Chapter three is up! thank you guys for the reviews and everything. Arah, lol you reviews are wonderful..
so this chapter is all about the meeting of Erik and dear Christine...will she tell him about her heart condition? will he open up about his mask? hmmmm...
more gameworx reference...and i do not own the POTO references here either
pls read and review, dear fanfickers...
Oh god I hope he can't see me blush.
She's so beautiful.
Why is he smiling at me like that?
Why is she staring at me like that? My mask is bothering her…
"So were you looking at some bowling balls?" Erik asked, thinking that the girl didn't hear what he said when he walked through the door.
Balls... "Y-yes, I'm planning to take up bowling, so I'll need some stuff I think," Christine managed to blurt out. She played with the tips of her fingers, a sign of nervousness which she inherited from her mother.
Walking closer to her so that they can communicate better, Erik felt goose bumps rising on his arms. He hoped that the girl wouldn't notice.
"Can I get your name, Miss?"
"Christine. Christine Daae"
"Christine. I'm Erik Destler, the go-to guy here at Gameworx"
"Hi."
He laughed a deep, but hearty "ha-ha". He moved to the counter that was situated at the corner of the small shop. He brought out a piece of paper and a pencil and began to write down some details.
"Your last name is spelled as 'D-A-A-E', am I right?" he asked, looking up at her with his emerald orbs that were striking under the bright fluorescent lights. This place must suck up a lot of electricity, Christine thought.
Christine nodded in reply and followed him to the counter. She laid her shoulder bag on it and leaned with her elbows. He looked down to write some more details and Christine couldn't help but ponder over the white leather mask that Mr. Destler wore. What could possibly be hidden under that enigma?
Erik felt the weight of Christine's stare and bent down to retrieve a plastic circle with different sizes of more circles lining its edge. Christine could only imagine that it was to measure her fingers.
Erik held it up to her and hesitantly reached over for her right hand. Her hand was small and smooth under his cool, bowling-weathered fingers. He slipped her middle finger into one of the smaller holes but it didn't fit quite right, so he performed the same routine for other circles until the size was chosen.
While Erik was busy with measuring her fingers, Christine continued to gaze at his bent head. The lighting caused his sharp jaw to be further outlined in shadow. Erik looked up and their eyes met. He smiled a crooked smile and Christine returned it with a shy grin.
"Well, I've got your measurements ready," Erik said with his tenor voice. "Now, I need to know your weight so that we can figure out how heavy your ball should be. You see, a bowling ball has to be 10 percent of your total body weight. I'm guessing you don't weigh much so finding a ball for you would be easier."
Erik stopped talking and wished he could take his last statement back it sounded rude out loud, but Christine didn't seem to notice because she was already eyeing some of the balls.
"I'm a hundred and ten, so I'm guessing my ball should be eleven pounds?" Christine guffawed and wanted to mentally kick herself for acting like a geek in front of…him.
"Oh that's great actually because we just got an 11-pounder a week ago from the Brunswick Arena over in North America. It's a pretty neat ball; I hope you like green?" he said moving over to another side of the shop, hauling a small carton box with a stamp of a B with a crown inside facing Christine.
"Green is fine," that was an understatement. Christine loved green; almost all of her things were green. If she had a color choice for something she bought, she'd always choose green.
Erik then brought out a metallic green sphere that sparkled under the garish lights. It was beautiful.
Without thinking, Christine moved to Erik and touched the ball all over and accidentally brushed her ivory hand over his and they looked up at each other. Christine blushed.
"I can have this done by Tuesday, most probably." With that he placed the ball back inside its box and inconspicuously moved his hand over where Christine had touched him and it set butterflies in his stomach.
"Oh that's fine. Uhm, I will need some shoes and other stuff right?" Christine said, noticing that he had placed his hand over the other, right where she had touched him.
"Yeah actually, what's your shoe size?" he said not looking at her for he had looked down at Christine's record that he was writing in.
"8, sometimes 8 and ½," she said.
"Well we got a pair of 8s. Its dark green, so it'll match your ball." He said with a grin. Then he moved to the showcase glass and pulled out a pair of green and white traditional bowling shoes. He moved to Christine and knelt at her feet.
