A Defensive Situation
Part 11
Christine frowned slightly.
"Raoul, what's up with your hair?" His hands lifted defensively to his uneven locks. Meg stared at her.
"Christine…"
"Come on, let's just get out of here. I'm having a really bad day." Christine said grumpily. Raoul shook his head.
"No. We're not going anywhere. Not until you explain what you just said."
Christine flushed red.
"OK, you weren't supposed to hear that."
"Well I did. So you should probably explain it." Raoul said, folding his arms and pouting. Erik smirked.
"Isn't it obvious, fop? She wanted to stay with me."
"Erik!" Christine said furiously. But Raoul was already staring at her in dismay.
"Christine?"
"Raoul… oh for god's sake, I really don't need an audience for this!" Christine snarled. She seized Meg, threw her through the door, went into the room and slammed the door behind her, shutting herself and Raoul inside.
Erik stared blankly at the door and then looked at Nadir.
"Is this a good sign or a bad one?"
Nadir shrugged helplessly. Donald ground her teeth.
"Urgh, Dennis is never going to stop rubbing it in if Christine goes back to the fop!"
"To be fair, she never left him." Meg pointed out. Donald glared at her.
"Shut up, Giry."
George settled himself on the floor.
"Well, we might as well wait for them to finish. And if she chooses the fop, we'll just kill him and force her back to Erik."
"You bloody well won't!" Erik said. "I can get a girl without a fan club, you know!"
"Erik, what's a romantic evening?" George asked.
"A night at the opera, a few punjabbings and a chandelier crash." Erik said instantly. George lifted an eyebrow,
"Point proven."
"Or some Buffy, milk, smartie cookies and pizza without pineapple." Erik corrected himself. Nadir nodded.
"OK, he gets points for that one."
"Will you people shut up?" Donald said crossly.
They all turned. She and Meg were at the door with a set of odd-looking equipment.
"What are you doing?"
"Spying. Now shut up, I can't hear what's going on." Meg said, fiddling with some dials.
"Where the hell did she get that stuff?" Erik asked.
"You're not making my job here any easier, you know." Meg said crossly.
They fell silent and waited. Eventually Meg gave a ha of approval and flicked a switch. Christine and Raoul's voices floated from a small speaker. But before they could hear anything, Christine shrieked,
"MEG, TURN IT OFF!"
Meg hastily flicked the switch and stared at the shut door.
"How does she do that?" She said wonderingly.
"I spy with my little eye something beginning with… D." Erik said, staring at Donald. She glared at him.
"Is it Donald?" She asked dryly.
Erik, who turned out not be so quick at this particular game, was now thoroughly convinced that she was cheating. She'd beaten him every single time. And she wasn't as nice as Dennis. Dennis had given him cookies whilst he'd been locked in the cupboard. She'd been OK, for a fop lover.
"OK, fine. Nadir's turn." He said sulkily. Nadir sighed.
"Very well. I spy with my little eye something beginning with B."
"Box!" Erik said, pointing at Meg's box. Nair shook his head.
"No."
"Er…" Erik said, looking around the narrow corridor, where they were all sat on the floor. George interrupted.
"Ballerina."
"Correct." Nadir said and Erik scowled, mentally adding George to his 'To Be Punjabbed' list.
"My turn. I spy with my little eye something beginning with M." Meg said.
"Meg!" Erik said eagerly. She shook her head.
"Nope."
"Man." Erik said, pointing at George. Nadir frowned.
"What am I then?"
"You're not anything beginning with an M, so be quiet." Erik said, looking around.
"Is it Mask?" Nadir asked. Meg nodded and Erik glared at them all.
"This game is stupid." He muttered.
They had been waiting outside the door for over two hours now and had exhausted all forms of entertainment. Erik sighed and looked over at the door.
"What is taking them so long?"
"It's not something that's going to happen quickly. They're trying to resolve their marriage. It's a long, difficult process." Meg pointed out. Donald and George both glared at her and she glared back.
"Well, they are! Honestly. You're supposed to support Christine. If she chooses Raoul, it's got nothing to do with you. You're really not making things any easier on her, you know. It's her life, in case you've forgotten. And, just for the record, even if Raoul and Christine DO break up, there is no way that I would ever date him!"
"Really?" Donald said, surprised. Meg pulled a face.
"Ew. Hello, my best friend's ex? There are rules, you know. Plus, he's too cute. I need someone more manly!"
"Like who?" Erik asked curiously. Meg shrugged.
"I don't know… James Marsters?"
"You're a Buffy fan?" Erik said excitedly.
"Of course. And no, Donald, just because Erik and I have ONE thing in common, it does not mean that we're likely to get together either!" She said to the interested phan.
Nadir sighed and checked his watch.
"Is there a phone I could use? I'm going to have to cancel my squash game."
"Who do you play with? Does Erik play?" Donald asked curiously. Nadir ground his teeth and Meg jumped in.
"He has other friends. And he's very touchy about it."
"Oh… yeah, sure, there's one down the hall." Donald said, getting to her feet and leading Nadir away. George stood too.
"I'm going to check on the other shippers. I may have updates to catch up on."
Meg and Erik sat in the hallway, Meg flicking through a magazine and Erik staring forlornly at the closed door. He sighed heavily and Meg glanced up.
"Erik, don't you want her to be happy?"
"Of course I do."
"Then let her choose. OK? She has to decide this for herself. It's not easy, you know. It's not just the phans who are causing trouble. You and Raoul really aren't helping."
Erik didn't reply. Meg turned back to her magazine.
"If it were me, I'd drop you both. You're just lucky she's a softie." She said casually. "Oh look, Jennifer Lopez is getting engaged again…"
She began to read the article and Erik began to think about what she'd said. It didn't help that he had grown up getting everything he wanted. A little chandelier chaos every now and again worked wonders. But somehow, he didn't think that would help in this particular scenario.
Christine and Raoul sat in silence, having talked everything out. And it had only taken five hours. Raoul looked across at her.
"Shall we go and tell everyone what we've decided?" Raoul asked and Christine nodded.
"Yeah. We really shouldn't put it off any longer. But Christine?"
She looked at him. He had an awkward look on his face.
"What is it?" She asked in concern.
"Before we go out there…"
"Yes?"
"…Can you do something about my hair?" He asked. Christine eyed the tattered locks and sighed.
"Yeah. Sit down. You'll have to have short hair for a while, but it'll grow."
Meg looked around at the others, who had all returned.
"I think they're moving around. They might be coming out." She said. Sure enough, a few moments later, the door opened and Raoul and Christine appeared. Christine smiled.
"Sorry for making you all wait."
"What did you decide?" Donald asked eagerly.
Raoul and Christine looked at each other with slight smiles and then Raoul hesitated.
"Is there someone missing?" They looked around. Nadir frowned.
"Where's Erik?"
A/N: Sorry about the shortness. Bad couple of days at school and a mild case of writer's block. Looks like you'll have to wait to find out who Christine's chosen! And just because I'm an E/C shipper, it does NOT necessarily mean this will be an E/C story. So don't get your hopes up.
Lotsa luv 'n' huggles
Katie
