The Girl Next Door
"Good morning, Sunshine!" Meg chirped on Tuesday morning as Christine arrived for work, having taken Monday off to return from Paris. "How was your weekend?"
"Very nice, thank you." Christine said, unable to help the smile from spreading across her face.
"Oh, I know that look." Sorelli said, grinning. "So… are we getting any details?"
"Absolutely not. How was Cat?"
"Angelic. How was Erik?" Sorelli replied smoothly. Christine rolled her eyes, getting coffee from the machine.
"Stop! I have work to get on with and I don't feel like sharing anything of my weekend with you two. Unlike you, I'm not one to kiss and tell."
"Ah! So there was kissing involved!" Meg gasped mockingly.
Christine laughed and headed for her office. Firmin followed her in.
"Recovered from Friday's meeting?" He asked.
"Very much so and ready to get back to work. What have you got for me?" Christine said, putting her handbag into the drawer of the desk.
"Some editing and some concerns." Firmin said, sitting down. Christine looked at him quickly.
"Concern?"
"About yourself and Mr Destler. I know you've always been very serious about your work and the Hawthorn is a big part of our business. But working with both Mr Destler and Mr de Chagny-"
"Richard, please don't be implying what I think you're implying." Christine said flatly.
"I just want to ensure that this isn't going to interfere with the quality of work that you have always provided us with." Firmin assured her.
"You don't have anything to worry about. That's something Erik and I have in common – we're workaholics."
Firmin smiled, his moustache bristling.
"Good. I knew I could count on you."
"Of course you can." Christine said, picking up the folder he'd left on the desk as he exited the room.
She worked solidly up to lunch and managed to catch up on almost all the work she'd missed over the weekend and on Monday. At lunchtime Meg threw open her door.
"Sorelli's got sandwiches, cakes, coffee and three seats around the coffee machine. It's gossiping time." She commanded. Christine blinked at her.
"What?"
"Come!"
Meg dragged her from the office and sat her down in a chair, Meg and Sorelli planted on either side of her.
"OK, so go through the entire weekend step-by-step! With details!" Meg said.
"Not too many details. I mean, we don't need to know every little thing. But a fuzzy picture is good!" Sorelli put in. Christine sighed, knowing that she wouldn't be able to get away without giving a few things.
"Well, we got there Friday night, went out to a restaurant for dinner and then went to the Eiffel Tower, whilst it was all lit up."
"Wow! Was it nice?"
"It was amazing." Christine smiled. "The city looked fantastic and… well, we kissed. And then we went back to the apartment."
She stopped and Meg let out an exasperated groan.
"Come on, Christine. Spill."
"And we… you know." Christine muttered, blushing. Somehow it felt a little too private to share like this.
"Yes?" Sorelli smiled.
"Oh, for crying out loud, yes, we did it. It. Sex. Made love, did the dirty, got it on, whatever you want to call it, we did it." Christine said, a little aggressively. Meg let out a delighted laugh.
"What was it like? I mean, he seems like a pretty intense sort of guy when he's just during a business meeting so I'm guessing he's going to be very intense in the bedroom." She said.
"Meg!" Christine said, appalled.
"What? C'mon, Chris, share!"
"No! I don't want to give you all the details. And you shouldn't ask either, it's rude!"
Sorelli and Meg exchanged a glance.
"Well… couldn't you just tell us a few of the details? Not all of them. Just some." Sorelli asked sweetly. Christine eyed her.
"Like what?"
"What was it like? Good, bad, OK…"
"It was…" Christine tried to think of the right word. "Intense, as Meg put it."
"Good intense?"
"Definitely good intense." Christine affirmed. "I don't know what to say, I've never felt like that before. It was so different from anything else I've ever felt."
She sipped her coffee and picked at her sandwich, staring down at the crumbled bread.
"I don't know if it was just because we both wanted it so much, or being in Paris, or whatever but I felt so different. He made me feel like I was the only thing in the whole world, like everything else was worthless. Does that even make sense?" She looked up and caught Meg and Sorelli grinning helplessly at her. "What?"
"Christine, you love him." Meg said calmly.
"What? No!"
"Oh, please! It's blatantly obvious. And he loves you too, judging by that description." Sorelli put in. "What else did you do? Did you talk about anything?"
"Some stuff. Just stuff like when we first met and how we made friends and what brought us to this." Christine said slowly. Meg and Sorelli nodded at each other.
"Yup. It's love."
"Stop that." Christine said warningly. "Stop that right now."
"Why is that such a bad thing, Christine?" Sorelli asked. "You love him, he loves you. It doesn't get anymore perfect than that."
Christine considered it for a moment.
