Rose Rouge

Chapter XVII: Little Favor

As they ate, they sat in silence. And silence was better when you enjoyed the simple presence of your company. Silence was comfortable, or uncomfortable. It often depended on the person you shared it with.

Meg picked at her food, sliding the vegetables to one corner of her plate. "I'm glad I'm here, Raoul." She spoke, shattering the silence that lingered between them.

Raoul nodded and took a sip from his drink. What could he even imagine to say? Raoul was always the shy type.

They dined under the dark indigo sky. It swirled with tiny beams of light radiating from the stars. He exhaled a sigh, Raoul used to enjoy beautiful nights such as these with Christine. A soft breeze fanned his cheek and he sighed again. He couldn't get his mind off her. No matter how much the victome tried to, her image followed him everywhere he went. This caused a sharp feeling of guilt to wash over him, as Raoul looked at Meg.

"Your brother seems to care for you a lot." She said, staring up into the clear heavens.

"He does, and I am grateful for all he has taught me, especially when I was a child." A weak smile broke out onto Raoul's face. Nevertheless, it caused Meg to blush.

"What did you do as a child?"

Raoul seemed to be thinking very deeply about this. He hadn't really engaged in any childhood games, no memories of playing hide-n-seek in the backyard, no friends coming over to celebrate birthdays, or coming over just to have a good time. His father was always busy with work. Philippe usually kept him company and talked to Raoul about the family business. Raoul explained this to Meg. He told her that being a nobleman took up most of his time. He had responsibilities to learn and found it hard to have any real fun while being a kid.

The part where Christine become untwined within his memories, Raoul decided to skip. Although, he did mention going to the beach a few times.

Meg gave him a soft smile and continued eating. She already had guessed that Raoul was too caught up in thoughts, to even ask about her own life. And well, her life was pretty much set ever since the day she was born. A ballerina, living in an opera house haunted by a resident ghost.

But Raoul and her shared at least one thing in common. Meeting Christine was one of the happiest moments that had ever accrued in their lives. Meg knew that. But she also knew that Raoul was not yet over Christine, and wondered if he ever would be. She was his true love, after all. Wishing and waiting for Raoul to suddenly fall in love with Meg was too much for her to hope for. And yet, the little Giry had the strange feeling that she shouldn't be with Raoul anyway, on the count of how it was affecting Christine.

Raoul frown at her. "I'm sorry. I'm not being a very good gentleman, am I? We have hardly talked!"

"No, it's fine. I'm having a delightful time!" She smiled.

The Victome brightened a bit, smiling back. It was nice how Meg was pretending to enjoy herself, even when all Raoul could think about was the sickening feeling of Erik's arms held tightly around his wife.

Well, she wasn't anymore…

Raoul wasn't going to let his life waste away while waiting to be visited by the ghost of Christine. A ghost... A ghost...

Oh, the irony of it all.

Raoul pushed it aside and gently placed a trembling hand over Meg's. This caused her to twitch slightly. He hadn't noticed before, but Meg was equally beautiful from Christine. The moon-light shone upon her golden hair. She looked like she was glowing, an angel from above. As much as Raoul longed for Ms Daae back, he wondered if he would be alone forever, and have no desire to do so. He starting chattering merrily, that little twinkle returning to his blue eyes.

Raoul asked about her family, and when Meg replied that her father had died just before she was born, he went to comfort her in words. She told him that her mother never chose to marry again. Taking care of a daughter and running a ballet was hard enough to do. Finding a man in the process? Next to impossible!

"It's all right, though. I never really pictured Mama as the romantic, 'I long for a husband' type. She's very compassionate about her work. We have to follow instructions perfectly; otherwise Mama can get very strict." An inhale of breath, "being as devoted as she is, I always figured that I wouldn't be getting a father. That made me sad. Christine told me such wonderful things about hers…"

Raoul shivered. "Let's not talk about these…depressing subjects."

She went quiet again, knowing what he was thinking about, and took another small sip of tea from her cup. When Meg looked up again, she noticed Raoul had a particle of food on his face that she couldn't help but laugh sweetly.

"It seems you missed your mouth." Unfolding her napkin, Meg gently wiped it off from the corner of his lips. Raoul felt the blood rush to his face as he nodded in thanks. He liked the child-like essence of her laugh. Perhaps this was going to be a good night after all.

xxxxx

Christine looked at herself in the mirror. She never was someone to evaluate herself, but on this day, she wanted to. She couldn't help but think about Raoul and Meg, what she looked like, what they were doing. At her own pace, Christine softly shut the bedroom door and undressed in front of the glass. Her petite body was filled out in all the right places, breasts softly rounded and stomach flat. All in all, Christine was perfect.

A deep sigh. Christine slowly shook her head. She walked, or more so shuffled, to the closet and selected a dress similar to the one she had been wearing in 'Don Jaun.' Once she did that, Christine slipped it on, neglecting the corset for the thousandth time.

Next came the make-up. A little blush, a light touch of massacre, she did not need much. Christine combed her hair neatly and went to the mirror again.

She looked good. The fabric framed her body nicely, the make-up brought out her eyes. Christine was pleased. She unlocked the door and walked out to have herself escorted to the table by Erik.

"I hope you're hungry, my dear." He smiled at her.

"Yes, I am." She replied without glancing up to look at him. Erik knew her well enough to know what she was thinking about. He halted, holding Christine tightly to his chest.

"They're having a horrible time, I am sure. There is no need to worry, Christine." He kissed the top of her hair. His lips were soon replaced by his graceful fingers running themselves softly through brown curls.

Christine felt despicable. Did she really want her friend to have an awful time? She started to tremble. This worried Erik...

xxxxx

"No!"

"But, daroga!"

"I said no, Erik!" Nadir replied angrily.

It had been twenty minutes after dinner was served. Christine cuddled up on the sofa to flip through a book of poetry which had been read and memorized so many countless times before. Erik had told her that he would be back in a matter of moments, and that he was going out. There was some business to attend to.

"I will not, Erik! This is not my way!" Nadir said. "I cannot follow Monsieur Chagny and Ms Giry all over the place. Not only is it stalking-"

"I am not asking you to stalk! Simply tell me every detail that happens between the two. Is that difficult for you, Nadir? I thought you were capable of this."

'Sounds a great deal like stalking to me.' Nadir thought as his black eyes narrowed on his friend. "And what would you do if I told you that they were having a wonderful time? What would you do then?"

Erik smirked. "Then it shall, sooner or later, end. All good things end at some point, do they not?"

The Persian huffed. "You plan to get rid of them, don't you?"

"You fool, of course not! Meg Giry is a close friend to Christine!" He sounded irritated by this.

"What of Raoul, then?"

"It is useless to fret! Just be sure that you tell me all that you know, and I promise I won't kill him." Erik quickly spat, watching Nadir shrug.

"All right," he responded both hesitantly and reluctantly, "but if anything happens-"

Erik cut him off from his sentence. "You're wasting your time, daroga! I must get back to Christine. Can I trust you to do this for me?"

Nadir let out a defeated sigh. "Yes, Erik. I will do as you ask."