"Wow…I never knew music like that was possible," she said. "Hey, what's wrong?" she asked as she noticed his sweet smile fade from his lips. "Did I say something wrong?"
He shifted his gaze and cleared his throat as he said, "It's nothing. Perhaps we should take a break." With that, he got up from the piano a little too quickly and banged his knees on the bottom of the keyboard. He let out a surprised "ouch" and, closing his eyes momentarily, paused to calm himself before getting up again, this time avoiding a collision with the piano.
Before she could think to say anything, he was up and out of the room. She was shocked into silence and could only stare at the spot where he had just been sitting. "Oh, no. What did I do? What did I say?" she asked aloud to an empty room. Finally, her senses returned, and she quickly ran out of the room to find Erik and apologize for whatever it was that offended him.
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Erik walked as quickly as his injured leg would allow. He was glad she didn't follow, though he knew it probably wouldn't take much for her to find him since he was currently in no shape to escape effectively. He wasn't quite sure why he left in such a hurry, but he found he just had to get away. Her kindness followed by an innocent-sounding jab at his earlier deception was just too much for him to handle at that moment. After all, how could she say such kind words about a monster like him anyway? It just didn't fit in with his well-practiced and deeply ingrained sense of self-pity and self-loathing that had been conditioned in him over the years.
Not for the first time or the last, he cursed his lot in life, figuring that he would never be allowed the smallest bit of happiness without having an accompanying serving of guilt that was several times greater, regardless of the situation at hand. He was fairly sure she meant nothing by her comment regarding her being easily fooled, but he still hadn't forgiven himself for the way he had shunned her the previous evening when all she had wanted was to know why he had put so much time and energy into pretending to be her angel of music sent from the heavens.
He had managed to make it just outside the church entrance and down the steps when he heard Nicole calling for him, "Erik? Erik, where are you? I'm sorry if I offended you. Please come back, my sweet angel of music."
She was still looking for him in the church, so he thought he might have enough time to escape into the woods, where he could disappear for awhile. However, his plan was short-lived when she nearly ran him over as she exited the church to look for him outside.
"There you are. Why did you leave as you did? Did I say something to offend you?" she questioned him. She was on the verge of tears, and he chided himself once again. He just couldn't seem to keep things going in the right direction once they started heading that way. He was always messing something up.
He looked at her, his eyes sad and apologetic. He wanted to reach out to her but thought better of it. "I'm sorry, Nicole...so sorry," he said, barely above a whisper. "I just have a bad habit of sabotaging myself when things start going well."
She gave him a pained, teary-eyed smile as she motioned for him to come to her. She was standing a step above him, so she was able to look him almost directly in the eyes. She gently caressed his left arm. "It's okay, Erik. Just please, I beg you to talk to me next time instead of just getting up and walking out on me. Will you promise me that?" she asked pleadingly.
He sighed. "I'll do my best. You know, this whole personal interaction thing is kind of new to me, so you'll have to be patient," he reminded her gently.
"I promise to be patient with you if you'll promise to talk to me when something is bothering you. Do we have a deal?" she asked, extending her hand out.
He shook her hand gently and, with a slight smile, said, "Yes, Mademoiselle, I believe we do."
"Now what does a girl have to do around here to get a friendly hug from her angel?" she asked with eyebrows raised and a slightly devilish grin on her face.
Her expression melted his heart, and he found he couldn't resist her request. He opened up his arms to her, and she nearly knocked him down in her eagerness to feel his arms around her. She hugged him so tight that he could feel it in every fiber of his being. He found himself glad she couldn't see his face as a few tears ran down his cheeks. Her touch was warm and comforting, and he made up his mind then and there that he was going to enjoy his new-found happiness with Nicole for as long as possible.
After their long embrace, she gently pulled away, looking at him with a soft and unmistakable expression of affection. "Shall we return to our duets?" she asked.
He walked around her without a word and went up the stairs, extending his hand to her as he passed by. She smiled and took his hand as they walked back in to the church and returned to the basement where they resumed making their beautiful music together. Nicole's dream from the previous evening had come true, and she found it nearly impossible to conceal her happiness. She was sure her job of convincing Erik that she would be good for him was going to be smooth sailing from here on out. Any thoughts of possible storms disturbing that smooth sailing were miles from her mind. Too bad fate had other plans...