This is my first story, so please be nice to me! I'm going to try and put up the first three chapters so that you can get into the story. If I get seven reviews, I'll update, so please review! Thanks and enjoy!

Christine

I remember standing on the wooden porch, staring at the doorbell. It was such an easy thing to do, to ring a doorbell that is. So why was it so hard now? I was scared. That's what it was. I was just scared. What dramatic scene would play before my eyes behind this door? Only time would tell. But first, I had to ring that doorbell. Would she have news of him? Would she care? Would she try to dissuade me when I told her I was searching for him again?

Ring the doorbell first. That's all I had to do. Maybe she knew where he was and would be happy to give news of him. Perhaps he would even be here. My heart pounded wildly at that thought. Would he still want me? Has he moved on and forgotten me? Surely he would still care for me and need me in his life.

I slowly lifted my hand and pressed the doorbell. I heard the music chime within the house and held my breath in a brief moment of silence. Suddenly, I heard light footsteps approaching the door. The door flew open and there stood Madame Giry. She hadn't changed much since last I saw her. She still had her dark hair, now turning gray, piled on top of her head. Her face looked the same, hardened over the years, but when she recognized me, her face softened and she smiled.

"Madame de Chagny," she exclaimed. "Please come in."

I awkwardly stepped through the front door and into the living room. As I smiled at her, she hurriedly took my cloak and hung it on the coat rack.

"What brings you here, Madame?" she asked. "Where is your husband? He did not accompany you?"

"No," I whispered, barely audible. "He did not. May I speak to you, Madame?"

"Of course," she answered. "Please do sit down. What's troubling you?"

"Madame," I whispered as I sat down and stared into the fire burning brightly in the hearth. "Raoul has left me."

At this statement, her eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her small delicate fingers.

"Oh my!" she exclaimed. "I am very sorry, Madame. May I ask how it happened?"

"We were at the opera one evening watching Madame Butterfly and during the middle of the second act, I realized that Raoul was flirting with a much younger woman. She was sitting in the box across from ours and she was with an older man, probably her father. They were making eye contact quite a lot and she would smile shyly and cover her face with her fan. Raoul seemed intrigued and after the performance, he told me to wait for him in our carriage and he would be out shortly. I waited for probably half an hour before he finally came strolling out of the opera looking like he was in love for the first time. Three weeks later, I woke up to an empty bed with only a note and a single red rose on his pillow. You can guess the rest, Madame. But there is another reason why I have come. Do you have news of him? Of Erik, I mean. The Opera Ghost."

Madame Giry was silent for a long time after I finished my story. Her gray eyes looked troubled and she looked to be deep in thought. I tried to read her eyes, but she was always a person who was very hard to read. For the first time, as I was waiting for her response, I heard voices coming from the kitchen. I was about to enquire about the voices and to apologize for interrupting her while she was entertaining company, when she finally spoke.

"I am truly sorry, Madame, as I have already said. However, I do have news of Erik. He is here with me. But there is more. I assume you wanted to talk to Erik about possibly getting back together, am I correct, Madame?"

"Yes, Madame," I answered. "I wanted to speak with him and ask him if he would be willing to take me back as his wife."

"I doubt he will, Madame de Chagny," she replied. "Though I cannot speak for him."

I looked at her in confusion. She remained silent and was about to speak when suddenly she closed her mouth and turned toward the kitchen. I heard chairs being pushed back against the floor and two people still talking. One was male and the other was female. The man's voice sounded like Erik. No doubt it was. I was just about to comment when Erik emerged into the living room with his arms around a beautiful blonde haired woman. She was smiling at him and he took her in his arms and kissed her. I was suddenly jealous.

"Erik," Madame Giry exclaimed as she stood up gravely. "We have company."

Erik and the woman broke apart from their kiss and both of them stared at me. I was speechless. It looked as if Erik had moved on with his life and I knew then that I shouldn't have come. To make him choose between his new love and me wasn't something I wanted to do. Still, I needed him. I found that out only too late it seemed. Finally, I found my voice and began speaking.

"Good evening, Erik," I whispered.

"Madame," he regarded me, his arm still around the blonde. She looked at me in confusion and fear. She must have known who I was from descriptions that Erik had given her of me.

"Erik I need to speak with you."

"All right," he answered. "Here I am." He pressed the woman closely to his side.

"Alone, Erik. I need to speak with you alone."

"Whatever you have come to say, you can say it with my fiancée present," he retorted as he placed his cheek on top of the pile of blonde hair that lay perfectly on top of the young woman's head.

"Raoul has left me, Erik. He met someone else to make him happier than I ever could have it seems. I am all alone now, Erik. I need you."

"What do you want me to do about it?" he snapped. "Although I am very sorry to hear about Raoul's departure, at least I think I am, I have no feelings for you now. I do not need you, Christine. I thought that I did for a time, but I have come to realize that I don't. Once I came to that realization, I met Sabine and she has made me very happy. There is no way in hell I would ever consider becoming your husband, Madame."

"I made a mistake, Erik," I exclaimed as tears began forming in my eyes. "I did not know it then but I know it now. Please reconsider."

"There is nothing to reconsider, Madame."

"Erik, please…"

"You heard him, Madame," Madame Giry finally chimed in to the defense of Erik, much to my dismay. "You had your chance. Erik is now quite happy here with my niece, Sabine."

"Madame Giry is right, Christine," Erik replied. "I am very happy here. In only one month, I will be a married man, and nothing will make me happier."

"Erik," I continued, tears streaming down my face. "Think of all the years you've wanted me and now you can finally have me. What do you say to that?"

"I say that while it is true that I did want you five long years ago, I no longer do. I am quite content now, Christine. As Madame Giry said, you did have your chance, more than one may I add. I am sorry about your current affair, but the fact that Raoul left changes nothing between us."

"I thought I loved him, Erik and I thought he loved me. It was only a childhood fantasy that came true only for a very short time. You are my true love, Erik. You are the man I was meant to be with."

"I am sorry, Madame. We have no future together. That hope has long since passed into nothing. Be on your way, Madame and trouble me no more."

I was so distraught that I ran for the door after grabbing my cloak from the coat stand, but before I closed the door and ran out into a snowy December night, I made this statement.

"I will be back, Erik. I understand now that you may need to think this through. I have never been rejected in my life and I won't start now. You need me, monsieur and you know that."

With that, I slammed the door and ran out into the cold night leaving behind only tiny footprints in the snow.