The Perfect Solution
An Alternate Universe – Phantom of the Opera Story
Nyasia A. Maire
© 2007
DISCLAIMER: I do not hold the rights nor did I create any characters found in The Phantom of the Opera or Phantom, nor have I received monetary compensation for writing this story.
no one but no one
i lay in bed
but not asleep
i lay trapped deep within this torturous dread
my body full of poison
my mind full of demons
i lay awake and yet i was dreaming
a book of poetry
lay next to me
a wondrous enchantment of shadows and themes
my soul full of sorrow
my heart full of song
a world created here
all tattered and wrong
your eyes are windows
but not to your soul
gazing through them
but never taking them whole
and all the while
no one but no one
ever finishes this
their song
Nyasia A. Maire – 2007
Chapter Thirty-Three – No One but No One
"Oh, Christine." He moaned. "You are the most incredible woman. I never dreamed I would ever find a woman willing to be with me, much less marry me. And then, I met you. I love you!"
"Well, Monsieur, it feels like you may be ready to show me just how much. I think I am ready for the touch of my master's hands."
He snorted and then his lips muffled her words and the room was quiet, but for the sounds of the lovers' cries of passion and pleasure.
♥ ♫ ♥ ♫ ♥
"Erik Destler! You are positively evil! I swear I shall die of mortification. Just you look at this. A love bite? How could you? You knew we were going to visit Madame today."
Christine's words became incomprehensible mutters as she leaned into the mirror and watched as she carefully applied the heavy pancake stage make-up to her neck with a small sponge. Erik chuckled very pleased with his mark.
"Well, ma chéri. You know what they say, do you not? Once branded, twice shy …."
"No, Erik. That is most definitely not, what they say. The saying is … once burned, twice shy. And, mon amour, thou hast best not tempt me or thou shall knowest the pain of true love's burn."
She arched an eyebrow at him as she gazed at his reflection in the mirror.
"He seems so devilish, so cocky. Erik is normally so reserved, so proper. I wonder just what has gotten into him this morning."
"How Shakespearean of you, ma chéri. Are you ready to leave?"
Sighing and shaking her head, she answered.
"I am dressed, but if I were to speak plainly, I am not ready to go to the opera house."
The mischievous twinkle in his eyes immediately extinguished. He stepped close to her side and placed his hand atop her shoulder.
"What is it, chéri?"
She looked up into his reflected eyes and studied him for a moment.
"He really does not remember anything that happened last night. I do not know if that is a good thing or bad. Oh, Papa, I need your guidance now more than any other time in my life. If I could have one wish, it would be to speak with you and not the Angel of Music. I miss you, Papa. This is such a strange feeling for me. I am so unused to being unsure of what to do. When I was alone, it was easy. I was lonely, but I always knew what to do. I guess that the price of love is the uncertainty that comes with opening your heart to the whims of another. I need to learn more about the seven deadly sins. I know what they are, but how does one commit each sin. More importantly, how did my husband fall under their shadow? Well, I guess I have to visit the opera house's library if I am to find answers to my questions about the sins. As to Erik's commission of them, perhaps, Raoul can help me. After all, they have been friends for a long time."
She started as Erik gave her shoulder a slight shake.
"Chéri? Where did you go? Your mind was a thousand leagues away from here. Are you certain everything is well with you?"
Christine placed her most sincere smile on her face and reassured her husband that all was well. He returned her smile after a moment and then held out his arm to her. She wrapped her hand about the crook of his elbow. Christine allowed him to lead her out of the house and into the awaiting carriage.
♥ ♫ ♥ ♫ ♥
"Honestly, Erik. I just need a moment to collect some books from the library and then I will return to my room. Perhaps, you could ask Madame to help you find Joseph. He should be able to loan us a couple burlap sacks for my things. I will meet you back here in no more than ten minutes. I promise!"
Her smile burned away any reservations the man felt and he simply nodded his acceptance.
