Disclaimer: I don't own POTO
A/N: Someone pointed out in their review that I made repeated comments about Christine being flat-chested and that all of these remarks were of a derogatory nature. This is true. I sincerely apologize if that has offended anyone. I did not mean to be insensitive to anyone, but I should have thought it out more carefully. Again, I am very sorry if this has offended anyone. And thank you to the reviewer who brought up the subject.
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LA GARDE-ROBE MAGIQUE
Naturally, Erik did not go after the girls right away. He had an extreme aversion to being bossed around…especially by short, irksome females. Yet in the end, it was the loneliness that drove the Phantom to comply with the Authoress' demands. Thus, one day, Erik left the hellish prison that was once his sanctuary and began to comb the streets of Paris for his companions…
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The Cheney townhouse…
"It's been an entire week," Anna moaned.
She sat at a window that over-looked the quiet street below. Across the road was a small private park where nannies could take their spoiled charges for afternoon walks and where lovers could converse uninterrupted.
Elsewhere in the room, Brooke sat before a vanity table, carefully pinning up her hair. The exile from the Opera House had not been as bad for her as it had been for Anna. Of course, Brooke lamented the separation. She despised bitterness and division, and it broke her heart to see Anna so forlorn.
Still…she was enjoying her time with Raoul. Immediately after Erik had deposited Anna and the Bag at Raoul's feet, Raoul took the girls to Cecily's house. The raven-haired heiress welcomed her friends with open arms and gave Raoul permission to call at the house any time he wished.
Anna and Brooke were offered separate bedrooms, but they refused. So, Cecily set them up with one of the family rooms, which included a bedroom, bathroom, and sitting room. Dominic and Jacques had been banned from that part of the house. Pip and Que saw to it that the rambunctious brothers were kept away.
The girls were offered every convenience and luxury that Cecily could possibly provide. Cecily felt personally responsible for spoiling Anna and Brooke's trust with Erik and she took the event to heart. The only outcome of the ordeal that provided anyone with any happiness was the blossoming romance between Brooke and Raoul.
"Raoul will be here in an hour, Anna. You should come with us," Brooke offered. She watched her cousin's reflection in the mirror. Anna didn't move.
"I'll be in the way."
"No, you won't. Raoul likes you. He says you amuse him."
"Well, I'm glad my misery is good for something."
Brooke turned around. "That's not what he meant."
"I know."
"Cecily's going. Why don't you keep her company?"
Anna heaved an irritated sigh and glared at Brooke.
"I'm not going to win this time, am I?"
"Nope."
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Erik watched from the shade of the park trees as Raoul handed all three girls into his carriage. It looked like they were going shopping. Running to the edge of the sidewalk, Erik hailed a cab and ordered the driver to follow the De Chagny carriage.
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The De Chagny's driver dropped off his master and his master's friends on a busy street lined with stores selling fashion goods. Raoul offered Brooke his arm and they walked ahead of their companions. Anna's slump-shouldered gloominess forced Cecily to feel the effects of her own folly all the more keenly. It was not a pleasant way to spend the afternoon.
Presently, a peculiar imported fabrics shop caught Brooke's eye. The place was the very definition of hole-in-the-wall, no windows or even bright paint on the brick walls, simply a moldy-looking door and a weather-worn sign which read La Garde-Robe Magique. It was this that grabbed Brooke's attention. The Magic Wardrobe. The brunette smiled. That ought to cheer Anna up some.
"How about this place?" Brooke chirped.
Anna glanced up. Sure enough, the sign triggered her interests and she smiled for the first time in a week. Raoul opened the door and ushered the ladies inside.
The little group immediately found themselves immersed in a world of exotic fabrics. The building was narrow, but long, lit only by orange gas lamps. The faint scent of incense and jasmine tea hung in the air. A diminutive Indian woman greeted them and bade them to make themselves at home in her shop.
Anna leaned over to her cousin and whispered, "I feel like we're in Diagon Alley."
"Indeed!" Brooke laughed.
La Garde-Robe Magique was a dream come true. Every where the eye turned it met with a menageries of cloths from around the globe: Egyptian cotton, Chinese silk and satin, Ottoman muslin, American calico, Scottish tartans, English sheep's wool, Peruvian alpaca wool, Canadian furs, and more. There were endless reams of ribbons, hand-woven laces, beads, and tassels and bucket loads of feathers from every bird, be it raven or quetzal.
Anna so lost herself in the store that she didn't detect the approaching danger until it was too late.
"Hello, my lovely lady!"
The red-head instantly recoiled from the dreaded voice of Algernon Moncrieff.
"How did you find me?" she hissed.
"I'm a detective, darling. It's what I do!" Algy purred as he made a grab for her hand.
Swiftly, Anna dodged him and fled to the far side of a bucket of peacock feathers. She glared at him through the opulent plumage.
"This is what STALKERS do, you creep!"
