The Pug of the Opera
Erik soon realized that his idea to rent a flat left him with a new problem: Unlike the money he had to pay to the family to get them to move out, a rent is paid monthly. His usual habit of stealing jewelry from rich women and returning them the next day asking finder's fee proved inefficent in this. It was good if he needed some money, but it was certainly no reliable income.
He needed a reliable income without having to do anything for it. The easiest way was to take what he needed from the safe in the manager's office. Bank accounts were something only for rich people so no one except the highest ranking employees had one. Everyone else got the money in cash either weekly or monthly. So of course at the end of the month there was lots of money in the safe so the employees could be paid. And each evening there was the money from the ticket counter.
Why not take what he needed from the opera? He didn't consider this as theft because the opera was the Paris Opera and of course there were not only wealthy patrons but the Republic of France had great interest that it would have enough money so the ministry of cultural affairs would provide money if needed. He wasn't really stealing - he was just taking something like almost every corrupt man in the government did. Every business owned by the state was a cash-cow for corrupt men. If everyone did that, why not he? Why not take a monthly salary like everyone else? And Erik considered himself quite modest, having to pay only for a cheap flat and what little he needed. It was no more than any secretary earned.
At first he took a bit more money because he wanted to buy used furniture for the flat. Should anyone look into the flat, there should be a bed, a cupboard, a table and two chairs. Even a small upright piano, used, but well-tuned, was there. There was no need for more because the basement flat was so small so with the little metal wood-burning stove and the sink with a faucet and running cold water there was no space for anything else. The room was cramped and Erik wondered how a family could have lived there - it was small even for one man alone. And he didn't really live there, he just used it as entrance to the catacombs from where he could go to the cellars of the opera when he wanted to go out at daytime.
Erik's and Beau's life became very comfortable and quiet. They didn't get up before noon, once Erik tried, but Beau decided he would have none of it. Erik picked him up and put him on the floor to give him collar and leash, but Beau decided it was too early to get up and ran up the little wooden staircaise, jumped into the coffin and hid under one of the pillows. Erik laughed and snatched him, but as soon as the tiny paws touched the ground the pug started a chase through the flat that left both of them breathless - and two vases in pieces.
With a sigh Erik began picking up the pieces and cleaning the mess. He would put flovers only on the higher shelves from now on, not on the couchtable. When he was finished he noticed that Beau had found a new game - emptying trash baskets and scatter the trash around all over the room. And tear up papers. Tear papers in tiny shreds, leave them everywhere, swallow some of it... and the pug was sick. Of course Beau was sick after eating the paper. He was sick under the bed in the Louis Phillippe room while Erik was busy cleaning the livingroom.
It took Erik a rather long time to locate the pug's vomit by sniffing. Erik could not sniff like normal people can because one needs nasal wings to be able to sniff. So finding out from which point in the room the nasty smell came was quite difficult, but Erik had to do this to avoid his whole flat stinking of dog's vomit.
When Erik was finally done cleaning up the pug's mess he found the little pug sleeping peacefully on the pile of ironed shirts he had wanted to put into the cupboard. And the dog must have farted for on one of the now crupled shirts - the pug had build some kind of nest of the shirts - was a brown spot like a stamp from the pug's anal gland. Erik wanted to be angry but when he saw how peacefully Beau slept he couldn't. He couldn't scold him. He could only laugh and began putting his trash baskets up on the cupboards - out of Beau's reach.
Then Beau demanded his food before he would agree to a go for a walk. So Erik did prepare their meal - in this case chicken. They usually ate the same food, Erik just added spices and salt after cooking and giving Beau his meal. So chicken, carrots and rice for Beau and Erik, spices only for Erik. And Beau insisted on being allowed to lick off Erik's plate before Erik could wash the dishes. Erik wondered how this tiny bundle of fur that was licking off his plate with abandon, his curly tail waggling, making happy noises, had trained him so well without him even knowing.
But he found soon that he had succeeded in training the pug to use the litter box far too well - the pug insisted in using the box before going for a walk. Erik sighed. He couldn't scold Beau for doing something he had trained him to do, that would be unfair, but it was somehow annoying. But then... what could he do against it? The pug had to answer nature's call eventually and it was by far preferable to have him do it in the litter box than leaving a trail in the catacombs that might lead some investigator to his flat.
So whenever Erik put on his false nose and beard to make himself look somehow endurable, the pug knew they would be going out shortly and went to the litter box. Erik could only laugh at this very reasonable behavior from Beau.
When he locked the door behind himself in the basement of the block of flats he heard a woman scolding her daughter: "No, you can not pet his dog! Don't you see what kind of man that is? Just look at him - he is ugly as sin! He has a dog race only girls like! He uses that dog to lure girls into his flat and do unspeakable things to them!"
"But the dog..." the girl obviously had only eyes for Beau who was waggling his tail and pulling on his leash to get to her to get cuddled.
"Don't look at the dog! This breed is supposed to be cute! Look at the man - this Monsieur Cordier is not a good man! Just look at his face, then you know all about him! He might think dressing in fine suits would cover what rotten scoundrel he is!"
"Madame, I am not deaf. If you want to talk like this behind my back you should at least lower your voice!" Erik snapped coldly, remembering why he had chosen to live under the opera. But he couldn't use any of the opera's entrances now without being spotted and since the managers were already searching for a man with a dog they might suspect him to be the one who smuggled the pug into the opera. Of course the box was not rent by "Erik Cordier" but by "Hector Taupe". Taupe is the French word for mole. A fitting name for a man who lived underground, Erik thought bitterly.
