Erik's POV

"Gustave, we're going to be late for dinner," I warned as I stood outside of the running shower. We had returned home to wash up, but the child was taking longer than I had expected him to. The moment I had shouted at him, the water instantly shut off and Gustave came walking out, suds still covering his head.

"Oh, no you don't…" I said, grabbing hold of his arm and pulling him over to the shower. "Your hair is sopping wet and filled with suds."

"But, Mister Y…"

"No buts," I started the water again and wrung his hair out under the showerhead. "You need to look your best tonight, Gustave. Nadir is a good friend of mine and I want him to see the respectable young man I have been raising."

When Gustave was rinsed off, I had him follow me downstairs to his room, where I had a clean pair of clothes placed on his bed.

"I don't want to wear these clothes," he whined, picking the pair of neatly ironed slacks up. "I don't want to dress up."

"Gustave, my restaurant is a proper attire restaurant. You must be dressed in your best attire, son. It's only for a few hours. Afterwards, you can come home and get into your pajamas."

When my son agreed, he slipped the clothes on and I adjusted his bowtie for him. Afterwards, he and I were out the door to head towards my Phantasma restaurant.

"Mister Y, I'm really tired," Gustave groaned. "I really want to go home."

"And you're not hungry?" I questioned. "We've been out all day, Gustave. Surely you must be feeling hungry. I know I'm famished."

When Gustave and I arrived, I entered hand in hand with my boy, searching for Nadir. I approached the main desk, my employees already looking at me. Yes, it wasn't often that I came here, especially to eat, but I did once in a while.

"Mister Y," the man stiffened behind the counter. "How can I help you, sir?"

"My booth," I began. "I wish to be seated there. I am expecting someone tonight…"

"Um, sir…There was a man already seated there about twenty minutes ago. A middle eastern man, to be exact… He mentioned that you were meeting him for dinner."

I nodded. "Very well then, I shall seat myself." I gripped Gustave's hand and began my trek through my restaurant. "Come alone, Gustave."

"This place is really pretty, Mister Y," Gustave replied, staring up at the chandelier.

"Yes, I designed a lot of it like the opera house back in Paris. It suited me…"

My restaurant was always very crowded, especially during the off season. In the winter, there wasn't much of anything to do expect to visit the local pubs or dine in the finest restaurants in Coney Island. My restaurants, of course, was ranked number one in all of New York City. My table was all the way in the back of the building. I didn't like crowds, especially when I ate. I was a very private person when it came to eating, especially because I had to remove my mask. That being the reason why I had frosted glass surrounding my booth. Yes, I might have only eaten here on one occasion, but it was times like these that made me glad that I put up the seclusion quarters around my booth.

"Ah, Erik," when I approached my table, Nadir was already seated and sipping on a glass of wine. "Late again. Though, you're never early, or on time."

"I'm fashionably late, Nadir. It's only a quarter past eight."

I removed my scarf and took a seat after situating Gustave.

"And who might this handsome young lad be?" Nadir questioned.

"This," I began. "Is Gustave."

My son took after me in every way. He had even inherited my shyness. Instead of looking at Nadir and shaking his hand, Gustave placed his head face down on the table.

"Gustave, don't be shy," I said. "Say hi to Nadir."

Gustave looked up at the man and whimpered out a soft "Hello."

"He looks just like his mother," Nadir replied.

Nadir held out his hand to touch Gustave's locks of hair, but he whimpered and buried his head into my jacket.

"Gustave, it's all right," I assured. "This is Nadir Khan, a good friend of mine."

"You know, Gustave," Nadir began. "Your mother and I spent a lot of time together."

This seemed to have caught his attention, for the child looked up at Nadir and wiped his teary eyes.

"Really?"

Nadir nodded. "Yes. She and I were very good friends. I met your mother through your father."

"I miss her," he replied. "More than anything in the world."

"Well, I've known your father longer than your mother, Gustave. He and I worked together in Persia…Do you know where that is?"

Gustave shook his head.

"It's sort of like the desert. And it's all the way on the other side of the world. If you'd like, I could tell you lots of stories about your father and I. We've had a lot of adventures together."

"You mean like the time I filled your canteen up with sand?" I questioned.

This finally caused Gustave to smile.

"Did you really do that, Mister Y?"

"Indeed." Nadir replied. "Your papa tricked me."

I ruffled my child's dark locks, and pointed to the dessert cart that was on the other side of the restaurant.

"Gustave, Nadir and I are going to talk for a while. In the meantime, why don't you go over to the dessert cart and pick out what you would like to eat after dinner."

"All right, papa…"

My child hugged me, before standing up and heading towards the cart.

