I woke up the next morning feeling rested and ready for a new day. I went through my usual morning routine, (showering , dressing, brushing my teeth, etc..), and hurried down the steps to the lobby. Erik was right. Where there had been bare floors and empty sofas sat at least one hundred people all of which had either a large suitcase or clothing bags slung over their shoulders. There were also a lot of people trying to squish themselves into booths and adding extra chairs to tables in the restaurant. Almost all the tables were taken except for one in the corner. That's when I saw Erik desperately trying to convince a large woman that he needed the extra chair for a friend that was meeting him. I couldn't help but laugh when the woman stormed off after he had refused to give her the chair. He must've saw me laughing because he smiled when I sat down.
"You think it's funny, do you? When I was simply trying to save you a chair?", he said.
"Actually, yes. Quite funny..", I responded in the midst of a giggle. He gave me a look and I stopped laughing.
"So, how did you sleep?", he asked, clearly fishing around for a different topic.
"Fine, you?", I said, suppressing the last of my laughter.
"Not well at all, as usual..", he said in a casual tone as he glanced around at the restaurant's inhabitants.
I saw his eyes stop on a table about twenty feet away. It was Raoul and Christine. His eyes quickly shifted back to mine as he noticed that I was looking towards their table also. I, too, shifted my eyes and fell upon his gaze.
"What do you say to having breakfast somewhere else?", he asked.
"Fine with me.", I said.
We both got up and made our way back through the crowded lobby and went upstairs. As we reached the landing, I said,
"I don't really feel like going to my room."
"Where do you want to go?", he asked.
"Somewhere unknown... Let's go exploring!", I exclaimed.
"I don't know...", he joked.
"Come on! Be adventurous for once!", I said, halfway up the stairs.
"Adventurous, eh? I'll show you adventurous!", he said.
He then chased me up two more flights of stairs, down a hall, and around a corner where I found myself at a dead end and stopped to catch my breath. Suddenly, in the darkness, he grabbed me and said,
"Ha! I caught you!"
I laughed and said, "Yes. Yes you did.. Where are we?"
"Somewhere unknown...", he joked.
"No! For real!", I said.
"Probably the fourth floor, these are just older rooms that nobody uses anymore.", he explained, pointing in the direction of one of the many rooms in the corridor.
"Hmm... I wonder why...", I said as I peeled the already peeling wallpaper off the wall.
"It was once so beautiful, but now...", he said sadly. He sighed.
"I guess we should find somewhere else to have breakfast then, I'm starving!", I said, changing the subject.
"Yes, but where?", he pondered.
"I guess we could eat in my room, I just didn't want another confrontation with Christine..", I explained.
"Fine with me. I don't care for breakfast much anyway."
"What? Why did you always come down then?"
"Truthfully? Because I wanted to see you again..", he said quietly.
It took us a little while to find my room again, but we finally reached my hallway. During that time, we had talked of all sorts of things but the most interesting was of the masquerade. I had wanted to find out more about it, since it was tomorrow night. Erik knew all about it, although he said he usually did not attend them, he just watched. Coming back to present time, we finally reached my hallway. We turned a corner at the end of the hallway and saw none other than Christine and Raoul. Christine had a hairpin in the lock of my door, and was desperately trying to pick the lock. Raoul had a mixture of emotions on his face as he saw us walking towards them. I exclaimed,
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Oh, erm...well it's not what it seems...", Raoul said.
"Really? So you're not breaking and entering, then?", Erik said calmly.
Christine stood up from where she had been stooped on the ground before and faced me.
"I wish to take my belongings out of your room because I have no interest in coming back here!", Christine yelled.
"Jeez, Christine. All you had to do was ask, but you can't be that courteous can you? Tell you what, I would happily oblige to having your things removed from my room.", I calmly explained.
I pushed her out of the way and, Erik, being the man he was, pushed Raoul down on the ground. I said,
"Wait right here Christine."
And then Erik and I went into the room and slammed the door. Then we started laughing!
"That was so funny! Did you see his face when you knocked him down?", I said.
I was laughing so hard, I was crying. He was laughing too! (God, he was cute when he laughed! Getting back to reality...) We took the two suitcases to the door and threw them to the bewildered Christine and Raoul.
Before I slammed the door, I said, "See you at the masquerade!"
Once again laughter rang through our hallway.
"Nice touch.", Erik commented.
"Thanks!", I said in the midst of a laugh.
"So what's next? More torture? Or will we stop there?", he asked playfully.
"I think my stomach has had enough laughing today.."
"Aww..."
I laughed, "Sorry to spoil your fun, but I have to go." "Go where?", he asked. "I have to find the perfect shoes for the masquerade of course!", I said.
"Oh, I was hoping to spend the day with you..."
"Well, I won't be gone long. And as soon as I get back, we can hang out. Okay?"
"Oh fine..." He took my hand and kissed it (in the way he only knows how!). I laughed.
Then he said, "Adieu, adieu.. Parting is such sweet sorrow."
"A gentleman and a Shakespearian? Hmm... Well, I must be going. I'll meet you back here in time for lunch. I promise."
"Okay, see you at noon, and no later!"
I waved goodbye as I made my way downstairs.