4) I love to laugh
"Erik didn´t show up?", Christine repeated, throwing Meg a brief glance before taking a sip of tea. The two girls were spending their lunch break in a small café not too far away from the opera. Although she had nearly burst with curiosity, Christine had managed to hold herself back all morning. But as soon as they had arrived here she had know only one question: How did the evening with Erik go?
Meg poured another spoonful of sugar into her cup and stirred furiously, as if the tea was the source of all evil. "Well?", the other girl prompted. "No, he didn´t show up, and I don´t know why." Staring down at the table she tried to keep herself from starting to cry in the middle of the crowded café. "I didn´t expect him to stay long after realising you weren´t there. But not coming at all? I mean…" She smiled in a feeble attempt to make fun of the situation. "…is it that difficult to open the door and walk in?"
"Well, Erik isn´t exactly fond of doors.", Christine said, imitating the humorous sound of her friend´s voice. "He likes the extraordinary. That´s why he can enter the room through the mirror." ´At least he could.´, she added in her mind, suddenly serious again. Even though she hated to admit it, the refusal still hurt her, and she doubted she would ever forget it, no matter what would happen between Raoul and her.
She was distracted by a tinkle of china as Meg´s teaspoon fell out of her hand and back into the cup, spattering the tablecloth with tea. Meg, however, didn´t notice it. She was still busy with a certain piece of information she had just been given. "Erik can come through the mirror? You mean he can… look through it from the other side?" "Yes. Have I never told you?", Christine answered, doing her best to clean the mess her friend had made with a handkerchief.
"No!" Meg almost shouted the word. "You´ve never told me, or I wouldn´t have…" She clapped her hand over her mouth in horror as she fully understood what this meant. "You wouldn´t have done what?", the other girl wanted to know. "The dressing gown… the one I gave you back this morning…", Meg muttered faintly. "It was all right that you borrowed it. Your clothes were all sweaty, so…" "You don´t get it! I took off my costume in front of the mirror!"
"And you think Erik saw you?" Meg nodded miserably and said: "That´s the only sensible explanation for his behaviour, isn´t it? You told me yourself that he always keeps to your meetings. This is so embarrassing! Even if I ever met him, I wouldn´t be able to look him in the face… What?" She was confused to see that her friend was pressing the wet handkerchief to her mouth to suppress a laugh. "Poor Erik!", she managed to get out, giggling. "You must have scared him to death!"
Because of the puzzled expression on Meg´s face she explained to her: "Well, look at the situation from his point of view: He steps in front of the mirror, expecting to see me, ready for a singing lesson. Instead, he sees you, seemingly ready for… other activities.". "I guess that is one of the things which are only funny when they happen to another person.", Meg said with a wry smile. "But what shall I do now?" "I don´t know yet.", Christine replied, forcing herself to calm down. "There´s no lesson for me today, so you can´t try again. Maybe you should write him a letter."
"Maybe I´ll do that.", Meg agreed. "But let´s talk about something else: Did you enjoy yourself with Raoul yesterday?" "Well, I don´t think my evening was as great as yours. Raoul and I stayed fully dressed…", the other girl said, giggling yet again. "Christine…", Meg growled, giving her a warning look. Christine pulled herself together, afraid of hurting her friend with her comments. If Meg was that touchy, she had to mean it seriously with Erik.
But she accepted the change of subject, readily telling her: "We had a good time. Raoul is very kind, always asking for my wishes and saying how pretty I was.". "And did you…?" Meg pouted and winked seductively. This time they both laughed. "Yes, we kissed.", Christine admitted. "It was fantastic. Did you know that I had never been kissed before?" Her friend shook her head and leant forward to pour both of them some more tea. "Tell me everything about it!"
Author´s note: Thank you very much for the lovely rewievs! I´m glad you like the story so far. And I still think it will become EM, even if it might not look as if at the moment.
