A/N: Sorry the last chapter was ridiculously short. Love and hugs to Jess and Beth. Still dun own it. Or Cats. Who'd you think I am? Andrew Lloyd-Webber?!
Henriette chewed her lip under the black bandana. To waste time between picking up her breakfast and leaving for Erik's she showered and spent far too long brushing and braiding her hair. It was now damp, and hanging in a thick braid down the back of the red shirt. Angelique was good at her job, Henri looked nice especially with the jacket she'd borrowed. She'd watched 'Cats' just to fill space but on reflection that hadn't been a good idea because she'd been humming all the way.
When she'd pulled up outside the house she'd felt like such a scruff standing on the step of his neat little house with a worn old bike helmet under her arm.
She glanced at her phone, 12.00 – damn. Half an hour to…
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Erik opened the door with a nervous smile. He'd heard the bike, and hadn't bothered to check the time. "Henriette!" he grinned, she looked lovely but he couldn't tell she was nervously chewing her lip under the black cloth.
Henriette just smiled as he led her in. "So, what's for lunch?" she joked. For once he was wearing clothes that were slightly more casual than hers, a black t-shirt (why always black? She didn't really care. It was probably for the same reason she wore black.) and blue jeans.
"Ah… Lunch." He smiled, "I'll get to that in a minute, I'm afraid I'm not a brilliant cook so we'll be going out."
"Ooooh where?" Henri asked eagerly, putting her helmet down carefully by the front door.
Erik smiled and tapped his nose knowingly. "You'll see. What would you like to drink? Our reservations are for 12:50"
Henriette winced guiltily. She was very early. "Erm…"
"Basically you can have red wine, water, orange juice or cola." He smiled, "And don't worry about being early." I probably would have had a nervous breakdown if you hadn't arrived…
"Cola… please." Henri smiled, perching herself on the edge of the sofa. Erik nodded and disappeared for a moment, returning with a glass of Red wine and a cola. He put both drinks on the coffee table and sat next to her, making sure he wasn't close enough to be invading her space. She wanted to shuffle across so she was closer to him. But she was nervous, so she sat frozen to the spot.
"So, what's this place like?" Henri asked, "Go on, Yes or No – is it…. Fancy?"
Erik grinned, alright… "Not really…."
"Okay… Italian?"
He smirked, "No."
"Pizza?"
"Pizza is Italian!"
Henriette laughed, "Oh alright then. Ummm… a steakhouse?"
"God no!" Erik said, choking on his drink from laughing.
Henriette laughed again, "Alright alright! Umm… Mexican?"
"No…" Erik rolled his eyes, there was no way she would guess. "Give up yet?"
Henriette pouted, "Yes. Go on tell me."
"No!" he said, laughing, "You'll see when we get there."
Henriette pretended to be hurt, "Fine. We'll talk about…."
"Music?" Henriette gave Erik a puzzled look when he interrupted and he smirked, "I know a great way to pass the time, come with me."
Still puzzled Henriette followed Erik through a door, down a narrow flight of stairs and into a dark basement. He disappeared for a moment as she hovered at the bottom of the stairs wondering what on earth could be down there and flicked on a light.
The basement was well lit but most of the room gave the impression that it wasn't used much. The walls and floor were bare, concrete and breezeblocks with only a gigantic Persian rug trying to disguise the bleak grey décor. There were no windows or doors, only the stairs up to the Living Room. Instruments hung on the walls or rested on stands all around the room but it was only the Grand Piano set perfectly in the centre of the far wall that looked used. The seat was worn and the keys aged, the lid scattered with bits of sheet music. A fountain pen and some sheet music were placed neatly above the keys. Erik walked over to it and sat on the bench, running his fingers along the keys as if saying hello to the Piano before he turned round and motioned for Henriette to come over.
She stood behind him and put her hand on his shoulder, breathless. "Welcome," he smiled, "To my humble abode." Henriette pressed a key on the piano, the note rang out loud and clear and perfectly tuned.
"It's amazing." She breathed, "Do you play all of these?" she motioned to the instruments around the edges of the room. He nodded. "Would you show me?"
Erik nodded again and shifted on the seat so there was room for her. She sat down and started reading the sheet music. It was handwritten, but she didn't see much before he snatched it off her. "It's not finished!" he explained, tucking it under some other sheets. He grabbed a book and placed it on the stand without showing her the cover and started to play.
Soon he had reeled off the whole of Mr Mistofolies without mistakes; Henri grinned and rested her head on his shoulder. "You play brilliantly." She stated simply, "Play 'Grizzabella'…"
He did, I don't ever want her to move. This is where I belong. Erik seemed to go into a whole different world when he was playing, he hadn't even seemed to have noticed Henri rested on his shoulder until she shifted and on the edge of hearing he caught the lyrics…
"She haunted many a low resort,
On the grimy road of Tottenham court.
She flitted about he no mans land…
From the 'Rising Sun',
To the 'Friend at Hand'…"
But then she seemed to notice she was singing because she shut up and looked at him. He finished playing and looked at her, "You like?"
Henriette nodded. Oh god what if he heard me sing?
"Come on then, we should leave now." Oh god what is she thinking?
She/He must think I'm a lunatic.
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They drove to the restaurant in Erik's car – a stylish sports model – and parked in the nearest space, meaning they had to walk a few blocks just to get there. Henri didn't mind, neither did Erik.
The two of them walked down the busy street arm in arm 'So they didn't loose eachother' both ignoring the odd looks their masks attracted. To Henriette's surprise Erik led her into a brightly lit Sushi bar complete with conveyer belt and the waitress ushered them to a cubicle where Erik made sure he sat with the mask facing the wall. Henri smiled. The waitress obviously thought they were odd but it was like she'd been prepared for them.
"Sorry, I didn't bother to ask if you even like Sushi." Erik smiled, "But I got the feeling you would."
"No kidding!" Henriette grinned, "I love sushi! Me and Jess used to go down to Tesco and just buy sushi instead of sweets." She grinned, "We would wind up the cashiers no end, and it was great fun."
Erik laughed, "Brilliant, well, Lunch is on me so help your self." He grinned, handing her a menu. "Bon Appetite!"
A/N: I have a pounding headache. Pity me with your precious reviews… crawls into bed with a hot water bottle
