To all of my readers: Thank you all sooo much for all of your great reviews. Yes I am back in town and have tons of new ideas for the story. Looking forward to having you all read my writing. Oh ya, I almost forgot I am going to have to push the Christine and Rauol (still can't spell) bashing back little bit but don't worry its still in the works….
Tay-kun: Thanks for the honesty in your review. I will try to raise the bar a couple notches to meet your standards..
Chapter 8
The next mourning Destiny woke late and discovered Erik to be gone. She assumed he had something to do, so she thought nothing of it. She strolled to her room and dressed slowly while she thought about what all had been said the night before. She still could not get into the corset with out help so she just went without it.
"Damn thing." She cursed and then threw it across the room.
Right as she was buckling up her boots she heard the door open and the ever so soft swish of Erik swinging his cape off. She slowly walked down the hallway and into the main space of the house. Erik had just sat down at his organ, and started to play.
"Good morning." He said without looking up. "Did you sleep well?"
"Oh yes thank you. Umm where were you? I mean its not like I was worried or anything, but just curios."
He glanced at her from over his shoulder and arched an eyebrow.
"Really? Oh I was just talking to an old friend about doing something this evening."
She never thought it was possible but a crack of jealousy rippled up her spine.
"With who! Err… umm. Sorry, that is no business of mine." She corrected her self and looked at the floor. She had learned a few manners while staying with him and did not like to look rude anymore.
"Actually, dear Destiny it is your affair. I went to talk with Madame Giry and she as informed me that box five will be empty and waiting for us at curtain." He finally answered. The sense of power that he had over her shocked him and as much as he hated to admit it he liked how well he could pull her strings and watch her hang. Emotions fought within him and he was not sure which one would win. On one hand he loved being the superior one in their shoddy little relationship or on the other he just loved her. Time would tell.
She looked at him slightly surprised and then felt ashamed for jumping to conclusions.
"We are going to the opera?"
With an annoyed tone he replied, "Is that not what I just said? Madame Giry has chosen a gown for you to wear and she wants you to go pick it up." He turned away and started to play again.
Knowing that that was her signal to leave, she finished snapping her boot and walked away.
"What the hell was wrong with him? Last night he was different, now he's a prickly as a porcupine." She was talking to herself by the time she reached the hallway in the opera dormitories. Not totally paying attention the where she was going she ran into someone. When she looked up she was staring in to gorgeous brown eyes and a beautiful smile. A wealth of dark curls swept over her face as she looked back at her.
"Pardon me." The woman said with a slight laugh.
"Oh no it was completely my fault; I was not paying attention to the world around me." I said. "Of course it was all too good to be true. So here I am talking to Christine, no necessarily someone I hate, no, just someone I have absolutely no respect for." Destiny thought to herself.
"So may I ask where you were headed?" Christine asked innocently.
"Yes I was just on the way to Madame Giry's room to go over something about tonight."
"Ohhh, are you attending the opera? I will be singing tonight. I do hope you can come; you seem like such a nice woman. Certainly not the same old opera tarts that run around here now." Christine bombarded Destiny with questions.
"My goodness where are my manners." She said giggling. "I am Christine, What is your name?"
With a couple blinks and a roll of her eyes Destiny replied.
"My name is Destiny. Yes I know it is a strange name, let me just say my parents had a bad sense of humor."
"Well, it was very nice to meet you Destiny. I do hope to see you tonight." Christine nodded and then headed towards her dressing room at the end of the hall. With a sigh Destiny knocked on Madame Giry's door and went in. She only hoped that Christine was not the soul reason that Erik wanted to go to the opera that night.
Madame Giry's kind smile greeted her as she entered the room.
"Well, hello my dear. Erik said that you would be stopping by. You need something for the opera no? Well let's see here."
After about an hour of quarreling over colors and styles Destiny finally agreed to wear a royal blue dress. It was simple buy elegant. She had no idea how but it hid her broad shoulders very well. After inspecting herself in the mirror Destiny sat down at the dresser to let Madame do her hair.
"Madame? Why did Erik choose tonight to go to the opera? When ever I asked him before he seemed very uninterested. What is so different about tonight?"
Madame Giry's face went at least two shades paler.
"My dear some things are just better kept unknown. I think this is one of them."
She turned Destiny around on the little bench, and looked her square in the eye.
"Destiny, you must promise me something. If Erik starts to act peculiarly, please I beg of you to come stay up here with us."
"Madame, I don't understand I…."
"Please promise me child."
"I promise." Destiny replied with a slight pout.
"There we are. You are all set."
"Thank you again Madame, I hope to see you tonight. Good day."
It was about six thirty when Destiny headed for the lower levels. The whole way back she prayed that everything would be all right. She could not afford to lose the only thing she has cared about in years now.
