Hello guys. A happy year for everyone. I don't own anything or anyone from the Phantom. Enjoy! :)

Chapter 13

Erik was looking at the entrance of the Opera House over a minute. He was like a statue. He didn't even move his eyelashes.

"Erik?", Antoinette said softly, afraid of what he could do now. He knew the truth. He knew that Cristine was there. She was sure that Erik would quit the next minute and leave from Paris once and for all.

"Erik?" she asked again.

"What just happened?", he asked with his gaze still to the same place as before and an unsure tone in his voice. He felt his body numb and his mouth dry. "What… just happened?", he repeated.

Antoinette seeing him like this didn't know what to tell him.

"You just met the doctor Erik", she said with a playful and serious tone at the same time. But that was a huge mistake. She saw Erik's eyes close in anger and his jaw tightened. He clenched his fists as well. Then he looked at her and his eyes had a weird glimpse.

"Are you kidding me Madame?" he said with his teeth rubbing. "Is she here? Christine is here?", he asked Madame Giry looking at her with an angry face.

"Erik, look… I….", she tried to explain but he didn't listen.

"Not a word Madame", he said, pointing his finger to her and returned to his office. He slapped the door behind him but Madame Giry followed him and tried to explain once more.

"Erik, please, listen to me…".

"NO MADAME I WILL NOT LISTEN. YOU KEW THAT SHE WAS HERE AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ME ANYTHING. WHY? WHY?"

His face was so red, a mask of anger. His eyes were shining so much that, Antoinette thought for an instant that he would hurt her. She tried to calm him.

"Erik, please listen to me. I know that this is too much to bear but believe when I say that I tried but then I thought otherwise".

"WHY IF I MAY ASK? BUT WHAT AM I SAYING? I KNOW THE ANSWER. ERIK CAME BACK SO, WHY DID WE NOT PLAY WITH HIM? DRIVE HIM CRAZY?"

"STOP IT", Madame Giry screamed at the top of her lungs.

Erik froze and did not tell anything. It was the first time that he saw his friend so angry. But it was the first time that he offended her.

"How dare you?", she said almost in a whisper. "I was here for you, to help you, to be your companion when you hadn't anyone, to give you a home. And now you blame me that I want to make fun of you? To humiliate you? Why? What am I suppose to earn with that?"

Erik just looked. She was right. He tried to sit on his chair, breathing heavily, trying to understand. This journey had brought his life upside down.

"What I am trying to tell you is that I thought to say something to you about her but then I reconsidered. It's wiser to let you talk to each other. Besides Christine didn't want you to see her. She thinks that you are here for revenge and that the all thing with the new opera is just for cover".

Erik was holding his head in his hands. He looked up at the woman in front of him.

"Why should I face her again in the first place? That was not my plan Madame. My plan was to come here, help you and after three months time I return back to Italy. I never thought that I would come face to face with my past. And why should I talk to her anyway?"

"I don't know that you must do that but you two will be in the same place for these months. What are you supposed to do? To avoid each other forever? Maybe it's better to talk. This way will not be awkward for none of you."

"Yes, right. Let's say that I agree to this", Erik said with an ironic tone in his voice. "What about her? I am sure that she is to the police station right now".

"You know that this is not true. She never turned you to the police".

"Because she was afraid of me and she had anyone to support her. Now that she is a Countess, she can do anything she wants. I can be in prison as a wanted man in no time. Her husband has power".

Madame Giry closed her eyes and sighed. She wished Erik could understand how wrong he was.

"Erik, you are in great confusion right now. Please, go back to the hotel, rest and tomorrow you will be better. I assure you".

Erik nodded. "I will agree with you, Madame. But I doubt that I will be better. I am still shocked and I don' know what to think".

With these words, the Phantom gathered his things and in a swift motion, he vanished.

Meg was listening to Christine carefully. She couldn't believe what had happened. After the doctor left, letting Christine know that Rosalie would be much better in a few days, the two friends sat on the couch and Christine started to unfold the facts.

"So, he saw you…", Meg asked for a tenth time, not believing what she had just heard.

"Yes", Christine answered with a bitter voice.

"And he didn't do anything."

"What can I say, Meg? As long as I was there with the doctor he didn't do anything, nor did he say anything to me. But I am sure that he would have a little conversation with your mother".

"You think? Poor man. He would be in shock", Meg said. "I am dying from curiosity. Where the mother is?"

"I will not feel pity for him Meg", Christine said seriously. "As for your mother, I think that she will not be late".

That moment the door opened and Madame Giry got into the house. She looked calm as if nothing had happened. Meg stood up and ran to her mother and started asking a thousand questions.

"Mama, are you alright? What did he tell you? Did he hut you? He will come after Christine? Don't look at me like this, tell us something".

Antoinette's eyes were wide open and she was looking at her daughter waiting to stop talking.

"Meg, can you stop for a moment? I just got home. Let me rest for a while", Antoinette said and went towards the armchair.

Meg and Christine followed her.

" I am sorry mother, I just wanted to know what happened. Christine told me about Monsieur Destler. How did he react?"

Madame Giry took a deep breath and looked the girls.

"He is really shocked. He didn't know that you were here Christine. He thinks that you will turn him to the police".

"What? Why should he believe that?"

Antoinette rolled her eyes again. "Because it is his biggest fear. You are sure that he is here to take revenge and hurt you and Rosalie and, perhaps, Raoul. He is sure that, now that you are in the same Opera House with him, you will turn him to the police. Think. Each one of you is afraid of the other's actions but you don't know that anyone of you wants to hurt the other".

Madame Giry finished her sentence and looked at the young girl. Christine was, indeed, thinking about it. But she couldn't be convinced.

"Maman, I am sure that you mean well but you can't convince me. It seems very weird to me, I don't know. I just can't believe it".

Madame Giry sighed.

"I don't know what else to tell you, Christine. Maybe, the only way to be convinced is to talk to each other, to clear the things between you".

With these words, the older woman stood up and went to her room. The girls stayed alone in the living room. Meg wanted to say something to her friend but she couldn't find the right words. The truth was that a little talk between them wouldn't be bad. But this was up to them.

Erik entered so hurriedly the hotel that the man in the reception couldn't even see him. He went upstairs and locked the door behind him. And then the destruction started. He took the chair and threw it on the wall. The result was a thousand pieces of wood, scattered on the floor. The next one was the table which had the same luck with the chair. He tried to move the little desk as well but it was heavy and he abandoned the effort. He couldn't destroy the entire room. He had to calm himself. But he couldn't. 'Why? Why?', he thought. If he knew that she would be here, he would never leave Italy. He could be still there with the people who truly cared for him. He could be in the Opera House with his friend, Nadir. Nadir. Erik decided to write to his friend. He wanted desperately to share his news with his partner. He was sure that Nadir would advise him. He didn't lose time. In an hour, he had written a detailed letter and he was already on the street to mail it.