Christine's POV

Erik continued our date that night, walking side by side with me through the woods. When our date was over, the man walked me back to Nadir's caravan and bid me goodnight as if trying to tell me that our relationship wouldn't work. It broke my heart to see him acting this way, but deep down, I knew that this is how Erik felt when I rejected him. I spent the next few months attempting to continue our friendship, but Erik didn't give me the time of day. He treated me like an employee and nothing more. Summer came and went and soon the weather began to change into winter. I begged Erik to let me sing in the show, but he never answered me. No, he continued to make me work the ticket booth as if I were no longer his angel of music. My pay eventually bought me my own caravan and I was finally able to have my own space. One evening after finishing my shift, I looked out my window to find Erik walking around the camp. It had been a few weeks since he and I actually had a conversation and it bothered me greatly. I was lucky if we said good morning to one another.

After lying down on my bed, I looked around my caravan, thankful that I finally had a roof over my head. It was small, but it was home. I decorated the walls with what little I had and made it my own. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. I rose and wrapped my robe around my body to shield me from the cold. It was Nadir… He smiled and motioned me to come outside.

"It's freezing out there, Nadir."

"You may want to come out."

I sighed and walked outside. Nadir held up his lantern to light my way, and what I saw melted my heart… There, standing beside my caravan was a beautiful white stallion.

"Nadir, where did she come from?"

I approached the beautiful animal and petted her muzzle.

"Erik told me to let you know that you needed a horse to pull your caravan. He purchased her from a farmer in town."

"And why are you here now instead of him?"

Nadir sighed. "Christine you of all people should know that Erik is impossible."

"Nadir, I love it here, but I can't help but think that he hates me. Ever since that date a few months back he hasn't said a word to me. Why has he shunned me?"

"I believe Erik is afraid to love you again, Christine, afraid to feel that spark that he once felt with you. He's tired."

"I'm not that person anymore, Nadir. I've been trying real hard."

"Well, enjoy your stallion, Christine, she will serve you well."

When Nadir was gone, I looked over at Erik's caravan, noticing that the lights were still on. After cloaking my new horse, I walked to his home and knocked on the door. I knew he didn't wish to answer the door, that being the reason why he didn't answer me. I waited a few moments and knocked again…

"Erik, I know you're in there."

"Oh, do you now?"

I gasped and spun around to find the man walking towards the caravan with a stack of firewood in his arms. He dropped it and began stacking it in a neat pile.

"Why did you purchase a horse for me?"

The man didn't even look at me while he answered. It was as if he was afraid to look at me, afraid that he would love me again.

"Well, when we leave here in a few days, how else are you going to get your caravan to move? You would have been stranded here."

"Nadir offered to hook it to his caravan."

"That would have been a laughable thing to watch, for his horse has trouble pulling his caravan."

"Thank you, Erik…"

"You didn't just walk over here to thank me for your horse."

That was one thing I had to give Erik. I knew that he could tell what was on my mind without actually asking me. He always had that ability.

"No, I came over here to ask you why you've been avoiding me?"

"I have not been avoiding you. You, Christine are one of my employees. Do you ever see me talking with Mr. Squelch or with Ms. Fleck? I speak to nobody and you of all people should know that."

"But I'm not just one of your employees, Erik."

I knew this angered Erik, for he stood, his height overpowering my own.

"You're not? Well then, Christine, what are you? You certainly are not my lover if that's what you think."

"We had one date and you never tried to go beyond that date. Why not? How come you haven't asked me to have dinner with you again? I see you watching me from the shadows like a curious child, one who is afraid to ask me anything."

"I am not afraid of you, Christine!" he growled. "I don't like you."

"But you bought me a horse and you've given me a job. If you didn't like me, you wouldn't have done those things."

"I did those things because you are one of my employees! You are not special, you're nothing more than one of my employees and you always will be just that. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."

I wasn't going to let Erik just pass me by like he was attempting to do. No, I grabbed his shirt and pulled him back, causing his anger to brew.

"Don't touch me!" he snapped, grabbing my hand and tossing me towards my caravan. "I don't need you, Christine, not now, not ever! You hurt me long ago, and that is something I clearly cannot get over."

And then, just like that, the man stormed into his caravan and slammed the door in my face.

Erik's POV

The night after our dinner date I knew I would never be able to risk loving Christine again. Just seeing her beautiful face sent my heart racing…But it was that same feeling that got me hurt in the past. No, I refused to allow myself to love her, that being the reason why I shunned her. She was an employee, that's all I had to keep telling myself. She wanted to sing, but I knew if I let her sing for a crowd of people again, it would send my heart into a love stricken spell, one that would eventually kill me. No, I couldn't love her, nor could I let her sing. I kept her as my ticket master and stopped interacting with the woman.