She turned and hurried to the dusty, seemingly disorganized library. Most people would feel completely overwhelmed at the unsteady stacks of books piled in an apparently haphazard manner about the room, but not Christine. The girl had spent most of her free time in the library, organizing it and making lists of the books she found there. The mere fact the room had any bookcases at all was mainly due to Christine's pestering Raoul for them. The young Vicomte, realizing the library was the only place where the girl's melancholy was not as deep, happily acquiesced to her request and provided enough cases to fill the room. Unfortunately, the number of books owned by the opera house was greater than the room allocated to store them, but the girl made do with what she had. Acting as the unofficial librarian of the opera house, Christine was the one responsible for the rows of books, which lined the room's bookcases, as she had been the one to place them there. The remaining books simply had nowhere to go except on the floor, so that is exactly where Christine left them, organized, but without a shelf to call their own.
She had spent many an hour in this room studying geography, art, writing, mathematics, music, philosophy, science and history. If it had not been for her sorrow over her absent angel, the library would have made the girl happy in her life at the opera house. However, her missing angel drew her ever deeper and deeper into the pit of her private despair. Christine shook her head to clear her mind of the past. She knew exactly where the books she sought were and walked directly to the shelf containing them. She grabbed three books from an upper shelf and blew the dust from them. She ran her fingers over the gold-embossed three word title and then the single word subtitle. Her eyes took on a faraway look as she tilted her head in thought. She nodded once and then walking to the other side of the room, she bent and removed a single volume from the bottom shelf. This volume was thicker and heavier. Christine gasped as she almost lost her hold on the book, but with reflexes as quick as a cat, she adjusted her handhold and brought the book safely to join the first three books she chose. The gold-gilded edges of the book's pages glinted in the light of the room. Then, grasping the books close to her chest, she made her way back to the rooms, which she, until recently, shared with Meg and Madame.
She entered the Giry's quarters and smiled as she heard the sound of her husband's voice coming from her former bedroom. Her smile grew even wider as she recognized the second voice in the room.
"Joseph!" She exclaimed merrily.
She ran down the hall and without giving her actions a second thought, propelled her body at the short, burly man almost knocking him off his feet. Burying her face in his chest and wrapping her free arm around his waist, she cried.
"Oh, Joseph! I am so happy to see you! How are you? I wish you and Bertalde could have been at our wedding! Did no one invite the two of you? I am so sorry! I truly missed having you there. What happened?"
The older man laughed and then taking note of the dark expression, which had suddenly fallen onto the other man's face, he gently extricated his body from the young woman's embrace.
"Now, now, now!" He chuckled. "So many questions. Wherever shall I start first? And, what is that you are holding? You had best take care with those! You almost broke one of my ribs."
He held her by her shoulders at arm's length and examined the transformed young woman before him.
"Can this truly be my sweet Christine? Is this the same child? The one that rarely spoke and almost never smiled? The first time I ever saw her act thusly was two nights before she wed. That must have been the night that she met this man. The man that is now her husband. It does my heart good to at long last see her so happy. No one deserves it more than her."
He looked down at the bundle in her arms.
"Books, Madame Librarian?" He queried with a small smile.
Christine's eyes inadvertently shifted to her husband and then slid away. Joseph took note of her concerned glance, decided not to draw further attention to the matter and changed the subject.
"So, you have gone and gotten yourself married! And this is your husband, is he? Well, young man, Christine here is as close as Bertalde and I have to a daughter, so you best be treating her well or you shall hear of my dissatisfaction, Monsieur!"
Joseph's eyes twinkled as he winked at Christine. Erik caught the teasing tone of the man's voice and his scowl quickly turned into a chagrined smile. Joseph laughed and lightly clapped the younger man on the back.