"It's not a bad thing. But-"
"But you're not quite ready to admit it yet?" Meg asked.
"Yeah."
"Blonde-bimbo alert." Sorelli muttered. Christine looked up to see Carlotta approaching to get her low-fat, carb-free lunch pack from the fridge. Meg changed the subject at the speed of light.
"So what else did you see?"
"We went to Notre Dame, that was incredible. And the Opera House, obviously. Il Muto was even better than I remembered it. It's a little different over there but it was still breathtaking." Christine said, smiling at the memory. Carlotta glanced over but didn't say anything.
Sorelli said,
"You can pick up Cat after work, if you want."
"Great. I'm glad he behaved himself." Christine said, biting into her sandwich. Carlotta moved away and Christine let out a breath.
"Either she couldn't find anything nasty to say or she's given up."
"Don't worry, soon you two will be back to making nasty comments and pulling each other's hair like six-year-olds." Meg said comfortingly.
Erik was already home when Christine got back with Cat. She put the animal down and he wandered into her apartment as Erik appeared in his doorway. He smiled.
"Good day?"
"Not bad. You?"
"Productive." He pulled her closer for a kiss which she readily returned. He turned to push open his door, which had swung shut and Christine shook away the shiver that had overcome her at the kiss. It was a little embarrassing that he could do that to her so easily.
But then again, she was only human.
She followed him into his apartment, where he was preparing coffee, moving with precise, swift movements as he did with every task that was set upon him. She paused for a moment, watching him. After a few moments he glanced at her.
"Is something wrong?"
"What? No. No, I was just…" She shrugged helplessly and smiled. Erik watched her curiously. "I just like to watch you sometimes. And I know how weird that sounds."
"It doesn't sound normal." Erik agreed. Christine wrinkled her nose.
"It's just been a long day. I'm glad to be home again. Firmin gave me a fun little lecture about not letting my personal life get in the way of work."
"How kind of him." Erik muttered, spooning a sugar into her cup and stirring it. Christine accepted the hot mug and looked at him.
"So, how was your day?"
"Fine, I suppose. It's going to take a lot more work to get Hannibal off the ground. If Nadir hadn't been there to calm me I would have been tearing my hair out."
Christine highly doubted that this was true. She simply could not imagine Erik being that stressed.
"Well, it's a good job he's so composed to keep you sane in your outbursts." She smiled. Erik drank from his coffee cup and said,
"I suppose so. He was in a particularly good mood for some reason."
"The opening night has been set for 15th September. That's a good four months away but they want the advertising to start in mid-August. Programmes and things like that won't be needed until the beginning of September but we need the media advertising and posters, pamphlets etc to be done by August." Firmin informed the Hannibal crew. Jammes lifted a hand.
"Who's doing the radio advertising?"
"That's up to Christine to decide, but I believe Meg was on it last time." He glanced at Christine, who turned to Meg.
"You up for that?"
"Not a problem. I'll call the theatre and see if we can get a couple of sound bites, and maybe one of the performers to do the voiceover."
"Good. Any other problems, Christine can sort them out. We'll have a meeting next week to see where we're all up to."
He dismissed them and Christine looked at Jammes.
"You're interested in the radio ads?"
"I'd like to see how they're done. I know I trained as a graphic designer but-"
"Meg, take Jammes with you to the recordings. There's no harm in getting experience in other areas as well as graphics." Christine said. Jammes grinned brightly as she went off to do her work. Meg smiled at Christine.
"You're fond of that one, aren't you?"
"She's a sweet girl and she really loves what she does. We might as well take advantage of what she can bring to the project." Christine replied, pouring herself some coffee.
Sorelli joined them and Meg eyed her.
"So, where were you last night? I called you at ten to ask something and you weren't in."
"I had a date." Sorelli said carelessly. Meg and Christine stared at her.
"What?"
"With who?"
"It wasn't Steven, was it?" Meg said, narrowing her eyes. Sorelli snorted.
"Hell no! No, it was, um… it was Nadir, actually."
Meg and Christine gaped.
"Nadir. As if in, Nadir Khan. Yay tall, dark skin, black hair…?" Meg said disbelievingly.
"How?" Christine asked. Sorelli shrugged, smiling.
"Well, you know the night when I came over and three of you were having dinner? We got to talking that night and we've been talking on the phone and so on. And he called yesterday and asked if I wanted to go to dinner. It's easy to get on with him, you know? He's such a sweetie and he already knows about the baby so it's not even awkward."
Christine smiled.
"That's so good for you, Sorelli. He's so nice."
"He is." Sorelli agreed. "I can really see this going somewhere."
