Yes! spring break! finally! and four new reviews! double yes! thanks to Mysterium925, fopfighters, RowanMayfair13, and ErikMySweetfor the oh so wonderful comments. More brownies! I've also got some soda bread in honor of st. patty's day if anyone is interested :). Anyway, i have an announcement to make. on monday, im leaving for germany for ten days on a class trip. i wont be able to post, so ill try to squeeze in one more between now and then. sorry

Disclaimer: i dont't own anything from the Phantom of the Opera

Chapter 6

Christine sat at the dining room table, absent mindedly pushing her food around her plate. She stole a quick glance at the grandfather clock in the corner of the room. It read 7:03. She turned her attention to the seat at the other end of the table. It was empty. She sighed. She was sort of hoping that Rauol would come home on time tonight for once. It had just been such a weird day. The rose from the phantom was currently tucked away in the lilies' vase, cleverly hidden under the large petals and leaves. His address however, was slipped in the waistline of her skirt (A/N:don't get the wrong idea, she doesn't have pockets. Is all). After Erin had left, she had spent awhile just looking at the paper and the neat script on it. She had out right refused the offer to go visit him, but the curiosity was over whelming. After all, this man had been a huge part of her life for so long and, as Erin had point out, she still was thinking about him.

Christine looked at the clock again and began to stand up to leave, but then the dining room door open and Rauol stepped in. She sat back down and the two shared an awkward gaze for a moment. "Hey." Christine said. Rauol dropped his gaze and took his seat at the end of the table. Almost immediately, he reached for the wine bottle in the middle of the table and began to pour himself a rather generous glass. "Erm…How'd the meeting go?" she asked nervously.

Rauol took a long draught from his glass and roughly set it back down. "Bad." He croaked, "Really bad." He rested his head on his hand and took a deep breath. "They want me to go to Italy." He took another drink and looked up to see Christine's reaction. She just sat there, slightly dumbstruck. "What? Why?" she implored. "Because," he answered, " This time, the story might be true."

Awkward silence. "Are you serious?" Christine asked, a small smile playing on her lips. Rauol drained his glass, "Yes. And they want me to go to Italy to help 'protect' La Carlotta's reputation." He reached for the bottle again. "if you ask me, there's not much of a reputation to protect."

Christine suppressed a laugh and tried to ask seriously "How long will you be gone for?"

Rauol drank some more wine. "Two weeks. Maybe a little more if things don't go over that smoothly." He shook his head and finished his second glass in one gulp. "I don't see why it has to be me." He grumbled.

Christine gave him a nervous smile. "I'm sure it will work out just fine." When Rauol didn't respond, she said "When are you leaving?"

Rauol stood up and slid his chair back into place "Tomorrow." "Tomorrow!" Christine exclaimed, "But, that's so soon. They didn't even give you any time consider it?"

"There's nothing to consider. They're not giving me a choice." He gazed at Christine for a moment again. "I'm sorry." He turned and walked back to the open dining room door. "By the way." He added as he reached the threshold, " What was with that girl today? What did she want?"

Christine opened her mouth, but closed it again. Now probably wasn't the time to tell him the truth. "She was an opera fan." Christine lied, "she just wanted to meet me."

Rauol nodded and turned to look at her again. "Too bad you don't sing opera any more." He waited for a response. When it didn't come, he murmured a 'good night' and left the room.

Even though she was sure he didn't mean it, Christine was rather hurt by that last comment. Rauol knew how much she missed singing. Slowly, she pulled the paper out of her skirt hem and stared at it again. After a few moments, she folded the paper and followed Rauol's possession out of the room. Maybe a short visit to the phantom wouldn't hurt after all.