"You can't keep doing this," Nadir reminded me day after day. "You can't keep ignoring the girl. She's been asking about you and I don't know what to tell her."

"Tell her nothing," I would reply. "She doesn't need to know why because she would insist that she could never hurt me like she once had. I don't believe it, Nadir… I know the girl will leave me for the first handsome face she sees."

And so, that's where I left things. I hoped it would keep the girl away from me for good, but no, a few months later, here she was…I stormed away from the woman and locked myself in my caravan. I plopped down against the door and sighed, attempting to get the image of her beautiful face out of my head. But I couldn't… I saw everything, her chocolate locks, her emerald eyes… Suddenly that same overpowering feeling of love filled my body with warmth and I couldn't stop thinking about her. No! I couldn't let her do this to me! But the image of her and the wonderful smell of roses surrounded me and I was soon its slave.

I shook my head to rid myself of her image but it wouldn't work.

"Say you'll share with me one love, one lifetime…"

The sound of her voice filled my ears and I heard the ghostly song she had sung to her lover those many years ago. I knew it was just a voice from the past here to torture me, but my body was reacting to it. I covered my ears like I had done all those years ago to drown out the sound, but it wasn't working.

"No!" I shot to my feet and began to pace back and forth. My heart was racing, so fast that I was having a hard time breathing. I shouted for the voices to go away, but they wouldn't. Suddenly, I felt a pain in my chest, one that burned and caused me to fall to the floor. I knew this feeling all too well, for I knew I had overworked my heart and now, I had caused myself an attack. I was weak against its strength and lied there while my heart burst in my chest. Oh, it was extremely painful…I closed my eyes, feeling sleep taking over, but as the attack was going on, I heard a knock at my door. Oh, this was all I needed.

"Erik, it's Nadir…" came the voice. "I know you're still up. I collected the remaining tickets from tonight."

When I didn't answer the man walked right in and raced to my side.

"Erik, oh no…."

I couldn't speak and felt my heart continuing to cause me excruciating agony.

"Erik, what happened? Can you speak?"

I groaned, and felt the man turning me over on my back. The man went rummaging through my supply cabinet and came rushing back carrying the stethoscope that a doctor had given me. He placed it on and held the instrument against my chest.

"You're having an attack!" he cried. "Allah and we're far from a hospital."

The man went rushing out of my caravan and I knew where he was going. I knew he would return in a few moments with Dr. Gangle at his side.

"He's having an attack…"

Just when Nadir and Dr. Gangle were walking in was when my attack finally stopped. My heart rate was deathly slow and I felt weak.

"Here, Nadir," Dr. Gangle replied. "Let's get him to bed."

The two men lifted me up and placed me into bed. I was having a hard time staying awake while the men removed my mask and attempted to care for me.

"His heart is weak," Dr. Gangle said. "Very weak. This attack left him helpless…it seems as though it was his worst one yet."

I noticed Dr. Gangle going through my medicine cabinet. "And he is just about out of his medicine. I think we should pack up and move tomorrow morning. The sooner we get to a town with a hospital, the better."

Oh, how dare this man tell Nadir and my camp what to do!

"Y…You…You will do no such thing!" I gasped. "I…I give the orders, not you!"

"But sir, you're very sick and you need a doctor, one that can give you medicine."

"I will live…I…I've been through much worse than this."

Dr. Gangle tried to intervene again, but I stopped him.

"You…You've done enough damage, leave me."

Of course Nadir attempted to talk me into leaving the town come morning, but I stopped him too.

"I…I just want to sleep. I will feel better in the morning."

"And what if you don't feel better in the morning, Erik? You don't look well, not at all. You need to go to the hospital. What if you have another attack tonight? Sometimes your attacks come in twos or threes… With how badly your first one was, I don't want to see what a second one would do to you."

"I will worry about that, Persian. Just leave me be…"

But Nadir wouldn't leave… No, he sat down at my bedside, insisting that he stay for a while. Therefore, while he watched, I closed my eyes and passed out into a dreamless slumber.

Hey Everyone. Sorry I haven't been updating as often as I usually do. I have been going through some tough times. I have had a death in the family and broke off my engagement. It's been a rough couple of weeks. The good news is that I will be at Phantomcon promoting my book so if any of you are planning on going, make sure you stop by and say hello.