I have prepared a silly subplot for you all :)

Chapter 23: The Bickering Begins

[featuring "Erik's Forced Retirement", "Cabin Fever", and "Marital Disputes (With a Different Husband)"]

~ Spring 1910 ~

Before his marriage, Erik lived at Phantasma year-round, fully immersing himself in his work while his unoccupied manor served solely as a symbol of his wealth and status. Now he was pleased to spend the off-season on the North Shore with his family and friends. They celebrated another magical Christmas at Mazandaran, and Erik learned that having a wife made cold winter nights extraordinarily cosy; but spring had sprung in New York, and Erik had to make arrangements for his return to Phantasma. The amusement park wasn't going to run itself all summer.

"Oh! But we can't go back!" Christine exclaimed. "All our friends spend their summers at the North Shore!"

There'd been several more masquerade balls at Mazandaran, and Mr. and Mrs. Y had received similar invitations from other elite New Yorkers. Erik was amused that his shy wife was blossoming into quite the little social butterfly. Christine wanted to be just like all the other American socialite women and spend her summers on the North Shore.

"Naturally, I wouldn't drag you back to Phantasma," Erik said without looking up from his work. "You and Gustave can stay here and enjoy the peace and quiet."

"Without you?" Christine whined.

Erik sighed when his wife put on her best pout. He pulled her close and sat her on the arm of his chair so he could kiss her cheek.

"Christine," he said tenderly. "I have to oversee operations at Phantasma, but I'll visit home every once in a while-"

"Erik, I think you should retire," Christine said firmly.

"Retire?" Erik frowned. He'd never thought of retiring. He just assumed he'd work himself to his death.

"Well, of course," said Christine as she stroked Erik's cheek. "I'm going to be frank, dear. You're not getting any younger, and I think you should enjoy your good health while you can."

"Christine, I know I'm a great deal older than yourself, but I'm not a decrepit old man yet," Erik teased. "And besides, my work invigorates me."

"Yes, but you could have more time for music," Christine said, knowing Erik would like that very much. He pursed his lips as he pondered the suggestion; his music did take the backseat during the height of summer at Phantasma.

"Well, I spend a great deal of time on music as it is," Erik said stubbornly. "I do have other hobbies, you know, including running my park."

"Hmph!" Christine sniffed when Erik stood up and shooed her out of his study.

After a week of bugging and begging, Christine finally began to chip away at Erik's stubbornness. If he wouldn't take his wife's advice, maybe Erik would at least listen to his oldest friend.

"Even Madame Giry thinks you should retire," Christine insisted. Meg, of course, had told Christine to stop forcing Erik to do things he didn't want to do, but Christine wasn't going to mention that to her husband.

"Madame Giry's just mad because I made her retire," Erik groused.

"Well...if you won't retire, can you at least take a step back?" Christine asked for the hundredth time, as if the answer would change. This time, however, the answer did. Erik begrudgingly relented to the demands of all the nagging women in his life.

"Fine! I'll take a step back. Alright?"

"Oh, thank you!" Christine rushed into his arms and pressed a kiss to his lips.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever…" Erik muttered as he trudged into his study to write a letter to the freaks at Phantasma, alerting them he would not be spending his summer at the park.

...I will, however, be making impromptu visits to Phantasma, so I expect everything to be running smoothly at all times.

Your obedient friend,

Mr. Y

A few days later, Fleck wrote back, assuring the boss that he had no need to worry because the freaks had everything under control.

…Don't take this the wrong way, sir, but we've been expecting your retirement for some time and have been actively making the necessary preparations.

We look forward to your impromptu visits,

Ms. Fleck

Erik glared at the letter.

"Why does everyone think I'm old!" he shouted to his empty study as he ripped up Fleck's letter and threw the pieces to the ground.

Though Erik promised he wouldn't spend the summer at Phantasma, that didn't stop him from holing himself away in his study, doing paperwork and writing letters to the freaks. It was killing him that he wasn't there to watch over the park he loved so much.

"Hi, dear, are you working?" Christine asked sweetly as she peeked into her husband's study.

"No, I'm just composing," said Erik irritably. He needed something to distract him from his anxieties over Phantasma. "Because according to you, my retirement means I get more time for music."

"Indeed," Christine replied. "May I speak with you for a moment?"

"Not right now." Erik had been lacking inspiration lately, but right now he had a melody coursing through his mind that he was struggling to pen down on paper.

"Please?" Christine begged.

"No," he snapped. This was a fantastic melody, but it was slipping from his grasp because of his wife's distractions.

Christine walked behind Erik's chair and wrapped her arms around his neck. She pressed kisses to his unmasked cheek.

"Please get out..." Erik waved her off. The melody was getting away!

"What about now?" Christine asked as her kisses trailed down his jaw and found his lips.

The ethereal melody was gone, never to be heard again.

