I looked at the song I had just written, finally finishing it around 4:00 am. After Christine's lips touched my cheek such joy had filled me that I had been unable to sleep, my brain deciding instead to create a musical masterpiece.
It was unlike anything I had written before, and I stared at it for a moment in confusion. Notes floated across the staff lightly and contentedly, an incredible contrast from the piercing, harsh notes of my regular music. Was this how my mind interpreted joy?
I played the song again, reveling in how soft and beautiful the tune was. It was so simplistically beautiful that I could hardly believe that my brain had conjured it. Without a second thought I scrawled a title at the top of the page:
Christine's Serenade
Contented, I stood from my piano, feeling emotionally complete for the time being and journeyed to my bedroom to get dressed for the day.
I donned a pure black suit and hat, and pulled on one of my favourite silken capes. The phantom of the opera had some work to do today, and in the event someone managed to see me, I needed to look the part.
I crossed the lake quickly and purposefully, then took one of the passageways up into the ceilings of the theatre. Obviously, Andre and Firmin weren't going to listen to me if I didn't put on some display of power; ignorant fools.
I hummed Christine's Serenade cheerfully as I worked at detaching the scene curtain from its fixings. By the time I was finished with it, one pull of a rope would bring the whole thing crashing down, and it wouldn't even appear as if anything had been wrong.
I chuckled to myself. I truly was a genius to manufacture these devices without ever getting caught.
Of course, the curtain falling wasn't going to hurt anyone; I could never risk hurting my Christine like that, but with any luck it would scare that cow Carlotta into a coma.
It took me only two hours to finish the mechanism, which meant it was still only 6:30 in the morning. Having nothing else to do, I decided to take up my post outside Christine's apartment.
The streets of New York were already filled with cars, the noises of the city echoing throughout the early morning. Most mornings I would have found the noise stifling, but this morning it was strangely peaceful.
As I suspected, nobody came or went for several hours. I was nearly drifting off to sleep when a BMW pulled gracefully up to the curve.
"Please don't let it be the fop…" I mumbled, as he stepped out of the car.
"Damn it." I muttered, instantly recognizing it was him; one did not forget the man who had the privilege of escorting the most beautiful girl in the world to dinner.
My earlier joy was replaced by anger every minute he spent in there with her, while I stood alone out here. I should be the one with her today; the one making her feel better after everything that had happened. It was ME she had confided in last night, not that fop!
Almost an hour had passed by the time he emerged, flanked by Christine and Meg.
"What is he doing?" I whispered as they climbed into their car.
As soon as he was getting into the driver's side I was in my car, which I had started parking in a lot across from her apartment just in case she went anywhere.
His BMW weaved easily through traffic, but my black, heavily tinted Mercedes maneuvered just as easily and I easily followed them.
Soon they parked outside of a high-end boutique that was obviously not where Christine would normally have gone shopping. Anybody who had paid attention to her would have been able to tell that she wasn't the type to enjoy over the top, couture clothing.
I waited in my car until they went inside, and then slipped invisibly to the back of the building. They had left the back door open, so I slipped inside, trying to find a place where I could see, but remain unseen.
I finally found a small cleaning closet in the back of the storeroom with a small window into the boutique. I hid myself behind some clothing so that only my eye could see through the crack between dresses, and settled into a statue-like stance.
Christine came out of the dressing room first in a gaudy, horrendous, orange dress that looked more like something you would see on a reality show than on Christine. It clung to her body in every way, making her look like she was trying to appear thin and sexy.
I snorted. Christine didn't need clingy fabric to look beautiful, she set every man's heart aflame just by existing.
She tried on so many horrible dresses, that I stopped even paying attention to what that insolent shop girl was putting her in, and cast my full attention to her face instead.
She was such a good actress, that if someone wasn't truly tuned in to her expressions, they wouldn't even notice the pain in her eyes. Nobody less than me, or maybe her best friend, would notice the tightness and exhaustion on her face, or the fear that coursed through her entire body.
Her lovely green eyes didn't sparkle as they usually did; they were lifeless, as were the smiles that graced her lips. She was emotionally exhausted and in pain, but was smiling and bearing it simply for the sake of making the fop happy. Her smooth lips were still slightly swollen, although there was enough lip products on them to make it barely noticeable.
"How dare he," I growled, unable to contain it anymore. "How dare he take her here, after everything she's been through? What a miserable excuse for a human being!"
My fists were clenched tightly, my entire body ready to spring out of my perch and strangle the boy. Closing my eyes, I took several deep breaths to calm myself and slowly unclenched my fists. Christine needed me to be paying attention to her right now, not my own anger… I could deal with that later.
However, my focus was interrupted when Christine came out of the dressing room dressed in nothing more than a scrap of fabric that barely classified as clothing. Desire flooded through me as my eyes nearly bugged out of my skull at the sight of her barely concealed body.