"Ah, a man that can take a jest. You have done yourself well, lass. Monsieur, you must accept our invitation to supper at our home soon since we were not able to attend your wedding. We were visiting Bertalde's brother that day and we did not receive Madame Giry's note until we returned home the day following your wedding. I knew the lass would be returning for her things, so figured I would wait for her to come here and not interrupt your private time as a new husband and wife. Anyway, as I was saying, we would be most pleased for the two of you to come to supper."
Erik nodded.
"Soon, Monsieur Buquet. Allow us newlyweds to adjust to married life for a week or two. Then, we would be most pleased to accept your invitation. I am most interested in spending some time with you and your wife. Christine has told me of your kindness to her through the years."
"Awk! The girl is a sweeting! It is of no never mind to be kind to a lass such as her. Like I said afore, we think of the child like our own."
Christine, who was beet red with embarrassment, attempted to divert the topic of the conversation away from her by asking.
"So, Joseph, were you able to loan us some sacks for my things?"
"Now, lass! You know me! I found something much better than that! You did not want to be putting your things in burlap! You would be itching and a scratching forever! I found these old valises in the prop storage room. I thought you could use them. Then, we could return them and no one would ever be the wiser."
The man waved his hand towards her bed and Christine took note of the open cases there.
"Oh Joseph! You are a wonder! Thank you!"
Christine walked to the bed and spread the four books in her arms across the bottom of an empty valise.
"Well, Joseph, if you would excuse us. I need just a bit of privacy to pack my things. Um … you know … unmentionables and all." She mumbled and blushed prettily.
"Awk! Oh girl, of course, I am sorry! I was not thinking. Well, it was good to see you, lass. And, even better to meet you, Monsieur Destler!"
Christine gave Joseph a quick hug and then the man turned and held out his hand to Erik. There was only the slightest of pauses before Erik took the proffered hand in his and shook it.
"Yes, it was a pleasure meeting you, Monsieur Buquet. Truly, a pleasure."
"Oh lad, my name is Joseph. Please call me Joseph."
The older man drew the younger one in for an awkward hug.
"And, in that case, you must call me Erik. Thank you for everything, Joseph."
With a smile, nod and affectionate clap on Erik's upper arm, the older man moved away down the hall whistling.
♥ ♫ ♥ ♫ ♥
Christine rested her back propped up on several pillows in the room she now shared with her husband.
"It is difficult to think of this as my bedroom, but I suppose I will become used to it after a time."
The errant thought briefly distracted her from her reading and she sighed. The books, while providing her with confirmation of her previous suppositions, had done nothing to help her in deciding what she needed to do to help Erik.
"This is wrong. I told Erik that there would be no secrets between us. And yet, here I am keeping probably the most important event of our lives a secret from him. I cannot continue to do this. He needs to know. No. He has the right to know."
She closed the open book on her lap and sighed again. Reaching her hand up, she began to massage her forehead in a vain attempt to release the headache forming there.
"I guess I shall just have to come out and tell him then." She spoke aloud.
The young woman almost jumped out of her skin as the subject of all her thoughts inquired.
"And, just what is it that you need to tell him, ma chéri?"
Author's Note: Okay, here is my question: can anyone guess the titles of the four books Christine took from the library? I think that it's probably obvious as to which books she took, but I am curious if I made it too obvious. (By the way, yes, I know what books she took.) The clues are in this chapter. Hopefully, some are subtle and one of them is not so subtle.
Thank you for all of your continued reviews. I am so pleased that everyone seems to be enjoying this story. I was afraid that the last several chapters had been rather uneventful, but I am rather interested in seeing how the next chapter will play. I'm curious to see Erik's reaction to Christine's confession of their visit and her conversation with the Angel of Music. (Yes, even your Authoress doesn't know what's going to happen from chapter to chapter sometimes. Keeps it interesting for me as well!)
Please continue to read and review … I'll do anything for just one more review … mow your lawn … wax your car? Sure! --ny
P.S. If you'd like to see what your humble authoress and her daughter, Trystin, look like, pay a visit to my Profile Page!