"Yay! The three of us finally have men in our lives!" Meg said, linking arms with the pair of them.
"Not that we need men." Sorelli pointed out."
"Yeah, what's that saying? Behind every great man is a woman rolling her eyes."
"Eleanor, why do you insist on massacring every part of this song?" Erik demanded. The singer folded her arms and glared at him.
"Mr Destler, this song is ridiculous!"
"It is not ridiculous! Get off the stage!" Erik spat. Eleanor turned and swept from the stage, muttering oaths under her breaths. Erik calmed himself down and turned to Carl, the lead tenor.
"Let's do the third act, shall we? We might as well try and get some work done today!"
Carl took his place and the orchestra began. Erik watched with folded arms but was distracted by the opening of the door as Nadir entered with their new patron. It was his first visit to the Hawthorn but at least Nadir had had the foresight to warn Erik of his imminent arrival. Erik turned back to the stage to stop Carl and make a few amendments to the piece.
"Cassandra, see if you can't get our Prima Donna out here to do her job." He said to a passing stagehand. Carl grinned.
"Still can't control her?"
"The woman is completely insufferable. I'd be happy to get ready of her altogether if she wasn't so damn talented. There's nothing more intolerable than a talented person who is so aware of their own abilities." Erik muttered. They both looked around as a giggling group of ballerinas passed.
"He's so handsome!"
"I just want to take a bite out of him!"
"He could be my patron any day!"
"What are they going on about now?" Erik asked. Carl whistled and nodded towards Raoul de Chagny, who was admiring the décor of the theatre, as Nadir pointed out particular items of interest.
"Our new benefactor, of course. Every female in the building has melted into a stammering puddle."
"How delightful them. If he carries on disrupting my rehearsals any longer I'll have drowned in a puddle of stammering ballet rats." Erik said irritably. Nadir glanced at him and beckoned. Erik and Carl both went to the pair. Raoul was watching Erik curiously.
"Mr de Chagny, this is Carl, our leading tenor. And you've already met our composer and director, Erik Destler."
"Indeed." They all shook hands briefly and Raoul glanced at the stage. "So this must be the infamous Hannibal I heard about at the meeting?"
"It is. Opening night is 15th September and it is going to be a spectacular show." Nadir said proudly.
"If you're expecting that, Nadir, I suggest you let us get back to work." Erik said. Carl disappeared back to the stage and Erik turned away, but Raoul said,
"How's Chris?"
Erik paused and looked over his shoulder at the striking young man.
"Fine. She's fine."
"Tell her I said hi."
"No, Mr de Chagny, I won't be telling her that. One, because I doubt she would be very appreciative of that greeting, and two, because she is no longer your concern." He went back to the stage, leaving the stunned patron in his wake.
That evening, Christine was sat in her study, working at the computer screen. Erik stood in the doorway, watching as her fingers danced across the keyboard, pressing the buttons so swiftly that words sprung onto the page without her even pausing. Cat strolled past and leapt up to sit by the computer screen. Christine smiled at him and then carried on working. Erik moved behind her and she looked up.
"I'm almost finished."
"No hurry."
"There is a hurry. I don't want to spend all night working on this when I could be being sociable with you." She pointed out, looking back at the screen. Erik lowered his face and brushed his mouth against the back of her neck. She shivered as she carried on typing and Erik smirked as he repeated the action, his hands on her shoulders as he slowly began to massage her tensed muscles. Her fingers faltered momentarily on the keys.
"Erik…"
"Hmm?" He said, kissing the soft skin of her neck.
"I need to finish this."
"Go ahead." He smiled wickedly, not ceasing in his actions. Christine carried on typing, slower now and a very quiet moan escaped her as his longer fingers rubbed her aching shoulders. Her eyes slipped closed and then snapped open again as she carried on working.
Erik had to admit, this woman was incredibly determined. For several minutes he carried on with his game and Christine forced herself to keep working. Finally she saved the file, turned off the computer and turned on the swirling computer chair to look up at him.
"The next time you're sat at that piano and are desperately trying to compose, I'm getting my revenge!"
"I can hardly wait." Erik smirked, pulling her to her feet and engaging her in a kiss. She pulled back, still a little peeved but mostly enjoying the amount of power that she could wield over him if she so wished.
"So, how was your day?" She asked innocently. Erik heaved a sigh.
"Disastrous."
"How come?"
"Our new patron decided to pay us a visit." Erik said simply. Christine closed her eyes in dejection.
"Urgh, I can see why it might be disastrous."
"Hmm. The only ray of light in my otherwise desolate existence was the thought of seeing you. Only to find you intended to spend the entire evening working." He said, his eyebrow arched into a teasingly stern expression
"You should have found something to entertain yourself." Christine commented haughtily.
