From Heaven's Mind

Chapter Three

Thursday arrived and Erik called Nadir to the office.

"I wanted to ask you something." He said scribbling something down. Nadir nodded.

"What is it?"

"First of all… an apology for snapping at you yesterday." Erik said. Nadir was almost positive that a pink flush was spreading across his face.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that, Erik." He grinned. Erik glared at him.

"I made an apology, as well you know. Now stop being so irritating."

"Ah, if you insist." Nadir said demurely.

Erik stood and turned to face him.

"Nadir, you're not coming to New York." Nadir blinked, although he hadn't entirely unsuspected this.

"I'm not?"

"No. I want you to stay here. I need someone here to keep in contact with for business and you're the only one I would trust." Erik said. Nadir nodded.

"And this has nothing to do with me keeping an eye on Christine?"

"I would expect you to look after her anyway."

"I will because she's my friend, Erik. Not because she's your wife." Nadir warned, "I refuse to get involved between the two of you."

"You won't have to. Just make sure she's safe and happy. That's all I want." Erik said, turning to answer the telephone, which had started to ring.

"And you'll call me when you get there?" Christine said anxiously. Erik nodded, unable to help smiling at her flustering.

"Yes."

"You've got your ticket and passport?"

"Yes."

"What about all your notes? I can fax them if you forget but-"

"Christine." He said and she stopped, flushing.

"I was doing it again, wasn't I?" She mumbled.

Erik smiled.

"Yes. But I like knowing that you care this much."

"Of course I care. Oh, are you taking food? I know you hate air food and-"

"I have food." He interrupted. She nodded and looked around, checking that all his cases were there. She's not only numbered them in height, weight and size order, she'd also given him a list of what was in each and every case, pocket and box.

"Christine, stop." Erik said, catching her arm.

Christine smiled weakly.

"I'm just making sure that you've got everything."

"I have. And if I've forgotten anything you can have Nadir post it to me."

"I know, I just…" She didn't finish the sentence, sighing heavily. "It's just going to be strange. You not being here, I mean. It's silly; I'll be seeing you next weekend, but still…"

"It seems like a very long time to be apart." Erik finished. She nodded and he pulled her into his arms.

Neither of them spoke. After a few minutes later, as the bags were moved out, one of the servants said tentatively,

"Mr Destler? The car is ready." Erik let go of Christine and looked down at her. She smiled, although he sensed a certain amount of braveness behind the expression.

"Go. Before I burst into tears and tie you to the banisters so you can't leave." She said, pushing him. He bent his head and kissed her intensely before picking up his bag and walking out to the car. Christine moved over to the doorway, watching.

Erik did not look back. Because he knew that if he did, his resolve would weaken. So he climbed into the car and ordered Thompson to drive.

As the car went through the gates, Christine leant heavily against the doorframe. Nadir put a hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him.

"Are you alright?" He asked gently. She nodded, but didn't speak. Instead she hugged him tightly before closing the door. Nadir watched as she looked around the empty entrance hall and sighed heavily.

"I think I'll take Trister out."

"Would you like me to come?"

"No, I'd like to be alone for a while." She glanced at him with a slight smile, "And I'm guessing that you're only asking on Erik's orders anyway."

"No, I'm asking because you're upset. Just because that happens to fall into the category of me keeping an eye on you…"

Christine laughed.

"Does he think I'm twelve? As soon as he leaves I'm going to start running with scissors, playing with matches…"

"Let's go find some strangers and see if they'll feed you some candy." Nadir grinned.

"And then we go find an electrical socket and poke our fingers into it." Christine snorted. "Well, thanks anyway. It's nice to know I'm not totally alone."

"Of course not." Nadir said with a smile.

Christine climbed into her car and drove to the shopping centre of the town. Leaving the car in the main car park, she took Trister's lead and walked him through the town to her old house. This was a thirty minute walk and it was a warm summer's day, the kind that lets you know that you should enjoy it while it lasts because autumn is on the way.

Tom answered the door and grinned.

"Watch out Meg, it's the landlord."

"Hi Tom." Christine grinned, letting Trister off the leash. He ran into the house, sniffing at the new smells. Meg came out of the kitchen and bent to hug him.

"Oh, cutie dog! I love you so much!"

"OK, what is it about that dog?" Tom demanded.

"Well, look at him!" Meg said. Tom snorted.

"He is in no way cuter than me."

"Is too!" Meg and Christine said together. Tom rolled his eyes and disappeared into the kitchen. Christine and Meg exchanged a wicked grin before following him.

"So, mansion feeling lonely and you wanted to hang out with us lower classes?" Meg teased. Christine laughed and then shrugged.

"I don't know. It's just that Erik left this morning and I guess I just wanted some company. Company that isn't being paid to hang around the house."

"Well, if you want to pay us, that's OK. I mean, we'll do it for free but I could always use a little extra cash." Tom winked. Christine grinned.

"Nice try. I give you a place to live and I don't charge rent. You'll have to put up with that."

"That's a pretty good deal." Meg said, flicking open the child locks on the fridge and taking out three cans of drink. Christine lifted an eyebrow.

