the Pug of the Opera
Erik did as he had planned and went to see the premiere of "Faust". He wanted to hear Christine Daae, who had impressed him by so lovingly reacting to Beau. Of course Beau was with him again. Beau slept through the first act, acted up when the singer who portrayed Marthe did not hit every note and fartet loudly after Carlotta's jewel song. Erik chuckled as he heared the patrons in the next boxes complain about the smell.
Whatever they thought, by now everyone had to be aware of a dog at the house, visiting various performances. Interesting enough due to the acoustics of the auditorium the managers had not been able to find out where precisely the dog was, they thought someone sitting in the cheap ranks high above had smuggled in the dog - thinking the decent rich patrons who bought boxes would never do such thing. The thought bringing a dog was a prank only lower class people would ever do.
The smell might - or might not - give away the position inside box five. But if enough people complained, they would not know either, thinking it might have been an anarchistic prank some lower class men played on the bourgeoisie.
Christine Daae's performance as Siebel was disappointing for Erik. He had hoped she would sing like she had sung to his pug, full of love and emotion, but she did not. She acted and sung like a perfect tuned automaton, but without any life. Beau waggled his tail and looked up as he heared her, remembering her voice, but he did not act up, Christine sang perfectly in tune. What was wrong with her? Why had she shown so much love when she was cuddling Beau and seemed unable of any feeling now that she was on stage? It was her debut - maybe she was just nervous?
He decided to keep an eye on her and he did. He watched every opera where she had some role to perform. But it was always the same. She got soloist roles, never the leading soprano, but she was good. Very good. Perfect range and pitch, a crystal-clear voice - but she always sung and acted like an automaton. Something was absolutely wrong with her and he decided to find out what that might be.
Erik went to the office and found Christine's address. Now he knew where she lived, he knew her rehearsal schedule and could easily arrange another meeting. He just had to take Beau for a walk at the right time in the right street.
Beau noticed her first and tried to run to her, in his excitement he ran two rounds around Erik's legs, leaving him tangled in the leash. Erik needed a moment to free himself, then noticed people around him were laughing at his mishap. He felt humiliated and ridiculed, but had to admit that he would have laughed at another man's misfortune all the same.
"O Beau!" Christine laughed and went to pet the dog, adding as an afterthought: "Good morning Monsieur Cordier."
Erik could not be angry with her. Of course she greeted the pug first and huddled down to be able to pet the dog. Beau happily began licking her hands, his tail waggling and he gave his stakkato snore indicating he was very happy.
"Good morning Mademoiselle Daae," Erik greeted, "Beau missed you."
"How can he miss me - he has seen me only once?" Christine asked, fending off Beau's attempt to lick her face, but she did not even try to get up.
"He already loves you."
"Then he easily loves everybody!"
"O yes, he does. Mademoiselle, my compliments to your performance in Faust," Erik told her.
Christine blushed and Erik couldn't help thinking how beautiful she looked. She was such a beautiful young woman, with her blonde hair and the dark blue eyes. She turned her attention back to Beau who was by now on his back, enjoying a belly-rub from Christine. She began to sing to to pug again. "Pug-pug-puggy-pug-puggly-puggy-puggy-pug." It was complete nonsense but it made Beau purr happily like a content cat - and Erik wonder how her nonsense-singsong sounded so much better than her aria. It was not the melody, it was not the song itself, it was her voice and all the cheerfulness he heard now from her.
"You have a very good voice," he complimented her, "But... pardon my bluntness... it seems you are over-trained."
She frowned and briefly stopped petting Beau, which caused the pug to jump up and scratch at her, to make sure she would not forget him. She absent-minded begann caressing his soft ears. "What do you mean, 'over-trained'?" she asked, not really understanding what this man was trying to tell her.
Erik sighed. "Mademoiselle, you have a lovely voice, but you sing a bit... like an automaton not like a person. There is nothing of your personality, of your emotion in your performance. You sing like someone trained you that the only thing that mattered was hitting the notes perfectly. You do not allow yourself to... bring something unique into your performances."
Her brows furrowed. "I don't understand..."
"It is difficult to explain, but... I am a musician myself. Maybe you would allow me to... help you become a better singer?"
"Monsieur Cordier, I graduated from the conservatoire the Paris, I already am a singer and... I am a soloist," she told him, a bit offended by his offer, "And I do not think I need you as my singing instructor."
