Chapter 7 –
Elizabeth woke the next morning, remembering the events of the night before. She sat up in shock. Had she actually asked Erik to sleep in the room next to her? She sighed, knowing she had, and got out of bed.
After washing up, putting on her corset, and donning a clean dress, she slowly made her way downstairs. Erik sat at the table, as he had the morning before, but she refused to talk to him. Conversation was not what she wanted right at that moment, and apparently, he wanted the silence also. She poured her coffee, as she always did, then sat down. Marie brought her some breakfast. She was not really in the mood to eat, but she did anyway.
She quickly finished, then stood up. Erik looked to her. "Are you going to the school now?"
"Yes, I'd like to get some stuff organized for the concert next Friday." They stayed in their positions silently. "Do you think your students will be ready by the concert?"
"Yes, they have actually done very well without a proper teacher. They are all very talented."
She nodded. "I heard about what you said to Caroline yesterday."
"She can't keep acting like a young Carlotta Guidicelli; she needs to know that she will be more successful if she works hard, rather than if she tries to control everyone around her. I shall accompany you to the school today." He got up and walked with Elizabeth to the door.
As she walked with him, she thought about his comment. She knew Carlotta was a dive, but there had been other, more famous, divas in the past. Why had he chosen to compare Caroline to her? She caught him looking at her with a strange expression while they were walking. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked.
"You're thinking about something."
"Yes, but why are you looking at me?" She asked again.
"You look very different when there is something on your mind." She gave him a glare and he added. "Not that that is a bad thing, you just seem much more focused than usual."
She just nodded in reply.
They reached the school, Erik headed for his classroom, and Elizabeth went to her office. Around seven-thirty, she had finished going through the list of guests who were coming to the concert. All the parents were to attend, as usual, and she saw that they would be able to fill the theatre, which would help with costs. The parents were able to get in free, but the special guests Elizabeth invited were expected to pay a fee to see the concert. The money went towards the trip the school took at the beginning of June.
She sat in silence, not knowing what to do. When she heard soft music coming from Erik's room, she decided she would go listen. As much as Erik annoyed her as a person, she did enjoy listening to him play very much. She stood in the doorway; he did not notice her standing there. The music continued and he began to sing along. She did not know what he was playing and she did not know the words, but she got lost in the music. He was amazing. She could not help but fall in love with the music, and she felt as if she could never be angry with him again.
Soon though, the music ended with a huge bang on the keys. Apparently, he was not happy with the song. The bang made her gasp and even though he did not turn around, he snapped at her. "What are you doing here?"
"It's my school, Erik."
"I don't care, it is my classroom, and I like my privacy, so leave." Instead of leaving, she walked closer to him.
"What were you playing?" she asked as she got right up behind him. She saw no sheet music in front of him; he was playing from memory. "It was very beautiful."
"It is a song I wrote, and it has a very private meaning, so I would kindly ask that you leave. I do not want you listening to everything I do."
She bowed her head and felt bad that she had imposed on a private moment, the memory of what ever it was seemed to hurt him. "Are you all right, Erik?" she finally asked boldly.
"Why would you ask that?"
"You sound upset." she replied, sounding braver than she was.
"I'm fine, I'm just angry that you would walk in and listen to me as often as you do."
"You don't sound angry. You sound almost sad." He still refused to look at her, so she moved closer. When she was right next to her, she saw the unmasked, handsome side of his face. He had been crying. "Oh Erik, what's wrong?" She sat beside him on the bench and put her hand on his shoulder.
"I'm fine." He yelled and pushed her away. She fell to the floor. She stared up at him terrified; no man had ever put his hands on her before. He realized what he had done afterward, and he turned away from her, disgusted at himself.
Elizabeth got up as soon as the shock had gone away. "No, do not turn away from me!" she screamed. "You have the strength to strike me, then you turn away in shame. No, you are not getting away that easy! How can I trust you to teach my students when you hit me, but you also act like an emotional wreck around me? How do you expect me to trust you when you act completely differently every five minutes?"
"I don't know." he replied as he turned back to her. He sounded completely lost. "I just can't seem to get my head straight when I am around you. I do not understand what I am doing when I am around you. You annoy me, but I can't seem to spend more than a couple of hours away from you. I love teaching these kids. It has been six years since I've been that happy. I felt alive again yesterday; you don't understand what I'm running from. I am terrified that what I've done before will catch up with me." He ranted for a few minutes, not noticing his slip.
"What have you done, Erik?" Elizabeth asked. "What is it you are running from?"
He couldn't tell her, and he knew it. If he told her then he would surely be sent away again, he would not be able to teach again, he would be caught, and he'd be hung. "I can't say."
"Tell me, or I shall fire you right now. I fear for the safety of my students."
