And here we are. Chapter six. The chapter in which Amme, for the first time in this story, actually loses her temper.
Erik paced back and forth, waiting for Amme to come back to her dressing room. They had been meeting there every other night for about two weeks. He didn't know why she kept allowing him to return, but she did, and he, for one, was not going to complain.
What he did know, however, was what she did on the nights she wasn't with him. Amme might not have been able to sense anything more than a want of friendship coming from Joshua Eddison, but Erik was not nearly as blind to his advances. There were other men, of course, completing for her attention, but she was aware of them fairly quickly, and ended them just as fast. With the few that persisted, she eventually just ignored them.
Eddison, however, was a different story.
The only thing he had ever brought her was a bouquet of flowers. He never talked about becoming more than friends; he never even looked at her like he wanted more.
When her back was turned, though, it was, once again, a different story.
Eddison would boast how she liked him better than anyone else, that she would marry him someday. Erik didn't believe that—Amme treated him like a friend and nothing more.
Unfortunately, his boasts never reached Amme, so Erik was cheated out of the opportunity of seeing her reaction.
What Amme thought of the Phantom was a mystery. After the first few meetings, she suddenly turned overly polite, the same way she was to everyone else, saying that she knew how rude she had been, and that she was sorry. Erik, who found her irritation at him rather amusing, was unhappy about that. He felt that if she treated him differently than everyone, while Eddison was treated the same, that had to mean she liked him better.
Alas, his theory did not last.
Just then, Amme entered. She barely glanced at him, but said to him, "Suilaid, Monsieur."
Erik blinked once. "Excuse me?"
"Pedich Edhellen?"
"I haven't the slightest idea what you're saying," Erik snapped. He hated it when he didn't understand something.
"I suppose that answers that question," Amme muttered.
"Are you going to tell me what you said?"
"I said hello."
"And then?"
She shrugged. "It's not important."
"Really."
Amme nodded absentmindedly. "Would you mind leaving? I need to change."
"I won't look," Erik assured her.
She looked at him suspiciously. He did his best to look innocent. It wasn't difficult; he was an excellent actor.
Amme sighed. "If you must stay. Don't you look."
"I won't," he promised. He turned around and closed his eyes.
After a while, he said, "Can I look now?"
"Not yet."
Erik, however, risked a peek. Opening his eyelids ever so slightly, he saw that Amme was, indeed, not finished changing her.
No, she was not completely naked, but she still had not put her blouse on. Sadly, for Erik, at least, not for the rest of his, her back was to him. Then again, he mused as he closed his eyes again, it would have been much easier for her to catch him looking if she was facing him. Much much easier.
"Alright. You may turn around, now."
That's just what he did. Smiling a bit, Erik said, "You look beautiful. You know that, don't you?"
Amme raised one thin eyebrow, but made no comment.
"So then," Erik said conversationally. "Did you have fun with Eddison last night?" He tried not to let the bitterness creep into his tone.
"It was fine."
He waited, but she made no other answer. "You've said that for the past five times I've asked."
"Have I? I haven't been keeping track."
"You have, trust me. Now, what have you been doing with him?"
"Why don't you ask Joshua?"
"Because I don't talk to him." Erik's voice turned ice cold. He hated her calling Eddison by his first name.
"Well then, what do you what to know?"
"Did he behave himself?"
"What do you mean by that?"
He sighed. Did he have to explain everything? "I mean, was he rude to you? Or did he remember to be polite. Did he…did…he try to…" He couldn't finish the last thought; it was too horrifying.
"He was very polite." Erik felt a pang of disappointment. If Eddison had been rude, it would have been a perfect excuse to kill him. "Is that all you wanted to know?"
"Have you told him about me?"
Amme looked faintly insulted. "Didn't I promise I'd let you do that?"
"True," Erik admitted. "You did."
"Then why are you worrying?"
Because he wasn't used to people keeping their words. It was a rather unnerving. "I'm sorry. I won't ask again."
"Thank you." Amme stretched her arms. Then she bent down, touching the floor without bending her knees easily. Erik felt giddy watching her—she was so beautiful.
