Disclaimer: Don't own PotO… just Adrien and Isabella…
Chapter IX – The Undiscovered Talent
Isabella woke up the next morning trying to remember the last time she'd been this comfortable. She stumbled sleepily from the bed, almost fell down the stone steps, and staggered drunkenly into the central sitting room. Adrien was studying a few pages of music, and Erik was nowhere to be seen. He looked up when she plopped into an armchair and smiled. "Have a good sleep?"
She glanced over at him. His eyes sparkled in the candlelight. She nodded, waking up considerably. "Where's Erik? Does he sleep this late?" He looked her up and down as well. "No, he's gone out again. He mentioned something about finding you something more suitable for daytime wearing." Isabella tried not to blush.
"Erm… could we play the piano, since he isn't here?" she asked, to cover the awkward moment. "Of course," Adrien stood rather quickly, and they went down the hall. He seated himself on the piano bench and looked at her.
"What shall we play, or in your case, sing?" he asked. Isabella thought for a moment. "How about one of the songs Erik was playing last night?" she suggested. Adrien hesitated. "There were many songs Erik played last night," he said slowly. "I believe he went through his entire repertoire of Opera House memory musings. Shall I list a few?"
"That depends on how many of them you can play," Isabella giggled. "And would you happen to have the words? I'm a quick study, but I need to follow along once before I start."
Adrien started listing songs as he glanced over the sheets piled around them. "'Music of the Night', 'Masquerade', 'Angel of Music'…" he trailed off, trying to remember. "Point of No Return," he let slip. Isabella stared at him. "And of course, his anthem, Phantom of the Opera," he finished, slightly red.
Isabella decided to pretend she hadn't heard the next-to-last one. "That's all?" she asked. "Well," he said, "there's 'Think of Me', but that's definite soprano-range. What do you sing?"
"Mezzo-soprano."
"You just might be able to do it," he said, carefully extracting two sheets of paper from a pile on the floor. "Want to give it a try?"
"I've never heard it before. I fell asleep before Erik played it last night."
Adrien gave her a look. "He never plays that song. I said it was soprano-range, remember?"
Isabella grimaced at her stupidity. "Okay, fine. Let's do it."
Adrien played the song through once, giving her clues like, "Here's the four-measure intro, and you start… now… ...and there you have to go as high as the piano did… and that's all. Think you can do it?" he grinned at her.
"I think so," she nodded.
"Okay, four measure intro coming up again…" he started the song again and Isabella came in:
Think of me,
Think of me fondly
When we've said good-bye
Remember me,
Once in a while
Please promise me you'll try
When you find
That once again you long
To take your heart back and be free
If you ever find a moment,
Spare a thought for me
We never said our love was evergreen
Or as unchanging as the sea,
But if you can still remember,
Stop and think of me
Think of all the things we've shared and seen
Don't think about the way things might have been
Think of me,
Think of me waking
Silent and resigned
Imagine me,
Trying too hard
To put you from my mind
Recall those days,
Look back on all those times,
Think of the things we'll never do
There will never be a day
When I won't think of you!
"Can it be?" Adrien entered. "Can it be Christine?" He looked her in the eye and said quietly, "Bravo…
Long ago,
It seems so long ago
How young and innocent we were
She may not remember me,
But I remember her…"
Flowers fade, the fruits of summer fade,
They have their seasons, so do we,
But please promise me that sometimes,
You will think… of me!
Adrien barely finished the piece correctly. She's good… Really good… To hit the high notes in that cadenza… But all he said was, "That sounded great, Isabella." She smiled at him. "Will you teach me another song? I haven't sung like that in ages; it felt… so good."
"What have we here?"
Erik stood shrouded in black in the doorway.
Okay, personally, I loved the way this chapter turned out. I think I took some weird essence of Snape for that last line about Erik, but it's a nice touch. And a cliffie. Review!