Hey folks. Sorry this took so long. Crazy week. And no new reviews is making me sad :(. Ah well, hope you enjoy this.
Disclaimer: Not Mine.
Chapter 5
Christine stood at her window staring at the street below. Behind her, she heard a small knock on the door. "Come in." Christine called out. The door creaked open and she heard a quiet voice say "Ms. Daae?"
Christine turned around and saw a young girl standing on the threshold. The girl was dressed in a simple peasant dress and was carrying a terry cloth bundle wrapped in her arms. Christine looked her over and, to her surprise, saw the girl doing the same to her. "Hello." Christine said pleasantly.
The girl shook back her shoulders and looked up at her. "Ms. Daae, my name is Erin. I'm here on behalf of…" just then, there was another knock at the door. It opened and a maid carrying a tea tray bustled in. Erin's eyes followed her as she placed the tray on the tea table and Christine couldn't help but smile at how her dramatic introduction had been interrupted. "Merci, Agatha." Se said to the maid. The maid nodded in response and quickly backed out of the room.
"Well," she said as she sat down at the table and picked up a tea cup, "It's lovely to meet you Erin. Could I inertest you in some tea?"
Erin shook her head. "No thank you Mme." She shifted uncomfortably, "I'm here on behalf of…of an old friend of yours." Erin paused and looked at Christine who was watching her from over the rim of her tea cup. "They wanted me to give you this." She let the terry cloth fall away and produced a long, thin white box secured shut with a red ribbon.
"Oh!" exclaimed Christine, placing her tea cup back on its saucer, "How nice." She reached out to take the box as Erin handed it to her. "What is it?"
Erin hesitated. "Just…just open it." Christine gave the girl a small smile and began to untie the ribbon, racking her brain for who could have sent her this gift. "Can you tell me who sent it? Or is that a surprise too? I can't think of who would send it, maybe someone from the…" but she cut off as she took the lid off the box. Her eyes grew wide as she saw her mystery gift.
Lying at the bottom of the box was a rose. A perfect, long stemmed rose with smooth, red petals. But Christine was not looking at the rose. Instead, her eyes rested on the silky, black ribbon tied around the stem. She now knew who the gift had come from, she had dreamed about him only last night.
He's back. Everything around Christine seemed to go mute. Erin was saying something, but she couldn't hear a word of it. Black spots started appearing in front of her eyes and she slumped in her chair.
The next thing she knew, her nose was filled with a sweet scent. Her eyes popped open and saw that there was a brown box pressed against her face. She looked up at Erin, who was holding the box, and Erin took it off and placed a lid on the top. "He warned me you might do that." She placed the box on the table and sat in the chair across from Christine. "He also asked me to explain the situation to you." She picked up a cookie from the tea tray and took a bite. "So, what do you want to know?"
Christine sat up and rubbed her temples. "What was that?"
Erin swallowed. "What, you mean in the box?" Christine nodded "Lavender." Erin replied. "Its scent does wonders for calming nerves, anxiety, and, in you case, shock." She popped the rest of the cookie in her mouth and sat back.
Christine raised an eyebrow "Umm…"
Erin sighed. "I'm an herbalist. It's my job to know this stuff." She crossed her arms and settled farther down into her seat.
Christine squinted and rested her head on her hand. "Why are you here?"
"He asked me to come." Erin replied, "He didn't want things to end the way they did." Christine looked up. "I'm engaged." She said. "He would know that. And a rose can't change what happened." She picked up the tea pot and poured herself another cup of tea.
"Believe me, he knows you're engaged. And he knows the rose won't cut it." Erin sat up straight again. "Which is why," she took a breath, "He has asked me to extend to you an invitation to have tea with him sometime."
Christine bolted upright and gave Erin a cold stare. "No."
Erin blinked in surprise at the abrupt answer. Then she shook her head and said "Well, can't say I didn't try. But he just wants you to know, as creepy as it sounds, he still thinks of you. And apparently," she continued, "you still think of him." She picked up the white cloth with Christine's stitching on it. Quickly, Christine wrenched it out of her hand. "Please leave." She whispered, her gaze still cold.
Erin shrugged and stood up. "Alright." She walked across the room and picked up the sack that had held the rose box. "But if you happen to change your mind," she said, reaching into the bag, "come to this address." She pulled out a slip of paper and handed it to Christine. She stared at it for a moment and then took it from Erin's hand. Erin turned to leave.
"Wait." Christine said, stopping Erin. "This address, it's a house."
Erin turned and looked at Christine. Her look of confusion changed as she realized what she was talking about. " Twenty-two thousand francs a month is quite a lot of money when you have nothing to spend it on, Ms. Daae." Erin gave a small smile and opened the door. With a final look at Christine, standing confused in the middle of the room, Erin left.