*DISCLAIMER* I DO NOT own The Phantom of the Opera, its storyline, or its characters. Please R&R.
I ran up to my room faster than I had in a long time. I of course pushed the stoller at a really fast pace to keep up with my fast running, which Bianca got a kick out of. As soon as I walked through the door with Bianca, I quickly took her out and ran upstairs carrying her in my arms. She clearly loved the bouncing up and down as I ran up the stairs which she giggled at with every bounce. Once I made it into my room, I set Bianca on her baby swing and clipped her in.
I ran into the bathroom to take a shower making sure to leave the door open so that I could hear for Bianca. I quickly shampooed, conditioned, moisturized, and cleaned up. Once I was completely dry, I headed over to my closet to pick something out. I decided to dress cute but casual so I went with a beige/pink long sleeve blouse and blue high skinny jeans paired with some brown leather booties. I decided to accessorize the outfit with a gold layered metal chain necklace. I decided to blow dry my hair for a quick effortless look.
Once I was done changing, I decided to change Bianca's outfit as well because I couldn't be the only cute one of course. I dressed Bianca in a white cashmere sweater and light washed skinny jeans paired with some light pink booties lined in fur. I accessorized the look with an adorable leopard print bow headband. After making sure Bianca looked almost as cute as I did, I grabbed my brown leather handbag that matched my shoes and walked out of the door with Bianca in tow and headed down to the lobby to meet Erik.
Erik was a completely nervous wreck pacing back and forth in the lobby as he waited for Christine. He was on his fourth lap when the elevator chimed and out walked Christine with Bianca in tow. Erik walked over to them and offered to take Bianca from Christine as she looked like she was struggling with the combination of Bianca and the weight of her in the car seat. "Thank you," she said as she shook her arm in an attempt to regain feeling. "Of course," said Erik. They headed to Erik's car, which had been pulled up to the front by one of the valet's. Erik placed Bianca's car seat in the backseat and headed around to open Christine's door for her.
They arrived at the restaurant shortly after and Erik was sure to open the door for Christine and retrieve Bianca from the backseat. The two of them walked into the restaurant with Bianca in tow. They were quickly greeted by a hostess. "Hello, table for three," they asked.
Erik nodded and the hostess continued, "right this way." We were seated at a booth and the hostess was quick to grab a highchair for Bianca. "Can I start you off with anything to drink?"
Erik and I sat down across from each other. Erik was quick to answer, "I'll have a glass of water, please." The hostess looked over at me and I quickly answered, "I'll have a glass of water too, please." The hostess walked away and was back momentarily with our cups of water. "The waiter will be here momentarily to take your order, enjoy your meal," said the hostess and then proceeded to walk away.
Erik was at a loss for words and decided to start a conversation. "So, um… I had no idea that you had a daughter. It was never mentioned on your resume or at work when you told me about yourself," said Erik. Christine chuckled. "No, um… Bianca isn't my daughter. She is my little sister, although I've spent so much time with the little booger I may as well be her mom," I laughed. Oh thank God! Wait! Why am I so relieved?! I shouldn't care whether or not she has a daughter. She is my assistant for heaven's sake! Not that there would be anything wrong with her having a daughter, Christine was a respectable woman with many good qualities it's no wonder someone would take such interest in Christine.
Erik was snapped out of his inner thoughts by Christine. "Erik? Are you alright," she asked. Erik quickly looked at her, "Oh yes," he said. "Well, um… as I was saying, my mom and dad knew that my mothers time was being cut short so they decided to have one last thing to remember her by… Bianca. She was born last Christmas and was about 6 months old when mom passed away. She's now 9 months old and was the best Christmas present ever. Dad is an Anesthesiologist so he very rarely gets to be home, therefore Bianca goes back and forth between my brother Brad and I."
Erik seemed to be very interested in everything Christine had to say, they ate and talked about Christine and what her life was like currently. He learned many things about her but Erik almost never spoke about himself. Erik thought she hadn't noticed but he'd be surprised with how much Christine was paying attention to him and his demeanor. Christine had just finished saying something when Erik quickly remembered he had heard nothing about the trip to Ibiza. "I'm sorry, Christine. I completely forgot to ask about the itinerary for Ibiza," he said. Christine gasped, "Oh, my. I'm so sorry! I completely forgot to fax or email it to you," she said apologetically.
Christine got Erik caught up on the itinerary and they talked some more about anything they could. Soon, they were interrupted by the waiter who brought the bill over and set it on the table. Erik quickly picked up the tab and paid, making sure to give the waiter a generous tip. As soon as they were done paying, they headed out.
I was so nervous to go out to dinner with my boss, but right now on the drive home I feel as comfortable as ever. He seems like such a nice and genuine person, I can easily see that he has a stern, cold, yet oddly sweet personality. A personality that easily made him look like a boss. We arrived at the apartment building and got out of the car. Erik was nice enough to take Bianca out of the backseat, she had fallen asleep during the car ride and he was very careful not to wake her.
We got inside of the building and walked over to the elevator. Once we got to my floor I reached my hands out to take Bianca away from Erik but he denied the gesture. "Nonsense, I can carry her to your door," he said. We walked to my door and I turned to grab Bianca from him. I put her down so that I could say goodbye to Erik. I was initially going in for a handshake but I tripped over Bianca's car seat leaving me to tumble into Erik's arms. I looked up to apologize and at the same time he looked down at me to ask if I was okay. Neither of us got to say anything. Our faces were so close to each other, one small incline or lowering of the head and we could practically be kissing. We stood like that for a while and we both slowly went in… before either of us could go in any further, Erik snapped back into reality and backed away. "Goodnight, Christine. I will see you on Monday," he said nervously. "Goodnight, Erik," I said breathily. And that night, I went to bed with butterflies in my stomach at the thought of the "almost kiss" Erik and I had just shared. I felt like a teenage girl with a crush, and I hadn't felt like this in so long!