"Lace it tighter!" Mia gasped as Hazel tugged on the strings of her corset. "I don't understand, I feel like I've barely been eating at all, but somehow I've managed to put on some weight! This is the last thing I need right now!"
"I can't get it any tighter Madame," Hazel replied. "And even if I could, I don't think you'd be able to breathe properly."
"Right now, I'm more concerned about what Gaston will say. He's been more upset than usual and I don't understand why. But if he finds out I've been gaining weight, he'll be so angry. He won't want a fat wife, he wants a young, pretty one."
"It's only a couple of pounds Madame. I'm sure he won't even notice. Besides, I'm sure this will fix itself soon enough. As you said, it's not like you eat to excess."
Mia sighed. "I hope you're right. I just don't really have the patience to deal with this right now." She turned to her wardrobe. "Which dress do you think I should wear today? The green or the blue?"
"If I may, Madame, I really think the green suits you more."
"That's okay, I think I like that one better anyway." No sooner than Hazel helped her into the dress, Mia's door burst open. "Gaston, what's wrong?" Mia asked. He had been more and more irritable lately and she hadn't the foggiest idea why.
"We're leaving. Now."
She let out a squeal of pain as he grabbed her upper arm and forced her out the door. "Where are we going? Gaston, you're hurting me!"
The next thing Mia knew, she was in the carriage, not entirely sure where she was going, rubbing her, most-likely bruised, arm resentfully. Her husband was staring out the window, as his hands clenched and unclenched. "I'm done with this," he murmured to himself. "She knows who it is. She knows which one of them is doing it all."
"I know who 'who' is? Gaston, you're scaring me. What's going on? Where are we going?"
"You know EXACTLY what I'm talking about!"
Mia wrapped her arms around herself, watched her husband with wide eyes, and began to pray that everything was going to be okay. Her eyes widened as the carriage lurched to a halt. She knew exactly where she was, and while she still didn't know what Gaston was talking about, her husband was right, she had pretty good idea of who he was after. What had Erik done?
Erik dashed across the catwalks over the backstage area. He didn't have that much time left to make sure this was set up properly. Mia hadn't been back since their last fight nearly three weeks before, and so Erik was taking his anger and frustration out on the patron and the prima donna. It wasn't fair that they got to have their little tryst and Barineau kept Mia away from him.
This was by far the most public display he had cooked up for the two, and his attacks had been growing in intensity as well. The first time, he had let loose a box of insects on their clothes while the two were otherwise occupied. Neither of them had noticed until it was too late, and Violet started screaming in the middle of rehearsal and Gaston had become rather pale with the realization himself. After that, he had coated the surface of her vanity with glue, where the two both wound up stuck during the middle of a heated kiss. They had managed to free themselves, but two little patches of cloth still marked the spot. The week after that, he had heard Violet confess to Barineau that she was deathly afraid of rats, and when they began rehearsing for the new production of Faust, Erik made sure there was a furry little present inside the jewelry box when she opened it. However, this one was going to onstage for everyone to see. It was going to require absolutely perfect timing, but Erik was confident in his abilities.
Violet was pacing around onstage, waiting for rehearsal to begin. She had been becoming more and more jumpy as time passed, and refused to be alone with Barineau any further until her humiliation was stopped. Both she and Erik looked over as the door slammed open and her lover stormed in. "Gaston!" Violet cried, running to him.
He shook his head ever so slightly as if warning her to stay back, but it was too late. They were both directily underneath where he wanted them to be. Erik pulled the rope, triggering his trap, just as another person walked in the room. "Gaston, tell me what is going on!"
Mia's sudden arrival changed everything and nothing. Erik would have stopped it if he could, but one it was in motion, there was nothing he could do. The bucket toppled over, dousing Violet and Barineau in bright red paint. Luckily Mia was still far enough away to avoid the worst of it. Instead of being covered head to toe like the other two, the hem of her skirt was splattered with paint. She took one look at the scene in front of her before turning and running from the room.
Erik kept close behind until she entered a prop storage room. He could hear muffled sobs through the door. After making sure no one was around, Erik slipped in and found Mia leaning against the wall, her face buried in her hands. "Mia, I'm so, so sorry about your dress. I didn't know you were coming or I never would have done it. I'm sorry. I promise I'll make this right," he cooed, taking her into his arms.
"You don't get it do you?" she snapped, pulling away. "This is more than just my stupid dress." She took his hands and pulled off his black leather gloves, revealing the dried paint that had gotten onto his skin when he was setting up the paint to fall. "Look Erik!"