"So," He said when she had straightened up again. "I was wondering something."
"Yes?"
He frowned very slightly, unsure how to word his curiosity. "I just wanted to know…why you keep letting me come here, night after night."
"Is that all?" Amme sat down on the floor and, reaching forward, touched her toes. "Well, firstly, we meet every over night, not night after night, but let us put that aside, shall we? Secondly, I haven't asked you to come since the first real meeting. You come of your own accord. Which makes me ask you what's the draw for you? If you can answer that, then I will answer your question."
So much for being overly polite to him. "I keep coming because I find you interesting."
"As I do with you." Amme stood back up. "Is that a good answer?"
"Is it the best one I can hope for?" He smiled again.
She tilted her head. "If you improve yours, I'll improve mine."
The very next morning, Erik was, not for the first time, leaning against a pillar, waiting. He watched the singers and stage crew and managers enter without really seeing them. Then Christine came, and he registered her arrival more than the others, but she wasn't the one he was waiting for.
Finally, Amme walked in, her face hidden by her wet hair. The Phantom wondered idly why her hair seemed to be wet so often. Maybe she liked it that way.
His good mood at seeing Amme was abruptly soured by Joshua Eddison right behind her. He whispered something in her ear, and she shook her head, smiling a tiny bit.
Erik bit his lip to keep from screaming. Whatever would come out of his mouth at that moment would have been without a doubt profane.
"Amme!" Meg skipped over, beaming. The girl was so bubbly, Erik was surprised she didn't float up to the ceiling and pop.
"Hello, Meg," Amme replied.
"Hello, Monsieur Eddison." Meg said to…guess who? Eddison.
"Good morning, Miss Giry." He replied politely.
"May I borrow Amme for a moment?" Meg asked mischievously.
"Shouldn't you be asking me that?" Amme looked confused.
Eddison chuckled. "It's fine with me. I'll see you at lunch, Amme." He turned and walked away.
It was fortunate for Joshua that he left when he did, because the Phantom was seriously considering what he'd look like with a rope around his neck.
Meg grabbed Amme's arm. "Come on, we have to rehearse!"
"You've never been so excited to rehearse before." But Amme allowed the blond girl to drag her to the stage.
It was lunch break, and Amme had promised Joshua she would meet him, so meet him she did. At first, she wasn't sure she would like to spend so much time with him—he didn't seem like the most agreeable person—but Amme grew to enjoy talking to him. And she certainly wasn't one to pass up a free meal—Joshua always insisted on paying.
"Hey, Amme!" He called, running over to her and grinning. "You look great."
Amme rolled her eyes. "You've said that before."
"Yeah, but I mean it. Really."
"How different do I look from this morning?"
"Not much—you were beautiful then, too."
She shook her head. "If you say so, Joshua."
"Okay, so what do you want to eat. Wait, don't tell me, a salad. Am I right?"
"You're psychic."
"Nah, that's just what you've been having every single lunch and dinner we've had together."
"In that case, you're observant."
Joshua chuckled. "You know, you can tell a lot about a person by what they eat."
Amme raised an eyebrow. "Really. What can you tell about me by my salads?"
Now he looked slightly uncomfortable. "Well, you only eat vegetable salads, so you're a vegetarian, correct?"
She nodded.
More confident now, he continued. "People who eat lots of salads on a date tend to be fairly neat and organized people, do you think?"
"I'm not a very organized person, I'll have you know."
"Sure, Amme. Let me finish. You clean up all your food—just scrape the plate clean—so you don't believe in wasting food."
"Why should I? 'Waste not, want not.'"
"True." Here he paused. "Do you think that classifies as a lot?"
"I don't know." An amused expression lit up in her eyes. "That was only three things you said about me, and one wasn't correct. And the other one was on how I eat, not what I eat. That means you can only tell one thing from my salads."
"Yeah, well, there's one more thing about women and salads I can think of, but I know it isn't true with you."
"What is it?" Amme asked curiously.
