AN: Sorry for the later update, I'm really having to think hard to come up with ideas for this now. Ah by the way….-phangirl squee- So many reviews make a very happy VampPhan! Glad to see people wondering who the voices are…seen some good guesses! Thanks again, readers, and here is the next chapter.

CHAPTER 19

All four people were absentmindedly pacing in the dim office, wondering about the whole ordeal that had just happened. Christine furrowed her brows and asked, "First, why couldn't Nadir hear it?"

"Because he wasn't in the circle," explained Madame Giry.

"Of course," said Gerry.

"I think you're all doing this on purpose just to toy with my mind," Nadir muttered. He immediately got many strange looks.

"Trust me, you aren't worth that much of our attention," Gerry said smugly, receiving a glare from the Persian.

"Of all the things you could have in common, it has to be your sarcasm," he sighed.

"What sarcasm? I was being serious."

Nadir rolled his eyes indignantly and turned to Christine. "Where are you staying? The Vicomte has been terribly worried for you, as are many others. The only reason I did not assist them in their efforts to find a safe way into Erik's lair is because I was not sure if you wanted to be found. Do you?"

She hesitated, glancing at Gerry, who quickly averted his gaze.

"I can't leave him alone here. I mean, he needs a guide. Even though he knows things from playing the role of Erik and knowing some history about this era, actually living this life is entirely foreign to him. If I went to Raoul, he would never understand the situation. He would think I was hypnotized or tricked by Erik again."

"Must be nice having a boyfriend who has so much faith in your judgment…" Gerry said drolly.

"He has faith in my judgment, he is just very protective! And it has happened before," she defended herself. He just nodded, trying his best to look like he sincerely believed her, but it was in vain. Knowing this, Christine huffed and looked at Antoinette.

"How is the Opera? And what was the outcome of the…chandelier incident?"

The older woman sighed sadly and looked down. "Two people perished. Five were injured."

Christine gasped. "That's awful!"

"Yes…it was very unfortunate," Madame Giry nodded. "As for business, no operas are to be performed until two weeks from now, due to respect for the victims and also for repairs. It will be a while before we can afford a new chandelier. Everyone I know of is coping with something, but doing fine overall. The Vicomte and my Meg are mostly trying to cope with your disappearance."

"I expected as much," said the young woman with a melancholy smile. "As soon as this whole ordeal is over, I will see them again."

Antoinette raised a brow. "De Chagny I can understand. But Meg will not hold you back from what you must do, nor will she tell anyone what is going on. I will make sure of it."

"You think I should see her?"

"She is your best friend, is she not?

Christine bit her lip, feeling guilty suddenly. "Yes…I should see her. Where is she?"

"I do not know for certain, but I'd expect she's with the rest of the ballet, screaming about a certain Opera Ghost," Antoinette said, looking pointedly at Gerry, who grinned proudly.

"And where would the rest of the ballet be?" Christine asked.

"Once again, I am not certain, but I can make an assumption with confidence that they are in their dormitories."

"Clinging to each other like scared little schoolgirls?" Gerry added, and Antoinette regretfully nodded. Christine glanced at everyone for a moment, then gave a quick bow of the head and turned to the door, leaving before anyone could say anything in protest.

/

Erik had been trying to avoid thinking about the Point of No Return scene with Emmy, but as people kept on congratulating him on his 'acting', it was becoming an impossible task. Finally, he had to simply lock himself up in his trailer and try and distract himself with more modern technology (mostly the computer.) But he only found himself researching his own story yet again, watching YouTube clips of various stage plays performing the very scene he didn't want to think about.

At last, he decided to rationalize his emotions.

It only makes sense that you would feel the same emotions. I mean, you're reliving the same moments, he told himself calmly, but then frowned and thought. Yes, but I know what is going to happen. And I'm frequently reminded that this is just acting and that she isn't Christine. I know I'm still not accustomed to that much physical contact with anyone, but it wasn't just nervousness or excitement. There was hope for something.