"You can take the child locks off you know."

"Nah, its fine. I mean, it took Max a while to figure out how to open them but he's got the hang of it now." Meg said, passing her a coke.

Christine snapped it open and sipped thoughtfully. After a moment she asked,

"Where's Max?"

"Out looking for a job. Stupid bloke's determined to earn an honest living. He's crazy." Tom said. Meg nodded and grinned at her friend.

"It must be nice to not have to have a job. Maybe I should marry a billionaire…"

"Maybe you should consider that when your boyfriend is out of earshot." Tom put in. Christine smiled.

"Hey, I've got a job. In fact, I'll be starting on Monday."

"Yeah, but you don't need to work. That's just to stop you getting bored. It's more of a hobby than a job." Tom pointed out. Christine shrugged.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. But never mind. It works for me."

"Just because you hate your job, Tom." Meg said, putting a bowl of water down for Trister. Tom held up a hand.

"I do not hate my job."

"Then why are you putting off writing that review?"

"Because it was a terrible play and I don' want to sound mean."

"You're a critic, Tom. Be as mean as you want!" Meg pointed out. Christine poked him.

"You'd better not be mean about my opera!"

"I wouldn't dare." Tom muttered. "You're one scary woman, Christine."

Christine glared at him and then rolled her eyes.

"Oh, I would argue but I can't be bothered."

"Want to stay for lunch? I was going to cook." Meg offered. Christine nodded.

"Sure, that sounds good." The doorbell went. "I'll get it."

She got up and went to the front door. Max blinked at her.

"Wait a minute. You don't live here anymore." He said.

"No, but you do. You have keys."

"I forget them." He pointed at the keys that were sat on the table.

"Any luck on the job front?"

"I may have something. I'm going for an interview tomorrow. But I wanted lunch so I came to see if Meg's cooking." He grinned. Meg nodded.

"Yes, I am."

"Excellent. If Tom were cooking I'd eat out."

"I'm a good cook!"

"You can only cook one dish." Max pointed out.

"And I make it very well." Tom replied haughtily.

Christine grinned, enjoying their banter. She'd forgotten how much she enjoyed being around her friends. Although she loved living with Erik and Nadir, it was nice to be around people her own age occasionally. Tom, Max and Meg all seemed to live in a simple, live-for-the-moment way whereas Christine often found herself thinking so far ahead she couldn't possible plan that far. Of course, she'd been doing that since she was nineteen. Living alone made you grow up fast. Sometimes she felt rather cheated that she'd missed out on this simplistic existence. But then, she couldn't exactly complain. She had Erik. And she'd rather have him than what her three friends had.

"We were going to go and see a movie tonight. There's a new horror one on and I've been dying to see it. Want to come?" Meg asked, pulling food out of the fridge. Christine nodded.

"Sure, that sounds good. I'll have to take Trister home at some point first."

"That's OK, you can meet us there." Max said and scratched behind Trister's ear. "Plus if we're not here I won't have to talk to Cara."

"Fighting again?"

"Yeah. I swear I'm not afraid of commitment but as soon as she brings us going to another level I freak out."

"Then maybe you should just break up with her once and for all." Christine suggested. Max shrugged, looking depressed.

"Yeah, I guess. I just… I really like her. I like what we have now. What is it with women and wanting to go to 'the next level'?"

"I'm not like that." Meg objected. Tom nodded.

"I'll agree with her on that one."

"Then is it just Cara?" Max asked.

Christine shook her head.

"No. It's not just Cara. Look, Max, do you really see it going anywhere with her? I mean seriously."

"No! Stop that! That's what she said." Max said, pointing at her accusingly. Tom whistled.

"You're lucky Erik got to her first, Max. Otherwise she might have made you marry her."

"I know. Close escape there." Max said solemnly. Christine hit Max's arm.

"I didn't MAKE Erik marry me! He proposed and I said yes!"

"Sure, that's your story." Tom muttered.

Christine glared at him.

"Oh, shut up. You and Meg would never have gotten together if it wasn't for me. And as for you, Max Hodges, if you want to live to get to that interview tomorrow you had better take that back!"

"OK, OK…" Max held his hands up in surrender. "I take it back." Christine nodded satisfactorily. Only to hear Max mutter, "Women…"

And then she hit him. And to be fair, he DID deserve it.

Nadir was in the office, typing something up on a laptop when Christine brought Trister back to the mansion.

"Have fun?" Nadir asked.

"Yeah. I'm going to see a film with the guys tonight."

"Good. I think I'm going to have an early night. Your kind husband left me a large pile of work to get through."

"Oh, he just wants to make sure you don't get bored." Christine said cheerfully. Nadir pulled a face.

"How very generous of him."

The phone rang and Christine picked up.

"Destler residence. Christine speaking."

"Christine." Erik's voice sounded over the line and her face lit up.

"Erik! How was the flight?"

"Abysmal. They always are. But it got me here."

"You got to the penthouse alright?"

"Of course." He sounded amused and Christine grinned.

"Good. Oh, I miss you already."