"I'm afraid I don't understand…"
"We're no better than them!" Mia cried. "It's clear you've been tormenting them and I've been judging them but we're just as guilty as they are!"
"But we're in love!"
"That doesn't matter! I'm still being just as unfaithful as Gaston is! The only difference is that he doesn't know I am!"
He extended his hand to her. "Then come with me Mia. We can be happy together and he can be with whomever and that'll be the end of it."
She started to reach out, as if to take it, but bit her lip and pulled back. "No, no, no I can't. If I run away, it'll ruin the family name."
"TO HELL WITH THEM!" Erik shouted. "You're not under their control. You're not under Amelia's control. You don't have to be perfect! I don't want you to have to be perfect! I want you to do what makes you happy!"
"You don't understand," Mia whispered through her tears. "That's all I can do, is be perfect, for my family, for Gaston. I'm not good for anything else."
Erik began to panic. It was clear she was regressing back to her old self the more and more she spent time away from him. "You and I both know that's not true Mia. Just come with me and I'll prove it to you."
"I…I can't…" She looked back and forth between him and the door with wild eyes. "I'm sorry Erik, but I can't. I…I have to go…Gaston will….he'll be looking for me. I'll come back before the week is out. I promise."
"No."
"What?"
He crossed his arms. "I can't live like this anymore Mia! I go days, weeks, without seeing you, never knowing when or if you're ever coming back. You're always scared and looking over your shoulder and all you ever do anymore is talk about Gaston! He didn't bother you before, why does he now?"
"Please don't do this Erik."
"Start a new life with me; buy your freedom with your love. Mia, this is the point of no return. Me or Gaston. You can't have us both. Not anymore."
She stared at him with wide eyes. "Erik, please, I'm begging you. Don't do this. At least give me some time to think about it!"
"I'm done waiting! I can't keep doing this! You're just breaking my heart over and over again!"
"Believe me Erik, that is the last thing I want to do to you, but this is more complicated than you're making it out to be!"
"Mia you need to decide."
"Gaston's waiting for me…"
"If you leave me for him, I never want to see you again!"
"You can't do this Erik! It's not fair!"
"Not fair? Making me pine after you like a mongrel waiting for its master isn't fair! Make your choice, I've made mine!"
Mia's hand went to her abdomen. "I…I can't breathe," she gasped suddenly.
"What's wrong?" Erik demanded, catching her as her knees buckled. He might be furious with her right now, but he was still desperately in love with her.
"My…my corset's...too-" Before she could get out another work, she went limp in his arms.
"There, she's coming round now." Mia blinked away the spots as her vision slowly began to focus. "Careful now," a voice said as she tried to sit up. She recognized the ballet mistress as the speaker and realized that she was surrounded by the ballet mistress, the managers, and several other staff members. Looking around, Mia realized she was in the foyer. How'd I get here? she wondered. Last I remember, I was with…Erik.
"Are you alright?" a very worried-looking Andre asked.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," she assured them. "What happened?"
"It appears you fainted, my dear," the ballet mistress answered.
"Where's Gaston?"
"What the bloody hell happened?" a new voice shouted. There's Gaston. He was relatively cleaned up, dressed in clothes that weren't his, but at least weren't soaked in paint, although there was still traces of red on his face that he had missed.
"Your wife fainted, Monsieur." Mia decided she liked the ballet mistress. She spared her the trouble of talking to her husband, at least for now. "I recommend you both go home. You've both had a very rough morning and I think it were best you both to go recover."
"I want this taken care of and the man responsible fired!" Gaston roared.
"You have my word Monsieur, it will be done," Andre promised.
"Like you said all other times?"
The two managers looked at each other and back at Gaston. "It will be dealt with," Firmin assured him. "I will see to it personally."
Gaston pulled Mia to her feet. "You'd better," he snarled before leading Mia out the door and to a carriage.
Mia could feel tears rushing to her eyes as she looked back. Erik had forced her into such an awful position. She understood where he was coming from, but he was forcing her to choose between everything she was raised to want and to have and everything that she actually wanted to have. "I hope you're happy!" she spat at Gaston. "I don't' know what your aim was, but I hope whatever sick satisfaction you wanted, you got!"
He instantly rounded on her and slapped her. "I know you know which man is the one behind all this. Tell me now! One of the stagehands?" Mia's realized this was the same as the night she left Gaston. Erik had been tormenting Gaston, and he thought she was putting someone up to it.
"I don't know! I didn't even know what you were talking about until this happened!" she cried, pointing at her ruined dress.
"You'll break," Gaston murmured. "It's only a matter of time before you break."