A/N Well, here is another chapter. I hope you enjoy it and please review.
Ch. 12♪
Now that Anna had separated herself from Erik, she suddenly had more time to spend with Andrew. Anna had been trying for the last few weeks, since Erik's and her breakup, to convince herself that she would be happy with Andrew. She had to be happy with Andrew.
She had no other options, not anymore.
"Anna… Anna…" Andrew called to her, bringing her back from her thoughts.
"Oh I am sorry Andrew; my mind has just been somewhere else." Anna said apologetically.
"It is quite all right sweetie, but we were just talking about how Christine and you make such a lovely couple on stage together." Raoul told them with praise. "You both sound exquisite."
"Oh stop it the both of you. We do not need all of this ego boosting." Christine giggled as Raoul placed a kiss on her hand.
"Anna maybe the managers will hire Christine as a regular feature and then you will both be the stars of the Theater Magnifique." Andrew told Anna enthusiastically.
"Yes, that would indeed be lovely." Anna responded trying very hard to sound cheerful.
"Anna what is wrong with you, you seem so unhappy lately." Andrew asked worriedly.
"It is nothing Andrew I am just very tired." Anna told his smiling. "I just feel as if maybe I am getting ill."
"Well you could have certainly fooled me, Anna." Raoul began happily. "You look very healthy and you even have a certain glow to you."
"It is just that lately I have been fatigued, nauseated, and I have lost my appetite within the last two months. It is beginning to worry me." Anna told them worriedly.
"Well, get better Anna." Raoul told her as he stood from his chair, before turning to Andrew. "Andrew how about you and I go and have a friendly cigar?"
"That does sound like a plan." Andrew said moving his napkin out of his lap. "If you will please excuse us ladies." Andrew finished as he gave Anna a peck on the cheek.
The two women watched their men walk away from them and suddenly they felt they could breathe once more.
"It is truly amazing how a woman can feel so much more free when a man leaves the room." Christine told Anna as she sipped her chardonnay.
"Then why do I feel as if I have a heaver weight on my shoulders without Erik?" Anna spoke softly as a tear escaped her eye. "Why do I miss him so damn much?"
"Anna trust me you WILL get over this. I know that it was extremely hard on me after I left Erik." Christine said soothingly as she put her arms around Anna. "It is as if his voice is calling out to you heart isn't it."
"Oh Christine it is so much more worse than that." Anna cried. "It is as if his voice is calling out to my soul."
"Then maybe Anna, Erik and you are truly meant to be." Christine suggested. "You never know."
"No Christine, I do know." Anna responded as she recomposed herself. "After all that I now know, I just cannot let my heart be his any longer."
"But Anna don't you see it… your heart is still his because you still love him." Christine told her as she grabbed hold of Anna's shoulders. "God chooses who we belong to, so if you truly are meant to be with Erik, God will show you why."
Anna heard everything Christine said but prayed that it was not true.
"Goodbye Christine." Anna said as she stepped into her carriage.
"Bye Anna." Christine whispered as she watched it ride off.
OOOO
"So you believe our plan will work." Andrew asked Raoul as they walked away from their women.
"I believe so, but he is a cleaver man, so do not let any slips happen." Raoul replied, his hatred for the man showing through.
"I hope this works." Andrew said gravely. "I hope Anna loves me enough."
"Do not worry my friend. We will indeed get him this time." Raoul told him as he handed him a cigar.
OOOO
Christine arrived home, her thoughts a complete mess. She kept thinking of all the things Anna was going through. Christine for some odd reason hoped that a miracle would take place and Anna would return to Erik. Even she would admit that though she left Erik, she did not want him to be alone forever. She still cared for Erik.
She always would.
As soon as Christine was in her night attire she went straight to the study. On nights when Raoul was out late, Christine would seek comfort in a book. As she entered the study she noticed a chill in the room. Christine walked over to light a few candles. After lighting the first candle she heard a voice she had so longed to hear for the past eleven months.
"Why did you tell Anna about our past?" Erik hissed. "Why did you make her turn from me?"
Christine turned to see Erik's sad eyes piercing right through her. She could not think of what to say.
"WHY CHRISTINE WHY?" Erik yelled at her. "You didn't want me so why did you make her leave me too?"
Christine's heart broke at the sight of Erik. He was a complete mess. His clothes were wrinkled and his hair was disheveled. He looked as if he had not eaten or slept for a week or so. She at once began to feel a tremendous amount of guilt.
"Her leaving you was never my intention Erik." Christine began but was cut off by Erik.
"I love her Christine; I love her so much that I am truly dying." Erik told her through his tears. "And she loved me back, she saw my face and she still loved me."
"Erik I did not mean for any of this to happen." Christine told him, her eyes filling with tears.
"Then explain to me why you told her." Erik cried out. "What on this earth could have possibly possessed you to tell her?"
"I was scared Erik." Christine cried turning away from him.
Erik walked over to her and turned her to face him, his eyes blazing at her. "Scared of what?"
"YOU ERIK." Christine yelled at him as she broke free from his hold. "I was scared that you had come to take me away again."
Erik's laughter filled the room. She really was a naïve little girl. "So in your selfish attempt to stay safe, you ruin what Anna and I have. Christine you need to grow up and act like an adult. Don't you realize that you are not the only one of afraid of losing happiness?"
Christine could only produce more tears at hearing his words. They were true.
"Why did you have to ruin this? Did you really want me to live a life of lonely solitude, because this is the second time you have done this to me Christine." Erik cried as he sat down putting his face in his hands.
"I never wanted that for you, I have been trying to talk to Anna, I have been trying to get her to see the truth. The truth to the fact that she loves you. I love you Erik, why would I ever want for you to die alone." Christine sobbed as she went and sat next to him.
"Why did you leave me? I just want to know the reason." Erik asked her sadly.
"I was scared." Christine told him. "I was scared of not knowing what lay ahead for us. I was so childish and I wish more than anything to take back my choice, but you have moved on and I have to accept that."
"You loved me." Erik responded shocked.
"I loved you more than anything. But I was so frightened that night and at the time I thought that I was making the right choice. But if I knew then what I feel and know now, then I would have been happy to be your wife." Christine answered through her tears. "But no more backward glances for our games of make believe are truly at an end."
Erik smiled at the irony of the words she had just spoken, words that she had inspired. He too knew they were true.
"I love her Christine." Erik cried into her shoulder, seeking comfort from the woman he loved not so long ago.
"I know you do Erik, I know you do." Christine told him.
OOOO
As the weeks had gone by Anna became more and more worried about her health. She was vomiting in the early mornings and the later evenings and was tired all the time.
"Maman I am starting to worry." Anna groaned as she lay in her bed. "What if I am dying?"
Madam Burbon laughed at her daughters' ignorance. "Child you are not dying."
"Well them what is wrong with me." Anna asked her mother with wide eyes.
"Anna answer me honestly… Have you been intimate with a man." Her mother asked calmly.
But the shame on Anna's face answered for her. Madam Burbon smiled at her.
"My dear, when was you last monthly flow."