Hi everybody,

I know, I know, it has been quite a while since the last chapter... I am so sorry!

As always, thank you all so much for reading, for adding to favorites, putting on alert and most of all for reviewing! Your support means a lot to me. And keep in mind that I do not own these people, well, at least not all of them, aunt Ingrid is all mine, though! ;-)

Chapter 12 – Meet my aunt!

The next day, Christine had troubles concentrating during rehearsal. She could not get her aunt's letter out of her mind. In a few days her mamma Ingrid would be here and would want to meet all her colleagues. Should she inform them of her arrival or was it better not to say anything and to just introduce her to them once she was there?

Her main concern was Erik. Would he agree to meet aunt Ingrid? And if so, how would her aunt react to him? What would aunt Ingrid say once she finally explained to her that her former teacher wore a mask because he was horribly disfigured? What would she think about the fact that Christine had withheld that information from her for so long? Would she guess the reason behind this "omission"? Most likely yes, and how embarrassing would that be for Christine?

And was the mask all she should tell her aunt about before introducing her to Erik? Now that Christine was beginning to consider the possibility that one day she might be able to put the past behind her and forgive him, was it not a bit late to tell her aunt all the details about his alarming behavior two years ago? Would that information not color her aunt's perception of Erik and make it impossible for her to appreciate how extremely talented and competent he was and how well he was running his theater?

Christine blushed as she realized that it would trouble her a lot should her aunt get a negative impression of Erik. She was now beginning to understand what had driven him to such atrocities back then and she could not shake the feeling that she was in a way responsible for his madness two years ago.

After all, she had removed his mask at their first meeting. In doing so, she had not only invaded his privacy, but also scared him. Christine now understood that thanks to his uncaring mother Erik had been instilled with a feeling of inferiority, a fear of rejection. Over the years he had probably had a lot of other negative experiences because of his face in addition to his mother's scandalous treatment of him when he was a little boy. That fear of rejection was most likely the reason why he had hidden himself away underneath the Opéra Populaire in the first place – to avoid contact with people who he was sure would hurt him even more.

It was therefore no small surprise that once she had glimpsed his face – for she had not really had time to see it clearly before he had shoved her to the ground and started his rant – he had expected her to reject him because of it. She could not even begin to understand how she would have reacted in his place. After all, she was sure that at that point in time she had been his most important contact, somebody he had felt comfortable enough with to reveal himself and his home to her. She had been his hope to finally find someone who would be able to appreciate him and to look beyond his face.

And then she of all people had seen. Of course he would have expected her to react like his mother and so many others he had met over the years. It must have been extremely traumatic for him to see his hopes shattered like this, to see the person he had trusted most betray him. For a betrayal it had been. She had not waited patiently for him to find the right moment to explain his mask to her, she had not even asked him about it, she had just cruelly removed his protective shield and thus driven him over the edge.

Maybe, just maybe, none of those terrible things would ever have happened, had she not removed his mask at their first encounter. But back then she had not known about his mother, about his insecurities, she had only been so eager to remove that last barrier between them, to finally really see the man she called her Angel. All of him.

Christine knew that she had a lot to think about regarding her relationship with Erik, but now that they had somehow rekindled their friendship with the help of music lessons, the terrible memories of two years ago seemed to fade. More and more Christine began to see Erik again the way she had seen him before those events, as her teacher, her confident, her best friend... maybe even more.

Xxxx

"What's the matter with you today?" Anna Lena asked Christine during their lunch break. "You have made more mistakes in an hour than you normally make in a whole week!"

Christine tried to clear her thoughts and focus on the conversation at hand. "I have been thinking," she explained. Then she smiled. "Min mamma is coming here for the opening night. She will arrive on Monday."

Anna Lena beamed. "That is fantastic!" she exclaimed. "My parents are coming as well, I did not want to tell you, since I thought your mother wouldn't be able to come and then you might feel even lonelier, knowing that I have my family with me."

Christine nodded. "Yes, I am looking forward very much to seeing her again," she confessed. "But I was also thinking... she wants to meet you all, my new friends and colleagues, but she does not speak Italian, so this will be rather difficult, even if I act as her interpreter..."

Anna Lena grinned. "I do hope you will introduce me to your mother. I would love to meet her, even if I cannot talk to her directly. You must meet my parents as well, I am sure you will like them!"

Christine happily agreed to meet Anna Lena's parents, then remembered something else. "Have you thought about procuring tickets for your parents yet?" she asked.