"I miss you too." His voice softened. "You're alright?"

"I'm fine. Went to see the guys today and we're going to see a film tonight." Christine said, patting Trister as he nudged her hand for attention.

"Good. Have fun with them."

"I will. Do you want to talk to Nadir?"

"Yes, I may as well." Erik said. Christine laughed.

"And did you have to give him so much work to do?"

"At least he won't get bored."

Christine snorted with laughter and handed the phone over. Nadir began to talk to Erik and she went to fetch her bag from her room. She passed one of the maids in the corridor.

"Hello Susan."

"Good afternoon, Mrs Destler. Will you be in for dinner?" Susan asked politely.

"No, I'm going out with some friends. I think Nadir's going to be here though. Oh, and can you make sure that he doesn't do too much work today? Hide his laptop if you have to. I'll take all responsibility."

Susan looked ready to laugh but nodded.

"Of course, Mrs Destler."

"Thanks Susan." Christine smiled, going to her room.

Meg, Max and Tom were outside the cinema when Christine arrived.

"Hey guys. Sorry I'm late, the car was playing up."

"Why do you still drive that old thing? Surely you can get a new one?" Meg asked as they went inside.

"Sentimental value. When it finally dies I'll invest in a new one." Christine said firmly. "I'll get tickets if you get snacks."

Armed with popcorn, drinks and a large bag of chocolate on Meg and Christine's insistence, they made their way to the theatre. Sat along a prime row, they waited for the lights to dim, watching a reel of advertisements pop up. Meg nudged Christine in the side.

"OK, if this film is as scary as it's supposed to be, be ready to hug me."

"Hey, you've got Tom for that. I reserve all Christine-hugging rights." Max said, who was sat on Christine's other side. Christine grinned.

"There's enough of me to go around."

"Good thing Erik isn't here." Meg winked. "I'd hate to see what he'd do to Max if he finds out he was groping you in a dark theatre."

"Who mentioned groping? I would never grope Christine!" Max objected. Christine huffed.

"Good thing too! Never mind Erik, I'd give you a good beating."

"Shh, it's starting!" Tom hissed.

They settled down to watch the film. And within half an hour they learned that it was as scary as it was meant to be. Halfway through the film, Meg had her head buried in Tom's shoulder, Tom was staring aghast at the blood-soaked screen, Christine was huddled under her coat, gripping Max's arm so tightly he was wincing and Max himself was forcing himself to watch only to flinch every few seconds.

Further down the seats, a large group of teenagers were greatly enjoying the film, to the point of cheering every time a limb went flying. Behind them was a row of couples, all of them too engrossed in their own activities to bother watching the film.

The four friends emerged from the theatre two hours after the start of the film. Meg and Christine were both distinctly pale, Tom and Max excitedly discussing the more graphic parts.

"And when that guy's head went flying!"

"I know!"

"Do you HAVE to talk about it?" Meg winced. Tom and Max looked at her as though she were quite mad.

"Of course!"

"Next time, chick flick." Christine muttered. "And yes, you two ARE coming. After making us sit through that…"

"It was Meg's idea." Tom pointed out.

"I'm ready to admit that I made a severe mistake with that one." Meg mumbled. "Can we go home now?"

"Sure." Tom said, suddenly sympathetic, putting an arm around her. Max grinned at Christine.

"And now you've got to go home and be all by yourself. After watching a scary film. In the dark."

"I can think of something scarier." Christine said.

"Oh yeah? What?" Max demanded.

"You'll find out when Cara spots you." Christine said, gesturing to the refreshments queue, where the dark-haired girl stood with a friend, chatting.

Max winced.

"Oh God. Please don't let her see me."

"Too late!" Meg crowed in a sing-song voice. Max looked around to see Cara staring at him furiously. She marched over.

"You said you were ill, Max!" She spat. Christine and Meg stared at him in disgust.

"You lied? Low, Max." Meg said.

"That was undeniably stupid." Christine agreed. Cara glanced at the other three before turning back to the helpless Max. Tom tapped Meg's arm.

"Let's go wait in the car."

"Good idea. See you soon, Max."

"Bye Christine."

They disappeared. Christine smiled weakly at Cara and Max.

"I'll see you later."

"See you, Christine." Max said, in a tone that suggested he'd be very lucky if he was still alive to see her.

As Christine drove through the dark streets back to the mansion, she considered herself to be very lucky that she was married to someone so wholly devoted. And unlikely to ever go to the cinema.

A/N: I would have liked this chapter to be longer. And up earlier. But things went rather wrong. As you may have noticed, in the previous chapter I mentioned that my Aunt should have had a few weeks. But the day after I posted that chapter, we got a phone call. We ended up going to see her a day early.

My Aunt died on Sunday evening. I was with her when she passed away. I… well, I don't really know what to say. Thank you all for your prayers, they are so very appreciated. Again, the next chapter may be a while. We're going back up for the funeral this weekend and I'm getting exam results tomorrow.

All in all, not the best summer I've had. But these things happen. Please, please donate to cancer charities. Let's try and stop it before it takes more lives than it has to.

Lotsa luv

Katie