Thank you all so much for reading this story, for putting it on alert, adding it to favorites, and mostly, for reviewing it. Your support does mean a lot to me!

Here is chapter 7, I hope you will enjoy it. Erik seems to have found a way to win major brownie points with Christine...

And keep in mind, that I do not own these characters.

Chapter 7 – Settling in

When Christine returned to the theater the following day, her contract was ready for her to sign. To her greatest surprise it was written in Swedish.

"We noticed that your Italian is still a bit uneasy and that therefore it might have been difficult for you to judge whether or not you agree with everything in the contract, if it were written in Italian," Nadir explained. "And we thought it best not to use French. You are Swedish and you speak a little Italian. For the record, that's all we know. And it is probably safest for you not to mention to anybody that you speak French quite fluently – or at all. If it were known that you speak French, that fact might lead somebody to at least suspect your true identity."

Christine nodded. That made sense. She would have to make an effort to improve her Italian, since hardly anybody here would understand her if she spoke Swedish. Except... She hesitantly glanced over to where Erik was sitting. She knew that he had some knowledge of Swedish. After all, he had sung Swedish songs with her, when she had been a small child. The idea to draft her contract in Swedish had therefore obviously come from him, and she suspected that he had written it himself. She was moved. How very considerate of him! He was trying very hard to protect her identity. Maybe accepting that job had not been a mistake after all. She could not help but feel safe in his presence – despite everything.

"Thank you," she whispered, quickly looking away, embarrassed at her own feelings. Thus she did not notice how Erik's face lit up at her words. She had spoken to him! She had thanked him for his work! He had been able to do something that she appreciated!

Christine quickly returned her attention to the contract at hand. She browsed through it and found everything to her liking. At the end the names of the three people who would have to sign it were printed underneath the lines for their signatures. Christine was pleased that her own name was given as "K. Ingrid Johannsen", thus avoiding to spell out the name "Kristina", which might give away her identity, but not entirely omitting it.

Her teacher's name was given as "Erik Planchet", as he had been introduced to her, and then, there was a third name: "Nadir Khan". Christine frowned.

"You are not Italian?" she asked Nadir, as she realized who this name must belong to.

Nadir shook his head. "No, of course not, I told you my name was Khan," he replied, slightly surprised.

Christine blushed a deep shade of pink. "Oh, I thought..."

Erik laughed. His quick wit had made him understand at once, why Christine had thought that his friend was Italian.

"Nadir, my old friend," he blurted out, "she thought your name was dog! As in il cane!"

It took Nadir only half a minute to realize what Erik had been hinting at. Then he began to laugh as well. That was just too funny!

"I am sorry if I have offended you, Signor Khan," Christine murmured, turning an even darker shade of purple, "but I remembered this gentleman buried in Verona, Cangrande his name was, and I therefore thought that using forms of cane for a name might be common in Italy..."

"No offense taken," Nadir told her. "I had never thought about this, but I can see, why you might have taken me for an Italian. I am no more Italian than you or Erik, I am Persian."

Christine looked from Nadir to Erik and back to Nadir. How had a Persian ended up in Europe? And how come this Persian and her former teacher had known each other for years, as Signor Khan had told her the other day? It was obvious that these two were hiding more secrets than just the fact that Erik had been the Phantom of the Opera in Paris.

A knock announced the arrival of signora Langetto, the seamstress, who came to pick up Christine to take her measurements for the costumes. Erik quickly turned so that the seamstress would only see his unmasked left profile.

"You are in capable hands with signora Langetto," Nadir told Christine. "Go with her to do all the preliminary work for the costume fitting. I will meet you there in about half an hour to show you to your dressing room."

Once Christine had left the office with the seamstress, Nadir grinned at Erik.

"Well done," he said. "That was an excellent idea of yours to draft the contract in Swedish. I have to admit that I hadn't even thought about the fact that we should keep her knowledge of French to ourselves, but you are right, that would be a major give-away. I had a feeling that la signorina Johannsen only realized that as well, when I mentioned it, and she knew who had thought about it and who had tried hard to make sure that the fact she speaks French quite fluently will not be revealed around here. That is the sort of things you should consider doing for her in order to win back her trust. Be there for her, show your support, but let her make her own decisions."

Erik sighed. He would like so very much to resume their singing lessons, to help her study the part of Norma, and he knew he could also help Christine with her Italian. But he understood that for the time being he had to be grateful that Christine had accepted their job offer, that she would be working at his theater, that he would be able to hear her sing again.

Xxxx

Nadir was very pleased with recent developments. He had never met Christine before, but he had to admit that he liked the young woman. She was not only very talented and pretty, she also seemed to have become quite independent.