Anna Lena smiled. "Yes, I went to the ticket office yesterday to buy tickets, but they told me, that relatives of the performers get in for free as a courtesy of the management. Isn't that wonderful? You should go there and tell them that you need a ticket for your mother as well."

Christine told her friend she would do this later, but decided to rather discuss this issue with Erik during their music lesson that same evening. After all, that was the perfect excuse to tell him that her aunt was coming – and would like to meet him.

Xxx

"Christine, is something the matter?" Erik asked, as soon as she arrived for her lesson. "You have been absolutely terrible during rehearsal this morning. Is something troubling you?"

Christine shook her head. "Yes, I had problems concentrating," she admitted, "but the reason for it is something positive. Aunt Ingrid is coming here for opening night!"

Erik nodded. "You are excited to see her again," he surmised. He somehow envied Christine. If only he had had such caring relatives that could have stepped in when his mother ignored him, just like this aunt Ingrid had stepped in for her dead brother and become a mother to Christine.

"Of course you won't have to pay for a ticket for your aunt," Erik explained. "We have already made arrangements to seat signorina Vigelli's parents in a box, and will do the same for your aunt."

Christine beamed at him. "Thank you, Erik," she whispered. "That is very generous of you and signor Khan."

She hesitated a bit, before adding: "Erik, my aunt wants to meet you. No, not just you," she hastily explained, "but everybody here, my new friends and colleagues. I think it would mean a lot to her..."

Erik sighed. He was not sure he wanted to meet Christine's relative. After all, he had no idea how much this aunt Ingrid knew about him. What had Christine told her adoptive mother? Was that woman even aware that he was Christine's former teacher? Of course if he met her and she saw his mask, she would know that fact anyway...

"I know you are hesitant to meet new people," Christine tried to show she understood his reluctance to agree to a meeting with her aunt. "And I cannot guarantee that she will like you, but I know she will treat you with respect. She won't reject you because of your mask or anything like that."

"Yeah, I can imagine, she will be thrilled to meet the man who killed Buquet, burned down the Opéra Populaire, made it impossible for you to perform under your real name..."

"There is of course a chance that min mamma might not be too enthusiastic about the past," Christine admitted, "even though she does not know all the details, but I have told her so much about this theater, what a great job you are doing here, how much you have helped me with the role, I am sure that is the reason why she wants to meet you..."

"You would want me to agree to seeing her?" Erik asked nervously.

Christine nodded. "Yes," she admitted. "After all, I think we are friends again, are we not? And aunt Ingrid is my only living relative. So, I guess it is only natural that I would like her to meet you, just as she will be meeting Anna Lena, signor Khan and everybody else. After all, it would be strange if you were the only one she does not meet, especially since you are actually the only one she could talk to without me acting as interpreter, since you are fluent enough in Swedish..."

Erik sighed. He was not sure what to make of Christine's request. Why did she want him to meet her adoptive mother? If the events of two years ago had never happened, he would have dared hoping that Christine wanted to introduce him to her remaining family because she considered him her … how should he put it? Suitor? Potential future husband? But that was out of the question, or was it?

What else could be the reason for aunt Ingrid wanting to meet him? Maybe despite the fact that Christine had apparently told her aunt a lot of good things about his work at the theater, said relative was not too convinced yet that Christine was safe in his presence? Maybe she wanted to assess him herself and then decide if she would allow Christine to continue working for and with him?

There was also another problem...

"I do not know if I can do it," Erik explained. "Maybe I could meet with your aunt, since for her I could wear the normal leather mask, since she knows about..." He gestured at his face. "But if I meet with her, I would have to meet with the relatives of other employees as well, like signorina Vigelli's parents, and for those I would have to wear my life-like mask and you know that I cannot do that for any length of time..."

Christine sighed. She had not even thought about that detail. "Maybe we could say that you are making an exception for min mamma, because she has come from so far away?" she suggested. "That you are too busy meeting with everybody and that this time she gets the preferred treatment because of her long travel, next time it might be somebody else?"

"Or...," Christine looked up at Erik. "I could bring her with me to our next music lesson. Then nobody else would need to know about you meeting her."

Erik nodded. That might work. Assuming he could muster the courage to meet Christine's aunt.

"I will think about it," he promised. "When is your aunt coming anyway? And where will she be staying?"

Christine explained that aunt Ingrid would arrive the coming Monday and that she was going to book a room for her at the bed-and-breakfast where she herself had been staying before moving to the theater.

Erik was relieved that he did not have to make a decision right away. It was only Thursday, that gave him a few days to think this new situation over.

"I will let you know by Sunday," he finally mumbled, then opened the score to begin their lesson.

