*DISCLAIMER* I DO NOT own The Phantom of the Opera, its storyline, or its characters. Please R&R.
It has been about about three weeks since my encounter with Raul, and I have not been able to steer clear of him since. He is always messaging me, calling me, and emailing me. I feel as though he's become even more attached to me than when we were in a relationship… and I don't know how to shake him off. I clearly can't tell him that I'm pregnant… much less that I'm pregnant with my bosses baby. I don't know exactly how crazy he would get. I feel like I don't even know him anymore, this is not the Raul that I was in a relationship with a mere four months ago. A part of me was beginning to feel relieved that I broke up with him when I did. Who knows how things would be going right now if I hadn't. I already know that he'd still be incredibly jealous of Erik and how much time we are forced to spend together at work when he's there.
Thinking of Erik only reminds me of how much I deeply miss him. I can't go through this pregnancy alone. But I also don't want to tell him the news while he is so far away and not in contact with me. I tried to reach out after my encounter with Raul but I was only met with nothing but a "read" receipt. Nadir claimed that he hadn't heard much from him either, but I know better than to not think that they speak every single day. How else does Nadir know what to work on?
I got ready for work. I've been wearing outfits that are a bit baggier than I used to. Nadir doesn't seem to mind this laid back new look, and I'm sure he understands that I don't really want to be there at the moment. He must know that something happened, I'm sure that Meg has at least told him what happened between Erik and I the night before we came home from Ibiza.
I dressed up in a pair of leggings, paired with a long sleeve loose top, knee high socks, and a pair of light brown semi-fuzzy boots. It was loose enough to hide the tiniest of bumps that was beginning to show on my stomach. I then skipped breakfast and drove straight to work.
As I arrived to my desk, I noticed two pages worth of work that I needed to get done. I turned on my computer and got to work. I showed up feeling a bit sick and nauseous, but I've been feeling like that for a while now. Therefore, I didn't think much of it. I had finished the first page and a half a little past lunch time. I skipped lunch in order to ensure I'd finish my workload on time and completely. I had a couple more things to do, but my printer ran out of ink, therefore I had to run all the way down to the lobby and use the printer in the common room. Once I made it there, I noticed that I was beginning to feel a bit lightheaded. I ignored it and went about my business, ensuring to have everything done.
Once I got upstairs and finally made it back to my desk, I noticed a text from Meg.
Meg: Hey, Chris! Nadir wants to have a little meeting and a pretty late lunch. We'll be up to meet you at 1:30! Don't worry about lunch, the company is catering.
I read her text and noticed that it was only 1:15. I decided to continue with my work, but once I opened my computer my vision began to go a bit blurry. I tried to push through for a bit, but once I tried typing, the keys on my computer were beginning to duplicate. I could hardly see what I was typing, my heart was racing and I felt like everything around me was beginning to fade away. I stood up and attempted to run to get some sort of help, but as soon as I took a couple of steps forward, I felt the world slip away.
As I lay on the floor, all I can hear is an extremely distant sound of loneliness. My vision began to go in and out, but my hearing was not all there. As I began to slip away again, I could hear my name being called from an extremely far away distance and I could hardly recognize the voice.
Meg was seated at her desk, finishing up her remaining work. At exactly 1:25, Nadir arrived at her desk. "Are you ready for lunch, baby?," he asked. Meg gave him a smirk, "Oh, so I'm baby now? I like the sound of that!" Nadir walked to her side and offered her his arm in a semi-joking manner. They then walked over to the elevator and waited for it to arrive. Once it stopped at their current floor, they rode it up to the main floor, just one level above theirs.
The elevator doors opened, and both Meg and Nadir walked out. There was an uneasy feeling within the environment that the pair felt as soon as they walked in. Meg looked around and let out a loud gasp, when she looked at the floor near Christine's desk. "Oh my god, Christine!," she yelled.
Christine was laying on the floor near her desk face down and unconscious. Meg tried to awaken her by shaking her, but she didn't budge. Meg looked up at Nadir with a begging look, he knew that they needed help. He then quickly pulled out his phone and dialed 911. "Hello, I am Nadir Khan. I am located on the top floor of Destler LLC. We have a 23 year old unconscious female who needs to be looked at. We need someone over here as soon as possible," he said. Something was being said to Nadir on the other line and soon after, he hung up.
