*DISCLAIMER* I DO NOT own The Phantom of the Opera, its storyline, or its characters. Please R&R.
I woke up to my alarm going off at 6:00 AM sharp. I quickly got out of bed and made my way downstairs to the kitchen. After making myself some breakfast, I made my way back upstairs and into my bedroom. I walked over to the bathroom and stepped in to take a quick shower. After drying myself off, I quickly walked into my closet to pick out my outfit for this important day. I decided to wear a black bodysuit paired up with a blush pink pencil skirt that fell just below my knees. I decided to wear a long black vest over the top to make the look a lot more formal. Making sure to add some cute accessories I wore a gold chain waist belt, gold hoop earrings, and a gold bracelet. I made my way over to where I kept my shoes and purses, picking out black strappy heels and a blush pink purse to match with my outfit.
I left my apartment building almost a half an hour before I was accustomed to. Before pulling out of the parking garage I made sure to text Meg.
Me: Hey! I'm OMW to work. Plz make sure you're there when I get there.
Before I could even set my car into "reverse", I heard my phone chime with an incoming text.
Meg: Already beat ya to it! I'm at Starbs, you want anything?
Me: Yes plz! Can you get me an Iced Caramel Macchiato. Grande?
Meg: I gotchu! I'll be at Destler's in about 10! LMK when you get there!
I pulled out of the parking garage and followed my usual route to work. It took me about 20 minutes to get to the entrance due to some traffic on the way.
After parking in my usual spot, I looked over to notice that Erik's car was already here, no doubt he was here a lot earlier than everyone else. I quickly pulled my phone out to shoot Meg a text and let her know I was here.
Me: Here! WYA?
Meg: is typing...
Meg: In my usual work space, I'll make my way over to your desk RN.
Me: KK! See ya in a bit!
I walked into the lobby area and made my way over to the elevators and pulled my phone out to check up on my social media while waiting for the elevator doors to open. After a couple of seconds, the elevator pulled up and I made my way in, I pressed the button to take me all the way up to the presidential area of the building. After heading out, I noticed that Meg was already waiting for me, coffee in hand. "Hey, Chrissy! Are you excited for the big meeting," asked Meg. I walked over to her to take my coffee and give her a hug. "Oh, Meggy. You have no idea how nervous I am," I exclaimed. "Come on, Christine. You're a genius! I'm sure you have the best presentation in the history of presentations right in your hands," said Meg as she pointed to the stacks of papers I had placed on my desk.
I grabbed a small stack and presented it to Meg. "Look! I found a way to make the information Erik asked for super easy to understand and look through! I created a little mini pamphlet as well that will pop up the information and numbers that they are looking for as they are coming up on the agenda of the meeting," I exclaimed. Meg looked through the entire thing and gave me a huge smile. "Oh, Christine! You have absolutely nothing to worry about. You are a genius! God, even a kindergartener could understand this and follow along. Your boss is going to love you for this!"
Unbeknownst to Christine and Meg, there were other ears listening to this little conversation. The owner of these ears had heard about Erik's new little assistant and was secretly hoping this assistant was either a man or a hideous woman. The owner of these ears had eyes that had been watching Christine and mostly Erik's every move. Oh how they wanted to end the little Daae girl and everything she had to do with Erik. After hearing this very interesting piece of information they just had to get their hands on those pamphlets. If there was anyway to destroy the Daae's relationship with Erik it would be by making Erik think that the Daae girl was an incompetent fool with absolutely no idea what she was doing. The owner of the little eyes and ears made their way over to Christine's desk and cleared their throat just loud enough for both Meg and Christine to turn towards them.
"Hello, ma'am. How may I help you? I am Christine Daae, Mr. Erik Destler's personal assistant," said Christine. "I am Centola Aziz-Khan, a member of the board of committee," she said as she eyed the stack of pamphlets. "Nice to meet you. You can go ahead and take a seat in the waiting area if you'd like. Is there anything I could do for you," asked Christine. Centola looked around the room and had a wonderful idea. She gave her fakest smile yet, "Um, yes. Could you please head down and grab me a coffee from the main lobby? Oh, and while you're at it… could you please grab me some papers I left in the um Psycless Copy Room in the basement?" Christine gave Centola a quick nod and moved her pamphlets next to her computer. Christine then looked to Meg, "Want to come with?" Meg looked down at her phone and replied, "Um, it's very close to meeting time. Why don't you go ahead and I'll head to Nadir's office to see if he needs anymore help. See you in 15 minutes, okay?" Christine gave an understanding nod and the both went on their way.
