Hello again! In this chapter we are introduced to the patron, Arthur. He may or may not start to like her. We will just have to see! Oh, and by the way, could someone please review and tell me what you think of the story so far? I don't have any reviews and I want to know someone's opinion! So please review, favorite, and follow! Thanks!

~Lauren

Chapter 5

The Patron

Erik closes the mirror and leaves Eva standing in the middle of her dressing room. As soon as he leaves Meg bursts through the door and yells, "What were you doing with him?! Did he hurt you?!" Eva turns around with a gasp. "Meg! Were you spying on me?" Meg presses her lips together tight and peers around the room. "Maybe…" Eva just rolls her eyes and laughs. She then walks over to her mirror and sits down, Meg following. "So what happened?!" As she is taking her hair down, Eva says, "Nothing much. We introduced ourselves, shared our favorite colors, found out how long he has been living down there, and-"she sighs with a smile. "He sang. His voice is pure beauty. I am meeting him tomorrow so we can learn a little more about each other." Meg starts to comb her friend's hair as Eva does her makeup for the performance. "So he didn't hurt you or anything?" Eva sighs. "He isn't a monster Meg. He is a man." Meg just furrows her brow in disbelief. "I hear he looks like a monster. Did you see him without his mask?" "No! I didn't Meg. Why does it matter? Why do you care? He was nice and he didn't hurt me! Okay?" Eva could tell she was too harsh when she sees the sadness in Meg's eyes. She is going to apologize, but Meg leaves and says, "Good luck tonight."

As Eva is continuing her makeup, she starts to hum a tune to tonight's show. She thinks she is alone when she starts to sing, but little did she know that Erik never left and was still behind the mirror.

Erik could not believe a single word Eva had said about him. She didn't think he was weird or violent or anything. She didn't fear him unlike Christine. But the best thing he said was that he wasn't a monster. That made him feel wonderful. He really needed to keep an eye on this girl. She was different than the other girls. She was going to give him a chance. Then he realizes that her performance was going to start soon. He runs down the stairs and through his lair into another passageway to make it to Box Five in time. He gets to the box just as the curtain is rising and he sees Eva standing there. As she starts to sing. She has one of the most beautiful voices.

As soon as the opera is over, Eva runs to her dressing room, just wanting to take off her clunky dress and sleep. It has been a very tiring first couple of weeks and she just needs some rest. She opens her dressing room and slams it before she slumps into the chair in front of the mirror. Before she can take her makeup off, she sees a white envelope, a red rose with a black ribbon lying next to it. She smiles, knowing it is from Erik. She opens it up and reads it.

Dear Eva,

What a wonderful performance tonight. I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow.

-O.G.

She sets down the letter, and then rubs off her makeup, take down and comb her hair, and take off her dress and slip into a pink nightgown. Since her hair is a mess, she decides to braid it. As she is finishing up her hair, she says, "Wait, I don't have something to tie up my hair!" She searches around the room, still holding the end of her. She then sees the rose that Erik had sent her. "That's it!" She grabs the rose and struggles to untie the ribbon from the rose. But when she does, she then ties it to the end of her hair and makes it a nice bow. "There!" Then she walks over to her bed and lays down. The she pulls the covers over her face and then slowly falls asleep.

The next day, Eva has gone through a long day of rehearsing, and she realizes that she will be late for her meeting with Erik. The rehearsal has gone way too long! Eva checks her watch and sees that the time is currently 6:05. She has ten minutes until her meeting with Erik. But she keeps singing as Madame Giry is yelling at the chorus. Gosh, just pull your act together! I need to get out of here! She thinks in frustration. Then Madame Giry yell, in the middle of the song, "STOP! Stop! Everyone just stop! Chorus stay, everyone else go. Thank you, Eva that was great." She nods at her and then runs to her dressing room. As she is running, she tries to look at her watch, but everything is jostled around her. But she keeps looking, trying to decipher the time. Then all of a sudden, she feels herself run into someone and she is on the floor. She looks up and sees a man. He puts out his hand and says, "Excuse me, mademoiselle. I was just going to talk to Andre." Eva curtsies and says, "I apologize. I should not have been running. My greatest apology, monsieur."

"You are the Prima Donna, no?" Eva nods. "You did a magnificent last night." He takes her hand and kisses it. She blushes a very bright red. "Thank you. And what is your occupation here, monsieur?" The man shakes his head and says, "Not 'monsieur'. It's Arthur and I am the patron." Eva then says, "Well, it was very nice to meet you, but I must get going." She tries to walk away, but Arthur puts his hand out and stops her. "Will I see you again?" Eva's eyes bulge slightly, not expecting the question. "Yes. You should." Arthur smiles and takes her hand and says, "Till our next time...?" "Eva." She says, finishing his sentence. "Eva. What a lovely name." He kisses her hand once more and then walk away. She looks at her watch and realizes it says 6:17. Eva gasps and starts to go to her dressing room in a sprint.

When she throws her door open, she sees Erik standing there. "I was beginning to think you weren't going to come." Eva shakes her head as she walks closer to him. He extends his hand and says, "Let's go." She takes his hand and he leads her down to his lair. When they get down there, the sit in the same places they did last night. "Why were you late?" Erik asks. Eva says to him with a wave of her hand, "Oh. It was just the patron, Arthur." Erik starts to think of Raoul and how much he hated that man. He was hoping this, Arthur was better than him. "What were you doing with him?" She said to him, "Oh, I ran into him in the hallway, literally. And then he just told me how great my performance was last night. He kissed my hand a few time too. He seems really nice." Erik just nods slowly. "Oh ok. It was just the patron."