Sweet Seduction
Chapter Fourteen: Surprises and Suspicions
A/N: For the record, I fixed the Ares/Eros error (try saying that five times!) that many of you pointed out last chap! Dang, you guys know your Mythology! ;) Ayways, thanks to all who pointed that out! I'll stop blabbering now!
Begin reading ;)
Christine looked at the horrible sight before her
"Oh Erik." she whispered "Is he..." she trailed off
Erik nodded, lowering his head. They were both silent for what seemed like an eternity.
Suddenly, Georges began coughing and sat up "My god, what the hell happened?" he sputtered
Christine laughed and threw her arms around his neck "Oh Georges, you're all right" she exclaimed
Erik felt himself laughing too and patted Georges on the back
"You had us worried for a minute there, Georges. We thought we'd lost you"
"Erik, you insult me. I'm not that easy to get rid of" he sighed, dusting off his suit. He started to stand up, wincing with pain and starting to fall. Erik caught him and help him over to a newly-completed seat. He looked at his ankle
"Well, I suppose I wasn't completely uninjured. This is sprained. I believe quite badly from the feel of it"
Christine gasped and Georges felt his own face turning red as he pulled his pants leg up and forced off his shoe
"Forgive me for doing this in the presence of a lady, but after what just happened..." he trailed off
Erik resisted the urge to groan. He'd nearly been killed and the man was worried about breaking social etiquette.
Erik looked at the ankle. It was an odd sight. The ankle was badly swollen, but the skin was stretched so tightly it looked almost ready to break. He sighed
"Georges, we need to get you to a doctor"
He started to help him up, but Georges shrugged him off, only to grab onto Erik's arm a moment later when the pain was so great he began seeing stars. Erik helped him back into the chair and took off his jacket, twisting it tightly around Georges' ankle and upper leg. Christine retrieved her long hair ribbon from the wreckage and tied it around Georges' leg tightly, securing the makeshift splint. She bit her lip looking at Erik
"Erik, how will we help Georges out of here? Look at him, you poor thing, you can't even bear your own weight!"
Georges laughed "Christine, my dear, don't worry. We'll think of something. In fact, if you and your strong finance here will assist me, I should be able to limp to the door and then I'm sure we can find a carriage or street cart of some sort"
So, Erik slung Georges' arm over his shoulder, letting him lean on him while Christine opened all the doors and moved obstacles out of the way for the pair. Once they opened the doors, they were almost mobbed by pedestrians and press members, having heard the noise and wanting to know what happened, and gasping when they saw Georges' injury. Two people motioned over a street carriage and Erik helped Georges up into it. He looked at Christine, who miraculously hadn't been noticed by the press yet. He whispered to her quickly
"Christine, you better go with him"
She turned in surprise "Me? Erik, I'm sure Georges would much rather have you there with him. Or better yet, why don't we both go?"
He shook his head, gesturing to all the people crowding the carriage behind him "I'm sorry, my dear, out of the question. I've got to stay here and cover this fiasco for the press so we don't have a catastrophe in the morning papers. This Opera House doesn't need any bad press before it re-opens"
She sighed "Erik, please, Georges really- I don't know- I won't be allowed-"
"Christine" Georges called from inside the carriage, settling the argument "I won't mind at all if you come along."
She turned to him "But Georges, wouldn't you rather have Erik-"
"Erik's needed here and he's right Christine. We better have a co-manager or some sort of authority explain this to the press so as not to have them running their own wild stories"
Erik gave an inward groan. How was he supposed to explain to the press what just happened when he didn't even know?
Christine turned to Erik whispering "But Erik, what if the doctor has to operate on him? There will be blood and..." she trailed off uncomfortably
Erik kissed her lightly. He had forgotten how squeamish he saw "Christine relax. All the doctor will do is treat the ankle, wrap it and give Georges a hell of a lot of pain medication. He'll be fine. It's just better if he has someone to accompany him there, just for caution's sake" He raised his eyebrows "Unless you'd rather stay in the lion's arena with the press" he suggested
She smiled, shaking her head "No thank you Erik. I' m only a diva. You're the manager" she said teasingly.
He pretended to scowl at Christine, making her giggle. They kissed briefly before Erik helped her up into the carriage. As he shut the door, he could hear Georges starting one of his stories "Oh no my dear, this pain is nothing compared to what else I've been through. In fact, did I ever tell you about the time when I was seventeen and daringly decided to jump my horse over a very wide stream of thin ice?That broken leg was nearly..."
Erik rolled his eyes. Looked like Christine was in for an interesting afternoon . He sighed before resigning himself to face the press
"Erik?" Christine called as she re-entered the opera house. After a brief search, she finally found him standing in front of the fallen balcony fixture. She sighed, coming up behind him.
