The fanfiction ruler thingie still hates me, it would seem...or maybe my computer just has a problem working with the ruler...who knows?
This one's kinda short, but where I stopped just seemed like a perfect chapter end to me, so…
I'm sure you all know the spiel by now, I don't own Phantom, fic takes place in present day, blah blah blah, REVIEW…
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The moment the door closed behind Erik and Lenore, Mrs. Parker rounded on Ember.
"What do you know about him?" she demanded.
"Well…" Ember said, pausing to think.
"What does he do for a living?"
"He's in the insurance business," Ember answered. It wasn't entirely a lie. After all, paying his salary kept them safe from his wrath, and so it was like paying him for insurance. "That's how Lenore met him; insurance meetings."
"They've had far too many meetings. And she's living with him! Why didn't you talk her out of that? She's sleeping with him, isn't she?" Mrs. Parker grumbled.
"Well, that depends on what you mean by sleeping with him, cuz they share the same bed, but they're not having sex," Ember replied.
"How do you know? You don't," Mrs. Parker argued. "I'll have to keep dropping subtle hints for her to move back in here, with you and Rosalyn, and just hope that she comes to her senses. He seems far too old for her; how old is he?"
"I'm not exactly sure…" Ember mumbled. This is going to be a disaster…hell, it already is a disaster. At this rate, it'll be a catastrophe within the half hour.
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"You just had to kiss me in front of Mom, didn't you," Lenore griped as Erik led her through the dark underground.
"It seemed she was under the impression that we're lovers; I thought a kiss might help your fabrication," Erik replied as though that should have been glaringly obvious.
"My mom thinks it's terribly improper to kiss in front of other people, unless you're married."
"That's a bit old-fashioned," he remarked. After all, he certainly didn't care what her mother thought. In his opinion, the woman was overbearingly controlling of her daughter. He had stood by and watched Lenore be treated like a child when he had given her the necklace. Madam Parker had tried her absolute best to tell Lenore what to do with the gift, and it had actually surprised Erik when Lenore decided to go against her mother's wishes.
It seems that her mother is the source of Lenore's childishness. Madam Parker seems unwilling to see her daughter as an adult woman capable of making her own decisions. She believes she must shelter and protect Lenore from all harm, but she doesn't realize the damage she is doing to her daughter in the process. That's why the trauma of her accident still affects her; she has fallen down, and rather than let Lenore pick herself up, Madam Parker keeps her daughter where she is so that she'll not fall again. Lenore is left in the darkness, trying to figure out how to pick herself back up and getting pushed back down whenever she makes any progress. If it continues, Lenore will end up bitter and heartless…much like me.
"Are you even listening to me?" Lenore snapped, breaking into his thoughts.
"No," Erik said truthfully.
"I was asking what time tomorrow you plan to take me back up. My mom's an early riser, but she knows I'm not, so she won't expect me to be awake until nine and at the Opera House by ten," Lenore informed him.
"I don't recall giving you permission to be aboveground tomorrow," he responded.
"What? But my mom"-
"Your mother is a tyrannical shrew, and if you spend the rest of your life doing exactly what she wishes, you'll be entirely unable to take care of yourself when she dies," Erik declared, barely able to keep a snarl from his voice. How blind would Lenore have to be to realize her mother had no intention of letting her grow up and care for herself?
"That wasn't very nice of you to say," Lenore commented. Odd that she didn't deny his statement completely. Perhaps she knew the truth about her mother but didn't care to admit it, as though admitting it would somehow make it more real than it already was.
"The truth isn't always pleasant." Of course, that ended the conversation and kept things relatively silent except for Lenore's footsteps (Didn't that girl know how to walk quietly?) until they reached the gondola.
"Thank you," Lenore whispered. "For the necklace, I mean. I didn't really thank you before, so I thought I should now…"
"You're welcome," he replied. It was astoundingly polite of her to thank him, and something he certainly hadn't expected. Lenore hardly ever thanked him for anything he did for her.
"You didn't have to spend all that money, though. It's just my birthday," she mumbled, blushing a bit.
Good God, did I manage to embarrass her with a simple "you're welcome"? "I didn't spend that much. Compared to my financial state, at least," Erik informed her as he helped her into the gondola. "Not to mention the fact that my salary comes due at the end of this week."
"It does? No way, it can't possibly have been that long," Lenore contradicted.
"This coming weekend will be the first weekend of July, ma chouchoute, and as such means that the month of June has passed. It was the first week of June when I made you aware how well I am paid to make certain no little accidents befall the management, cast, and crew," he explained as he poled the gondola out onto the dark lake.
"Gee, maybe a better birthday gift would have been to ask for only half of your salary," Lenore muttered.
"I think not. You do realize that the pearl is of triple 'a' grade?" Erik inquired.
"And that grade means what?"
"That means it has the highest luster, is perfectly round in shape, and has a smooth surface."
