"You did WHAT?!" Nadir demanded.
"Shush!" Erik hissed. "Keep it down!" He glanced over at Katja but thankfully she was still engrossed in her book. "You heard me."
"What on earth were you thinking Erik?!"
"This is why I don't tell you anything," he sighed. "You go and blow it out of proportion."
Nadir looked at him sternly. "Why did you kiss her?"
"She was crying and upset." He looked Katja's way once more but she hadn't even bothered to glance up. "She was having nightmares again. It turns out Javert poisoned her. She…" Erik sighed again. "Look, she…there was nothing I could say to help…it seemed like the best sol- …at the time…Oh for God's sake, I kissed her so what?!"
"Then what happened?"
Erik glared at him. "This isn't one of your interrogations Daroga. I will not be subjected to this." He turned on his heel and started to march away, but Nadir grabbed his shoulder.
"So what happened after you kissed her?"
"Nothing," Erik snapped.
"I mean, what happened? How did she react?"
The scowl he gave Nadir would have sent most men running, but the Persian didn't even flinch. "I'm warning you Nadir, you're trying my patience."
Nadir didn't even seem fazed. "Consider me warned. It couldn't have gone that badly. I mean, she's not cowering in her room. What's left of the Populaire is still standing."
He glanced back at Katja. The German girl was sitting in her favorite chair, her legs tucked beneath her as she read. Her blonde hair fell over one shoulder, like a golden waterfall. Something in the book amused her, causing her whole face to light up with her smile. Erik swallowed hard, shook his head, and turned back to Nadir. "I don't know exactly where we stand at the moment," he admitted.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Nadir asked in disbelief.
"I DON'T KNOW!" Erik shouted. Katja looked up at his outburst, but Nadir just waved her away dismissively. Erik stormed out of the room, knocking over a nearby candelabra in the process, and made sure to slam the door shut behind him.
"Erik?" he heard Katja call softly. The doorknob started to turn, but stopped before the door was opened.
"I can handle this Fräuline," Nadir told her.
"But if he's upset…"
Nadir must have cut her off. "All the more reason for you not to go in there. Don't worry Katja; just go back to your book." The door opened and Nadir walked in. He crossed his arms and stared at Erik sternly. "Now was that really necessary?"
"Yes."
"Don't be childish Erik," Nadir said with a heavy sigh. "What's going on? What happened between you two?"
"Nothing!" Erik growled. "Alright?! She cried herself to sleep like she always does after a nightmare then in the morning she acted like nothing had changed! I don't have a clue what's going on between us! She kissed me back last night than pretended it didn't happen!"
The Persian seemed amused. "I thought you said you weren't getting attached to her," Nadir said with a smirk.
Erik shot him another dirty look. "I don't know if this is any better than rejection. At least if she refused me, I'd know where we stand. I have no clue what to do now!"
"Patience," his friend replied, "Is something you need to learn my friend. You can't rush things like this. That's part of the problem you had with Christine. You want it to move too fast. Give her time and you will get your answers."
"And what exactly am I supposed to do in the meantime?" Erik huffed.
"The same thing she's doing. Just stay calm and keep treating her the way you always have. Have you ever considered that maybe she's acting this way because she doesn't know how she feels? I mean consider everything that's happened to her. Katja is probably unsure of what she wants or how to handle this herself."
Erik sighed. "Maybe you're right." He stepped back into the music room, where Katja was waiting anxiously. She leaped up the moment Erik walked out. "I'm sorry," he apologized to her. "That outburst was uncalled for."
"Is everything okay?"
He looked into her blue eyes but could only find concern in them. "Yes," he said. "Everything's fine."
After Nadir left, Erik walked up to Katja. "I need to go out for a while."
"Oh." Katja wasn't about to say so, but she really didn't want him to go. She didn't like being alone. It was when the memories and the nightmares were the worst.
Erik started to head for the door, but paused and turned back around. "Would you like to come?" he asked suddenly. "I just need to pick up a couple things before the shops close for the evening."
"If it's no trouble" she replied, feigning indifference. He offered his hand to help her into the boat, which Katja quickly accepted, secretly glad to accompany him.
He led her upstairs through the ruins of the building. "Katja, you need to stay with me the whole time. Paris at night is a dangerous place, especially for an unaccompanied woman. You have to stay by my side."
"Of course," Katja agreed. "I don't know Paris; I wouldn't dream of doing otherwise simply because I'm afraid of getting lost."
As they reached the street, Katja instinctively grabbed Erik's hand. He glanced at her for a moment, obviously surprised. It only lasted a brief second before he wiped his expression of any emotion and guided her through the city.
Paris was a lovely place. Katja enjoyed being able to see the city for herself. The gypsies remained on the outskirts and she had been unconscious when Erik rescued her. She had grown up hearing stories about the beauty of the city, but she had always written them off as romantics, but now she realized they were right.
"Katja!" She looked up and realized she had let go of Erik's hand and had stopped to gawk. As her face flushed, Katja rushed to catch up with him. Erik's eyes glanced around them, watching for danger. Katja wondered if he was this jumpy everywhere or if this truly was a dangerous place.
It wasn't even dark yet. She could see a beautiful sunset just over the horizon. If Erik was worried about the things that prowl the night, it didn't really matter. They would be back home before nightfall.
She looked up and gasped when she realized she had fallen behind again. Only this time Erik was out of sight. Katja picked up her pace and looked around, frantically trying to find her guide. How had he gone so far so fast? Had he ducked into one of the shops for a moment?
Katja ran up the street, desperately searching for Erik. He was so adamant that she stay with him, how could he not notice she was gone? Darkness was falling much faster than she anticipated, and Katja was feeling more and more panicked. Erik warned her that Paris was dangerous. Was this his way of proving a point?
So focused on finding Erik, Katja didn't notice the man in front of her until she accidentally ran into him. "I'm so-…" She gasped in fear when she saw his face and began to back away. The man grabbed her arm and dragged her into a nearby alley. "Erik!" Katja started to scream but he clamped his hand over her mouth, muffling her cry.
He crushed his lips against hers, his tongue forcing its way into her mouth, his hand going to her breast and squeezing it roughly. "Well, well, well," the gypsy sneered when he broke away. "It looks like our lovely little bird never learned to fly far away from the nest."