"I did." He murmured, lowering his mouth once again to her neck.
Christine closed her eyes, this time allowing herself to fully enjoy the sensation. But a thought struck her.
"Nadir!"
"What?" Erik lifted his head and stared at her. She laughed.
"No, not like that. I meant to say – Nadir and Sorelli are going out."
"Christine, do you seriously believe that I am remotely interested in office gossip?"
"He's your best friend!"
"And I am certainly not his keeper. He is free to do as he wishes and I couldn't care less about what he does." He said, moving to kiss her again. Christine moved her face back, pouting.
"You should care!"
"Why?"
"Because he's your friend!"
"And as his friend I do him the favour of not interfering in his personal life." Erik pointed out. "Are we going to spend the rest of the night debating Nadir when we could be carrying out exceedingly more interesting activities?"
Christine pretended to consider but Erik had had quite enough. He lifted her off the ground and Christine instinctively wrapped her legs around him.
"Erik!"
"Yes dear?" He said, holding her in place.
"I swear, you've turned into a complete fiend!"
"If you're objecting I could distance myself and become completely forbidding." Erik suggested but Christine just laughed and kissed him before jumping down.
"Don't you dare, Mr Destler." She told him firmly, sliding her arms around his waist. "I like you just the way you are."
"I'm glad to hear it, since I have no plans to change."
They moved out into Christine's living room. Christine was about to ask what he wanted for dinner but he pushed her onto the sofa, where he carried on with his previous activities. She took his mask off, leaving it on the coffee table. Erik stopped and glanced at it.
"I still don't understand how you can do that."
"Do what?" Christine asked, pressing kisses to his face.
"Be with me without the mask."
"Because I don't like it. I like you." She said. "After all we've been through, why does it matter what you look like? Or what I look like? I've got scars too."
She tapped her cheek and then lifted her shirt to show him a white scar that ran from beneath her left breast to the bottom of the ribcage. Erik traced it.
"What happened?"
"I was twelve. I was riding my bike down the street and I fell off into some broken bottles. So neither of us is perfect, OK?" She carried on kissing him and now he responded just as eagerly as he had before.
The telephone was ringing. Erik opened one eye and glared at it. Christine moaned sleepily.
"Leave it. The machine can get it." After several more rings it switched to the answer machine.
"Hi, Christine. It's Raoul. I just wanted to… say hi, I guess."
Christine sat up sharply and seized the phone.
"Piss off, Raoul." She said crossly, and then hung the phone up. Erik blinked as she then took the phone off the hook and lay back down on top of him. She noticed his look.
"What?"
"I've never seen you quite so… abrupt."
"He annoys the hell out of me. Oh, don't talk about him." She yawned and looked at the clock. "Well, it's eleven at night and we still haven't had dinner. Hungry?"
"Very."
"I'll find something."
She got up and searched around on the floor for some clothes. Erik lifted his hand to put them behind his head, smiling as he watched her. She caught his look and smiled, rolling her eyes before picking up his shirt and slipping it on. It came almost down to her knees.
"That's my shirt!" Erik pointed out.
"You're not using it. Besides, it's OK for you to walk around topless. Me, on the other hand-"
"Would look perfectly divine walking around topless."
"Erik, I am not cooking with no clothes on!" She laughed, going into the kitchen.
Was this what other couples were like, Erik wondered? Did they tease each other so easily, laugh at each other, love each other as beautifully simply as he and Christine did?
But… no. That wasn't right. He and Christine had never once admitted to each other that they felt love for one another. Why was that?
Because she was too afraid. Every time she had said that she loved someone before now had ended with them leaving or dying or becoming something that she absolutely could not love. That was why she did not say it to him. She had shown him, had given him everything to signify her feelings.
But the words had not left her mouth. She had even begged him not to make her say them. He wouldn't, of course. But he still wanted to hear them. Still wanted to listen to those sweet words, to repeat them to her.
He would wait. And when the time came that she could announce her feelings, he would offer her the world in exchange for just one kiss.
A/N: Hey people. Sorry about the wait. School isn't getting any easier.
I hope you like this chapter. To be perfectly honest I can't even think up an opinion of it right now, it's just been a way to distract me today. My dog, Roc, was put to sleep earlier today and I'm absolutely heartbroken. I truly loved and adored that dog. I've had him for about eight years and it was so sudden. He only became really sick on Wednesday and went downhill in an instant. And, in what is becoming a despicable custom, it was cancer that killed him.
I don't know how many more people I can lose this year. I just can't take this anymore.
Anyway, next chapter may be a while. Please forgive me the wait.
Love
Katie