The Final Act (A Phantom of the Opera Phan Fic)

Chapter Twelve ~ In Which We Grow Complex with Blood

Ella's POV

Erik, Arthur and I had walked half a dozen blocks around the square before we ended up back at my small flat. The main events of the evening had been skipped, and Arthur seemed readily content with spending his evening with his beloved Eri rather than out on the town like so many other natives of Valence. Needless to say, I certainly was not complaining, but I was not readily cheerful having the man I was trying to avoid  now know where I was residing.

However, I was trying to keep my qualms behind me and focus on the shaken up figure that sat at my tacky, yellow upholstered dining table wit his eyes glassy and wide and his fingers fidgeting around the rim of his tea cup with a certain anxiety that made me squirm.

I sat across from him, another cup poised in my hands and to my lips. My eyes studied him and every move he made. He stared downward with a look I cannot give justice too in explanation. His stormy eyes raged with a sense of pure fear, absolute and strong. His muscles dared to rip through the fabric of his sleeves, tense with anxiety.

I let my cup rest gently on the saucer, creating a sudden ting that sent his eyes to shift toward my movement.

"Jumpy?"

"What?" He shot upright in his chair and looked at me.

I smiled softly, "You're a tad jumpy."

"Am I? I...er--"

I waved him off and turned to catch a glimpse of Arthur in the sitting room with eyes plastered to the television. "He's missed you, although he doesn't say much anymore. But I know, after he found out you were there tonight. After the walk back here. He's missed your company."

"Hm." Erik muttered under his breath.

Again I smiled as I turned to face Erik, letting my finger trace the rim of my tea cup. "Why are you nervous?"

"I'm not nervous," he snapped.

My brow furrowed, "Why are you lying?"

"I'm not lying."

I crossed my arms and gave him a playful smirk. "So, you wouldn't mind heading back into town and finishing the fun house?"

His back grew straighter than before, his lips pursed and quivering. "Why do you wish to tease me?"

"I'm not teasing you. I'm asking you genuinely yet you desire to give me a slant answer."

Erik scowled, the way his nose scrunched made my smirk grow. "You, woman, are incessant in your desire to pry from me what I desire to bury deeper than any man should ever choose to dig."

"You, man, are a stubborn enigma of a pig who believes he can read a woman by swooning their children, slipping a quick kiss, and haunting their dreams," I rebuttaled.

"Haunting their dreams? What in god's name is that suppose to mean?"

"Ha, oh please. Don't play ignorant. I know what this game is, oh master of music. All of you men are alike. All the same with your quick tricks to get the woman's heart to flutter and her stomach in knots, head-over-heels as they say. In such deep infatuation that they even dream about you every waking moment and into the evening hours still. You haunt their dreams, their desires. You play them well. But not me. No, no. I know better. I've been around the block a few time, you see. I know your tricks and how to avoid your ignorantly minded moves."

Erik gave me a confused look, his jaw hanging slightly. "My dear, I'd say you've meditated on this ridiculous folly of imagination you have for some time now. My intentions were never to swoon a woman, let alone bring some relational fantasy to your mind. Certainly, I have been a bit brash with my previous endeavors concerning you, but heavens woman! That was nearly half a year ago, and you assume me to be the same man! Let alone, you assume I have interest still. How do you know I have not moved on?"