How could I be so stupid?
by LiltingBanshee
Author´s note: Sorry for the wait, life showed itself from the busy side:)
phantomann: start breathing,you´ll get your answer now...:)
Wandering-Phantom: thanks:)
Shdwcat27: thanks, on it´s way:)
satinzevi89: thanks, he´ll definitely be surprised
Lady Skywalker: Well, there´ll be some things he´ll have to consider because of the baby...:)
Ariadne Bassarid: Yeah, he probably would:)
trisana: glad you like it:)
Phantomandvampirelover: I hope so too, hope you´re having a nice time away:)
Josie: Thank you, here´s a new chapter for you:)
you´llbemyangel: there you go:)
Christine eyed the arrivals hall with a knot in her stomach. She hadn´t dared to hope he would be there to meet her, but she still felt disappointed when it was clear he wasn´t there.
With a sigh she went to figure out how to get to the city centre.
A couple of hours later she was walking towards the Paris opera house. She hadn´t wanted to just show up at his apartment. Though she was quite certain he wouldn´t mind her coming he hadn´t exactly invited her. She was just going to try and reach him at the opera house in the first place.
Stepping into the foyer of the opera house she was stunned at it´s beauty. She could really picture Erik working here.His mysterious mind fit perfectly into these amazing surroundings.
She went to the ticket sales desk and the young woman there smiled at her.
"Excuse me, could you tell me if there is a music composer of the name Erik Destler working here today?" Christine asked politely.
"I´m sorry Mademoiselle, I don´t know. Please ask at the information desk overthere" the woman answered.
Christine smiled and went to the information desk
She repeated her question to the woman there, but she just gave her a less polite stare.
"I can not give out information on our staff to strangers" she said.
"Please, I´m a good friend of Monsieur Destler´s. He will be pleased to see me" Christine tried.
"Mademoiselle, it is not my decision. We have security policies here" the woman said.
"If I leave a note for him could you make sure he gets it?" Christine asked.
The woman nodded. "I will try Mademoiselle, but I can make no promises."
After leaving a note at the information desk Christine went back to the friendly young ticket girl. She might as well see the opera house now she was there.
Anne Giry read the letter from Erik and sighed. Christine was going to be very upset. She walked up the stairs to bring the news to the girl.
"Meg, do you know where Christine has gone?" Anne asked as she failed to find Christine.
"Ehh...I think she´s gone out" Meg said unsecurely.
"Oh. Well, I hope she comes back soon. I just recieved a letter from Erik, he wont be coming over this summer. I need to tell Christine. Poor girl" Anne sighed.
Meg mumbled something.
"What did you say my dear?" Anne asked.
"I said she already knows.It was what the letter she recieved last week said. She went on a plane to Paris this morning. I tried to talk her out of this impulsive act Mum, really! But she had made up her mind" Meg said tearfully.
"Oh that stupid stubborn girl" Anne exclaimed.
The next day Christine was back at the opera house and was somewhat happy to see that it was the same woman sitting at the information desk as the day before.
She obviously recognised Christine.
"Mademoiselle I have a message for you" she said and Christine felt her heart skip a beat.
"I failed to reach Monsieur Destler, but his assistant told me to tell you that he is currently out of town."
"Oh..." Christine´s disappointment was hard to hide. "When will he be back...?"
"She said sometime next week, nothing for certain" the woman said.
"Ok, thank you" Christine turned to leave.
When she was nearly at the doors the woman called after her.
"Mademoiselle! Try and come back on Wednesday. I will see what I can do."
Christine smiled gratefully.
Lucille Madelaire sighed. Women never came to the opera house in search of Monsieur Destler. She was quite puzzled by this young girl, but she also felt sorry for her. She seemed very keen on getting in touch with Monsieur Destler.
But what would such a young and obviously pregnant girl wish to see the mysterious composer for?
Christine sat on the stairs of the opera house a long with several tourists.
'This was a real mess! Erik wasn´t here and she didn´t know when he would be back.'
She put her head in her hands and tried to hold back her tears.
'How could I be so stupid? To just go here without making sure it was ok with him"' she thought
Suddenly she felt something in her stomach and looked down and smiled. The baby was kicking. She let her tears run while she laughed softly.
"So you agree with me huh?", she sniffed. "Or maybe you´re just trying to tell me it´ll be ok. Fine, come on my darling. It´s no use sitting here" she said and got up .
She had to wait at least until Wednesday. In the meantime she would try to find somewhere better than the creepy hostel to live.
Camille Etienne opened the door and eyed the young girl on her doorstep.
"Madame, do you have any rooms available?" the girl asked
"Are you a student Mademoiselle?" Camille asked her.
"No, I´m not" the girl shrugged.
"I´m sorry Mademoiselle. We only rent out rooms to students" Camille said and began closing the door.
"Please Madame, I´ve tried many places. I don´t want to stay in a hostel in my condition and I can´t afford a hotel. I probably wont be staying for long" the girl pleaded.
Camille considered for a moment. This was a strange girl. She had obviously been walking the streets for most of the day. She was sweating, her dark curls hung all messy around her face and her swollen abdomen clearly revealed her condition.
"Very well Mademoiselle. Come in and I will show you to your room" Camille said and opened the door.
"Oh thank you Madame! My name is Christine Daáe" Christine said and stretched out her hand to the older woman.
"Camille Etienne. Now, once you have settled I will inform you of the house rules" Camille said and let Christine upstairs.