He also could not help but notice that Erik was obviously very impressed with the way his former protégée had developed and that his love for her had grown even stronger. And even though Nadir had at first feared that by meeting her now Erik might turn into the obsessive madman of two years ago again, his friend was showing remarkable restraint.

Once Erik had realized her precarious position as an unattached, unchaperoned young woman, on her own in the world of theater, full of danger and seduction, he had begun to focus entirely on keeping her safe, pushing all his own wishes to the back and putting her needs first. He had agreed to let Nadir do most of the talking during negotiations, he had agreed to add the paragraph into her contract about her being able to leave at any time, should the situation become unbearable for her, he had thought about keeping her knowledge of French a secret and had taken it upon himself to translate the lengthy contract into Swedish, even though this was not a language he was particularly comfortable with. It seemed that despite their disastrous past this woman did have a very positive influence on Erik.

As to Christine, Nadir had to admit that he did have some hope that she had feelings for Erik, that once she would regain her trust for her former teacher, there might still be a chance for these two. After all, despite everything, she had agreed to work for them. True, she had insisted on that paragraph of her being able to leave at any time, but Nadir was more than a hundred percent certain that she would never have stayed if she truly hated or feared Erik.

Then there was the fact that she had seemed really contrite, when she had realized why Erik had had to resort to "spying", as she had called it. The full impact of Erik's own precarious situation, even worse than hers, had hit home. She had suddenly understood why his condition and the mask had to be kept a secret at all costs and even though she might not approve of the means, she had understood why that approach was necessary and thus had accepted it by apologizing to Erik for her uncalled for accusations.

Another point that gave Nadir reason to hope that all was not lost yet, was the fact that Christine had obviously immediately guessed who had been behind her contract in Swedish. She had thanked Erik for this courtesy, thus making it very clear that she appreciated his effort.

Yes, Nadir was confident that these two might still find their way back to each other. Maybe a little help or encouragement from his side could not hurt, but in his opinion, both were dealing with the situation at hand better than could be expected.

Xxxx

About half an hour later, Nadir met Christine at the seamstress's office and showed her to her new dressing room. It was a big, friendly room, and well furnished. In addition to a dressing table and a screen for privacy during change of costume, there was a huge wardrobe, a table and chair and a comfortable couch, that could also be converted into a bed. A small door in one corner lead to a private bathroom.

"You know that your contract states that you may live on the premises of the theater," Nadir reminded Christine, while he showed her everything, including the score for "Norma" lying on the table. "Have you decided yet if you will take advantage of this possibility?"

Christine was not sure. In a way, it seemed convenient. She could save the money that she would otherwise have to pay for rent, she would not have to walk a long way home after a stressful day of rehearsals or late at night after a performance. But she was not sure if she wanted to be that close to her former teacher at all times.

Nadir seemed to understand why she was hesitant to accept that offer. "We do not live here," he explained. "Erik and I go home almost every night. He only stays at the theater maybe twice in three months, if that often. He would not..."

Christine blushed deeply. Was signor Khan thinking that she might fear her Angel would come to her room at night and force himself on her? Was that the reason why he told her that Erik was not spending his nights at the theater?

"I know he would not hurt me," she was therefore quick to reassure the older man. "At least he would not physically hurt me," she added. What she did not say, was that the emotional wounds her Angel had caused her, were worse, though.

"No, he would not," Nadir admitted. He was glad that Christine had just confirmed to him what he already had suspected: that despite the violence Erik had displayed in her presence, she was not afraid of him and knew that he would never hurt her intentionally.

"I would really ask you to consider living here," Nadir continued. "There will be other ladies taking up residence at the theater, you would not be the only one. Several members of the choir and ballet as well as your colleague, the mezzo-soprano who will be singing the part of Norma's rival Adalgisa, are not locals either. We are offering the protection of our theater to all of them. And as far as I know, you are here alone, unchaperoned...?"

Christine nodded. She knew that this was a problem she had not considered when she set out to find work so far away from home and she had already been in one or two situations where she had desperately wished for a chaperon of some kind. Was this offer to live at the theater therefore not a godsend?

"It would mean a lot to us to know that you are safe here," Nadir reminded her.

At the bright smile that lit up Christine's face he could only guess that she had caught his meaning, that he had said "we" but really meant "Erik".

"Are you... did he...," she stammered.

"Erik has promised you as well as me that he will leave you alone," Nadir explained, as he noticed her reluctance to directly ask him. "And he is trying hard to keep this promise. But in return I have promised him to make sure you are comfortable here, and most importantly, safe."

Christine beamed. Her Angel was still watching over her. Because of his actions way back in Paris, he did not dare approach her directly, but he was doing his best to help her deal with the current situation.

