- - - Current time - - -
Erik traced his thin finger over the elegant bow and continued to gaze across the memoirs in his ancient-looking book. The next article of Christine's former possession he investigated was the small, flattened brooch inside of a silk, draw-string jewelry bag. He removed it carefully, taking notice that this brooch was still missing the back pin that was supposed to fasten it. It was a simple design of gold that was dotted by pale pink gemstones in the shape of a flowering iris bloom. His dear student must've been about fifteen years of age when she misplaced it.
- - - When Christine was fifteen - - -
"May I ask what the occasion was, my pupil?" Erik had asked Christine, seeing her dressed up in a frilled, lace gown and a pink brooch pinned beside her collarbone.
Though he knew perfectly well the affairs of the opera house, he didn't know why Christine was dolled up for the gala that was being thrown just as their lesson began.
"Meg and I were invited to the gala so we were planning on going tonight."
"And your lesson?"
"I wouldn't miss it for anything, Angel. But it may be a bit more difficult for me to perform as well with this restricting corset that Meg tightened too much and this pin digging into my collarbone."
Erik could see her, suddenly noticing her more matured form and noting that she seemed to have grown up in an instant. This wasn't the sad, young girl he started instructing out of pity but was a young woman trying to find her way into where she belonged in the theatre. His throat tightened at a strange, unrecognizable feeling once his eyes lingered down to her silhouette in the aforementioned corset.
"Ahem, yes. Maybe just a shorter lesson for tonight." Erik suggested, trying to move his attention away from Christine's appearance.
"I'll take this pin off before it draws blood. Now, which scales shall I begin with?" His student questioned, bending down to set the brooch down on the windowsill, giving a slight view of her chest to her poor teacher.
He inhaled sharply, "G major, minor, and arpeggios. Then same for D."
She obeyed his instructions, feeling surprised at how permissive he seemed for the evening, and was soon on her way out to meet Meg. With the gala as a distraction, she happened to forget her brooch on the windowsill for her teacher to keep. Her teacher spent the evening watching the party from various hiding places in the ballroom, making sure that Christine was alright. He'd heard far too many stories of girls, especially the ballerinas, being taken advantage of by stagehands or wealthy patrons at such gatherings.
She spent most of her time chatting with her blonde friend, dressed in, what Erik thought to be, an unflattering orange gown. There were quite a few men who took notice of her, but only two or three that managed to dance with the young woman. Every time the men took Christine into her arms, a familiar pang of anger struck his chest. They would only be stupid distractions from her music that couldn't possibly value her the way she deserved to be. These pompous fops only wished to use the girl like a handkerchief and discard her once they had their fun. None of them were honorable.
When the night was coming to an end, Christine made her way to bed, luckily, with only Meg accompanying her. Erik, in order to maintain whatever was left of his sanity and for propriety's sake, left Christine alone until he was certain she had fallen asleep. He returned the pin, which had been tucked into one of his pockets throughout the whole time, by placing it on her nightstand and couldn't stop himself from admiring her in such proximity.
This was the first time Erik had seen her without a wall or mirror or painting between them. Her hair was even more intriguing to behold up close -each individual golden-brown strand was different- the curls framing her pale face perfectly. This was a blessing for poor Erik, who'd only been in the company of the Daroga for the past eight years, especially since his Christine now reminded him of a painted goddess. Her pink lips were parted in sleep, and her instructor felt greedy to be wishing that he could have been able to see her clear blue eyes. Erik also felt disgusted at himself for feeling this way towards anyone, particularly for his young student. He didn't believe he deserved to even feel such a desire, being the person who'd been tagged a monster several times. No longer feeling capable of restraining himself, Erik left the girl alone and went to go pound on the keyboards of his organ.