After she realized that he was going to help her put the shoes on, she quietly slipped out of her brown 'ballet' shoes and began to insert her left foot into the left shoe. He helped her of course, by stretching the tongue and widening the foot hole. It took a little push to get her foot in, so he held her lean calf.
Chills went up Christine's spine at his touch on her bare skin. She was wearing pedal pushers so her pale skin was revealed below the knees and down.
He fitted her into other equipment which lasted another twenty minutes or so. Then he calculated the costs and showed her the price. It was reasonable for all the stuff she bought, but from then on, she would have to cut her frequent stop at the bookstore.
"So when are you available? My sched is open every afternoon so you can drop by for a couple hours of practice after school." He asked, already done ringing everything up.
"Well, I suppose I can come everyday. I'll just tell you the day before if I won't be available for practice." Christine said, speaking her thoughts, and thinking about her appointments.
"That's alright, I guess….May I ask you something?" he said, lowering his neck so that his face would be leveled with hers.
Christine gave a small nod and he proceeded.
"How did you get interested in bowling? Please don't be offended but you don't really seem the type to be playing a sport like this. It is a relaxing sport, but a girl with your…body might find something more interesting to do." he glanced down at her as he said 'body', totally noticing her flat stomach but full chest.
Christine knew what he was talking about. How could a scrawny little girly be interesting in a sport like this? I'm not even sexy, Christine thought. Then she debated over whether or not she should tell him about her condition. She didn't want to look like more that the freak she already was so she decided not to. Besides, he was only her teacher.
"I walk down Earling St. everyday when I come home from school and I always wondered about this place. It seemed so intriguing that I decided to try it out." she hoped that this story was convincing enough. She bit the inside of her cheek for lying to him.
Erik considered this answer and motioned to the door. They walked out of the shop and he walked her to the front doors of Gameworx. He leaned over to her and spoke over the loud and booming music.
"It was nice meeting you, Christine." surprisingly his voice was soft despite the noise around them.
"It was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Destler." Christine's voice sound squeaky and like a child's as she tried to speak louder than she usually did.
"Please, call me Erik." He said looking deep into her brown eyes.
She smiled and bowed her head slightly. She slipped through the swinging door which he had opened for her and gestured a small wave of goodbye.
He half-smiled and watched her walk until she was far from sight. He walked back to his shop and began to work on drilling holes into Christine's ball. He worked deftly, wanting to make sure that this was the best ball he drilled holes into.
The music of Gameworx was shut out by the egg cartons that Erik placed on its windows. This was so that he could play some of his own CDs. He put on a CD of instrumental piano pieces that he loved to listen to while he worked.
He wished that he could play the piano just as great as the musicians who played his music.
As he was polishing the holes in the green ball, he wondered to himself why she hadn't even so much as asked about his mask. She looked at it, but that was just about it. She made no other move to insert it in their light conversation.
He was looking up now, and staring into space. He absently stroked the mask, closing his eyes trying to feel his face from underneath it. Christine was the first person to ever not stare at his face for his mask, but for his eyes.
He smiled to himself and continued to finish working on Christine's ball while humming the ending notes to the track playing.
That night, Christine was alone. She figured that Meg went out with Raoul and won't be back 'til quite late. She was happy for Meg, who seemed quite depressed before she had met Raoul. He appeared to be a respectable man and Christine hoped he was. Meg needs a strong man in her life, Christine thought.
After going through her nightly routines—which included another grueling swallow of the icky pill--Christine lay awake on her four poster bed and stayed awake for another hour or so before drifting off into welcomed sleep.
The next morning, she woke up and found Meg, sleeping peacefully on her bed. She was still wearing traces of eye makeup so she must have one to bed just hours ago.
Christine stretched quietly and thought to herself. She could have sworn that she dreamt about a very long bowling alley. She was walking on it, slipping on the oil spread across it, trying to reach the other end which was shaped like an eye with emerald green blended into the darkness.
Her heart pounded erratically and she grabbed her chest, doubling over. She gasped for breath and squeezed her eyes shut tightly. It took her a few minutes before she regained herself.
It was a very odd thing for her heart to do. It had never beat in such a way that it was literally painful for her.
She spent the rest of the day trying to figuring out why.
yay! hope you like it