Christine and I made a habit out of leaving the small apartment an hour before sunset to take a walk across the city and visit the lake that surrounds Notre dame in all its glory. On these walks, I wouldn't hold Christine's hand. As much as I wanted to take her small china doll hand into my own, I was far too tall and she was far too small. She would either hastily walk beside me to keep up with my leisurely stroll or she would be on my hip. That sounded wrong.

We would often meet other people on these walks. The first few nights, they tended to avoid us which I rather enjoyed. But soon their curiosity won over and they began to approach me.

The first one to approach us was a young woman, about 21 I would say, who say down beside us on a park bench next to a children's playground.

"Lovely evening, isn't it monsieur?" The woman asked me.

"It's tolerable, I suppose." Was my only response.

I had no intention of continuing this useless banter. It seemed rather pointless to me. However, the woman did not seem to share my views.

"You two seem to be new to the city. I've only seen you these last few days. What are your names?"

"My name is Christine." My little angel said. I was half tempted to scold her for speaking to the woman but I could never do that to her.

"Aren't you a pretty little girl, Christine?" The woman said.

"Thank you, madam."

"Please. None of this 'madam' nonsense. Call me Nicolette."

If I had listened to my instincts, I would have gotten off of that bench and away from that woman. But I didn't because Christine seemed to like the social interaction.

Nicolette proceeded to talk to Christine, who was sitting in between the two of us, about useless topics. Christine's favorite color. Song. Hobbies. All sorts of nonsense that I had little interest of hearing because I already knew the information.

Eventually, a little boy, a little older than Christine's age by the looks of it, came over to us.

"Nicole!" The boy tugged on the woman's skirt. "You promised that we would go home soon..."

The boy then saw my little Christine and started blushing down to the roots of his black hair. My face was growing red as well...but for a very different reason.

"Hi Lorenzo." Nicolette said. "This is Christine and her father."

I didn't feel like correcting her.

"Um...hi Christine." Lorenzo stammered, his face still flushing red.

"Hi Lorenzo."

"Call me Ren."

"Ok. Hi Ren." Christine said cheerily.

"How about you two go play while the grownups talk. Is that alright monsieur?"

I did not like the fact that this woman was going to remove my Christine from my side to go spend time with the little brat and I was going to tell her off but then…

"Can I?" Christine asked me, her large brown eyes tugging at my heartstrings. "I promise I won't get my dress dirty."

"Only for a few minutes. And stay where I can see you."

"Thank you!"

I hated watching my little darling run off with the boy.

"My cousin seems to get along with Christine. Pardon me, but I never got your name."

"M. Younifi." I said bluntly, not looking her in the eye.

She had come closer to me when Christine had left but I didn't realize that until now.

"Why are you wearing bandages on your face?"

"An accident while I was boiling water burned my face horribly." I lied easily. "I have to wear these for a while."

"I see that you don't have a wedding band on. Not to pry, but are you married."

"No. I am not married at the moment and I have little intent to marry any time soon."

"What happened to the girl's mother?"

"Died."

"Oh I am so sorry for you. It must be awful."

"Not really. I never knew the woman."

It was rather entertaining watching the woman's slow mind piece together the information.

"Oh Christine's adopted!" She laughed as if the matter of the girl being an orphan was humorous somehow. "And all this time I thought she was your daughter. I should have none. You two share no resemblance what so ever. I just thought..."

"I knew perfectly well of what you thought." My eyes were glued to the stop where Christine was. She and the boy seemed to found a deep interest in a snowball fight which I silently disapproved of.

"She seems like a sweet little girl."

"She is a gift from heaven: a little angel." I replied.

"You must really love her."

"More than life itself."

"You are really good with her. Do you get along well with little kids?"

"I'm not sure. I have no intention of adopting anymore. My little darling is the only one in my life at the moment."

"How sweet. Does the girl ever miss her mother?"

"She's never really said. I believe her mother died in childbirth. Her father, my cousin, died recently and I took her in."

"Must be rather awful, not having a mother in your life at all. She must get lonely."

"She'll be fine."

The woman began batting her eyelashes and tossing her light blonde hair around. She was way too close to me for my comfort but I had run out of park bench to move to.

"Do you like opera?" She asked.

"As a matter of, I love music."

"Have you heard about this mysterious new composer?" Nicolette, I believe her name was, said, "He's been writing music and selling it under a unanimous name."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. The world is abuzz with who it is. The opera house released in a newspaper a few days ago that they want him to compose the music for the Masque ball they have every New Year's Eve."

"How...interesting."

"I will be at the ball. Will I be seeing you there?"

"No."

The girl clearly thought I was a wealthy aristocrat by my expensive clothing and mannerisms. She was obviously well off as well. Probably the daughter of a merchant or similar. I did intend to go to a Masquerade ball at some point. Maybe in a few years when my plan succeeds.

"Why not?"

"I didn't receive an invitation and honestly I have no interest in such an event."

That was a lie. From the limited time I spent in the opera house, I saw the party take place. Everyone in elegant costumes and masks: a place where I could blend it.

"I have to go. My father owns the Opera House."

It was at that time when I realized that I had lost sight of Christine. My heartbeat hastened and I stood up immediately.

"What's wrong?" the infuriatingly curious girl questioned.

"I've lost sight of my Christine."

"I wouldn't worry about it too much. They probably aren't in any danger."

"Excuse me, mademoiselle, but I am very much worried and you should be as well." I spat at her irresponsible behavior. "Now if you will excuse me, girl, I must go find her and take her home. It's far too cold to be out here anyways."

It didn't take too long to locate my little angel. She had wandered off, following that boy who was so clearly enamored by her. Without any word from me, I scoped her up and began carrying her back home.

"Don't you ever disobey me again, Christine." I said, sternly, looking her straight in the eye, "I told you to stay where I could see you. I will not tolerate disobedience."

"I'm sorry." Christine looked down, afraid to meet my eyes. "I thought that you could still see me. I didn't realize how far I had gone."

"I will have trouble trusting you if you run off. Don't do that again. Do you understand me?"

She nodded.

I sighed. It was impossible to stay angry at the girl for long. She was just so perfect. I could forgive her of this one mistake. I was angry at myself more than anyone else.

"So...did you have fun?" I said, breaking the tension.

"Yes I did. Ren is a lot of fun. But I think he was really cold."

"Why would you say that?"

"His face was bright red. Like he had just buried his head in the snow or something."

Oh sweet, little, innocent Christine. Stay this way forever.

Once home, I sent Christine to go take a bath while I prepared dinner. It occurred to me that Christmas was just 2 days away. Of course, having prepared for the event already, I didn't give it much thought. No. My mind was focused on different waltzes that would work marvelously for a Masquerade ball.