The Phantom's opera

Engagement

I was so relieved to get home after work. After the whole ordeal with Phillippe, I was glad to relax and spent sometime with Erik. My plans for relaxation however were thwarted by Erik when he decided that we should have our daily vocal lesson as soon as I got home. While I was a bit grumpy at the beginning of the lesson, my mood brightened as I sang. Might sung for almost an hour, with only a few interruptions made by Erik for critiques.
"That's all for today's lesson." Erik stated, officially ending the lesson.
"But it was only an hour." I pointed out "another hour would be helpful."
"If we do another hour, I may run out of things to critique you on." He admitted.
"You wouldn't. I still have a lot to improve on." 
"I have very little more I can teach you, Alina. You have improved at an astounding rate and your voice is that of an angel now. I feel now is the time to share your voice with the world. I want you to be Prima Donna." He revealed. I tried to fight against it, but eventually gave in. I promised Erik that I would perform in only 1 show.
"I just don't really want to be famous. I'm just not sure I can withstand the scrutiny that comes with it. Remember, I've only been here for 6 months, I wouldn't know how to act properly." I confessed.
"I don't want to push you to do something you don't want to do." Erik accepted "I would just like your talent to be recognised. Just try one show and see how you like it. If you don't, you won't have to step foot on a stage ever again."
"Ok," I agreed "just promise me that you won't do anything you'll regret of the managers don't give me a good part."
"I won't." He promised genuinely.

We ended up having dinner after the voice lesson. Erik didn't speak much during dinner and I could tell that he was thinking about something deeply.
"What's on your mind?" I asked finally, after spending too long in silence for my liking.
"Something happened today that made me realise something." He replied vaguely.
"What was the something that happened?" I interrogated further. He seemed to tense up when he heard what said and took a couple of seconds before answering, making it clearly that he was thinking out what he would say.
"I heard a conversation." He finally answered "the one between you and Phillippe."
"Were you spying on us?" I asked, accusingly.
"No." He denied quickly "I was walking down a passage way, you know how sound carries down there and both of you weren't particularly quite in your conversation."
"I'm sorry about the things he said about you," I apologised to Erik "He had no right to assume and say things like that."
"I couldn't care less what a stuck up fop like the Count De Changy has to say about me." He confessed "I care about what he said to you."
"If this about his dumb comment on future children, then-" Erik cut me off before I could finished.
"It wasn't exactly that." He revealed "I was thinking about the fact that you were proposed to. I know you declined, but I realised that I could bare the thought of you married to anybody else." I went to go say something, but I stopped when I saw that Erik was dropping down onto one knee. My hands flew to cover my mouth out of surprise, knowing from early today what would happen next. Erik took a deep breathe before continuing.
"Alina, I would like you to marry me. I don't want to marry me out of pity but because you return my love. I am no angel Alina, but if you were to marry me, then I would try to be if you wanted me to be one. I would give you anything Alina, I would my life it pleased you. I had thought my life to be a black, bottomless pit full of only darkness and despair but from the moment you arrived Alina, you filled my life with light and happiness that I never before possessed. I know that I do not deserve the honour of having you as my wife but I know I will regret it if I did not ask you. Alina, will you marry me?" He professed, while looking up so hopefully at me as he talked. I could feel tears prickling my eyes. I knew that Erik and I had barely been courting for a week and we had revealed our feeling not a even a month ago. Despite the rushed relationship, I knew I was never more certain of anything in my life.
"Yes!" I squealed "yes, I will marry you."
Erik seemed shocked at my response. He stayed on one knee, frozen, as if he was still registering my response. I could tell the moment it finally sunk in because he shot up and lifted me up into the air and began laughing, which resulted in me catching the laugh. This laugh was different from most laughs, instead of something beginning funny, it seemed that I was so happy that my body could find no other why to express it except through laughter. It seemed that the same went for Erik, as he was so joyful, it seemed as though he would burst.
"What date is the wedding?" He asked eagerly, swinging me around as he held me in the air.
"Soon."I replied quickly "I don't want along engagement."
"How about exactly a month from now?" He suggested.
"Yes!" I agreed excitedly "a small wedding in Notre Dame a month from now."
"I wouldn't have it any other way." Erik agreed, finally setting me down on the ground. "What time do you want?"
"In the morning, around 11am." I decided quickly. "On the 8th of February, we'll be married."
"What about after the wedding?" Erik asked.
"Do you mean the honeymoon or life after we're married?" I double checked.
"Both." He answered.
"I don't know." I thought out loud "what do you want to do?"
"I don't want to stay at the opera house anymore. I want to live like every other man. I want to live in a house above the ground." He confessed.
"A house in the country," I agreed "A place where you can compose and I can sew and sell clothes for the people in a nearby town so that we can have money."
"It sounds wonderful." Erik announced. "And for the honeymoon, we can go to Venice."
"Venice." I repeated happily " How romantic."
" I'll create a mask." Erik planned excitedly "a mask that will make me look like a normal man. It will be so life like that people won't look twice when the look at us."
"What about children?" I asked.
"As many as possible." He decided. I was shocked that he wanted any but I decided to let it go as I didn't want to kill the mood by questioning him.
"I think we just planed out the rest of our lives." I laughed.
"I believe we did." He agreed, chuckling too.