But sometimes he needed to go out at daytime and didn't want to be seen leaving the opera to avoid suspection. He couldn't think of any other way than a basement flat.
The woman gave Erik the evil eye and hissed: "If you ever touch my daughter, I'll kill you."
Erik shook his head, not wanting to fight any more. He had done nothing to deserve this, he had never harmed a child - well, at least not voluntarily - since the day he considered himself an adult. "Come on, Beau, they are bad company," he said and pulled Beau with him. Beau let his curled tail fall lose and hung his head, a picture of sadness. Erik bent down to pet him when they were on the sidewalk. "Come on, Beau, don't be sad - not everyone loves you. They aren't worth your attention. Come on boy - curly tail! Curly tail!" Erik knew that the pug's tail showed him very well how his pug felt. Usually the tail was curled up, indicating that the pug was happy.
"Now that is a cute dog!" he heard a young woman exclaim, "May I pet him?"
"Of course, Mademoiselle." Erik smiled. The pug attrackted much attention from women - so much that they tended to overlook Erik's ugliness to a certain point.
The dog and the blonde girl in the grey dress greeted each other as if they had been friends forever. Beau jumped up to give her a pug's kiss on the cheek, she caressed him with both hands as she was in squatting position, though Erik could not be sure of that because of her wide skirt that hid her legs and their position entirely.
The young woman started talking nonsense like "You are so cute, so cute such a cute puppy puppy puppy! Who's a cute puppy? Wanna kiss?" While Beau was getting more and more excited, rolling on his back to present her his soft belly begging for a belly-rub - which she did immediately - Erik noticed that the woman had a nice voice as she was in this childish impromptu singsong.
"You should caress his ears," Erik advised with a smile.
The girl complied and squeaked in delight. "I've never felt something so soft!" Beau obviously liked the girl for he leaned his head into her hands to encourage her to caress his ears. The girl bent down as if to kiss Beau and said with a happy grin: "You are the cutest puppy in the world!" Beau purred like a content cat in his happiness. "You don't have a nose, you little cute baby!"
Erik smiled at how soon the girl had gone from "dog" to "baby". It had taken him a few weeks until he regarded the pug as his baby. But when she said that the dog had no nose - he had one, only a very short one for a dog - Erik flinched and involuntarily touched his false nose and beard to make sure they were still in place. They were.
Precisely that moment Beau sneezed - right into her face. "Oh, you just demonstrated it!" the young woman giggled, "You do have a nose!"
"I'm sorry," Erik felt obligued to apologize and handed her a clean handkerchief, "I should have warned you that he has no manners."
"Never mind," the girl didn't even look at him as she cleaned her face, she stayed in the huddled position and continued to pet Beau with one hand. Erik wondered if the woman had realized that he was there or if she regarded him like a tree the pug was tied to.
Only when the woman got up again - and Beau grunted annoyed and scratched her skirt to get her attention again - she looked at Erik when she handed him the handkerchief. She flinched a bit at the sight of his face and there was a frown, but she managed to force a smile soon, even if she was a bit pale now. "Thank you, Monsieur. You must think me a complete fool, but I always wanted a pet - only I can't afford one right now."
"No, certainly not, Mademoiselle," Erik said, tipping his hat. He should take the hat off, but he didn't dare because he wasn't sure if taking off the hat would make his appearance worse. "Beau is always happy to get the attention from such a beautiful lady."
He realized this was a mistake when the woman retreated from him instead of thanking for the compliment. Obviously she wondered if he was trying to flirt with her - well, yes, he was - and his attempt was certainly not welcome. "I beg your forgiveness," Erik sighed and gave a bow. Unfortunately the knowledge that he was less than human was beaten into him with such force over the decades, he instinctively apologized when he noticed women were uncomfortable in his presence. He felt like he had to apologize for being alive.
"O, no, I am sorry," she said with an embarrassed smile, remembering her manners. That man was the ugliest man she had ever seen, but she reminded herself that it was not his fault he looked like that. Maybe he was ill and suffering and she should not treat him cruelly because of the way he looked. She had no idea just how horrible he really looked and what she was seeing was the masked and covered face.
Beau ended the awkward moment because he was bored and just shuffled under the skirt of the woman. Erik was very jealous of him now - the pug got the attention and cuddles from so many beautiful women and now he could even crawl under the skirt of this young lady. "No!" Erik exclaimed and pulled Beau back on the leash, turning to the girl again, who was blushing. "I am so sorry, Mademoiselle, this is most embarrassing... I... I am deeply sorry. Please tell me how I can make up for this fauxpas?"
She smiled. "O don't mind that... I'm sorry, I have to go now."
"Then I won't keep you..." While Erik bowed politely Beau snatched the hem of her skirt and began pulling on it. "No! Beau! Stop that!" Erik had to pick Beau up and hold him in his arms before the bundle of fur could cause more awkward situations. "I apologize. Should Beau have ruinied your dress, I'll pay for the damage."
"No need, Monsieur...?" The way she pronounced this made quite clear she was asking for his name. She was asking for his name! Erik was reeling, suddenly he couldn't remember his current alias, not one of them! A woman asked for his name!
"My... my... name is Cordier," he finally managed, "Mademoiselle...?"
"Christine Daae."