Chapter 7- Journey to the Beginning
Isabelle woke up to an empty bed; Erik must have woken up earlier. She heard him rustling around from the other side of the room. He was shirtless and examining his face in the Spartan mirror on the wall. Isabelle girlishly admired him from a distance. His non-scarred side was facing her and she could not help thinking about what a fool this Christine Daae was. Her peaceful moment lasted only a few more seconds for Erik was soon aware that she was watching him. He seemed amused,
"Must you stare at me?" She was about to protest but his face wore an almost boyish smirk. Isabelle rolled her eyes, walking up to Erik, lightly punching his shoulder. Erik smiled and watched her walk over to the tattered bureau to fix her hair. He watched her twist her locks into a moderately sophisticated knot on her head. Without turning around she teased him,
"Must you stare at me?" Erik smiled and buttoned his shirt again. Isabelle was truly a feisty girl. She managed to fix her appearance to look relatively modest. Erik fastened his cape and followed her out of the decrepit hotel.
People stared a little bit as Erik followed Isabelle down the streets of Paris, out of the dirty alleys and into the true core of the city. Erik tried to keep his head down, but it had been such a long time since he had seen this city in the light that he could not help but peer around at the beautiful colors of the buildings. Parisian architecture never failed to capture his imagination.
At last they reached Dr. Fournier's office, Erik stared at the building as if it was the Gateway of Heaven; a place he never expected to ever see. Isabelle hooked her arm around his and gave him a little assurance to walk through the doors.
The office was small but revealed Dr. Fournier's success in his business through sophisticated trinkets lying around. Isabelle disappeared for a brief moment leaving the cloaked Erik alone. Erik sat down on a velvet upholstered chair and waited. It killed him that he could be so close to having the one thing he hated about his life reversed and the idea that it was all a dream.