Chapter Seven

Alison woke up the next morning feeling extremely stiff. Rock was a lot harder to sleep on than she had originally thought. She sat up and stretched, arching her back to try and get rid of the tension. She was surprised when a long piece of black material slithered off her lap to the floor. Frowning, she picked it up. Surprise shot through her when she realized that it was his cloak. A small smile crossed her lips. She had known that he was kind, since he took her, a stranger, into his home without asking questions, but she hadn't known that he was capable of small but beautiful kindnesses such as this. It seemed almost… chivalrous. Not that I don't think he's a good person, she added in her mind. I just thought that he wouldn't think about stuff like that. It doesn't seem like the kind of person he is. But I guess there is more to everyone than there seems to be, particularly him. She got up and bundled the cloak into her arms, making sure it didn't drag on the ground. She carefully picked her way around the lair down to where she saw him sitting at his organ, scratching out notes on a piece of paper with a quill pen. His hand seemed to glide across the paper in the beautiful sweeps and swirls of his writing. She came up right behind him.

She jumped about a foot in the air when he said, without turning around, "So you are awake. Finally. I do not understand how people feel the need to sleep so long when there are better things to do."

Well someone's being snarky today, she thought, but decided that commenting on that would not really be the best idea. So she cast around in her mind for something else to say.

"Um… I thought you might want your cloak back, I mean if you were cold or something…"

Now he did turn around to look at her in surprise. She was holding the cloak out to him. When his eyes met hers, her face went bright red. He took it back slowly.

"Thank you so much for letting me use it. I really appreciate it," she said.

"It is I who should be thanking you," he replied softly. "You slept on the floor so as to give me a place to sleep. Giving you my cloak was the least I could do."

It seemed to her that her small action, which had been done without much thought on her part, meant so much more to him than it would to other people. Why? Is it because most people just don't do things like that? It's only common courtesy, after all, especially when you are lost and have nowhere else to go. If you're going to be forced on someone as a guest, you should try to avoid taking up too much space. At least that's how I see it. They looked at each other in silence for a moment.

When it started getting awkward, he said, "The ballet rats are returning to the opera house this afternoon." She nodded. There was no point in asking how he knew. He seemed to realize something and said hurriedly, "Not to offend you with the title, Angelique. I do not mean to belittle you or any of the other girls, it is just that–"

She cut him off. "I completely understand. Some of them are… not the smartest. I admit that, even though they are my friends. I don't see the name as derogatory or anything like that. You don't have to apologize, Angel."

The corner of his lips lifted slightly into a small smile. He was obviously remembering what she had given as the definition of the word. She felt a little guilty for not telling him the whole truth, but the definition definitely applied to him.

"Your breakfast is on the table. I apologize since it has gotten a little cold –"
"Don't. The fact that you made breakfast at all since you don't eat much gives me no reason to complain. Breakfast is good cold."

He dipped his head in a nod as she went off to eat. As she ate, he started playing his music again. She put down her fork, closed her eyes, and let herself be swept away by the beauty of his playing. There were pauses occasionally as he stopped to write things down, but otherwise she was completely lost in the music. Then there was a long period of silence. Her whole body was engaged in listening and so she jumped when he spoke.

"The ballet girls have returned, Angelique."

Her eyes opened. "I should get back," she said worriedly. "They'll probably be wondering where I am."

"I will take you most of the way back to them. Please understand that I cannot let myself be seen by anyone, so I will show you the rest of the way from there."

"Of course."

He took her hand and led her out of his lair by the dark archway that he had left by the first day. "What, no boat?" she asked teasingly as they entered the tunnel.

He looked at her. "This way is faster. Would you rather take the boat?"

She smiled. "No, this is all right. I was just teasing you."

"Teasing…" He said the word like it was a foreign object he had never heard of before. She guessed that he had never really been teased. Every time anyone said something like that they were probably serious. Had he ever really learned how to laugh?

They continued walking in silence for a while. To Alison, all of the tunnels looked exactly the same, but there were obviously differences that he noticed that showed him where to turn. Eventually, he stopped abruptly in the middle of the tunnel and said, "This is as far as I can take you. You only have to go straight and you will be near the top of the stairs in the entrance hall. Goodbye."

The abruptness of his farewell surprised her. As he turned to go, she felt a sense of panic. "Wait!" He whipped back around as if he had almost been waiting for her call.

"What is it?"

"Is there a possibility that we might… maybe… see each other again?"

He raised his eyebrows. She felt like she wanted to shrivel up and die. I shouldn't have said anything, she mentally berated herself. I should have just been content with staying in his house for a little while. He's not going to want to have contact with me. Why would he? I completely invaded his privacy and made him upset.

Erik was shocked speechless and trying very hard to hide it. She had asked him the question that had been on the tip of his tongue as he had walked away. She was obviously expecting an answer, though, so he managed to get out, "Yes, I would like that very much. Come to the prima donna's dressing room – you do know where that is?"

She could hardly believe her ears. "Yes," she said.

"Come there when you wish to see me."

"Does once a week work for you? Maybe on Sundays? Unless that's too much, I mean I'm sure you're really busy…"

"Once a week is wonderful. I shall see you next Sunday, then."

"All right. Bye." She smiled at him. "And thanks again."

"You are very welcome. Goodbye."

They both walked off in opposite directions, the same triumphant thoughts playing through both of their heads. I never thought that was actually going to be successful! I can't wait for Sunday.

She walked straight down the tunnel and straight into a door. "Owwwww," she muttered. "I really need to be more careful where I step, especially when I can't see anything. This is the second time I've done something stupid like that in these tunnels." By feeling around the door a little, she was eventually able to locate a knob and turned it to step out into the light.

Immediately she threw her hands up to block the glare. After being underground for two days, her eyes were not used to the brightness of sunlight and she spent a couple of minutes stumbling around trying to get her eyes to adjust. "I can't see in the darkness, and I can't see in the light. I really can't win, can I?" she grumbled. She blinked rapidly a couple of times and set off to look for the rest of the ballet school and Madame Giry.

It didn't take her long to find them. Thirty-nine girls make a lot of noise. Paulette, who had become a special friend, spotted her first. Her eyes widened, then she called, "Madame Giry! Madame Giry, I found her! She's here!" Madame Giry materialized next to her and looked where she had been pointing. When she saw Alison, she ran over to her.

"Where have you been, Angelique? We have been looking for you everywhere!"

Alison smiled apologetically. "I got locked in here by accident when I went back to get something. Don't worry; I've been perfectly all right in here. I'm only sorry that I had to miss Swan Lake."

Madame Giry narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "You spent two days in here all by yourself? You did not… meet anyone?"

Alison knew what Madame Giry meant. She considered for a moment whether it would be wiser to tell her where she had spent the time or not, but figured that Erik (or Angel, as she was now calling him) would probably tell her anyway, so she thought it would be better to stick with the truth. "It depends on what you mean by 'met someone', Madame. Nobody has come in or out of the building in the last two days." Which, of course, was the truth. Just not all of it.

Madame Giry nodded. Alison had no idea whether she had guessed what had happened or not, but she supposed she would find out in time. "How was Swan Lake?"

Some of the girls heard her question and began enthusiastically praising absolutely everything about it, from the dancing to the red velvet curtains of the theater. Soon, the whole group of girls was drawn in, all talking at once trying to tell her all the details. She was swept up in the mass and they all walked to the dormitory together, talking excitedly and laughing. Alison prayed that they would get so distracted in their praise that no one would recall her absence.

And no one seemed to. Except for Madame Giry.