7) An enchanted moment
The singing lesson was nearly over, and so far everything had been as usual. Neither Christine nor Erik had mentioned their activities of the last days. She didn´t show how disappointed she was about him being nothing but a disembodied voice again. She almost wished she had never seen him behind the mirror, never faced the possibility that he could be more than her teacher. Then it would be easier to accept his inscrutable friendliness.
He didn´t show how anxious he was about meeting her again. He wished he had never seen her together with the other man. Then he could still pretend that one day she would be more than his student, that one day she would say she loved him and he would be allowed to embrace and kiss her like the Vicomte had done.
Christine stopped singing in mid-sentence. She couldn´t hold back her request any longer. "Erik?", she called timidly, as if she feared he might be gone. "Could you please come to me now?" "But why, child?", he asked. "I want to see you." He shook his head about the simplicity of her answer. "You have already seen me once.", he reminded her. Christine stamped her foot like an impatient child. "That wasn´t enough. I … I want to feel you." Her cheeks flushed. Had she really just said that?
"You want to ´feel me´?" Erik wondered whether his ears had deceived him, simply giving him what he wanted to hear. The girl´s mind was racing as she tried to find a way to make her utterance sound less embarrassing. "You know, sometimes I can hardly believe that you exist. You´re like a shadow, a …" "Ghost?", he suggested, and she nodded, smiling. "Please!", she begged him again. Suddenly Erik was afraid that he might lose her when she didn´t believe in him. He couldn´t let this happen.
With a loud creaking sound the mirror swung open, and he stepped out of the tunnel behind it. For a while they stood in front of each other, eagerly taking in every detail of the other´s appearance. Christine couldn´t help noticing how very tall he was, yet she didn´t feel intimidated. Though she had seen it before, the mask that covered the right half of his face made her feel slightly uneasy. But she shrugged off the thought quickly. Someday she would ask him what was underneath it. This was not the right time.
Erik had seen Christine hundreds of times, yet today it was special. Never had he been so close to her, and never had she looked directly at him. He felt her gaze linger a little longer on the mask than the rest of him, but at least her face didn´t show signs of disgust, more of mild curiosity. He wasn´t afraid anymore. Now she knew he was a real person.
But for Christine this knowledge wasn´t enough. She had planned to touch him, so she would do it. Slowly she drew nearer and ran a finger over the back of his hand. Though it was merely a fleeting moment, it made Erik´s whole body tremble. He closed his eyes for a second, savouring the sensations which flooded his mind. If only she touched him again! He imagined her undressing him, caressing his skin where no other person ever had. A soft moan escaped his lips.
All the time the girl kept her eyes on him, pleased to see the love she felt herself reflected in his face. "My angel…", she whispered, her voice warm with affection. Angel? The almost euphoric mood Erik had been in vanished as he looked again at the fantasies he had had moments before. Christine would be appalled if she knew what he was thinking about her. He was supposed to be her angel, to return her feelings in the most innocent way he was capable of. Instead, he imagined her and himself in situations which were nothing but an insult of his love.
"Christine… no…", he muttered, using all his willpower to keep him from wrapping his arms around her. "It´s because of Meg, isn´t it?" Christine tried to sound composed, though she felt as if a big stone had just fallen into her stomach. "She told me what happened between you and her, and I…" By now another stone was pressing on her vocal chords, making it increasingly difficult to speak. She cleared her throat and continued: "… and I´m glad the two of you found each other. And I´ll remain your student, right?" "Yes, but…" Erik was confused. He had to think about all this, but the situation was developing much too quickly. "It´s all right, Erik. I´ll see you in the next lesson then." With these words she went out of the room.
It took Erik all the way down to his house to understand: He could have actually had her. She didn´t seem to care about this Vicomte in the slightest. But he, Erik, was unworthy of her. Christine deserved a man who treated her like the angel she was. Once he had been able to do that. Since he had seen Meg two days ago, however, these newly-awoken desires made it no longer possible.
He even had to realise that the thought of her standing naked in Christine´s dressing room still aroused him. Though he wanted to fight it, the meeting with Christine had cost him so much strength that he didn´t stand a chance. Finally giving up he sank down on an armchair, placed a hand in his lap and conjured up Meg´s picture in his mind. "Christine… please forgive me… I´ll make it all up… I promise…", he said in a feverish whisper while he started stroking himself.
