A/N To my lovely reviewers. When I saw how much you enjoyed Ch. 2, I had to get to work on Ch. 3. So enjoy and please review.

Ch. 3

'My life is crap' Erik kept on thinking as he stared at various items in his office. He was beyond confused and seeing Christine had brought so many questions to mind. How had she come to America? What happened with her and Raoul? Why had she been in a whorehouse?

There were so many questions he had, so many questions he wanted to ask her. But it seemed that she would not be revealing anything right now.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a knock on the door. He turned his head to see Betty's head peeking in through the door.

"I am sorry for the interruption sir; I know how you dislike that. But there is someone here to see you." She said quietly.

This already confused Erik. He knew for a fact that he had no appointments today. It was Sunday, his day off.

"Who is it?" Erik asked confusedly.

"A woman sir!" Betty answered back automatically.

Erik couldn't help but suddenly feel annoyed. "What is her name Betty?" Erik asked.

"Her name is Antoinette Giry." Betty replied back hastily.

Erik almost fainted. 'What was going on?' He thought to himself. It was as if all the people whom he had hurt were finally coming back to haunt him. He had no words to describe his shock.

"Show her in." He answered before realizing what he was saying.

"Yes Monsieur."

OOOO

"Christine, do you really think he will hire maman?" Meg asked her friend.

Both girls were sitting in Christine's dressing room fixing the ribbons that were falling off from their point shoes. "Of course he will. He trusts Madam Giry and she trusts him. They have a history together; I do believe he will hire her." Christine answered.

She was shocked beyond belief when she had found out that she was auditioning for Erik's opera. She never thought she'd see him again, although she knew in her heart that she had always wanted to come back into his life.

She was so proud of him for finally going after his dream, owning his own opera.

"So how did you two stumble upon one another?" Meg asked amused. She had been with Christine through everything in the last five years; she knew how Christine's heart was going through that last night at the opera, they night she left the person she cared the most for

. Most of the time, she would be woken up by Christine's screams, she later realized that Christine was dreaming about that night. That was the only thing Christine never talked about. She still didn't and probably would never know what happened down in Erik's home.

Christine thought about what had happened two days before. "It was pure coincidence. But he knows about my being in that bordello. I don't know how, but he always finds out everything. You should have seen the look on his face when he told me he knew." Christine said, she could feel her eyes watering up.

It hurt her beyond belief to have Erik think less of her. His opinion had always mattered most to her.

Meg looked at her best friend with sympathy. "Why don't you just go and talk to him. Tell him the truth behind the whole thing, about everything. I think it would be best." Meg said, hoping her advice would be helpful.

Christine brushed away her stray tears and set back to her task. "No, he will never know and besides it is all in the past now" Christine said, she wanted so much to forget her past.

"Christine, nothing ever really is in the past." Meg told her.

Christine wanted to cry, she somehow knew that Meg was right.

OOOO

Erik sat across from Antoinette with a nervous feeling. She looked nice; she had hardly aged in the last five years. If anything she looked exactly the same.

"Hello to you too, Erik!" Antoinette said smiling. The look in Erik's face was one of total shock. It was very amusing.

"Hello Antoinette." Erik finally said.

"I see that you are surprised to see me." She teased.

"What are you doing here exactly?" Erik asked hoping not to sound to rude.

"I am here to offer my services my good man." Antoinette told him confidently. "I little canary has told me that you have gone off and built yourself and opera." She replied back smiling.

"So you are still in touch with my new Prima Donna, I see." Erik said, finally comprehending how Antoinette came to be here.

"Yes, she came with Meg and me two years ago. I would have never imagined seeing you again." Antoinette answered. She had almost died of laughter when she heard Christine's news about the opera.

"Well then, you must certainly know of her employment with that whorehouse." Erik replied, his anger again coming into play.

Antoinette just smiled. "One, do not judge what you do not know and two, if Christine wants to tell you about the last five years of her life, she will. It is not my place to say." She told him adamantly.

"Fine!" Erik hissed.

"Have you hired a ballet mistress yet?" Antoinette asked interestedly.

"No, not yet." He admitted.

"Well then, you are in luck!" She replied. "You have now got one." She chirped.

"You know that I am only agreeing to this because I trust you right." Erik told her as he got out some contracts for her to sign.

"Yes, I know. Now for my next question." She began. "Have you a Prima Ballerina yet?"

"No." Erik again admitted.

"Well, you are again in luck. Meg would be happy to take the spot." She said nonchalantly.

Erik smiled at the woman's boldness. She had always been that way, and had amusingly passed her quirkiness on to her daughter. Erik knew that Meg was a good dance, but that had been five years ago.

"Antoinette, I do trust you, but I have not seen Meg dance in over five years." Erik replied back, trying to reason with the woman.

"Erik, trust me, she is better than she was years ago. But she was fantastic back then also." Antoinette replied back hotly.

"Tomorrow I will want to see her dance. It is only fair, even Christine auditioned." Erik said, trying hard to defend his choice.

"Very well then." She replied as she stood up. "Tomorrow at noon, we will be expecting you."

Erik smiled. "Very well then." He responded.

"You are a smug bastard, you do know that right." Antoinette told her as she walked to the door.

"I have been told that a time or two." Erik replied, he was still smiling.

"Good day Erik. Till tomorrow."

OOOO

"What was all that about with Christine and Erik, Nadir." Clark asked Nadir as they sat sipping their cups of coffee.

"They are old friends. Haven't seen each other in a very long time. Left on a bad note those two. You shouldn't worry." Nadir replied, trying very hard to change the subject.

"Did you see Christine stand her ground against Erik? It was fantastic!" Clark said merrily.

"Again, you shouldn't worry about it. Christine has seen a darker side to Erik's temper." Nadir replied.

"Really, I would have never thought it." Clark answered.

"Well, like I said. You shouldn't worry."