Disclaimer: I spoke to my lawyer again and he says no, POTO is not up for sale. So once again all credit goes to Leroux and Andrew Lloyd Webber, both awesome people in my eyes!
Okay, second chapter up. Please let me know what you think of it. I'm not sure when I'm going to update next because between now and next week I have three assignments and five exams. For all you Americans out there, if you hadn't realised, the Australian and American school years start and finish at different times. I have two weeks and one day left and then its holiday time!!!! Yay! Wish me luck on my exams. This chapter has a few extra author notes. I'm hoping that it won't interrupt the flow of the story. Without further ado, here's chapter two:
Christine closed the door behind Monsieur Durrante and returned to her office. She loathed this part of her job, that is, the strip searches and other sensitive cases such as this one. Not because it disgusted her but because it was often very degrading and even humiliating for the person that had to undergo the examination. Christine remembered when she had first started working, when some of her colleagues volunteered to do the sensitive cases just to gawk at the person and then talk about what was wrong or ugly about the person after they had left. When Christine had first found this out, she was both disgusted and infuriated. She made an appointment with the Director of Security and told him what had happened. Christine then shared her background with him (A/N: We'll get to that later), and had asked him if he would allow her to handle any sensitive cases in the future. He had agreed, most relieved to let her take charge. The Director had heard rumours of what was happening but there was no one special who could do anything about it. He was very impressed with the way Christine handled the first person that came her way. It had been a lady in her late forties who was recovering from a surgery and had bandages on her face. Christine had handled the lady very carefully, not reacting like any of her colleagues did. When she had escorted the lady out, Christine had returned to her office, she had found four other security guards laughing about the woman from what they had seen and were waiting for Christine to join in and describe the lady's face.
Christine walked around to her desk and sat down silently. She looked up, her eyes fiery with rage, causing the men before her to recoil.
'If you ever do this again, I promise I will make you regret it,' she said, in a soft but steely voice. Christine walked over to her door and held it open. The men wasted no time in filing out.
It took a week and a half for those men to be able to look her in the face; by that time they had all heard of Christine's other job.
Christine worked at and owned the Daae Home. Founded by her late father Christophe Daae, the Daae Home was for the most part a retirement home but there were also two separate sections. One of these was a temporary residence ward, where those recovering from surgery were able to leave the hospital but weren't quite able to look after themselves. The ward was a more comfortable and less expensive option than remaining in the hospitable.
The third section was the one she had told Erik about. People with visible conditions or disabilities that they could live with but preferred to avoid the discrimination they experienced in the 'real world' moved into this section, which was called the community section. Some people in the ward were burns victims, others were disfigured, and there was one lady who had a birthmark that covered most of her face as well as a cleft palate and lip, which made it difficult to eat and even breathe.
Anybody who wanted to work in the Daae home had to be qualified, pass an initial test with Christine, and undergo a strict period of probation. She was not going to allow her patients to suffer or her father's reputation be sullied because of incompetent employees.
Christine's father Christophe Daae was an accomplished musician who had established the Daae Home before she was born. He was the only family Christine had ever truly known, as her mother died when she was four years old. Christophe had died three years ago and Christine missed him every single day. He had given her his love of and taste in music as well as a strong faith. Christine's father and Christine both liked listening to classical music. She also enjoyed some of the 80's song although she avoided listening to pop music, although she did enjoy one or two songs that she had caught from the radio while at work.
Christine was snapped out of her reverie as her office door opened. It was Raoul. He was the man who had brought Erik to the security centre. Raoul was a tall man with long blonde hair he wore swept up in a pony tail and a very muscular body. Too muscular, Christine thought. Raoul looked like one of the Greek gods. On the outside, however, Christine didn't like him very much.
Raoul and Christine had attended the same high school. When she had first started working at the airport, Raoul had assumed that they would be great friends because of this. He had been one of the four men who had been waiting for Christine in her office. Christine's anger hadn't deterred him; in the last few months he had begun badgering her to go out on a date with him. Christine politely refused each time but his persistence was beginning to annoy her. Christine tried to keep a neutral expression on her face.
'What can I do for you?' she asked. He strode over to her desk, pulled out the other chair and leaning back into it, put his feet on her desk, a habit she detested-and something she had asked him not to do many, many times.
'So what was wrong with that guy? I still can't believe that freaks like that don't bug you out.' Christine's fists clenched.
'There was nothing wrong with him,' she replied, fighting to keep her voice steady. 'If you don't mind, I have some paperwork to complete and then I'm signing out.'
'You know, you should really just become a full time staff member. You spend far too much time at your old person's home as it is.' Thankfully Raoul left as he said this. Christine couldn't guarantee that she wouldn't have hit him if he was still there. Christine finished her paperwork as quickly as she could, picked up her handbag and left.