After their initial wedding night, they'd spent a few more days in the room. He had considered offering her a proper honeymoon, but he never went through with it. It was fairly obvious that his little mouse wouldn't accept and he didn't like wasting his breath.
Which is why he'd ended up dropping her off at home this morning. There was business that he unfortunately needed to attend to and he had no reason to put it off now. But perhaps that was for the best. He couldn't have people think he was slipping. That wouldn't be any good for anyone.
He had spent most of his time taking and making calls, scribbling idly on a blank sheet of paper. The bills had been handled as soon as he had arrived because those were actually of upmost importance. His fairly relaxing day came to an unfortunate end when the door slammed open, bouncing off the wall with the force that had been used. A deep sigh left him.
"You'll have to excuse me, monsieur. I have unexpected company. I shall call you back when I can." He assured, hanging up before the other man had the chance to respond.
There he was. Raoul de Chagny in all his angry glory. He should've accounted for this issue. But he hadn't. Hindsight was truly twenty-twenty. In some cases at the very least. He didn't bother with speaking. He knew it would be pointless to even try.
"You tricked me! I looked everywhere for your supposed wedding, but no church in the area seemed to be hosting one! I even came to your house to find that you were gone! What did you do?!" Raoul demanded, his eyes full of desperate anger.
Erik had to stifle a chuckle. He was no more intimidating than he had been before. But it was utterly amusing to hear him admit that he'd fallen for the ruse so completely. He sighed and shifted in his chair, getting into a more comfortable position.
"Calm your tits, de Chagny. Nothing bad happened to Christine. She just became my wife a little sooner than you expected." He drawled, holding up his hand to show off the silver band around his finger. The ' did you really think I'd invite you?' was heavily implied but unspoken.
"Even so, I need to see her before I'll believe that she's alright in any way." Raoul sighed, his shoulders dropping as if something inside of him had been deflated. He didn't even have the will to rise to the bait. Probably because he knew that there was little that could be done. Good. Erik could afford to take a little pity on a person when they understood their place.
But not too much, of course. He didn't get to where he was today by being naïve. If anything, he would be giving him just enough rope to hang himself with.
"I suppose I cannot fault you for that. Christine and I will be hosting a dinner party this Thursday. Why don't you drop by? I'm sure she'd love to see a familiar face." Erik suggested, though his tone was somewhat grudging.
Perhaps because this was a genuine invitation. There was no way to screw him around this time. Even if there was...doing so probably wasn't the best bet. Not if he wished to avoid having yet another confrontation like this, of course.
Raoul seemed as if he was debating it. It was almost as if he'd actually learned his lesson from this. That was very surprising indeed. He hadn't realized that the boy was capable of that.
"...I'll be there.." Raoul finally relented, his desire to see Christine winning out over everything else. He lingered for a few seconds before he slowly turned towards the door and left.
Erik chuckled to himself as he picked up his phone, redialing the last number he called. de Chagny would be in for quite the nasty surprise. Christine wouldn't be the only familiar face there. Nadir and Meg would also be there, but that was a given. Despite how annoying he found Carlotta, Piangi was a loyal friend. So they'd be getting an invite as well.
In fact, there was one other person that would be getting an invite. Daddy dearest would be getting the chance to see his daughter again. After all, it was Gustave's fault that he had Raoul up his ass in the first place. Might as well kill two birds with one stone.
When he got home that evening, Christine was curled up on the couch with a book. She looked up at him with a hesitant grin, carefully untangling herself and getting to her feet.
"Dinner is in the fridge... Please give me a moment while I heat it up." She requested quietly. She approached him and hesitated for a moment before pecking his cheek. She turned to scurry away a moment later.
"Don't worry about that, little mouse. I have news that you may want to sit down for." Erik informed, latching onto her wrist gently. He tugged her over to the couch. He sat down and pulled her into his lap, wrapping his arms around her waist.
Christine's cheeks burst into a deep, deep blush and she resisted the urge to squirm. If she squirmed, she ran the risk of exciting him and that was the absolute last thing she wanted. She simply wrapped her arms around his shoulders, swallowing thickly.
"Oh? What is it?" She questioned, titling her head to the side ever so slightly. She was admittedly curious about the news. She couldn't help it.
Erik had to withhold a smirk. She was so shy and the pink on her cheeks was always a delight to see. At least she was a little easier to speak to now that they'd married. If she had remained silent, he was almost certain he would've ended up with more grey in his hair than he'd like.
"We're hosting a dinner party but don't worry. There will be some familiar faces. Both your father and Raoul de Chagny have been invited." He informed, smiling as he waited for her to register his words.
It was obvious when it had because he eyes lit up and she squealed, impulsively throwing her arms around his neck. He couldn't help the soft chuckle that left him as he rubbed her back. Sure, he had ulterior motives but she didn't need to know that.
"Thank you! Thank you!" Christine chanted before smacking a kiss on his cheek. She seemed to realize what she'd done a few minutes later, hopping off his lap. She scurried into the kitchen without another word.
At least he'd made a tiny bit of progress with her. He would be damned if anything ruined that.