Beau ran under her skirt as she stood up and her legs got tangled in the leash. Erik made a mental note to reward Beau with some extra cheese.
"I did not mean to offend you, Mademoiselle," Erik hastily tried to make up for the lapse, "Certainly not. I just... just wanted... to offer my services for free."
She was obviously mistrustful as she tried to get out of the tangled leash without tripping over Beau who still kept playing with her many underskirts. Erik sighed. "I just want to do something for my dog's bad behavior. Bad Beau! Bad!" The way he said bad convinced Beau that he was doing exactly as his master wanted so he stayed unter Christine's skirts, Erik could not bend down to fetch him and Christine didn't know what to do - she could feel the pug under her wide skirt but didn't know how to get him out there.
Erik finally pulled on the leash, hoping Beau would understand and come. Beau did not, the pug lied down and stubbornly remained where he was. Somehow Christine managed to step back so he was no longer hidden by her skirts. Erik grabbed Beau at his collar and Christine finally managed to untangle the long leash so her legs were free again. "I just want to apologize," Erik offered again, "Please, Mademoiselle. Give me one chance to make up for this."
"You might just send me flowers," she offered, "No need to go through further trouble."
When she continued to walk home Erik looked after her, angry with himself. Of course she was mistrustful. She did not know him, she did not know who he was, if he even was a musician - to her he was just a stranger with a pug and of course she would not risk being alone in one room with him. He would have to do something.
And so he did. He began to train Beau to carry small parcels and leave them where he pointed. The command was "gift". At the command "gift" Beau learned to bring something Erik gave him and place it precisely where Erik pointed. It took months and much patience until Beau finally knew what he had to do, but when he was ready, Erik waited for Christine again in the streets, aware of the stares and whispers and sometimes the unashamed laugh from passers-by. He knew he and Beau were an odd couply and a funny sight.
When Christine came home from her rehearsal, Erik gave Beau a small parcel, pointed at Christine and gave the command "gift". The pug ran towards Christine as fast as his small legs could carry him, dropped the parcel at her feet and ran back to Erik to collect his reward in cheese. Erik put the leash on Beau's collar again, making sure the pug would not run away. After eating the cheese Beau pulled towards Christine again, who stood there laughing, but the parcel left untouched at her feet.
"O Beau," she laughed as she bend down to pet Beau and finally taking the parcel, holding it out to Erik. "I guess this is yours?"
"O no, it is yours!" Erik replied, "Beau just wants to apologize."
"O, Beau wants to apologize," she laughed and opened the parcel. In it was a beautiful brooch in the form of a rose. "That is... that is too much! I can't accept that!" she pointed out as she realized that the jewels were real precious stone and the brooch of real gold.
"Ask Beau if he takes it back," Erik replied with a smile.
Christine laughed. "Monsieur Cordier, you are... unique. I've never seen someone so persistent, it is even flattering me. But you have to understand that I do not need a voice instructor now."
"Mademoiselle, maybe you allow me to meet you at the opera. We could meet early in the morning when no one else is there and I give you the chance to test me. If I can't meet your standards, I'll leave you in peace. If you think I could teach you something, you accept me as singing instructor - and I won't ask any fee at all."
Christine did not like that offer. She did not know what Monsieur Cordier really wanted from her - like all girls she had heared horrible tales of girls being lured in a trap by bad men. She did not like the idea of being alone with him. "No... not the opea. Mother has a music room in her flat, you might come to me." With Mama Valerius and the servants being there she was sure he would never dare to do anything to her. And she was not sure if her unease was justified, he might as well really be just interested in giving her lessons. "But tell me, why do you want to teach me for free?" she asked.
"Because... Beau likes you," Erik offered with an amused smile, "And you have one of the loveliest voices I ever heard."
She laughed. "So Beau picks the pupils for you. You are a strange man, Monsieur Cordier. Very well, make sure to bring Beau to our first lesson, Mama will love him."
"And when will that first lesson be?" Erik asked, not wanting to miss the opportunity that might never come back.
"The day after the premiere of the new production of Aida. Come to Madame Valerius flat at 10 a.m."
"Beau, you remember the date," Erik told Beau who - like always when Erik adressed him - turned his head and waggled his tail as if he had understood what to do.
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Sorry for keeping you waiting such a long time. I plan to continue this story, updating irregularily in the future.