Algy found the game amusing. He peered back at her. "Dom Cheney said you've been gloomier than a basset hound on bath day, ever since your brother kicked you out. I thought you might need some cheering up." He gave her a rakish wink.
Anna choked on her own puke. "Listen, Sherlock, you are the absolute last life form on Earth that could cheer me up!"
The detective turned a light shade of red. "I resent being mistaken for that bulbous-nosed snob," he growled through clenched teeth.
"Well, you sure ain't cute enough to be Basil of Baker Street!"
"Who?"
Anna ignored him. "Now kindly disappear!"
With that, Anna ducked out of sight behind a ream of fuchsia ribbons and did her best to vanish amongst the store goods. Her expert ability to avoid discovery amazed Algy, but he was, in fact, a good detective, so it wasn't long before Anna found herself cornered once more.
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Ensconced in a shadowy doorway across the street, Erik watched the little group enter a hole-in-the-wall fabric shop. It looked like the sort of place that would catch Brooke and Anna's eyes. It was bizarre…like them, Erik thought with a fond smile. The Phantom finally screwed up enough courage to dart across the street and hide in the shadows of an alley near the entrance of the shop.
It gave him an adventurous thrill to be skulking about in broad daylight. The brave felling stayed with almost to the door of La Garde-Robe Magique, but it abandoned Erik the moment he saw a devilish looking Englishman heading straight for him! Panicking, the Opera Ghost whipped back into the alley. He heard the bell above the door jingle as the Englishman entered the shop.
A good five minutes passed before Erik had the guts to approach the again. This time he succeeded. As the door closed behind him, Erik realized that he had no idea what he would do once inside. Luckily, the shop itself offered an answer. The overstuffed shelves, protruding display cases, unruly reams of fabric, and dim light all provided ample cover. He was able to flit about the shop completely undetected by anyone inside.
Erik spied Brooke flirting with Raoul near a display of orange silk while Cecily examined a printed cloth from India. Anna was nowhere to be seen. The Phantom plunged further into the depths of the shop until he heard faint voices floating from the vicinity of a bucket of peacock feathers. He rounded a corner and there he saw Anna flirting with the devilish Englishman!
Erik's blood boiled. How dared she? Here he had made such a tremendous effort to find her, risking all exposure, just to tell her…Erik pushed the words out of his head. He was about to leave, heart-broken and disgusted, when a voice called his name.
Shrieked his name was more like it.
"ERIK!"
Anna felt as though her heart would explode. Without a second thought, she shoved Algy aside and threw herself at Erik. She couldn't reach him fast enough. Erik caught her round the waist and held her tight. Beneath the black mask, his gaunt cheeks burned with shame while his eyes gathered tears. How could he have misjudged her so? He felt it to be the gravest sin he had ever committed; so grave, that the Phantom spoke to God for the first time in decades to silently ask forgiveness.
"Erik, I'm so sorry!"
"No, no, Anna, it was my fault. I should never have treated you so callously."
Erik held her tighter and buried his masked face in her hair. "I missed you so much."
Meanwhile Algy looked on in shock. His brain was having difficulty in processing what had just happened. Here he was—a dashing, handsome, roguish detective—dashingly romancing a beautiful young woman when she suddenly launches herself at a masked, emaciated shadow. It just didn't compute. For the first time in his wicked career as a ladies' man, Algernon Moncrieff was jealous.
"I beg your pardon, sir, but I was talking with this lady," Algy asserted. He boldly stepped forward and tried to pry Anna away from Erik. Folks, this is what we call stupid. It was akin to depriving a lioness of her meal.
Anna nearly tore Algy's head off.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!"
Her red hair, aflame in the orange light, stood on end and her eyes went wild with fury. Even Erik stepped back in fear. By this time, Brooke and the others had made their way to the back of the store. They started back when they saw Erik standing there. Brooke gave a cry of delight and leapt forward to claim her hug from the Phantom. Cecily sighed with relief.
"It is so good to see you, M. Leroux," she said. Her grey eyes conveyed all the sincerity of her salutation. Erik gave her a curt nod. In all fairness, it was all he could manage at such an emotional moment.
"This is M. Leroux? Their brother?" Algy exclaimed.
"Sort of," Raoul said.
"What do you mean?"
"He's more like a guardian. They're not actually related."
Algy's shoulders drooped.
Once the emotion had cleared, the girls went back to shopping. A plan had erupted for a masquerade in celebration of Halloween. The ladies combed La Garde-Robe Magique for costume ideas. Algy was left to accompany Cecily, whilst the cousins wandered off with their respective beaux.
Erik pulled out a ream of royal blue satin almost the exact shade of an iris.
"Here, mon merle, this is perfect for you," he said as he held the fabric up to Anna's cheek. She blushed. Erik's heart fluttered. There was so much to say, but he knew it was not yet time for that. For now, he was content to treasure her company and all the coy looks she cast his way.