Christine was lying on her bed. The shower had done her good and she was feeling a bit more optimistic. Camille was a hard woman, but she had given Christine a fair rent for the room and the house rules wouldn´t be too hard to follow.
And she probably wouldn´t be staying here for long anyway. As soon as she got to talk to Erik things would be fine.
With a contented sigh she put a hand on her stomach and drifted off to sleep.
"Monsieur Destler!"
Erik looked at the woman who had called for his attention.
"Yes Lucille?" he asked.
"A young girl left this note for you a couple of days ago" Lucille said and handed him a piece of paper.
Erik unfolded the little note and read it over.
"Did she come back the next day?" he asked Lucille.
"Yes, and I told her you were out of town. She seemed very sad so I told her to come back tomorrow – Wednesday" Lucille said.
Erik huffed. "I´ll be away all day tomorrow".
He considered things for a minute and the grabbed a pen and scribled something on the back of Christine´s note.
He gave it to Lucille.
"Will you give her this note and tell her to meet me here at noon on Thursday?" he asked.
Lucille felt a strange sense of relief. "Certainly Monsieur Destler. I´m sure she´ll be very happy to see you. Is she family?" she asked.
"No, she´s not family, but she´s very dear to me. I would never do anything to hurt her" Erik said.
Lucille was slightly puzzled by this. "I´m sure she´s not too hurt by you being out of town and she´ll see you in a few days" she smiled.
"Yes, she will. Goodnight and thank you Lucille" Erik said and left the building.
My Dearest ChristineI´m sorry for not being around when you arrived, but when I got you letter it was too late for me to reach you and tell you I was going away.
I hope you have enjoyed your days in Paris so far.
Please meet me in the foyer of the opera house on Thursday at noon and I shall take you out for lunch.
Erik.
Christine felt giddy with joy as she read his little note for the hundredth time. It had not been a mistake to come, he really wanted to see her!
She put the note under he pillow and turned the light off. It would be hard to sleep with all the excitement she felt in her body.
He felt his heart swell as he saw her coming through the doors.
Her smile grew even wider as she spotted him and she went to him as fast as she could. She threw her arms around his neck and he put his arms around her and ran a hand down her long dark curls.
"It´s good to see you again Christine" he whispered into her hair.
"I´ve missed you so much" she said and he thought her voice sounded slightly tearful.
He pulled away and looked into her eyes. Before he knew what he was doing he bent down and kissed her lips softly. She smiled and ran a finger down his cheek. "I have so much to tell you..." she said softly.
"Let me take you somewhere nice and we´ll talk" he said putting his arm around her shoulders and leading her out on the streets.
Erik´s head was full of thoughts.
Christine had excused herself to go to the ladies room and that was when he had really noticed.
He had felt there was a bit more of her when he had hugged her earlier, but he was sure now.
The girl was pregnant!
He was very emotionally confused. She must have gotten back with the boyfriend she had been so afraid of hurting when they had first slept together.
'Was that was she had come here to tell him? Had she wanted to tell him to his face that there was no hope for them?'
It was probably for the best, but the thought made him feel very sad.
After their lunch he took her for a stroll in a nearby park.
He felt her little hand sneak into his and he smiled down at her.
"Erik...there´s something I need to tell you" she said after a while.
'Here we go' Erik thought.
She stopped walking and turned to him without letting go of his hand.
"Erik I´m pregnant" she said.
He gave her a forced smile. "Congratulations Christine. I take it you made up with Raoul".
"What? No Erik, the baby´s yours..."though she was speaking in a low voice he heard her loud and clearly.
"What? You mean...you and I...? Christine how can this be?"all kinds of feelings were welling up in him.
"We weren´t exactly careful when we were together" she said.
"Oh God Christine. How pregnant are you?" he asked.
"Nearly 7 months" she said nervously.
"7 months! Why didn´t you tell me sooner?" Erik exclaimed.
"I´m sorry Erik. I wouldn´t tell you in a letter...are you mad at me?"she asked and he could see tears begin to form in her eyes.
He quickly wrapped his arms around her in a gentle hug.
"No of course I´m not mad! Surprised yes, but not mad" he said soothingly and planted a kiss in her hair.
"So you´re happy about the baby" she mumbled against his chest.
He cupped her cheek and smiled.
"Yes Christine, I´m happy. There´s a lot of things in my personal life I shall have to sort out, but I´m quite sure we´ll find a way to handle this child" he said.
She hugged him close and he could hear her weep quietly.
"Christine what´s the matter" he asked concerned.
"I was so afraid you would be mad at me and tell me to leave" she cried.
He rubbed her back gently. "Shh it´s alright Christine. We´ll find a way" he whispered, not sure if he was trying to convince her or himself.
Back at the opera house Erik offered to give Christine a personally guided tour.
They were just on their way up the big stairs when a voice rang out in the foyer.
"Erik!"
Both turned and Christine eyed the tall blonde woman who came towards them.
"Gi...Giselle, what are you doing here?" Erik stuttered.
"Papa had business in town so I came along. Oh I´ve missed you so much ma chéri!" the woman said and threw her arms around Erik and planted a kiss on his cheek.
At that moment she noticed Christine who had gone quite pale.
"Oh, I´m sorry. Was I interupting your work?" she asked.
Erik cleared his throat. "No, Giselle. This is Christine Daaé a dear friend of mine from England" he said nervously. "Christine this is my friend Giselle."
Giselle giggled. "Don´t be silly Erik, I´m more than a friend."
She stretched her hand out to Christine. "Giselle Bertrand, I´m Erik´s fiancé".