Good grief, where is everyone? I miss hearing from many of you...don't think that I don't read each review, because I do - and I learn from each review - in one way or another.
This chapter allows us to see more of Erik's past...still more to come.
MAN OF SORROWS
CHAPTER 22
The talk with Rafe had helped take her mind off her own heartache due to Erik's absence, but she also knew that it was time to set things straight with Evie.
Christine had received a phone call from Evie last night, letting her know that she was back in town; Christine knew that she wanted to see her.
After the afternoon therapy session with Rafe, Christine summoned the courage to call Evie.
"Evie…I'm ready now…I want to know about Erik."
"I'm glad, Christine…meet me at the gallery in one hour."
Christine heard the concern in Evie's voice and tried, with every ounce of courage she had, to keep from crying into the phone.
"I'll be there."
Christine had avoided the gallery like the plague, knowing that Erik's presence would still linger although he wasn't there; it caused an ache deep within her.
It was almost 6:20 pm when she arrived; it was a Sunday and the gallery was closed, but Evie had the lights on for extra security.
She stood at the door as Christine got out of the cab and then rushed forward to envelope her in a hug; a gesture that caused Christine to tremble with the force of her tears.
"Come on, let's go upstairs."
Evie led her through the doors and the lobby; and finally up the stairs and into Erik's apartment.
Christine had never been in his apartment and she could sense him everywhere. It smelled like him and felt like him.
"I know, it's sort of shocking how sparsely furnished it is…Erik's never needed much…especially after Loraine. This is actually the cleanest I have seen this place in a very long time."
Christine chuckled at that, noting the clothes on the floor; she wondered if they were clean or dirty. There was dust settled on everything and the area carpet needed some vacuuming.
She smiled and shook her head. This place, in fact, Erik's life…needed a woman's touch.
"He can't cook, he can't clean – I think he's allergic to it – and laundry…" Evie rolled her eyes, trying to lighten the mood, "…forget it, he sends his laundry out to be cleaned and ironed."
"Can I come back on Saturday and clean the place up a bit…do you think he'd mind?"
Christine knew that she was only finding ways to feel close to him, but she really wanted to clean the place and make Erik happy.
"Sure honey, I'll let you in…just don't move his sheet music and any papers."
They both looked around the apartment and chuckled. The place could have been wall papered with sheet music.
"On second thought, you'd better just wait for him to get home." Evie suggested.
Christine reluctantly agreed, but gathered the clothes into one pile and then went to his closet and ran her hands over the clothes that hung neatly within it. She found the blue, pinstriped shirt she had seen him in the night of the dinner party and Evie's house.
She took it from the hanger and pulled it to her face. She breathed in the scent of him that still lingered in the fiber of the shirt.
Evie came to the door of the closet and watched her with caring eyes.
"I miss him so much."
Christine could feel the tears pooling in her eyes and decided she would keep the shirt for the time being; it provided a semblance of peace.
Evie wrapped her arms around her and tenderly hugged her.
"I know."
Evie led her out of Erik's closet and toward the fluffy leather couch. There was nothing said for a few minutes, but Evie knew that Christine was gathering the courage to ask.
"Why Evie…why did he do this?"
"How much has he told you?"
"He got up to the part where you, Julius, and Loraine met him at the airport – just after you and Julius had been married." Christine turned weary eyes to Evie, "He loved her very much, didn't he?"
All the Evie could do was nod her head.
"Loraine was my best friend, as well as being my sister-in-law; we shared everything…all of her inner desires. She confessed, after meeting Erik that she was terribly attracted to him, but could not act on it – for he was studying to be a priest.
"Erik was flustered and tongue-tied around her; he had no experience with women – none; so she rocked his world in ways he knew nothing about."
Christine was rather shocked at that notion. Erik was devastatingly attractive, even with the mask, how had he avoided women all through his adolescent years and early adulthood?
"Of course, it was frowned upon by the church…the monsignor was very adamant about Erik staying away from Loraine and not leaving the monastery grounds."
Christine sat quietly; absorbed in his presence that still lingered in the apartment and his scent that laced the shirt. She listened intently to Evie talk about the first woman that had captured Erik's heart…but oddly, Christine felt no jealousy toward this woman…only sincere and utter sadness.
