Chapter Seven - Evening Plan

A long time had passed yet Erik and Christine were still embracing each other on the black leather sofa. Erik shifted himself onto his side so that he now had his back against the sofa and Christine had her back against him. It reminded her of the night before when she'd settled on her side in bed, his arm wrapped round her and his breath warming the back of her neck. "Your hair smells lovely Christine" he whispered. Christine smiled "Thank you" she whispered back. And just like last night she took his hand that was wrapped round her and he squeezed it back."Erik, after we have lunch I'd like to do another lesson. Then I want to take you somewhere." Erik moved his lips to her ear "Oh, and where would that be?" he asked. Christine turned her face to look at him. "It's a special place where I like to go when I'm feeling happy. Sometimes I go there to sing I think you might like it." Erik kissed her forehead "I'm sure I will." Christine turned over to face him and buried her face in his warm neck while he encircled his arms round her. The two of them stayed close embracing and caressing one another, allowing absolutely no space between them. Christine stopped when she heard Erik's stomach growl. She let out a small laugh "Come on, let's get some lunch." Erik laughed too and they both got off the couch.

In the kitchen Erik seated Christine at the table in the centre of the room and served them both lunch. As Christine chewed her sandwich she looked closely at Erik. For she knew she was looking at a mask but still she couldn't deny that he looked very attractive. No wonder she had fell for him so quickly when she first met him as "Mr Foster". But then she remembered something. Back in that other time Erik had brown hair, but now he had shoulder length golden blonde. "Why was that?" she wondered. "Erik? Why did you change your hair colour to blonde? Cause you were brown haired back then." She flashed his grin and put down his sandwich "The brown hair you remember was a wig, Christine. The reason I'm now wearing a blonde one is because some time ago I decided that I wanted to have my original hair colour back." He said flicking his gold pony tail with his index finger. "You were originally blonde before….it happened to you?" she said. Erik nodded "I was, but it wasn't straight like this it was curled actually. You would have liked it." Christine smiled warmly. "I like the way it looks now." Erik's smile widened. He reached across the table, took her hand and brought it to his lips. "Thank you Christine." She stroked his hand with her thumb "Your welcome"
After they'd finished their lunch they went arm in arm back to the piano. And the next hour that passed was filled with music and singing.

Finally when they stopped Erik got to his feet and Christine said "So shall we head off then?" Erik hesitated for a moment and rubbed his fingers against his cheek then said "Not just yet Christine. There's something I need to do first." Christine's smile dropped a little "What?" she asked. Erik placed his hand on her shoulder "I need to put on a fresh mask before this one goes rotten." Christine immediately understood and tenderly ran her fingers down his cheek. "Will you be long?" she asked. Erik took her hand in his. "Not too long no, would you like to come and see?" Even though she could remember what was beneath the mask, she still wasn't ready to see what had scared her in that other time. "No I'll just stay here and have a quick drink, if that's ok with you?" Erik kissed her palm "Of course that's fine with me. And that's probably a wise decision. Because my face isn't as you remember it was, it's got worse with all this time. Now all my face is completely disfigured, every bit of skin on it." Christine once again caressed his cheek and Erik smiled lovingly down at her "See you in a bit" she said and turned heading back to the kitchen.

She fetched a glass and filled it with water. As she sipped she wondered how exactly Erik fixed on his masks. Because it looked so life-like that you would never have guessed his face was a mask. She contemplated weather to sneak upstairs and watch him then find out how he did it. "No" she thought I don't want to see him as the monster I thought he was anymore. She took another big gulp of water from the glass and leaned against the work surface. Once again she wondered if there was a way to break Erik's deal with the devil, end his curse and make him a mortal man again with a normal face.

She swallowed the last drop of water and put the glass back onto the counter. She looked out of the window at the streets below. It was starting to get dark and the black clock on the wall said four O'clock. "I hope it won't be dark when we get there" she said as she looked at the sky that was starting to turn greyish blue. "Where exactly is it?" Erik's voice came from behind her. She turned and Erik was standing in the doorway holding their coats over his arm. She looked hard at his face but it didn't look any different to the way it had before. She smiled and walked over to him "Once we get into the taxi I'll give the directions." Said Christine turning her back to him and holding her arms up backwards. Erik slipped her coat onto her and grinned "We're not going to take a taxi, Christine. We're going to take something else." Christine looked at him in confusion. "What?" she asked. "Aha" said Erik winking at her and pulling on his own coat and leather gloves. "You just wait and see what your Erik has to show you."

Author's Notes
Sorry for the huge gap guys, so much has been going on.
No this was not the end of this story, there's still a bit more to come. I've got it all planned out, so don't think I'll forget about it and disappoint you all. xxx