Meanwhile, Emmy was reflecting on the 'girl time' she just had with half the female cast members at a nearby diner. She had started off just talking to Minnie and Jennifer, but then Jennifer had decided it would be fun to invite all the friends she had made during filming (since she had lots of free time from not being a lead character) to dinner. Most of these friends were extras or backup dancers for the Don Juan scene. Emmy didn't know hardly any of them. Still, she had a decent time with them. It only got a bit awkward when they all started talking about Gerry and his attractiveness. Not that this was a rare occurrence, but it was strange to hear now that Gerry…wasn't Gerry. It was even stranger when she felt a tiny glimpse of jealousy.

Shaking this off as a reasonably weird reaction to a weird situation, Emmy thought nothing more of it and went back to her trailer for some much needed rest.

Erik couldn't deny that he was disappointed when she didn't come to visit him as usual, and spent a rather boring, lonely night alone. But he saw her soon enough the next morning.

"You're lucky, you know."

Erik almost turned around at the sound of Emmy's voice but was held still by one of the many women working on the deformity for the next scene. He already felt like he couldn't move that side of his face.

Why? Am I lucky because I can take this off at the end of the day now? Even so, it feels a lot worse than the real one did….

"Why?"

"The TV," said Emmy, stepping around the makeup women so Erik could actually look at her when he talked. She was about to give him away by informing him that Gerry hadn't had such entertainment the first few times they had done the complicated makeup job on him. But Erik assumed this anyway.

"Yes, it's quite convenient," said Erik. "Though I feel much less intelligent after watching two hours or so of this garbage."

Turning her eyes to the screen, Emmy saw what he meant and smiled in amusement. It was an ancient rerun of Wheel of Fortune.

"You know you can change the channel, right?" said one of the makeup women.

"Of course I knew that," Erik snapped, grabbing the remote and searching for the channel button. After a few awkward moments of looking for it, he stopped on a daytime soap opera episode which had just started.

Emmy covered her mouth a little as her smile turned into a laugh.

"I don't think you'll like this much either…"

Erik shushed her as he listened to the introduction of the show, which explained dramatically what all had happened in the last episode (someone being sent to the ER, someone not knowing who the father of her child was, someone else finding out she had a long lost sister who was kidnapped, etc.)

Within moments, he was totally enraptured with the cheesy, dramatic storyline.

"Did you see that Emmy? The father is her brother! But she didn't know it was her brother because he was adopted by their godparents! Oh that's disgusting…"

Emmy couldn't do anything except facepalm. He glanced at her and held up his hands, gesturing to the TV in disbelief.

"What? This is fascinating! So much suspense!"

"And you're supposed to be a genius," Emmy sighed, still unable to keep herself from laughing. One of the makeup women glanced up with a painted eyebrow raised.

"He is?"

"Of course I am!" Erik said in a joking manner to cover for Emmy. "Joel said so himself!"

"Can't imagine why," said Emmy, playing along. Erik pretended to look hurt.

Mercifully, the long makeup process was over at that point, and the other women in the room left to help the other actors. Erik got up and looked in the mirror.

"Odd…as uncomfortable as this is, I don't hate it half as much as when it was real. Not just because it's fake and can be removed, but because no one reacts to it. No one jumps at the sight. No one even looks at me strangely. In fact, they pay me more positive attention. And I get paid for it," he mused, staring at his reflection in an almost curious manner.

"You know that after this movie, you're probably going to get much, much more attention."

"Why?"

Emmy held up her hands like this was obvious. "I mean, this musical is famous worldwide. Everyone has been waiting for a movie version. And it would be a thousand times more convenient to see than a play. It's expected that millions of people will see it. So everyone will know your name—well, Gerry's, anyway. And mine. Or at least they'll recognize our faces once we do other films. Which we will definitely get tons of offers to be in, just because of our work in this movie. After this, pretty much everyone who sees you will be like 'Hey, that's the guy who was in Phantom of the Opera! Oh my God! Let's get his autograph!'"

"Thank you, Emmy, I feel completely at ease now," said Erik sarcastically. "Not pressured at all."

She sighed. "Well, if we ever figure out how to get you back in your own life, you won't have to worry about it."

"That's true. But that still is the question. Am I better here or there?"