"Then I guess I will take you both up on that generous offer," she whispered. "And... I ... I really appreciate what he did with my contract, drafting it in Swedish, I mean... that was very sweet of him."

"He sat up all night," Nadir told her. "He wanted to make very sure it is written in flawless Swedish. And I know he will be just as pleased as I am that you will take up residence here."

He paused, furtively glancing at Christine to see how his words had affected her. There was a dreamy look in her eyes and an endearing little smile lit up her face. Nadir was happy, for it did obviously mean a lot to her that Erik had been so considerate.

"And now that it has been agreed upon that you will take up residence here, let me show you to a rehearsal room, where you can go through your part, playing Norma's lines on a piano," Nadir continued after a short pause. "Will you be able to study the most important solo parts within a week? Once you are familiar with them I could ask Cantucci to repeat them with you as your accompanist."

Christine nodded, although she felt a bit disappointed. Even though she did not admit it to herself, she had been hoping that her former teacher would offer to do a first run-through of the lines with her.

Xxxx

Nadir returned to Erik's office after he had made sure that Christine did not need any more help at the moment. She had gone to the bed and breakfast to settle her bill there and retrieve her belongings, and once she had unpacked she was planning to begin studying her role.

Erik felt nervous. He was anxiously waiting for news from his beloved Christine. Would Nadir succeed in persuading her to live at the theater? Did she like her dressing room or was there something she would want to have changed?

Nadir had barely closed the door behind him, when Erik bombarded him with questions.

"Patience, patience, my friend," the Persian told Erik, smiling. "You will hear everything. And don't be so nervous. This will really work out well, I am certain of it. The lady is staying here, she just went to retrieve her luggage, so we will have her under our wings."

Erik sighed, relieved. "She shall be comfortable here," he vowed, "and feel safe and protected."

Nadir nodded. "Yes, that she will."

And just as he had told Christine that Erik had spent all night drafting her contract in Swedish, he thought that he had to tell Erik a bit about his conversation with her as well. It could not hurt to help these two a little bit in overcoming the painful memories of those last few days they had spent together in Paris.

"You know, when I told her that we do not live here, in order to make her accept our offer to take up residence here, she must have instinctively understood that I wanted to reassure her that you would not be hovering over her all the time. And you know what she said then? She said that she knows you would never hurt her, at least not physically. Even though she has seen you at your bloodthirsty best, she is not afraid of you. What do you say now?"

Erik looked down, ashamed. "She may not be afraid of me, but she did imply that I have inflicted emotional wounds on her, and I know that she is right about that. After all, I tried to kill that boy of hers, and I tried to force her to..."

Oh, he had treated her so terribly, he had more or less tried to blackmail her into becoming his wife, into allowing him to... and she had agreed to submitting herself to him in such a way, had even proved her decision to do so with a kiss, no, two kisses. How was this behavior of his different from that of a rapist? He had not really left her a choice.

"I know," Nadir agreed, "you will have to work on making it up to her for how you treated her back then. But I think with time she will understand that you were not yourself then, that your actions were the result of an attack of pathological jealousy. But you have been able to shake that condition back then, when you let her go."

Erik did not seem convinced.

"You are not that person any longer," Nadir reassured him. "The moment you sent her away, you overcame this illness. You put her first. That is what counts, and in the end she will hopefully come to see it that way as well."

Nadir had yet another bit of information to tell his friend, one that he hoped would cheer Erik up.

"You know what she told me about the fact that you wrote her contract in Swedish? She said that was very sweet of you!"

"Sweet?" Erik asked incredulously. "She cannot have thought of me as sweet. You are making this up, Nadir!"

Nadir shook his head. "Those were her exact words," he said. "She was very happy about it."

With that he left to allow Erik time to process this information.

Xxxx

"Dear mamma Ingrid," Ingrid Johannsen read Christine's latest letter once again. "I have finally landed a job at a small opera house here in Italy. It is about to reopen after a period of renovations. You will never guess who the artistic director of this theater is, one Erik Planchet. This gentleman is no other than my former music teacher..."

Aunt Ingrid sighed. She was not sure what to make of this letter. She knew that her niece and adopted daughter had been terribly disappointed by this particular man, and from what Christine had told her, she was not sure she could consider him an appropriate suitor for her girl. But then, she had always had an inkling that this man was very dear to Christine, more so than the child dared admit to herself.

Would the fact that the two had run into each other again help them to overcome their problems, would Christine be able to forgive that man, assuming he had grown out of his violent tendencies? Or would this encounter lead to even more heartbreak for her beloved niece?

Only time would tell...