I got to work early the next day in order to tell Madame Giry the good news. Erik and I had decided that I would perform the night before our wedding so that we could move out into the country straight after our honeymoon. Erik and I were both so excited that we also created the invites. The invites weren't really that hard since we only needed 3. The invites were also simple, with Erik drawing a few flowers on the paper while I wrote all the information down in my neatest handwriting. I knew that Madame Giry always arrived at the opera house an hour before anyone else, so I decided to catch her before work began. I ran through the hallways of the opera house as I couldn't wait to tell someone the good news.
"Antoinette!" I yelled out as I finally bursted into the ballet practice room. Poor Madame Giry, who was on the the other side of the room, looked as though she was going to have a heart attack, but she quickly recovered composure.
"Good morning Alina." She greeted as she walked towards me.
"I have the most wonderful news!" I proclaimed. "Erik and I are getting married. Next month on the 8th of February."
"When did all this happen?" Madame Giry asked, seeming a little sceptical. "It was less than two weeks ago you were saying how you didn't know how to feel about Erik:"
"Well, we started courting on the night of the masquerade." I explained "and then last night, he proposed and I accepted."
"You spent less than a week courting." She pointed out "are you sure you not rushing into anything?"
"I've never been more sure of anything." I reassured her. "we have the whole thing planed out." That didn't seem to make Madame Giry any less sceptical.
"I'll explain it all soon." I promised "I just wanted to tell you before work that the wedding will be at 11 am on the 8th of February at Notre Dame. It's only going to be a small wedding." Suddenly, a few dancers walked in and I knew it was time to leave, so I said good bye and handed my invite to Madame Giry before making my way to my workroom to begin work. I worked as hard as possible all day and through my lunch break so that I could finish work early and catch Christine before she left. Madame Giry had given a small part of the ballet to the ballerinas in training, so the girls that usually visit had been missing as they had to sit through the dress rehearsals. Luckily I caught Christine in the nick of time, I was able to call out to her just as she and her friends were leaving the opera house.
"Yes Nina?" Christine asked me innocently.
"I'm getting married Christine, and I wanted to invite you and Mama Val to the wedding. I would like it if you didn't tell anyone about the wedding as me and my future husband only want a small wedding." I explained as I handed the envelope to her. "So can you keep my wedding a secret?" Christine nodded eagerly as she looked down at the invitation adoringly.
"Can I be the flower girl?" She asked eagerly. "Only Meg and I are the only ones that haven't been a flower girl before."
"Certainly." I smiled "I think Meg may be coming as well. I'll have to check, but maybe you both can be flower girls." Christine thanked me and gave me a big hug before running off home. After handing out all the invitations out, I too decided to head home to my fiancé and spend some time with him.