Her legs were smooth and flawless, appearing to go on for miles. The dress clung to every inch of her body, extenuating her petite curves to the extreme; her tiny waist, her small chest, her round behind…
I forced my eyes to look up at her face, trying to read her expression…
It wasn't a hard expression to read. I had never seen her look more embarrassed in the time I had known her! Her eyes were downcast in anxiety, and her slender hands were constantly trying to pull down the ridiculously short hem.
And then he stood up.
And walked toward her.
And stood so close to her that they were almost completely pressed against each other.
And put his hands dangerously close to her rear…
I couldn't take it anymore.
I nearly threw the clothing rack I was hiding in into the wall as I sprinted out of the building. I went out into the alley and clutched my skull in rage.
How DARE he touch her that way! How dare that ignorant, egotistical, slef-centered bastard put his hands anywhere near my Christine! She was MINE damn it!
"Damn him!" I yelled, kicking an old trash can.
I stormed over to my car and threw open the door, jumping into the driver's seat and slamming the door closed behind me. Flinging the vehicle into I drive, I tore out of that parking lot.
That fop is going to have to be able to get her home today I thought as worry teased at my mind.
Because if I see him touch her again right now, I'm going to kill him.
And to make matters worse, Christine hadn't pushed him away… I couldn't see her face with him blacking the way, but she hadn't pushed him away… She had let him stand that close to her.
Because that fop had something I could never have…
A normal life with Christine.
"Why do you do this to me Christine!" I yelled, pounding my hands on the steering wheel as I sped through the streets. "Why do you come to me every day, and confide in me, and then go back to that bastard!"
Because he has everything you don't… My mind mocked. He's handsome, charming and normal, not to mention the fact that he's not horribly deformed and atrociously ugly.
"NO!" I shrieked, rage coursing through my veins.
Just then my phone started to ring.
"What?" I growled into the earpiece without even looking at who was calling.
"Whoa Phantom," Hades spoke on the other line, "What's wrong with you?"
"What do you want Hades?" I snarled, wanting nothing more than to just hang up.
"We're having a meeting." Hades sounded unfazed by the harshness in my voice. "Half an hour, at the normal place. See you there."
The line went dead, and I pulled an immediate U-turn to head back to the restaurant we always met up. My hands were clenched tightly on the steering wheel, frustration flooded my body. Why did I even bother with the damn crime ring? They were all ridiculous, stupid fools.
I pulled up into the parking lot, flinging open the door and slamming it behind me. When I walked in everyone was already discussing something, and went silent as soon as I walked in.
"What is this damn meeting for?" I spat as I sat down. "I have things to do."
"I'll cut to the chase Phantom," Barnabas spoke maliciously. "Buquet told us what you did, defending the girl like that."
I sat in silence for a moment, shocked that Buquet had the courage to come to these men.
To Hell with what Christine thought… I was going to kill that bastard.
"And?" I spoke in a mocking tone, putting on a careful mask of nonchalance.
Barnabas seemed flustered at my lack of defense. "Well, what the Hell Phantom? Why would you defend some stupid teenage girl?"
My fists clenched under the table at the mention of Christine as a "Stupid, teenage girl," and I struggled to keep my voice under control.
"Because the girl didn't know anything you dolt." I raged at him, resorting to a clever tactic; if I couldn't think of a valid reason, I would just make him feel stupid. "And if he would have actually done anything the girl would have gone to the cops… You all know that Buquet wouldn't hold up under an interrogation."
"And you threatened him because…?" Bones spoke softly, he wouldn't get flustered nearly as easily as Barnabas… I was going to have to actually think of an answer. "He said your exact words were, 'You ever lay a hand on her again, and it will be the last thing you ever do.' Can you explain that?"
My brain thought quickly, and there was a barely noticeable pause between the question and my answer. "In case you haven't noticed, Bones, Buquet has an issue with authority. I was merely reminding him of my power over him."
"Plus," I chuckled darkly, "It was fun watching him squirm."
"Very well," Hades had been sitting there silent the whole time, carefully watching the situation. "It seems as if there was a misunderstanding, Phantom, sorry for calling you here."
"You may want to evaluate your facts better next time, instead of just trusting Buquet." I mocked, but Hades managed to keep his face straight.
"Here's your payout this time men," He spoke tightly, fishing three envelopes out of his bag. "Fifteen thousand, after the robbery this weekend we'll meet again to split that."
Without a word I stood up and went toward the door.
"And phantom," Hades called to me as I opened the door.
I slowly turned, raising an eyebrow as I faced him.
"You might want to be careful next time you 'assert your authority' over members of our ring… We wouldn't want to have another… Misunderstanding." The threat was obvious in his voice, but he was sorely mistaken if he thought he could scare me.
"Of course Hades." I rolled my eyes, and silently left the building.
AN: Sorry this chapter is shorter, I needed to do some stuff with Erik, but I didn't want to go past the dinner with Christine The next chapters will be much longer, I promise! Just so you know, reviews help me write longer chapters and write quicker… :D