All I Ask Of You

Chapter 9

I walked up to the dormitories, which for once were empty of all girls except for Christine who was staring out the window as if she were waiting for someone.

She glanced over at me as I walked to my nightstand and opened the top drawer, slipping the letter I had received inside before closing it shut.

I could feel her eyes still on me and I looked at her, unsure if she wanted me to talk, but she had that look on her face as if she wanted to say something.

I walked up to her, standing beside her looking out at the street below.

"Are you waiting for someone?" I asked, hoping if I spoke first it would let her know she could talk to me.

Christine nodded.

"Oui, Raoul is coming to the opera house, he wants to take me out."

"Oh, the Viscount?"

She only nodded her head.

I remembered her talking about Raoul, how she and her Papa had served him and his family when she was little, telling me they had practically been childhood sweethearts.

Normally I would've teased her about this, but I felt like I shouldn't considering that I was dead to her I was lucky enough that she even responded to my question or even acknowledged my presence.

I heard her take a deep breath as she fiddled with her fingers before eventually speaking.

 "Celeste, I'm sorry, I should've never accused you of sabotaging me, I was just upset."

I felt relief filling my chest at her apology.

"It's okay, Christine, I-"

"No, it's not okay, I treated you horribly, I let my jealousy get in the way of logic, I just wanted so badly to seize the opportunity that I got to sing, to show people what I can do, to make my...."

I could see the tears fill her eyes as she trailed off and I took her hands into mine, trying my best to comfort her.

"You'll get another chance, I'm sure of it, you have a beautiful voice, Christine, Monsieur Reyer would be an absolute idiot not to."

She sighed.

"I don't know, I mean you have a beautiful voice as well, Celeste, and you didn't mess up, you saved the show."

"It's not nearly as good as yours, your voice is like an angel's," I told her, trying to have her regain self-confidence.

Christine slipped her hands out of my grasp looking out the window and then back at me as if thinking about something.

"Celeste, have I ever told you about what my Father said to me, about my Angel Of Music?"

I shook my head.

She had mentioned her Father plenty of times before retelling the days in front of their small house, where her Father would play the violin and she would sing, but she never mentioned an Angel of Music before.

"Before my Father died he told me, that I would hear him one day, he said, when I am in Heaven, I will send him to you."

She turned to me, smiling softly.

"Celeste, my Father has sent the Angel Of Music to me, he's the one that's been teaching me."

My eyes widened in realization.

That was the reason why she addressed the Phantom as an angel, she thought he was her Angel Of Music, but he wasn't. Erik was just giving off the perception of being her angel, in some weird twisted way, just to teach her music, or maybe it was something more than that?

I felt my stomach twist and I could feel the overwhelming urge to tell Christine the truth about her "angel", I don't think she'd believe me, but she needed to know that the person she was talking to wasn't sent by her Father.

"Christine-"

"I know, it sounds crazy, but it's true, ever since I came here as a child my Angel has been guiding me in the way of music." She spoke quickly as if nervous about what I might think.

"I believe you, but-"

She once again interrupted me, smiling widely as she spoke.

"He told me not to tell anyone about him and I've kept my word for as long as he's taught me, always being frightened that he might harm me, but he's my angel, he would never hurt me, he's always been so kind and gentle to me."

I swallowed back the truth I was about to tell her, not bearing to shatter the look in her eyes.

I remembered the night before how Erik was towards me, softly coaching, and guiding me in the way of music. I had felt safe and content with him, without even hardly knowing him, the Phantom had a trusting aura that would make anyone feel at ease.

"You've been visited by him as well," Christine said, her voice interrupting my thoughts.

"What makes you say that?" I said, startled by her statement.

She only smiled softly at me as she took my hands gently into hers.

"Were you visited by him last night, is that where you were for so long?"

I didn't know how to respond, half of me wanted to tell her the truth, that he wasn't The Angel of Music, but the other half wanted me to keep my mouth shut about the whole thing. 

I looked out the window looking for a distraction away from this conversation, and was relieved to see a carriage pulling up to the opera house.

A man stepped out with light honey-brown hair, his eyes an icy blue and I couldn't help but smile, he was very handsome.

"You have good taste, Christine," I said, grateful for the excuse to change the subject.

She looked out the window with me and laughed.

"Celeste, that's not Raoul, that's his brother Phillipe, the man behind him is Raoul."

I saw Raoul behind Phillipe, his eyes were a softer blue compared to his brother's, his brown hair straight, significantly, and shorter than his brother's.

I saw Christine suddenly appear outside, I was surprised at how fast she had gotten out there as she hugged Raoul tightly.

My eyes drifted over to Phillipe and I found him staring at me.

He grinned as he waved at me and I quickly backed away from the window, feeling my cheeks heat up at being caught staring.