People were moving around him, that he was sure of. His mind was blank and all he could hear was the faint sound of muffled talking and the rustling of material. His legs felt numb. Thank god he booked out the seats next to him because he was sure that he was about to break the arms of them just because he was squeezing them so hard.
He was in a daze. The only thing he could possibly think of was her name. It was being repeated over and over in his mind. Let it suffice to say that he was not expecting what he saw and heard.
She was a star. A true prima donna. It was phenomenal to watch. As soon as she had begun her opening aria he was spellbound. He was bewitched and he wasn't even going to deny it. How could such an amazing voice come from such a small, dainty person?
The lights were all up and people were filing from the room as he thought to himself and attempted to make himself move, however, he could not draw up the willpower to stand up and walk away from the place he had first seen her. In fact, he doesn't think he moved since the curtains opened, even when people tried to walk in front of him to get to their seats.
It wasn't until he was prodded by a young man with wide, fearful eyes and a squeaky voice that he actually moved his head to the side.
"Er, e-excuse me, s-sir, but the-the theatre is closing n-now, sorry." He could literally see the boy quivering.
He rolled his eyes and stood up without saying anything. He felt like he hadn't used his limbs in about twenty years when he tried to put one foot in front of the other, so while he took large strides behind the attendant, he had a frown on his face.
Once he had safely left the theatre, he took in a deep breath. It was astounding how cool the outside felt once accustomed to the stuffy atmosphere of the opera. He turned to the left side where he could hear excited chattering, seeing a large group of people waving pieces of paper and pens towards a gap in the middle of the herd. He gasped to himself when he distinguished what they were saying.
"Christine! Christine, can we get a picture?"
"You were amazing tonight, Miss Daaé!"
"Could you please sign this, Christine?"
He took three long steps without even noticing, and had to stop himself when he was about 3 more strides away from the group of screaming people. Was this really a wise decision? To go and speak to this woman, the very woman he was supposed to take care of, especially after what he had just seen- a performance that had made even his stone cold heart crumble?
Nevertheless, he moved forward and stood just behind the group, taking extra care not to run the risk of touching anyone. The group was getting more rambunctious and loud as he stood there and when one stepped back and bumped into his chest, he knew nothing good could come from it. It was a young girl (of course), about 15, black hair and red painted lipstick. She turned and looked at him, an apologetic look on her face and, no doubt, an 'I'm sorry' poised on her lips. But, naturally, her face changed quickly. A terrified look took over her face quickly and she opened and closed her mouth a few times, her entire body grinding to a complete halt as she stood and gaped at him. He would like to say he was used to this kind of reaction, but the embarrassment came in abundance when, over the course of about fifteen seconds, the entire group had stopped screaming and was looking at him with equal looks of fear and disgust. Seriously, he wore the mask for a reason, how were they looking at him with hatred? They would all have ran off by now if he took the cold porcelain off, and he isn't even ashamed to admit he contemplated it for a few moments.
Then, just like usual, the whispering began. 'What is that?', 'oh my god, what do you think is under that mask?', 'should we call the police?'- it was always the same. He sighed and looked around.
He watched as a few people left, cautiously shuffling down the road in pairs and threes, sneaking looks at him over there shoulders as if to check that he wasn't following them. He rolled his eyes again, why were people so pathetic? It was just a mask. Yeah, his towering height didn't help, sure. And, okay, maybe the bony, angular body he possessed didn't aid in making him looking friendly and kind. Maybe he should just smile a bit more. Nah.
He looked to the remainders in the group. They were significantly smaller in number, at most about ten people, and they had all crowded in a circle around someone (Christine, he supposed). They were all talking in low voices now, gone was the pushing over people and screaming to see who could get more attention. Two people left and he just stood there for a while, checking his watch every now and again, sighing and watching the cold air react.
He doesn't know how long he spent staring at the sky, but eventually he heard someone clear their throat. He looked away from the sky and gasped when he saw the girl stood in front of him.
She was wearing a large blue coat that came to about her knees, black tights, knee high brown boots and a matching set of green gloves, a scarf, and a hat. He could see the hint of a red skirt underneath her coat, but it was only barely showing from the length of the coat. She was looking at him with a with a small smile on her face and he felt his lips twitch when he saw her cock her eyebrow at him.
"Hi," she had such a heavenly voice, "you've been stood there for a while now. Are you okay?"
He stood up straighter, feeling his entire body heat up and inevitably turn red. "Ye-ah-" he cleared his throat and tried again, "yeah, uh, I just got distracted."
She smiled more and nodded. She looked small compared to the vastness of the wall she stood in front of, and he racked his brain for anything to say.
"You sounded beautiful tonight." He gulped after he said it. Was that too forward?
She blushed prettily and looked to the floor, and he's sure he saw her smile widen. "Thank you, that's very sweet."