"I can't tell you, Elizabeth. You need to believe me when I say that telling you would cause more problems for your school than firing me. Maybe it is for the best. I'll go." He headed for the door, and she looked at him in shock again.
"Get back in here, Erik!" she commanded. "I won't pry anymore, but you have to learn to control your emotions when you are here. Even if you only lose your temper with me, you have to. If a student or another teacher saw what had just happened, it would be horrible. You can scream and yell at me all you want at home, but here you need to stay calm, because I can't control my temper if you don't."
It was now eight o'clock, and Erik still had tears running freely down his cheeks. "Erik, the students are going to be here any minute, I need you to stop crying, and you need to calm down. They can't see you crying." He nodded.
"Just keep them out of the room for a minute." She nodded.
Elizabeth left the room and found the students right outside the door. "Hello, how are you today?"
They all replied wondering what was going on, and why they couldn't go into their classroom. "Okay, how about we take a walk; Erik is just tidying up the room. He made a huge mess a few minutes ago and he wants things to be organized."
They walked down the hall whispering. "So how would you guys feel about having a new student after winter break? His family lives in America right now, but they are moving back to Europe. He is very young, only Emily's age, but I've been told he is very talented. He will help to balance the men's section from the ladies' section. How do you guys feel about that?"
"I think it will be good." replied Jimmy. "Because we always have to sing much louder than the girls to be heard."
Soon they headed back for the room and Erik greeted them at the door. "Room all clean now?" Elizabeth asked hoping he would catch on.
"Yes, I have a surprise for you all. I finally have the organ perfect. All afternoon yesterday I tuned it, and I had left a mess all over the classroom, so I wanted it clean for you."
"But Miss Bennet just said you had made the mess today."
"Never mind. Now get to singing, I want you in top shape for the concert."
Things at the Christopher Bennet Academy of Fine Arts were uneventful for the rest of the week. Erik spent the weekend in his room, hardly advertising his presence, and Elizabeth spent the weekend trying to organize things for the concert.
Because of the concert, Elizabeth was very hard to find during the next week. She hardly had the time to come visit the different classrooms. On the Friday of the show, the entire day was spent in dress rehearsal. Elizabeth was happy to get to hear the vocal students. They sounded amazing, and she needed to remember to congratulate Erik on his success as a teacher.
This afternoon also happened to be the day that the new boy and his family chose to see the school. They were going to attend the show that night, and they wanted to tour the school that day.
Meg Hartford stood outside Elizabeth's office gathering some things she needed for her students that night. She thought she was alone, but she was surprised to feel someone cover her eyes from behind.
"Guess who?" The woman's voice said behind her. She removed her hand. Meg turned around to find Christine de Changy standing with her husband, and, Meg assumed, their son.
She was in shock. She was glad to see her friend again, but that thought was overpowered by the knowledge of Erik's presence here at the school. "What are you doing here? I'm amazed!"
"This is my son Andrew; he is going to be attending school here to study voice." Christine said sweetly. "Miss Bennet has found a proper vocal teacher by now, hasn't she?"
"Uh, yes, the man she's chosen is very suited for the job." Meg replied, very afraid of what could happen.
"What's wrong, Meg?" Christine wondered why Meg looked so pale and terrified.
"I'm just in shock. Would you like me to go get Elizabeth from the rehearsal?"
"That would be nice, thank…" She was cut off by the sound of papers falling to the floor around the corner from them.
Meg saw the Christmas carols on the floor, and she knew that Erik had seen. "Come with me, we must go to the theatre."
She raced the family to the theatre, the little boy and his mom having trouble keeping up. Meg burst into the room during one of the band pieces, catching Elizabeth's attention. She hurried to them and was very pleased to see the family.
"I know we had a meeting after the winter break, but we had some time now, and we wondered if you had the time to meet with us now." Christine said smiling. Elizabeth smiled back, but she wondered what was going on, as her ballet instructor looked as if she was going to be sick.
"Sure, and if I can, I'll locate our vocal teacher. He is amazing; the students love him."
Erik had now closed himself in his classroom. She was here. His Christine was at the school. They were the family coming from America. She was now in his reach; he had his Christine back. Why was fate this cruel to him? Just as he was getting on with the only life he was offered, she came back. He didn't know what he wanted. She had been gone for six years. He had spent the majority of that time wishing he could have her back, and now she was right there. Even if he was able to control himself and not succumb to the desire he had for her, he would be found, and then he would be arrested and eventually hung.
He heard footsteps coming down the hall, and then he heard the sweet voice of Christine asking something. He couldn't understand what it was.
Then he heard Elizabeth's reply. "This is the vocal room; our vocal teacher is most likely inside. He has a way of making his presence unknown. He's probably trying to avoid the chaos in the theatre." The older woman replied, with a laugh in her voice.
He saw the doorknob move and this was it: he was found.