FLASHBACK
March 13, 1999
Monsignor Wallace Neville stood facing the outer court of Vatican City. The site was breathtaking to him, as was every inch of the city itself.
Behind him stood the most promising young candidate for the priesthood that Wallace had ever met. He had been conditioned since he was seventeen to join the order, but it was being threatened…by a woman.
"I won't stand for it Erik." Wallace drilled, "You will be turning thirty next year and your studies will be complete; you will take your vows and your service to the church will begin."
Erik heard the threatening tone coming from the man that had been the only father he had ever known.
"But the choice is mine to make…"
"How dare you take that insolent tone with me!"
Erik had never seen him this angry; there had been times through the years that frustration and impatience had dominated his mood, but anger never was an issue…until now.
Erik flinched and stood rigidly still for a moment. Since when had the taking of his vows become someone else's decision? It was his choice, and no one else's.
"Loraine and I…"
The Monsignor whirled around and advanced on Erik before he could complete the sentence he had started.
"If you so much as speak her name again…" he was seething and Erik was truly bothered by his mentor's behavior.
Wallace seemed to rethink his tone and backed away from Erik's taller, broader figure.
"…I will not have you wasting your gifts nor your life on a woman."
"It is not your decision to make." Erik stated, keeping his voice low but enunciating every word with precise clarity.
"Lay with her if you must…get the lust out of your system…but you are not going to marry her."
Erik was both shocked and appalled at the words that Wallace had just flung at him.
"Lie with her…I would never break the laws of God and engage in premarital sex…never…what I feel for her goes much deeper than the physical."
He stood tall and proud, towering over the much older and much shorter Monsignor; his teal eyes bore into the face of the man he had thought he knew…but things were being revealed today that Erik had never expected.
"I can serve God and still be a happily married man…many have before me, and many will after me."
A demonic scowl suddenly covered the face of the Monsignor and Erik stood his ground against his teacher and adviser. It was becoming painfully obvious to Erik that he had never really known the Monsignor…and the thought made his blood run cold.
Neville's voice was low and menacing, "Not as long as there is breath in my body, Erik…you will yield to the laws of the church."
Erik arched the perfect wing of his brow and stared, unyieldingly, at the man he now realized was his mortal enemy.
His own voice was feral and full of indignation, "I serve God, not the church…I follow His laws, not the laws of men who wouldn't know God if He stood in front of them."
Erik turned and gracefully made his way to the door. As he reached the large handle, he turned and made his final point.
"I am leaving, Wallace, I resign my calling and I will be off the premises tonight."
Wallace watched as Erik strode down the hall and further away from him. A malevolent grin covered his face and his eyes burned with an underworld glow.
"I hope she's worth it Erik…enjoy it while it lasts."
♫♫♫
"I did it Loraine…I walked away."
She ran into his arms and he twirled her light body around and then landed her back on the ground.
"Oh Erik, does this mean that you are really going to marry me?" Her voice was joyful and full of hope, but there was trouble in her eyes. "Are you sure this is what you want?"
"I have prayed long hours over this and every time I come to the same conclusion…my happiness lies outside the confines of the church…I know this." He stated; then a roguish grin covered his handsome features, "Besides, was there another you had in mind to marry?"
Loraine smiled at his sense of humor and leaned into his strong, warm body for support.
"I promise that I will be by your side and serve God as your partner in whatever capacity you choose to serve Him."
Erik's eyes shown bright and full of promise, "I want to paint the images that He has placed in my mind…there are so many…some of them have already been completed and were used to raise money for the church; now I wish they had never gotten their hands on them."
In truth, Erik's paintings were in demand in much of the European market; but the church had kept the marketing of them at a minimum. They were sold to private buyers and the money went to the church.
They couldn't keep his name out of it, and in a few short months, Argeneau was a well known name within the many facets of the art community.
He was a lucrative asset to the church and the money he provided from the sale of his paintings and music, funded many things…some of which were never mentioned in the books anywhere…some things that held the dirty stain of murder.
In August of 1999, Erik Argeneau married Loraine Tremaine in a small ceremony, in a quiet little town, called Rouen, in the northeastern part of France
TBC