Thank you, to all the people who have reviewed. I'm sorry it took a long time. This chapter is just Giry's thoughts. There will be some plot in the next chapter.
"He's watching me again" Antoinette thought as she un-braided her hair. Even though she couldn't see him, Antoinette could always feel Erik's presence. It never scared her though. In fact she was quite flatted that he wanted to watch her brush her hair every night.
"Perhaps he does still care for me'' she pondered.
Leaving the opera house to marry Jules had been one of the hardest things she had ever done. It was the only option, after discovering that she was pregnant. She knew the baby was Erik's, it had to be. Jules had been a good man, a loving father and husband, but she never truly loved him, not like Erik. Every night she would lie in bed next to her husband, and wish that it was Erik. When he made love to her, she would imagine it was Erik. She knew that it was wrong, but she couldn't help it. How else was she supposed to support her child and still have some dignity?
Two years after their wedding, Jules, lying on his death bed, told her he knew that Meg wasn't his. He had told her that an accident as a child had left him unable to have children. Hearing this had brought tears to her eyes. Here was a man who loved her more then she could ever love him, who had willingly helped her raise another man's child, without even batting an eye lid. She had taken his hand in hers and squeezed it.
"Thank you for loving Meg and me" she had whispered "I'm so sorry."
"It's alright darling, go and be with the man you love, the father of your gorgeous child" and with that he had died on her.
As instructed, and not having anywhere else to go, she returned with two year old Meg to the opera house. Erik was cool towards her, any spark that had been between them had evaporated. Nevertheless they maintained contact. After the arrival of Christine, she had to watch as he become close and eventually fell for her. It was strange-seeing him shift his attention from her to a girl she considered a daughter. She never feared for Christine's safety-she knew that Erik would never harm her, but she feared for Christine's emotional stability. Unlike her loud excitable daughter Meg, Christine was quiet, reserved and spent most of her time wallowing in her own thoughts. When Raoul came into her life everything changed. She noticed the change in Erik as well he became withdrawn and angry-she expected him to kill Raoul at the earliest opportunity. Yet she still understood why he let them be. He cared too much about Christine to kill the one man he knew that she loved.
After Christine had left to marry, Erik had started to resume the conversations they used to have as children. Gradually their friendship returned to something of the magnitude that it had been before she had left. She knew that he watched over as she slept and it gave her comfort. As she got into bed and closed her eyes she faintly heard him whisper "Good night sweet Annie"
TBC