XXX

The next few days, Nadir noticed that Erik became increasingly more nervous and agitated, but he knew better than to ask his friend about the cause for his growing irritability. Erik would tell him what was bothering him, when the time was right. He did have an inkling, though, that maybe his friend's mood had something to do with a certain soprano.

On Sunday morning, Erik finally decided to confide in his friend and business partner.

"Her aunt is coming tomorrow," he blurted out, "and she wants to meet me!"

Nadir nodded. Christine had mentioned to him as well that her "mamma" was expected to arrive the next day and was hoping to meet all of her new friends and colleagues.

"Yes," Nadir therefore replied. "Signorina Johannsen has asked me as well if I would allow her to introduce me to her adoptive mother."

"What am I to do about this?" Erik continued. "For you it is easy, you do not have a complicated backstory with Christine, which showcased your murderous instincts, you have not tried to force the girl into marriage, you have a normal face..."

"Erik," Nadir interrupted him. "Stop that. You are thinking about it far too much. Christine's aunt wants to meet everybody here, Christine's friends and colleagues. That does include you. I am certain that she would already have acted one way or another if she had problems with Christine working for you. Or do you think Christine has not informed her who you really are?"

Erik sighed. "Christine must have told her at least something, for she did not object when I said I could wear the normal leather mask instead of the lifelike one when meeting her aunt. So she must have told her that signor Planchet is the one with the mask, the monster who used to be her teacher. But I am not exactly sure what else she has told her aunt. How much about what has happened two years ago..."

"Then meeting with her aunt is the best way to find out about this," Nadir suggested. "And to get an idea about how this aunt feels about you and Christine working together again..."

Erik did not seem convinced.

"What did Christine say?" Nadir went on. "Did she encourage you to meet her aunt or did she seem unhappy with the idea of the two of you meeting?"

Erik thought about it. "She seemed to try to convince me to meet the lady," he finally admitted.

Nadir grinned. "Then what are you waiting for? Tell her that you would be delighted to meet her aunt."

"Why should I do that?" Erik asked.

"Because Christine obviously thinks it is important that you meet her aunt. We can also safely assume that she knows her aunt well enough and that she is therefore capable to judge whether or not it might be a good idea to have the two of you meet. Maybe she wants to show her aunt that you are not the madman of two years ago that she has probably told her about, but that you are a changed man now. That her aunt does not have to fear for her safety if Christine continues to work for us. Something like that."

Or maybe, Nadir thought, she is trying to get her aunt's approval for her renewed friendship with Erik. For it had not escaped him that Christine had mellowed considerably towards Erik. In his opinion things between these two could not be better right now. He was now certain that sooner or later they would get their happy ending.

Erik nodded. "You think that I should try to convince signora Johannsen that I am no longer a threat to her niece," he stated flatly. He had absolutely no idea how he could possibly convince anybody that a former murderer and madman was no threat to a girl that he had once tried to force into marriage.

"Don't worry too much, Erik," Nadir advised. "Tell Christine you will meet her aunt, and once you do meet the lady, just be yourself. Talk about your work here, about music, and show her how much good there is in you. I have faith in you that you will be able to do that!"

Xxxx

When Christine arrived for her music lesson that same evening, Erik immediately blurted out: "Yes!"

Christine gave him a questioning look. "Yes?" she asked. "Yes to what?"

"Your aunt," Erik mumbled, still uncomfortable at the thought. "I will meet her!"

"Oh thank you, thank you!" Christine cried out, relieved. She had not dared to hope anymore for his agreement to meet her aunt. She ran over to Erik and gave him a quick hug.

"This is wonderful news," she assured him. "I am sure you will like min mamma."

Erik was not so sure, but then, what difference did it make whether or not he liked Christine's aunt? The important thing was what this aunt thought about him. And considering what that woman probably knew about his past, he was convinced that she would not be too inclined to like him or to even trust him with her precious niece.

"Min mamma will arrive tomorrow," Christine reminded him. "As you know, I have asked to be excused from rehearsal tomorrow afternoon, so that I can meet her at the station and show her to the bed-and-breakfast. But I will be back at the theater for our lesson tomorrow night. What do you think? Should I bring min mamma with me so you can meet her here then?"

Erik shuddered. Twenty-four hours seemed like a very short time to get used to the idea of meeting Christine's aunt. But on the other hand, he would have to meet that woman eventually, since he had just agreed to do so. Then why wait? Wasn't it best to get that dreaded meeting out of the way, to be over and done with it?

"Yes," he finally agreed, hanging his head, feeling like the proverbial lamb being lead to slaughter.