by LiltingBanshee
Author´s note: Thanks for the reviews:)
He never mentioned to her that he had seen the scars. If he did he would reveal that he had been spying on her in the first place and he still felt terribly embarrassed about doing so.
The clothes she wore made sense to him now. It was always long sleeved no matter how much she was sweating when she cleaned. And her performance dress, he had thought the one long sleeve on the black dress was a trick of fashion, but it was of course meant to hide the ruined skin.
Even though they were in the same position he could not question her about it. He had harshly brushed her off when she had asked about his mask so it would hardly seem fair to question what she was hiding.
Instead he kept quiet and they continued to develop their friendship. He kept discovering new sides of her like one morning when he came downstairs to find her singing softly while sweeping the floor.
She had a clear sweet voice, but it was obviously untrained. He didn't recognize the song, but found it quite beautiful.
Silently he moved up behind her and grabbed the mop she was holding. Instantly she stopped singing and stilled her movements when she felt his breath on her neck.
"Don't stop" he whispered "It was beautiful, but try to stand up straight."
"Why?" she whispered, trying to find her voice after the shock of him sneaking up on her.
"You can't get the full potential out of your voice if you're bending down over the mop" he explained.
She stared back at him over her shoulder with curious eyes and he took the mop from her.
"Now stand up straight, lift your chin and bring your chest out. Now you can use the full force of your lungs. Try again" he said encouragingly.
"But I don't know what to sing…" she said shyly, blushing terribly.
"Just go with the song you sang before" he smiled.
"But…that was just a lullaby my mother used to sing" she said weakly.
"Adora my dear, even a lullaby can be turned into an aria if you use the right technique" he said.
She started the song and he nodded with a smile to keep her going. She wobbled slightly on some of the notes, but it wasn't bad.
"Now use the muscles in your lower back to support your voice" he put his hands on the small of her back and applied a gentle pressure. "Come on Adora, let it out! You're on the stage of the opera house. Sing!" he said in an enthusiastically raised voice.
She ended the song and he caught her around the waist as she slumped forwards, exhausted from the effort she had made. For a second he thought she was crying, but then realized she was giggling like a little girl.
"What's so funny?" he asked amused.
"Oh my God, I have never tried anything like that before! I never knew I could sing with such power. Oh thank you for showing me Erik!" she grinned and threw her arms around his neck.
"You're welcome my dearest. Your voice is not perfect, but with the right training it could be" he said softly.
"How do you know so much about these things?" she asked.
"Believe it or not, but I used to be a voice teacher" he said and felt a lump form in his throat. "If you like I could train you so you could learn to sing properly without fearing that your voice might break when you hit the high notes" he offered.
"I would love that Erik! Would you really do that?" she exclaimed.
"Yes, I would be delighted to. Consider this your first lesson, we'll continue tomorrow" he smiled.
"This is so exciting! Oh it must have been great for you to teach at the opera house. You must tell me about it some day" she said and immediately regretted when she saw the look on his face.
"Why would you think I taught at the opera house?" he snapped, his face suddenly drained from colour.
"I…you told me…" she tried.
"No, I did not" he said, staring straight into her eyes.
"Well…you said I should imagine I was on stage at the opera house…I just assumed it was where you had worked" she said in a trembling voice.
He contemplated it for a second; she could have made that assumption.
"Forgive me, that was an easy mistake to make. I just wanted to encourage you. I was never at the opera house, I just worked as a common voice teacher" he said and caressed her cheek as an apology.
"All forgiven, I must finish my cleaning now, but I will look forward to my lesson tomorrow" she smiled and picked the mop up from the floor where he had dropped it earlier.
"Yes my sweet, we have a lot to work on" he smiled before he left.
He was still a bit shocked. Could someone really connect him with the Opera Populaire so easily?
No, it had to be a coincidence. No one could ever know who he had been so many years ago!