The door bell rang twice before the maid was finally able to answer it, only to find that it was Christine back from her outing with Raoul. A happy smile written all over her face as she entered her home followed by Raoul who was carrying a large bouquet of yellow roses.

"Please put this in water and have it out in the back porch."

"Yes Miss," quickly, the young maid had taken the roses but before she left she whispered "Mr. Destler is waiting for you in the study Miss."

"Thank you." Turning to Raoul who was in the process of taking off his coat and hanging it on the coat rack by the door she smiled and invited him to meet Erik. "He'll want to meet my best friend."

"If you say so,"

Taking him hand, Christine quickly led him up into the study room where they found Erik hunched over the large mahogany table, reviewing some papers.

"Erik?"

Though it was not like she didn't know him her voice still sounded small when she called him when ever he looked busy.

"Erik, I'd like for you to meet someone…" She was cut off when Erik held out his hand into the air signaling for her to be quiet.

"Who is he?" His voice sounded irritated and a matter of fact he was irritated. Erik had only wanted to talk to her at the moment, not some young man whom he didn't want to meet.

"Chris, maybe I should just come back another time," Offered Raoul.

"No, no, stay I insist."

At that moment Erik turned around giving an angry looked at Raoul before giving his attention to Christine. "Yes, leave."

Turning to Christine he took her hand before seeing himself out. "I'll call you later alright?"

"Forgive me Raoul." Her friend was not angry, he felt as if he understood the situation and gave her a warm smile.

The moment he left, Christine advanced towards Erik who was leaning against the table, facing her. "What was that all about?"

"Why is he here Christine?"

She stood there not believing her ears, why was he acting so nasty? "He is my friend, Erik."

Pacing back and forth, he found him doing. "I don't want you to see him, Christine. Ever."

"Erik! What is the meaning of this? You can't do this-"

"I can and I will." Stopping, he faced her. His eyes seemed to darken as he felt himself begin to boil from anger. "I try to come home early and when I do, where are you? Gone!"

"Well, I don't care!" She snapped. "I'm tired of being left alone in this house, it felt good to get out of this damn place." With out another word being said, Christine turned her heels and left the study slamming the door behind her.

Even if it was late at night, Erik found himself stepping out of the house and walking around the streets. Stuffing his hands in the pockets of his coat, Erik began to solve his situation. He had an angry girlfriend disobeying his request for her to stop being friends with the young man from Paris. Then, he had his mind on Emily. He may have known her for a short time, but God, was she driving him crazy.

An elderly woman stood next to the flower cart, watching Erik approach. "Would you like to buy some flowers sir?" She had noticed the mask on his face, something about it terrified her, but never the less she tried to ignore it. Perhaps the young man was caught in a terrible accident causing him to wear a mask to hide his disfigurement.

He saw her studying his as he looked around the cart, trying to pick out a bouquet of flowers. 'Damn woman' he muttered under his breath. Picking up a fairly large bouquet of white Calla Lilies, he paid the woman a reasonable amount for the flowers.

"Good night, sir." The elderly woman stared at retreating figure wondering why the man was so cross. "Poor man…"

The hasty knocking on her bedroom door woke Christine up from her sleep. Slowly she made her way to the door after turning on the small lamp, "Erik?" There he stood with the calla lilies in his hands, his eyes staring at her.

"I was walking…" he began as he ran his fingers through his hair before handing her the beautiful flowers. "I'm sorry about how irrational I was earlier."

She stared at the calla lilies for a moment "thank you." Truth be told, she was still angry at his behavior but came to a conclusion that he was only protective of her. Very protective of her.

"Do you want to go have dinner?" He asked surprising her with his offer.

"It's so late, Erik."

No, Erik would not take no for an answer. For some reason Erik felt that he should take her out, to make it up for her. "Come on, I know this great place that's open at this time."

"Fine, let me just get ready."

By the time they arrived at the small restaurant, Christine had to admit to Erik that she was feeling a bit hungry. Her small confession to Erik earned her a laugh. "See, aren't you glad I took you out?"

Rolling her eyes she answered, "I only got hungry because we walked half way here."

A young waiter, who smiled at both Erik and Christine, happily took them to a table for two right next to the window. "May I take your drinks?"

Erik requested a cup of coffee and while it was Christine's turn, she ordered water. The instant the waiter was gone Christine asked why he had ordered coffee.

"I just felt like a coffee person tonight." He answered suddenly feeling as he did not want to get into a discussion about why he asked for coffee. "Well why did you order water?"

"Because water is much healthier than coffee and unlike water, coffee has too much caffeine in it." She simply answered.

"I hate it when you do that."

Suddenly out of no where, Erik noticed a familiar face leaning against the bar. Her eyes were staring straight at him, finally, as if seducing him with out even going near him, she slowly made her way towards the back area that lead to the restrooms.

Turning back to Christine, he noticed that she was not paying any attention but was looking through the menu trying to figure out what to order. For a moment he debated whether or not he should go and follow Emily. "Darling, excuse me for a moment."

Before he could get out from his seat, Christine looked up. "Oh but what happens if the waiter arrives to take our orders?"

"Just order me what ever you'll be having." With out any other word being said he calmly made his way to the back to follow Emily.

Entering the men's restroom, Erik found himself alone with Emily in front of the mirror applying a new layer of lipstick on her lips. Seeing his reflection in the mirror, she smiled and turned to him as she placed the cap back onto the lipstick. "Hello Erik." She greeted as she walked up to him.