"It was such a beautiful fixture. It's so unfortunate this had to happen."
"Hmm, yes it was. So" he said turning to her and trying to smile "How was your afternoon?"
She rolled her eyes "Peachy, Erik, just peachy. The carriage driver practically broke our necks trying to get to the doctor's office as fast as he could, thanks to the extra money Georges paid him to ensure he 'made haste'. Anyway, it was a hour and a half wait to get in, because Georges' sprain wasn't that serious. And during the wait, your delightful friend told me all of his...entertaining stories, to put it nicely"
Erik chuckled. Georges had been known to stretch the truth a bit for the sake of a good story. He could imagine how many Georges would think up in an hour and a half.
He put his arm around Christine "And...?"
She sighed "Georges will be fine. The sprain will heal in about two weeks, although he'll have quite the hangover tomorrow from all the brandy the doctor gave him to dull the pain while he set his ankle and combined with all the pain medications... I wouldn't bet on seeing your business partner around here tomorrow. Although he was very entertaining on the ride back"
They both laughed. Christine felt herself frown as she looked at the wreckage "This was just..to horrible too even imagine. It's so lucky Georges only has a sprained ankle out of all of this. He could have been killed"
"Yes, Christine, he could have. He's a very lucky man. By the way, how did you explain his injury to the doctor?"
"Oh, you know how good Georges is at making up stories. He just said he tripped on the stairs or something. He also claimed I was his wife once the laudanum began to set in, and he was so drunk from the brandy and laudanum on the ride back, he asked me to marry him. Twice!" Christine giggled
Erik forced himself to smile "What did you say?"
She seemed surprised, laying a hand over her heart "Why, yes of course. You know, I think I've fallen madly in love with him, after such a... delightful afternoon. Of course, he kept calling me Marie while he was proposing. I think maybe he's fallen for Mme. Giry"
Erik sighed. What a pair those two would make.
Christine looked at the wreckage, running her hands over the fixture. She turned to Erik
"Oh Erik, why did this have to happen? You two were making such progress with the reconstruction. How far will this set you back?"
He shrugged "Not really far back. Probably about a three weeks delay, at the most. It may take them even longer to assemble the chandelier."
Christine shuddered "Oh, could you imagine what would have happened if this had fallen during a performance? There would be far worse things than sprained ankles. People would be killed if it accidentally fell then!"
Erik frowned "Christine, I have a few suspicions about that. I don't believe this was an accident"
She turned sharply to look at him "You think someone would do this on purpose? Why?"
"I don't know. But see, come here, over where I'm standing. Now look. If the plaster wasn't secure, part of Eros' hair would still be attached to the balcony if the plaster split. It wouldn't have been a clean break. And see, if you look very closely, you can make out the hole where the fixture was attached."
"But, Erik, does that really mean-"
"Christine, come with me." he said. He led her through another numerous secret passageway, that led them to Box Five. He gestured to a crowbar discarded on the floor
"Still convinced this was an accident?"
She bent down to look at it "Erik, look, there's even some fresh plaster on the end of it!" she exclaimed
"And, I'm sure you'll love this" he said sarcastically. The door to another secret tunnel leading into Box Five was hanging ajar. Someone else had been in Box Five today.
Christine went over, standing in the open doorway, when a gleam of light caught her eye. She walked into the tunnel a bit with Erik behind her when she finally found the source. There was a pouch filled with francs lying on the ground, and Christine found a note inside. She handed it to Erik, who read aloud
"I can't take this money after the horrid deed I've done. To whomever may find this, good riddance, take the money and do what you will with it. Signed, O.G."
Christine gasped, standing up to look at the note "Erik, who could do this? It almost seems like...well..."
"Like they're trying to frame me for what happened" he finished for her.
Christine felt a slow wave of cold guilt spreading over her body. She said horsely
"Erik, I saw a man up here today"
He looked at her "Christine, please, don't try to-"
"Erik really! I did. When you and Georges were talking and I was on the stage, I was looking at all the audience seats and boxes and something caught my eye up there. I thought it was you playing a trick on me, but when I looked closer, there really was a man up there!"
"Could you see what he looked like?"
"Well, no. Not really" she admitted sheepishly "It looked like he had some sort of uniform or something on. It was all one color and he was almost examining the fixture and suddenly he started almost pushing on it. I was about to tell you and Georges when it fell"
Erik sighed. This was not turning out to be a good day.
Christine looked over at him "What does this mean?"
He put his head in his hands slowly
"Christine, we may have another Phantom of the Opera"