"And what do we say, young man?" I questioned, grabbing the back of his tailcoat to stop him from going any further. Gustave turned around to face Nadir and smiled.

"It was nice to meet you, Mister Khan."

And with that, my child left Nadir and I alone.

"What a delightful little boy he is…" Nadir said, sipping on his wine.

I nodded. "He has her heart."

"And your soul, Erik. I never would have thought it possible for Christine and you to conceive a child. I mean, I knew she liked you, I just never thought she loved you that much."

"I loved her just as much as she loved me, Nadir. I left before I found that out, but during those last few moments with her, I realized that she did indeed love me. I know how strange it all must be, for I was just as confused."

"You're doing a good job at raising him, Erik."

"You really believe so?" I asked, turning to check on my child, who was standing in front of the dessert cart.

Nadir nodded. "Yes, and you know I wouldn't have said so if it weren't true. Most children snap when they lose a parent, Erik. What makes your situation rare, is the fact that Gustave grew up believing another man to be his true father. Only after Christine took her final breath, did he find out the truth. And yet, he's still doing well."

"I try to be the best father I can be, Nadir. Some days, we're the best of friends, others, we're worst enemies."

Nadir chuckled. "Erik, you act as though it's outragous. Any child that is of your blood is bound to have a temper as ill as yours, if not worse."

"I try to keep my temper calm, Nadir, especially for his sake. He has not seen the worst in me, and I pray that day never comes. Yes, I have yelled at him, but the yelling I do with him isn't anywhere near the yelling I am capable of doing."

"And you should keep it that way."

I sipped on my glass of water, keeping a firm eye on Gustave. If there was one thing Christine reminded me about, it was the fact that he should never be left alone. He might have been across the restaurant, but I was here, and I was watching.

"Christine has been guiding me," I began. "I know that she's gone, Nadir, but deep in my heart, she's still looking after me."

"Erik, I know it's hard losing someone you love, but life does go on. You need to be strong for the boy…Children can sense weakness, and for him, you must keep your mind away from Christine. Reza never knew his mother, but he could sense when I was thinking about her. There wasn't a day that went by that I didn't break down for at least a minute or two. You know this, man…You were there most of the days."

"I know…Oh, Nadir, my Christine has only been gone a few months, and yet, I can still feel her presence. Is that so terrible?"

"No, Erik. For at least three years I still felt my wife's presence. It's something that will eventually pass…"

I pressed my eyes closed. "What if I don't want it to? It's like I can open my arms at night and still feel her lying beside me…It's only when the morning arrives, does that feeling perish with the darkness."

"At least you have a son, Erik. Christine could have left you with nothing but the memories. I know when you look into that boy, your memories live because he is Christine…"

"Chocolate cake,"

I turned when I heard my child's voice, only to spot him standing beside me.

"What was that?" I asked.

Gustave took a seat beside me and smiled. "I want a piece of chocolate cake after dinner, Mister Y."

I patted him on the head. "All right then. Anything for the future owner of Phantasma."

We ate our meal that evening, eating and speaking. Gustave still acted shy around Nadir, and I knew he would feel that way for many weeks to come. The child had just recently lost his mother and I knew it would take a while to get used to a new person hanging around. But I knew Nadir was here to stay, and therefore, I knew he would get used to him within time. After parting, I tucked my child into bed with his new kitten…

"Still no name?" I asked.

Gustave shook his head. "I'm not sure yet, Mister Y. The name has to fit him."

"And so, it shall…Goodnight, son…"

Gustave pressed a kiss to my masked cheek and smiled. "Goodnight, papa…"

That smile never left my lips as I exited his room and slowly stepped up the stairs to reach my bedroom. Though, when I was there, I closed the door behind me, only to be met with Christine. How many interruptions had we endured over the past several weeks? We had hardly made time for one another, but that would end right now. I didn't hesitate a single second in rushing to her and pressing my lips up against her own. Oh, bliss! Sweet bliss! I didn't want to speak about my night, or about Gustave…No, all I wanted was to spend the next several hours in bed with my angel…Yes, an angel! My angel!

"Erik," my Christine gently pushed me away from her lips, her smile lighting my heart.

"Yes, Christine?" I breathlessly replied.

Her hand ran seductively up the buttons of my shirt until she reached the collar where my bowtie was fastened.

"There's something I need to tell you…"

"I don't wish to speak tonight, Christine…I need you, I want you… Constant interruptions…Oh, just make love to me."

I kissed her neck, causing her to gasp orgasmically.

"Erik, please…"

"No, Christine…I beg of you, not tonight…"

And that was the final word out of my angel that night. Instead, she spoke with her hands, running them up and down my sides and into every inch of my clothes…Tonight, I would reach heaven, that heaven being my bed and the angel I would meet there would be Christine…

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