Shyly she seized his hand.
´Yes! It worked!´, Erik cheered inwardly. He had to remind himself forcefully of Meg. Her part of the plan was not finished yet. "And what if you change your mind again tomorrow? How can I be certain of you?" "Tell me what I have to do to make you believe me!", Christine begged him, squeezing his hand so tightly that he gave a yelp of pain and pulled it away from her.
"There is still the Vicomte. If you can make him leave you and go to another girl, let´s say … Meg, I´ll believe you.", Erik said at once. Christine looked at him in surprise. "But Meg´s with you." Smiling broadly he explained how Meg and he had worked together to achieve their goals. He didn´t miss any of the details, and when he stopped tears of laughter were running down Christine´s face. "So you want me to get rid of Raoul. Will you help me?" Erik was delighted. "Trampling on the Vicomte´s feelings? Where do I have to sign?"
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
This time Raoul wanted to be sure right from the start. Okay, he hadn´t thought about it till they were both undressed, but now he asked: "Christine, are you certain you don´t want to tell me any important things today? You know, I would be glad if we were not interrupted by your need to talk.".
´What a great introduction!´, she thought cheerfully. "Well, actually there is one thing: Erik is rather annoyed by watching us making love.." Raoul´s spirit rose. Maybe that would finally come to an end. Christine went on: "… so I invited him to join us this time.". He chuckled. "Very funny. I almost believed –" His eyes widened in shock as Erik entered the room.
He beamed at the two in the bed. "Good evening! Am I too late?" With a melodramatic little cry Raoul pulled the blanket over his bare chest. Ignoring it Christine replied: "Of course not! You´re just in time for the main course.". Erik started unbuttoning his shirt. That was too much for Raoul. Wrapping the blanket around him he left the room at top speed.
"How was I?", Erik wanted to know, sitting down on Raoul´s abandoned place. "Absolutely fantastic!" They looked into each other eyes. "Perhaps I should go now and let you sleep.", he said not very convincingly. "But Raoul has taken the blanket with him, and I can´t sleep without it." It was only then that Erik realised that he was sitting on a bed next to a naked woman. He swallowed hard. "So you think I should stay?"