"Fine!" Erik stood up quickly causing Christine to stumble backwards. "Christine, what could possibly be so important that you couldn't wait another five minutes?"

"Well, if you're going to be like that, I won't tell you!" Christine folded her arms across her chest and turned her nose up at her husband.

"Ugh! I don't have time for this!" Erik face palmed. He roughly opened his study door and stiffly gestured for Christine to leave. "Please get out," he repeated through gritted teeth. Christine marched proudly through the doorway.

"Hmph!" she sniffed with a defiant stomp of her foot.

"Oh my god…" Erik rolled his eyes. "I should've just spent the summer at Phantasma. I can't believe I stayed home for this!"

"You know what? I wish you left too!" Christine shouted. "All you do is stay in your study anyway. It's not like you actually spend time with us."

"Maybe I'd want to spend time with you if you weren't so insufferable, Christine!" Erik slammed his study door in his wife's face.

"Me? I'm insufferable?" Christine gawked. "Why, I should've never married a selfish brute like you!" she screamed through the closed door.

As she stomped away, Erik whipped his door open to shout back, "Well, everyone warned you to stay away from me, Christine. It's not my fault you were too stupid to listen!"

Christine gasped and turned around to fire back some choice words, but Erik had already slammed the door again. Instead, Christine stomped past Gustave in the library, the Girys in the parlour, and a hoard of servants in the foyer. Everyone heard the argument between the master and the mistress, but everyone pretended they had not.

Madame Giry barged into Erik's study and found him sulking at his desk.

"Lunch is ready," she said before he could yell at her to get out.

"Thank you, but I am not hungry," Erik replied. He was never hungry, but Christine always forced him to eat. Now, he had no interest in sharing a meal with her or giving into her demands about his health.

"What the hell was that argument about?" Madame Giry scolded. She and Meg had been placing bets on what they'd been bickering about, and neither Giry woman liked to lose.

"She's insufferable!" Erik slammed his fists on his desk.

"Erik, you spent decades of your life trying to find a woman who was willing to deal with your...with you. Over a decade on Christine alone. Has it ever occurred to you that maybe you're not a very nice person?"

Erik squinted at Madame Giry suspiciously. "Is this a rhetorical question?"

"Go apologize to your wife," she commanded as she slammed the door behind her.

"I will not!" Erik yelled from his study. "In fact, if you see her, you can tell her I'm actively making arrangements to go back to Phantasma whether she likes it or not!"

Madame Giry rolled her eyes and trudged upstairs. Her salary as head housekeeper may be overly generous, but she didn't get paid enough to deal with Erik and his drama. The ex-ballet mistress barged in Christine's boudoir and found her sulking on a sofa.

"Lunch is ready," Madame Giry said before Christine could shoo her away.

"Hah! As if I'd actually share a meal with that man!"

"Well if it makes you feel any better, Erik is not eating." Madame Giry left out the part about Erik's plans to return to Phantasma. One of them would crack before that happened, and Madame Giry was already debating what she'd bet Meg over which one it was going to be.

"Thank you, but I'm still not eating," Christine said irritably as she worried about Erik's inability to properly care for himself. Her husband was much too skinny, but he'd starve himself to death before the idiot realized he was hungry.

"Suit yourself." Madame Giry turned away.

"Wait, Madame Giry…" Christine said softly. "Please be honest...do you think I'm stupid and insufferable?"

"Stupid? Well...uh...let's put it this way, Christine. You were twenty years old and thought the Angel of Music was tutoring you in your dressing room."

"Oh my god! And then I married him!" Christine cried. She was very stupid indeed. "And insufferable? Am I really so insufferable that I've already turned Erik away from me?"

"Well...insufferable might be a strong word, but...one could say you're a bit...annoying?"

"Annoying? How so?"

Madame Giry sighed and sat beside Christine on the sofa. She had her own personal problems with Christine these days, but the ex-ballet mistress focused on Christine's flaws that were relevant to the situation at hand.

"Christine," she said gently. "Some men like to be showered with attention, others do not. Erik is one of those men, and I think he may find it annoying that you fuss over him so much."

"Ah. I see...but he didn't mind it so much before," Christine said anxiously. They'd spent many cold winter evenings curled up on a sofa in front of the fireplace, and Erik had never minded the dozens of kisses she lovingly pressed to his face. He couldn't get enough of her.

"The honeymoon phase is over," Madame Giry explained. "Now you're at the part of the marriage where you hate each other until you become indifferent."

"Oh...yes. I suppose that does happen," said Christine, sadly recalling her previously failed marriage. "I just thought Erik was different…"

"Well, if it makes you feel better he's certainly 'different'," Madame Giry scoffed. "But when it boils right down to it, all men are the same."

Christine nodded as Madame Giry stood up and walked out of the room. She slouched down in her seat and rested her hands on her stomach as she sadly stared at the ceiling. She'd thought her Angel of Music was different, but he was just like any other man after all.