A/N: Thank you to cotesgoat, BabyNake, sharp52092, peanutpup, and His Midnight Music for the reviews, I appreciate them very much!
Since they had intentionally arrived several days early in order to give Christine time to acclimate to the higher altitude of the mountains before she began rehearsing for the gala concert she was going to give before the summer opera season started in earnest, Christine and Mamma V took Gustave out to explore their temporary home the day following their arrival.
As they left Phantasma and began strolling along the main street of Black Hawk, Christine was once again surprised by how charming she found everything. Although they couldn't go into most of the buildings since they were casinos, just looking at them from the outside proved interesting - it was clear some of them had been here for many years. And even the ones that were obviously newer were quaint, fitting into the mountain landscape seamlessly.
While Christine would have been happy to continue wandering indefinitely, admiring the abundant flowers the adorned the sidewalks in pots and hanging in baskets from the iron street lights, and enjoying the beautiful sunny weather, she could sense Gustave getting restless, especially as Adelaide paused to read one of the historical markers along the walkway. Knowing that they had plenty of time to explore, they stopped at a small park area with a gazebo where the two of them could sit and watch Gustave run around for a bit and burn off some excess energy.
It soon became obvious that the area they had chosen to take their break in also served as a pickup spot for the vans that were available to shuttle people back and forth between Black Hawk and Central City, and once Gustave was done playing for the moment, the three of them boarded one for the short drive into the town where Christine would actually be rehearsing and performing for the opera company.
xxxxx
The van dropped them off just around the corner from the opera house, so the three of them headed there first, admiring the picturesque exterior of the historic building before getting a passerby to take a photo of the three of them in front of it. Afterward they stepped into the small flower-filled courtyard next to the building, where Christine coaxed Gustave into posing for several adorable pictures before he got bored.
Content that she had several nice photos to post to her private Instagram account later to begin storing memories of their summer, Christine took one of Gustave's hands as Mamma V took the other, and they walked on, continuing to explore their new surroundings.
As they moved along, Christine was even more taken with the buildings along the main street here in Central City, and apparently Adelaide felt the same way, looking over at Christine as they walked to say, "This is just remarkable, isn't it, dear? I feel like we stepped back in time here."
"It really is. I didn't expect it to be so, I don't know, scenic, I guess?" Christine replied as Mamma nodded in answer, continuing to look around. A few minutes later she caught Christine's gaze over Gustave's head, nodding to a sign behind her that promoted a casino with a kid-friendly arcade. By unspoken agreement, they quickly herded Gustave away before he took notice of the pictures on the advertisement, although Christine had a feeling that Mamma was making a note of the location in case she needed a place to bring him later while Christine was in rehearsals.
After they had walked up and down both sides of the street, Christine realized it was nearly lunchtime, and they decided to try a restaurant that advertised homemade pizza on the window. It turned out to be so good that Gustave, who could be a frustratingly picky eater, pronounced his cheese pizza delicious, asking if they could come back again before they had even left.
xxxxx
Christine and Gustave spent the next few days getting in a lot of one on one time, both because that would be limited for the two of them once she started rehearsals, and to give Adelaide some time alone to get out and enjoy herself since she would soon be Gustave's primary caregiver, at least during the day.
As always, Christine cherished the time with her son, enjoying reading to him and playing games with him. Thankfully, Gustave was also fairly good about playing on his own as well, so she had some time to relax, and was even able to spend a little of that time at the piano, making sure her voice was ready to start rehearsals.
There was one incident that unsettled Christine, however. While she was doing some vocal exercises on their third afternoon at Phantasma, Gustave had run over to the piano to grab her hand.
"Mom! There's a man on the balcony!" he exclaimed, pulling her toward the door.
Trying to remain outwardly calm despite the panic his words gave rise to, Christine walked quickly to the balcony, unsure what on earth she would do if there was somehow someone out there, but to her relief the space was empty.
Going outside, she walked around and even looked in the corners of the seating area. "See, Gustave, there's no one out here."
Joining her, he looked around, a slight frown on his face. "I saw a man, Mom," he replied, but he didn't seem particularly concerned about it, so Christine decided to just chalk it up to his very active imagination, while doing her best to ignore the unformed thought that hovered at the back of her mind.
xxxxx
On the last day before Christine was due to start rehearsals, the three of them took the car that was theirs to use out for the first time, driving a few miles back down the mountain to a recreation area that they had seen on their drive into Black Hawk. They took a picnic lunch and watched Gustave explore on the shores of the small lake, smiling when he found some other children to run and play with.