Help came soon after while Meg and Nadir were trying to comfort and reassure Christine. Meg and Nadir looked up to the sound of the elevator door opening, in came a team of three paramedics. Each of them began to provide care to Christine. One of them began to examine Christine while the other began to pull out the items the first was requesting. The third looked to both Meg and Nadir, "Would either of you be able to answer any questions about the young woman?," they asked. Meg nodded and walked over to the third paramedic, who ushered her to an area where they were assured full confidentiality.
The paramedic started with asking, "How old is she and may you be able to provide us with her first and last names?," he asked. Meg nodded, "Yes, her name is Christine Adelaida Daee and she is 23 years old." The paramedic then asked, "When did she start experiencing any signs or symptoms? Do you know if she is allergic to anything or currently on any medications? Has anything like this ever happened to her before? Has she eaten or had anything to drink today? Lastly, do you know if she had been doing anything before this? I apologize for the amount of questions I am bombarding you with." Meg nodded, "She's pregnant so she's been experiencing a lot of nausea, vomiting and lightheadedness. She isn't allergic to anything and I am sure she is taking prenatal vitamins. She passed out a couple of weeks ago when she found out that she was pregnant, and all I know is that she had been hard at work since this morning," said Meg.
The paramedic nodded and reassured Meg that Christine will be well taken care of. "Sir, I know that she doesn't really want people to know about her situation, is it possible that you could only tell those who absolutely must know?," she asked. The paramedic nodded as he made his way over to the other paramedics, they both nodded after he whispered the information into their ears. The loaded Christine up onto the cot and made their way down to the lobby to load her in the ambulance.
Meg decided to ride along, and turned to Nadir to tell him so. "Babe, I think I'm going to ride to the hospital with her. Would you mind staying behind to close up and meeting me at the hospital?," she asked him. He nodded at her and told her it was okay, that he'd meet up with her as soon as he could. Meg kissed him quickly on the lips and made her way over to the elevator.
Once she was gone, Nadir took his phone out of his pocket and began to dial a number. "Erik, you need to come home. I know what you're going to say, but you need to come home at some point. You can't hide forever," he said. Something was said on the other line and in response to it, Nadir added, "Erik, it's Christine. There's something wrong. She had an accident today, she ended up losing consciousness at work. Even if you don't want to come, you'll need to come to fill out all of the paper work. If you're not coming back for her, at least come back for the company. Goodbye, Erik. I hope you'll make the right decision," he said before hanging up on Erik.
He had been on the phone with him for a couple of minutes listening to what Nadir had to say. "Nadir, I can't just drop everything here and leave. I'm trying to close a business deal that could possibly gain us millions of dollars," said Erik. He listened for Nadir to finish saying what he had to say. If you're not going to come back for her, at least come back for the company. Goodbye, Erik. I hope you'll make the right decision. Erik was about to respond when Nadir ended the call. No doubt he hung up because he's completely done with me and the conversation, Erik thought to himself.
After a while of pacing back and forth in his office, he began to think about what to do. He had no choice but to return home and process the paperwork for Christine's injury, but he did have the choice to go home and fix or straighten things up with her. Everyday waking up so far away from Christine, ever since that amazing night in Ibiza… he's never been able to fully free her from his mind. Days started and days ended, time crawled right by. Yet the night stealed in pacing the floor. Every moment began to creep and he could hardly bear to sleep until he was finally able to see her once more.
Weeks and months had passed, and still he hadn't been able to find it in himself to leave and walk through her door to plead for forgiveness. To see her once more. Sometimes, during the night he would dream that she was there, yet he'd wake up with the cold reality of her not being there and holding nothing but the empty air. With all of the weeks that came and went, time began to run dry and Erik began to ache right down to the core. His broken soul could hardly be alive and whole until he could finally be able to see her once more.
Her face, it haunted him at night and teased his mind and emotions. He would turn and awaken in hopes of having her right next to him, yet it would all fade away and she would be nowhere to be found. Let all of these hopes, and all of my dreams pass, hell… let them die. Without her, what are they even for? I will always feel no more than halfway real, until I am able to see her once more. Hold her once more…
With that, Erik picked up his phone. "'iilgha' aijtimae eamali. lam 'aeud 'arghab fi aldukhul fi 'ayi safaqat tijariatin. yajib 'an 'aeud 'iilaa 'amrika wa'astaeid hayaati. sa'aeud fi waqt lahiq eindama yatimu halu kuli shay'in. (Cancel my business meeting. I no longer wish to engage in any business deals. I must go back to America and get my life back. I will be back at a later date when it is all resolved.)" With that he grabbed his suitcase, and headed straight to the airport, Erik would be back soon and he would be able to finally piece the puzzle back together. He just hoped that Christine would be willing to hear him out.