He let himself smile. "Tonight was my first time seeing you. It was better than I expected. Though the rest of the cast lacked, if I'm being perfectly honest."
She looked up at him with wide eyes, a hint of amusement deep inside them. "Oh, really?" She sounded like she wanted to laugh and he mentally begged her to do so, he guessed it must sound angelic. "The entirety cast?"
He smirked. "Besides you, of course. Who was that supporting female, the ginger one with the-"
"Carlotta."
"Yeah, that's the one. She sounded like a toad. Seriously, it was abominable. Dreadful to listen to."
That's when she laughed. It was a twinkling sound, and it seemed as though her whole body vibrated as she did so. It caused him to give a chuckle too, and he stopped abruptly when he realised what he was doing. He hadn't laughed in years, especially not at something so harmless.
"Well, I'm not her biggest fan either." She was teasing him, and the edge it gave to her voice was adorable. He just smiled at her, hoping she would speak again.
When she shivered, he decided to speak up. "I'm sorry, were you going somewhere? I can leave, I know it's cold." He had never been this polite in his life.
"Hmm? Oh, no. I'm actually waiting for someone to come and meet me. They did say they may be a few minutes late, but it's been quite a while." She looked around, obviously trying to catch a glimpse of the person.
"Oh, okay. Shall I stay with you until they arrive?"
She smiled a little, but then looked aghast very abruptly. "Not if you need to go somewhere. I'll be fine on my own, they shouldn't be too long." She shook her head and it made her curls bounce and sway around her body.
"Nonsense. I'm having fun anyway." He smiled.
"Me too." She smiled. "Wait, what is your name? We've been talking all this time and I have no idea who you are." She giggled a bit.
Nobody had ever asked for his name before. They just called him degrading names or sneered at him. "E-Erik."
She grinned. "Well, Erik, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Christine Daaé." She teased, holding out her hand for him to shake.
It was dainty and small, and the green gloves that she wore made her look adorable. He took it gently and shook it slowly, making sure not to grip her too hard. Despite the lankiness of his body, he somehow had an amazing strength when he needed it, so he tried to keep it in control.
He unconsciously leant down and kissed her fingers, making sure to pull up quickly in case she tried to draw her hand back in disgust. He put his hands behind his back and tried to smile despite his racing heart that seriously made him want to touch his chest and make sure it wasn't about to escape. To his surprise, she smiled at him and blushed, her eyes looking down bashfully.
"So, you're a gentleman, huh?" She cocked an eyebrow.
"Chris'!"
Her hair spun around, waving through the cold seamlessly, as she turned to look for the voice. As he turned to look as well, he saw a young man, blond haired, about six foot, jogging towards them.
"I am so sorry, Chris', there was a big hold up at work. You know how it is there." As soon as he got to her, the boy leaned in and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. She smiled at him and he swears he saw her eyes light up when he touched her.
"Oh, it's fine, really." She turned to look at him, "Erik, here, was keeping me company."
That's when the boy finally looked at him, only noticing his presence now. He visibly saw the boy's eyes widen and his own narrowed eyes darted to the hand he put on Christine's hip, and the slight step forward he took to marginally stand in front of her petite body. He barely contained a sigh.
"Well, thank you, I guess." He nodded slightly at him.
"No, really, the pleasure was mine." He smiled, looking at Christine and not at this protective boy who had a firm clutch on her waist.
The boy lifted his chin. "I'm sure it was."
Christine looked down. "Raoul." She whispered it, but it was easy to hear due to the emptiness of the street.
The boy pasted a smirk on his face. "I mean, she's just the greatest fiancée ever, aren't you, Chris'? She sure is a pleasure."
She rolled her eyes and looked up to him, and he could genuinely see the apology in her eyes as she was pulled closer to the grinning boy.
He cleared his throat, taking a step back. "I should go now then." He didn't want to leave. It's not like he had anything or anyone to get home to, nobody was fretting over him, wondering why he was so late. This was the most fun he had experienced in years, and this 'boy' had to come and steal the source of his happiness from him.
"Yeah, us too." The boy nodded, his hand slipping from her waist to her hand. "We've got lots to do, right, Chris'?"
She nodded, a small 'yeah' falling from her lips as she smiled. The boy started striding away, obviously not wanting to waste any more time on him, Christine hurrying to keep up with him. She looked back at him, her hair bobbing as she scurried next to the boy.
She grinned and used her other hand to wave at him. He waved back at her, the smile on his face making his eyes scrunch up, which made his mask even more uncomfortable than usual. The couple turned the corner and he let his hand drop, but the smile still lingered.
Of course this would happen. To be honest, he should have expected it as soon as he saw her name, every possibility was pointing to this occurring. It was just his luck that the one time he developed feelings, the one girl he had unconsciously became infatuated with, was the one person he had been ordered to kill. Wow.