Well, here we are: Chapter 47. Things are advancing slowly, but they are advancing, nonetheless. Shoutouts to Disneylover18 and all of my reviewers. I hope you like!

Chapter 47

"You gave them our song?"

It was the calmness in Erik's voice that scared me the most. I came down as soon as everyone had left for the night to find him at his organ, facing away from me. Oh boy, here we go… "W-well, originally, it wasn't ours…it was their song. They needed something to sing, and I thought it would be perfect for them."

"Oh?" was his only reply.

"Erik, I'm sure there are better songs out there that can be 'ours'." I said, trying to smooth everything over. "What about, um, 'Music of the Night' or 'Shining Bright or- "

"Neither of those are duets. It has to be a duet!"

"Oh, okay," I stuttered, trying to scramble my mind for one to his liking. I didn't want him angrier than he already was. "Well, there is one from Dracula that may work. It's called…um…"

I trailed as his shoulders began to shake. At first, I thought he was crying. I walked around the organ to face him. "Erik? Really, we can find a better song- "

Yeah, he was laughing.

I shook my head at him. "That wasn't funny."

"Yes, it was." He said, nodding his head.

I rolled my eyes and shoved away from him. "You're pathetic, ghostie. I was originally coming down here to talk to you about the show, but now I don't think I want to talk to you."

He shrugged, knowing I was going to talk to him anyways. "Alright."

A few moments went by until I finally cracked. "Okay, I give. What did you think of the acts today?"

He scoffed. "I never knew so many people could be so vain about their so-called 'talents'. The one lady who auditioned after Meg was truly horrendous!"

"Yeah, tell me about it. Yet she thought she was the Queen of Sheba. But, there were some good ones."

He slowly stood up, stretching as he reached his full height. He reminded me of a cat in that instance. The gracefulness and agility in just that one motion-

"So, I imagine you are about to ask me to perform with you."

I shook myself back to the present…well, as present as being in the 19th century would allow. "I hadn't thought of it, actually. I had made a deal to perform with the street group. But I'm sure we can do something afterwards."

"Afterwards?" he repeated, raising a suggestive eyebrow.

I whacked his chest, regretting it as I felt how muscly it was. It was like steel! "Erik Destler! I did not mean anything like that and you know it! You're in an awful chipper mood today. What's up?"

"I don't quite know, really. It may just be that I have a beautiful girl in my home with me every day…" he said as he wrapped his arms round me from behind, his face buried in my neck. The cold porcelain of his mask sent chills through me.

I stepped away from him. "Okay, I think we need to talk."

Annoyance flashed through his eyes. "About what?"

"About this." I motioned at the space between us. "Every time I'm down here, we end up like this. While I don't mind it, I do think that it happens a bit too often. Before you say anything, I know that physical contact of this sort is a fairly new thing for you – "

He scoffed. "That's an understatement."

I continued. "I'm just saying that there is more to a relationship than just…this. It's about getting to know one another, getting to trust them."

"Ah but you do already know me and, you stated yourself, you already trust me."

"Oh, don't be such a smart-aleck." I said, rolling my eyes. "A relationship is more than just the physical contact. There needs to be actual conversation, like discussing favorite colors – "

"Red, for both of us."

"Or favorite hobbies- "

"Music for me, singing and reading for you."

"Favorite food?"

He reminded me that I talk too much in the nicest way possible.

The next day started as early as the metaphorical rooster began to crow. The street group, which I still had to come up with a name for (do you have any idea how tiring it is to refer to them as just the 'street group' every time you talk about them?), was coming by later to get measurements for their costumes and to go over what we were going to do. I had the perfect song for a routine that was going to blow the audience away. I played the song for them on my violin that Erik had purchased for me, receiving great feedback from them. It was then and there, with my ideas for costumes and staging and such, that I figured out their name.

"If you don't like it, let me know, but I think it's perfect."

One of the men, Adam, rolled his eyes. "Well, out with it."

I laughed as the others shushed him. "It's okay. I was thinking 'Cirque de Soleil'. Pretty cool, huh?" So I copied the name from my time. Sue me. Actually, please don't.

They seemed pleased enough with it and left it at that, moving on to creating a routine. I, of course, had some artistic input that I had gleaned from the music video of this specific song. Again, they thought it was good enough and went on. I could tell they would be easy to work with and, therefore, very easy to please.

Next, it was on to the backstage to get some logistics worked out there.

"No. There is no way that could work." One of the stagehands, Hans, remarked.

"But this is the best way I could think of. Do you have any ideas?"

He contemplated the request carefully. "Hmm…well, what if we link some molded plaster together, the edges protected by little strips of wood, and have stations both on the stage and in the flies to control them?"

"Plaster. Why didn't I think of that? Of course! It would definitely be lighter and easier to manipulate than my idea." I gave him a pat on the shoulder. "You are a genius! Now, is there any way we can make a pressurization mechanism?"

I may have caused a blush to form on his face with that compliment, but he went on with his other creative ideas for the stage and set.

"Do you happen to have any beads or small discs or such that would reflect light like I need it to against these colors? I need, like, a shimmer."

The costume mistress, whose name was Margie, brought out some options for me to browse. At last, I found something that would work perfectly for the costumes…as well as something else.

"Are these to your liking, mademoiselle?" Margie asked me.

"Oh, yes! I just have one question: would you mind if I took the whole bin?"

She looked astonished. "The whole thing?! Whatever for?"

I shrugged. "Well, you see, there is another component to this show that the stagehands and I are working on, and these would go perfectly on it…"

"Then you may absolutely take all of them. I haven't been able to use these at all lately, especially with Carlotta wanting jewel beads on everything."

I nodded sympathetically. "I know how that is. Back home, everyone is obsessed with shiny things, especially diamonds and jewels, so you see that a lot. They are a pain to stitch on if one falls off."

Margie guffawed. "Tell me about it! Now, on to pressing matters. Which colors do you need on which costumes?"

"Well, I do know for sure that I need a leather coat on mine, but I can take care of mine. If you would be alright with it, I would love to help you out with the others…"

After a long hard day's work, I was completely wiped out and I had only gotten everything together for one act! The other acts would have to wait until they came in to rehearse. I barely made it to my room before complete exhaustion overcame me. Even if I hadn't reached my comfy bed, I probably would have slept in the hallway, propped up against the wall or something. At that moment, I didn't really care: not even enough to take my dress and corset and such off as I plopped face down on my bed.

I didn't even see the note that lay on my vanity, my name scrawled ominously on the envelope not a very inviting sight.