"In other words, this is the best grade a pearl can have. And you bought one and gave it to me? What were you thinking?"
"I was thinking I might amuse myself by giving it to you for your birthday and asking for it back in the morning so I could return it for the money," Erik replied sarcastically. "It occurred to me that you are a woman who decided to spend her money on a building instead of buying herself valuable jewelry, and that you just might appreciate owning a necklace fitting for a young lady of your age."
"Well, it is nice to have"- she began to admit. It seemed she realized all too quickly that she was agreeing with him. "The point is I'll probably damage it. Get it all scratched up and stuff. I don't have any idea how to take good care of it."
"If you damage it badly, I'll get you another," Erik offered before he could stop himself. Do not lose your mind, Erik. The last thing you need is to have her realizing how deeply you are beginning to care for her. You know that no woman will ever want to have a romantic relationship with you. Only a fool sets themselves up for a disappointment that they know is inevitable.
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Lenore didn't know what to say to that last comment. You idiot! He's only being polite, he doesn't like you in a romantic sense. Why do you have to assume that any time a guy says something nice to you that he's attracted to you? At least you have enough intelligence to keep these assumptions to yourself…
What if he isn't just being polite? What if he really does like me? Maybe Erik's attracted to me; I mean, it could happen…couldn't it? Just because no one's ever shown an interest in me before doesn't mean it's entirely impossible that no one ever will.
Why are you doing this to yourself? Stop being optimistic for a minute and realize the truth! Don't you know that your high hopes will be shattered and end in bitter disappointment? Why bother putting yourself through that? Keep your mind clear; Erik only puts up with you because you amuse him. And when you can finally pay his salary, this will all end. Just think of this whole thing as a friendly relationship at best and don't make it complicated. You don't want things to become awkward because you had to go and get yourself emotionally attached to someone who thinks of you as a mere amusement for idle hours.
Lenore yawned, thoroughly exhausted by the day's events, not to mention the fact that she was up late. Erik had gotten her used to being in bed around nine and then getting up at seven. I'm three hours late for bed; I hope Erik will let me sleep in tomorrow, since it wasn't really my fault that I was up so late tonight. As soon as the gondola came to a halt in the lair, Lenore clambered out, far too tired to wait for Erik to get out first and assist her. She then proceeded to stagger into the bedroom and collapse on the bed, asleep the moment she hit the soft mattress.
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Erik followed her into the bedroom, chuckling softly when she half-collapsed onto the bed. "Poor child," he commiserated softly. Lenore had had a busy day today, far too tiring for her. He busied himself with pulling her jeans off, then her shirt. She was obviously beyond exhausted, for she didn't even stir.
Laying down in the bed with her, Erik smiled. She looked so wonderfully peaceful and happy when she was asleep. His long, slender fingers caressed her face and slid into her hair, as they had on numerous other occasions. Lenore wasn't a light sleeper, and he knew he could easily pet her to his heart's content without her awakening.
Of course, she didn't know that Erik only slept every third night. For some reason, he didn't seem to sleep as much as normal people did. Not that he minded; there was far too much to get done without wasting time on sleep. Paintings that waited to be brought into existence, symphonies that were dying to be written. Yes, far too much to do to waste time sleeping. Is that so? Then why do you waste time every night watching her sleep and having your fingertips memorize every inch of her face? Do you know how she'd feel if she found out that you stroke her every night as if she were some sort of domesticated animal?
Erik ignored his internal monologue, mainly because he just didn't want to listen to it right now. Moreover, he had had a thought that was undeniably alluring. Slowly, he reached up and removed the mask that covered the right side of his face. Hurriedly depositing the mask on the bedside table, he moved slightly closer to Lenore's slumbering form. Holding his breath and moving at the pace of a snail, Erik eventually rested the deformed half of his face against her perfect skin.
He was robbed of words and could not begin to describe the pure bliss that trembled in every fiber of his being. It was paradisiacal; she did not flinch in fear, she did not recoil in revulsion. Granted, Lenore wasn't awake and didn't know that the detested, disfigured demon disobeyed the laws of the natural order of the world, didn't know that she had given him a priceless gift of the simplest pleasure man had ever known. Humans always took the simplest things for granted; for example, the sense of touch. Few understood as he did how precious a simple caress could be, and now he wished Lenore to be there perpetually so that he may steal touches from her as she slept.
"Forgive me," Erik breathed. For he knew now that he would never let her go. He wanted to keep her with him always, and nothing would be able to stand in his way now that he desired it so. There would be murders, that was certain, and eventually someone she cared for was bound to meet a horrible end at his hands.
I can only hope that you will find it in your heart to forgive me my sins, to find a way to love the monstrous criminal I will become who will kill to keep you as though you are nothing more than an expensive collectible for my shelf. I will have your love; whether you give it freely or I take it by force no longer matters to me. Forgive me, if you can, my poor, sweet, broken, beautiful porcelain doll.