Unable to resist her son's cuteness, Christine stopped along the way back to take a few pictures of Gustave by the stream that ran along the highway, before ending with a selfie of the three of them before Gustave's patience ran out. After she buckled him into his car seat and carefully pulled onto the road again to drive the several miles back into town, Christine glanced into the rear view mirror only to see that he appeared to be asleep already.
Smiling, she continued on, reflecting on how well Gustave seemed to be doing in Colorado. In fact, being here had been surprisingly therapeutic for her as well, Christine had to admit. In some ways, the slower, more casual way of life reminded her of own childhood in Sweden. She had spent so much of her life living in large cities, first Paris and then New York, that she hadn't realized how much she missed those simpler days, back when life was so uncomplicated, just her and her father on their own.
And while those days would never come again, it made her happy to think of giving Gustave a similar experience. Despite the unexplainable uneasiness she had experienced at times since their arrival, Christine felt better than ever about her decision to spend the summer here after seeing how much fun Gustave had had today.
xxxxx
Erik sat in his office, disinterestedly reviewing routine security footage from the casino floor, the vast majority of his focus on counting down the minutes until he could leave for the short drive over to Central City. Today was Christine's first rehearsal for her gala performance, and he intended to be there to listen to it, unable to resist this chance to hear her sing again at last.
When a knock sounded on his door, he rolled his eyes before calling out, "Yes?" even though he was almost sure who the intruder was, a certainty that was confirmed when the door opened and Nadir Khan strolled into the room and seated himself in one of the chairs that sat in front of Erik's desk.
Anticipating the topic that was most likely on his friend's mind, Erik feigned absorption in the footage on the screen in front of him. If the other man was determined to be annoying, Erik knew from experience that there was sadly little he could do to prevent it, but that didn't mean he had to give Nadir an opening to start lecturing him.
Predictably, Nadir went directly to the point. "Erik, now that you've had a little time to hopefully think things over, have you considered what you should do about this situation with Christine?"
Rolling his eyes, Erik replied, "What do you mean, 'do about this situation', Nadir? There is no situation. She's here to sing with the opera company for the summer - that's all there is to it."
Frustration was evident in the other man's tone as he answered, "Erik, be reasonable. This is hardly a coincidence. You sponsored her contract with the opera and arranged to have her spend the summer in our hotel instead of in one of their usual housing options. Hell, your suite is right next to hers. But I'm supposed to believe that this is just a random occurrence?"
"Believe whatever you wish. I have work to do," Erik said curtly, hoping Nadir would take the hint and leave, but as usual luck wasn't on his side.
"It's not too late, you know. You could still tell her that you're here, that you had a hand in arranging for her to sing here this summer."
That statement was so idiotic that Erik had to drag his gaze away from his computer at last so he could give Nadir the look of contempt that he so fully deserved. "That may be one of the dumbest things I've heard you say yet, you-"
"Erik-"
"Enough!" Erik shouted, slamming his hand down on the desk in front of him, noting that that finally seemed to shut the other man up, although he knew that would only be temporary. "I will not be revealing the fact that I'm here to Christine, and for that matter, you better make damn sure that she doesn't see you, either. I didn't go to all this trouble to have you ruin it for me."
Returning Nadir's steely glare with one of his own, Erik silently dared him to respond, but before either of them could speak again, there was another knock on the door to his office.
"Come in," he called out, not caring who might be entering as long as they interrupted this pointless conversation, but as the door opened Erik saw it was two of the very few people on the planet that he would actually welcome a visit from.
As Nadir's wife and son entered the room, Erik didn't miss the way Rookheeya's concerned gaze moved shrewdly between the two of them. No doubt she could sense the tension in the room, but she didn't acknowledge it, instead gracing him with a lovely smile before she greeted her husband as she sank down into the chair next to his.
"How are you today, Erik?" she asked, amazing him as usual with the friendly warmth she always treated him with. What this gem of a woman saw in Nadir, Erik would never understand, disregarding the fact that his annoyance with his friend was probably making his thoughts less than charitable toward the other man at the moment.
"I'm fine, Rookheeya. How are you?" he asked politely, but as she answered, half of Erik's attention was on the little boy who had given his father a hug in greeting before running around the desk. With the ease of long experience, Erik lifted Reza into his lap, where he settled comfortably against him.
"Hi, Erik!"
"Hi, Reza. How's it going?" Erik asked, and, predictably, that was all it took for the boy to start chattering.
"I'm good! Did you know Mom and I are going school shopping soon?"
Erik made an encouraging noise, and as Reza began a detailed description of his school supply list for kindergarten in the fall, Erik noticed the boy's father still glaring at him across the desk, but he pointedly refocused on Reza and ignored Nadir.
Reza was far more interesting to talk to than his father was, anyway.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Please feel free to leave a comment, I always enjoy seeing them!