Author´s note: A merry Christmas to all my readers! I´ve already received an early present: 100 reviews for this story. Thank you so much!

52) Can you feel the love tonight?

"We´re nearly there, M. le Vicomte." Raoul followed the middle-aged man who was supposed to take him to his seat with long strides. He was a little late; the performance would start any minute. It had taken him more than half an hour to pick a bouquet of flowers. In the end he had decided against roses or lilies and taken a dozen sunflowers instead. This was what he had sent Christine after their first evening together. Maybe it would remind her of the happy times, when things had been less difficult.

Finally the man came to a halt in front of one of the private boxes. "Here we are.", he said with a polite little bow, opening the door. "It appears that you have the entire box for yourself. Well, that means you have plenty of space for putting down your flowers. If you´d excuse me now… I have some other very important business… Good luck!" "Wait a moment!", Raoul called. "You cannot be serious. This has to be a mistake. I don´t want to sit in Box Five!"

"It is the place that has been given to you by the Opera Ghost himself, monsieur.", the man informed him. "If he approves of it, I´m sure nothing bad will happen to you." Despite his reassuring words he didn´t enter the box with Raoul as it would have been normal, but turned on his heel and walked away as quickly as his feet would carry him.

So Raoul went in alone. He had expected the worst, yet on the first sight Box Five looked just like every other box he had seen so far. Suddenly he didn´t know what he had been afraid of. After all, it wasn´t as if he hadn´t been seated in the legendary torture chamber. Besides, it occurred to him that the Opera Ghost would have more important things to do today than scaring the audience. He was the leading singer, so he´d be on stage all evening. With this comforting knowledge Raoul took off his coat and settled down on a seat right at the front. In this moment the lights in the auditorium were extinguished. The performance began.

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An hour later Raoul sat at the edge of his chair, leaning forwards as far as it was possible without tumbling over the balustrade. His gaze followed each of Christine´s movements. He was enthralled by her elegance and grace. She truly resembled a princess. But instead of enjoying the performance it made him sad. How could be have ever hoped a girl like her would be interested in him, a simple vicomte? She deserved a prince who´d place a whole kingdom at her feet. Throwing a quick glance at the auditorium he could make out at least three other patrons who´d happily apply for this position.

His grip around the bouquet tightened. By now he was glad that he hadn´t bought roses; their thorns would have hurt his palm. But then, for Christine he´d have accepted having bloody hands every day. Wasn´t she herself in her light pink dress like a rare and precious rose? She was beautiful, and yet she had hurt him more than anyone else. Raoul seriously wondered if he had gone insane. Wasn´t it madness to return to a girl who had been trampling on his feelings?

´No, it´s not.´, a small, but clearly audible voice in his head declared. ´You have to find out what she´s feeling for you. She has had enough time to think about it; tonight you´ll get your answer.´ He jumped up from his chair as if he had been struck by a bolt of lightning. He was aware that he had had planned not to bother her until after the performance, but he couldn´t wait for such a long time. He´d talk to her in the intermission. Unable to sit down again and watch patiently he decided to go to the girl´s dressing room. This way he´d make sure that he wouldn´t miss her.

Meanwhile the end of the first act was drawing nearer. As Christine only had to stand motionlessly in a corner of the stage at the moment while the unfortunate Tin Soldier was thrown out of the window she could cast a discreet glance at Box Five. Erik had told her briefly before the performance that Raoul would be seated in there. He had justified his action by saying that there hadn´t been another possibility unless the Vicomte would be content with standing. Yet Christine had soon discovered a second reason: From her current position, which she had to take quite often during the opera, Box Five was the only one in her range of vision. Although the bright light on stage prevented her from seeing much, she had had at least a few opportunities to watch him watching her.

But what was happening now? The girl saw him stand up and leave. She asked herself where he could be going such a short time before the intermission. Had he already had enough of her and had simply gone home? What about their conversation? She should have been relieved about not having to answer his question, but she just felt a terrible loss. Did she mean that little to him? With all this on her mind it was good that she only had to sing a few more lines before the intermission. Surely one of her arias would have ended in a catastrophe with such a lack of concentration.

When the applause had died away Christine let her eyes wander over the audience. Maybe Raoul had taken another seat because he hadn´t liked sitting in Box Five anymore. "He´s not there.", a voice behind her said. She didn´t have to turn around to recognise Erik. "And where is he?", she asked. "He´s standing at the door of your dressing room, waiting for you.", she was instantly informed. "How do you know that?" He gave a slight chuckle. "I´d be a lousy ghost if I didn´t even know that." He walked up to her, growing serious. Taking her hand and squeezing it briefly he said: "Go to him, child! I trust you´ll make the right decision.".