Centola got exactly what she wanted and if she was going to succeed in her devilish plan, she needed to act fast. Centola gave a quick look around the room and dashed towards Christine's desk. Again, looking around she quickly grabbed the pamphlets and placed them in a company folder. Afterwards, she placed the folder in her large purse and took a seat in the waiting area once again. She sat and waited for her wondrous plan to finish taking action. She very well knew that the Daae girl would never be able to find a copy room that didn't even exist. Surely after Erik saw what a complete spaz the Daae girl was, he wouldn't want to have her as his assistant anymore… leaving Erik available to her and her only. Her smile only grew wider once she saw that the meeting time was quickly approaching and everyone was starting to gather in the waiting room.
Erik came in about 5 minutes before the meeting was to start. He had originally walked into the conference room expecting everyone to be waiting around, but came to find it completely empty instead. Perhaps Christine was feeling a little overwhelmed, he just wished she would have had the confidence and trust in him to tell him so herself. Perhaps once the meeting was over, they could have a talk about the situation.
He looked around the waiting room in hopes of finding Christine walking around waiting on the board of committee but was taken aback by what he encountered. Almost every member of the board was waiting around the room looking displeased by the lack of customer service they were greeted with. He was just about to speak out and apologize to everyone in the waiting room when a small hand just barely took hold of his shoulder. He flinched away, not being used to sudden touching or any touching for that matter. He turned around and looked down to see Centola standing in front of him, a grin on her face. "Hello, Erik. It's been a while. I was hoping to hear from you sooner, and definitely not to invite me to attend a committee meeting." Erik took in a deep breath and swallowed back his disgust at the woman. Could she possibly be any more forward than this? How many times do I have to let her down gently and show her that I have no interest in being with her?
Just as Erik was about to speak he spotted Nadir stepping out of the elevator. He quickly stepped away from Centola, and began to walk towards Nadir. "What's going on in here, Erik. Why isn't Christine here to attend to the members of the board," asked Nadir. Erik gave Nadir a shrug, "I have no idea. She was told she needed to be here to attend to these people and make sure they were in the conference room by the time the meeting should start." Erik could tell that Nadir was completely baffled. "Where could she possibly be," he asked. "Is she not with Meg, perhaps she knows where Christine is," implied Erik. As soon as the words left his mouth, Centola was once again inserting herself into Erik's personal space and thoughts. "Are you looking for your assistant, Eri?" I absolutely despise when she calls me that! My name is Erik! And I definitely do not want any pet names from anyone… especially Centola. "Yes, Centola. We are looking for my assistant," he replied dismissively. "Well then I'm sorry to inform you that she left, and to get herself a cup of coffee at that. She just up and left as soon as I walked in, told me to find myself a seat and that she was on her way to grab some breakfast and would be back whenever she pleased."
Erik was confused, he hadn't known her for very long but this didn't seem like the Christine he had gotten to know these past couple of days. Something seems off, but what? Perhaps Christine wasn't who she appeared to be. This angered Erik, but he didn't know why. Did you honestly expect her to be different? She's just a little college girl who was only supposed to be here for the rest of the semester and leave unless she was worthy of staying at the company full time. Erik was angry, but he didn't know why he felt so… heartbroken. Almost every woman-although only the few that they were-that entered his life seemed to take a part of him with them.
He was quick to put all thoughts aside and move to the front of the waiting room. "Excuse me, everyone. I am sorry for the chaotic wait, let us all make our way to the conference room and let the meeting begin," he said. He quickly took one last glance around the room, secretly hoping that Christine would show up and prove to him that his ill thoughts were all just a misunderstanding… but at last, she never showed up. Only a nasty feeling in the pit of Erik's stomach was the only thing he felt as he made his way over to the conference room to finish what disaster he had started.