Chapter Twelve

As the three women made their way back from their beach weekend retreat, Sabine noticed that Christine seemed withdrawn and more pensive than before they had come. She loved Christine as if she were her own daughter and it hurt her when Christine hurt. She knew it had to be Erik: but how to truly get Christine to willingly examine her heart? It was Meg who helped begin to unravel her thoughts and feelings.

"So last night I went to a sideshow while Christine waited for me. When I got out, I found her talking to someone," Meg started, looking only at her mother.

"Meg!" Christine hurriedly hushed, but Sabine took the opening it afforded her.

"It was Erik, wasn't it?" She asked.

Shooting Meg a look that said she'd get her for this later, Christine nodded her head.

"Did he come to you?" Sabine asked.

Christine shook her head. "No. I saw him on the pier and I went to him."

"What happened?"

Christine frowned at the memory. "Nothing. I tried talking to him but he barely answered me. And then he left." She left out the part about how she had foolishly thought he was going to kiss her. "I feel like I made a complete ass of myself. I don't know this Erik."

Sabine nodded. "I see."

Christine looked at her, confused. "What do you see?"

"I see what you have yet to see. Christine, you must examine your feelings. You have been moping around ever since your performance last week. Why?"

"Because he doesn't want to see me: to speak to me!" She answered.

"Hmmmmm," Sabine murmured. "And how does that make you feel that even though you stayed late at the theater, hoping he'd come to you, he didn't?"

"I guess I felt...I don't know. Confused. Sad," Christine replied.

"And how did you feel when you saw him with that woman?" Sabine held up her hand. "No. Don't answer simply, 'hurt'. Really think about the moment."

Christine did as she was bid and explained, "At first, I could hardly breathe. I felt like my stomach was a mess and I guess I was excited." Here, Christine smiled at the memory. "I was glad to see him. But then I saw the woman and how he was acting with her. My throat grew tight and I felt sick to my stomach. And I saw her kiss his cheek and then he kissed her forehead…." Christine trailed off.

Sabine noticed her clenching and unclenching her hands. "And how did you feel about that?"

Christine looked at her in surprise. "Angry. I was so angry that she was with him. And when I spoke to him last night, I got angry again and asked him who she was."

Sabine smiled and Meg took her friend's hands. "Christine, you're jealous!" She remarked.

"What? I don't….I mean…." She was at a loss for words.

"So if you were jealous of this woman, what does that mean?" Sabine prodded gently.

Christine sat quietly thinking about the question. She had never felt jealousy before. There had been a few times when she and Raoul had dined out when other women would flirt with him because they couldn't believe she was to be his wife. She had felt uncomfortable because she hadn't believed she could fit in with his social circle. But she had never felt any anger: not like she had with this woman and Erik. No one knew his soul the way she did; how could they? She was the piece that completed him. It was his music that showed his true identity but it was her voice that released him from the prison society had created for him. Without her, he was only supposed to be half complete. This other woman couldn't be that other half for him! Only she could.

And then it dawned on her; if she completed him, then the same was true in reverse; he completed her. That was why she hadn't felt right since leaving him that night in Paris. She needed him as much as he needed her. Raoul was nothing like Erik in every way, but especially in this way. His kisses never made her feel the way that one kiss she and Erik had shared had. And she wanted that feeling now, as much as it had first terrified her. She had ruined so much between them. He had offered her his heart, trusting her to handle it with care, and she had tossed it away as though it were nothing more than rubbish. More than that, she had crushed it and torn it apart first. No wonder he had been so cool to her. What had she expected?!

"Christine? Are you okay?" Meg asked nervously after her friend had been so quiet for so long.

Christine took a deep, cleansing breath and looked at Meg. She smiled for the first time in a long time: truly smiled. "I am, Meg." She then looked at Sabine. "I love him." It was all she said. It was such a simple thing to say and yet it had been so difficult to realize and accept.

Sabine smiled at her. "You do." And now that you know what we've known for so long, what are you going to do?"

"Music is what first brought us together. It will again," Christine replied.