"Um, I've noticed women who eat a lot of fruits and vegetables want to lose some weight, right? But you definitely don't need to."
"I'm glad you think so. Now then," She said slyly. "Do you want to know what I can tell about you based on your food?"
He chuckled nervously. "Not really."
"Good, because all I can think of is that you're not a vegetarian."
Joshua's chuckle turned into a full laugh, and Amme joined in.
High above them, the Phantom, hiding in the shadows, felt the disbelief and jealousy rise up inside him. Eddison had made her laugh? About food? That was pathetic! If all their conversations were like this, then the Phantom had to come to the conclusion that Eddison was a total idiot. No wonder Amme liked talking to Erik—she needed some intelligent conversation.
But Eddison had made her laugh! What was so funny about that exchange? Erik tried to see the humor in it, but failed miserably.
Maybe Amme had a strange sense of humor. That was possible. But that could also be a problem. He had heard somewhere that women liked men who made them laugh. That could mean she preferred Eddison!
The Phantom frowned. This wasn't turning out well at all. If he wasn't careful, Amme would leave him with Eddison the same way Christine went with de Chagny.
"Amme," Erik said the moment she entered her dressing room.
She jerked around to stare at him, eyes wide. "Ai! Man carel le? I thought you were coming tomorrow night!"
He shrugged. "I just wanted to talk with you."
She held up her index finger, telling him to wait. Slowly, her breathing calmed down. "Alright," she sighed. "What do you want to talk about?"
This was not a very promising beginning. "I was simply…wondering about you and Eddison."
"What about us?"
He didn't like that she said "us". "Just…what do you think about him?"
Amme shrugged. "He's nice."
Nice? That didn't tell Erik anything. "That's all?"
"Perhaps. What more do you want to know?"
"Do you like him?"
"Yes."
This was not turning out well. Not at all. "How much do you like him?"
"Why is that any of your business?" Amme wanted to know.
Erik didn't answer. Instead, he said, "Are you…have you ever thought about…marriage?"
She froze. "Excuse me?"
"I mean, a beautiful woman like yourself, you have to have a hundred men…after you. Is there any reason why…"
"Why what?" Her voice was colder than he had ever heard it before.
"Why haven't you? Chosen any of them?"
"Why? What does this have to do with you?" She glared at him. Joshua Eddison made her laugh, Erik Destler made her glare. "Do you want me to 'chose someone'? Are you asking this to see if you have a clear shot to me? Is that all you've wanted?"
"I never said anything about myself!" Erik said hastily.
"You implied it!" She snapped.
"And you are jumping to conclusions!"
"Am I?" The room suddenly got very hot, like it was on fire, and the Phantom could swear the air around Amme had turned a light blue. "Am I?"
"Do you think I'm the only one to wonder that? Hope that you might want me more than anyone else?"
"NO!" She shrieked. "I don't! But I thought that you were different! I thought that you just wanted to be friends! Like Joshua!"
"Don't you dare compare me to him!"
"Why not?" With a jolt, Erik realized Amme had a knife in her hands. And from the way she held it, she knew how to use it, too. "He's ten times the man you are!"
"The only thing he thinks of when he sees a woman is how well she'll do in bed!" Erik retorted, backing away from the knife. Briefly, he wondered how she got hold of one, but decided to think about that at a slightly safer moment.
"How dare you!" Amme screamed. "Get out of here! Right now! Don't you dare come back!"
That went well, didn't it? Erik thought sarcastically. Well done, Erik.
Amme advanced on him with her deadly knife and a deadlier gaze. "I told you to get out."
Erik grabbed her arm that held the weapon. He was not so angry as to forget that was the first time he ever touched her.
Amme, however, was not so aware of the event. "Let—go—of—me! Now!"
Erik leaned forward. "I'll be back," He whispered. "This isn't over yet."
Progress report!
Erik- Besides being completely shocked and confused, Erik feels the same about Amme as he did at the end of the pervious chapter.
Amme- Amme is leaning towards Josh right now purely because she currently has some very resentful feelings Erik-ward.
Josh- Josh remains blissfully ignorant.