Thought Of Everything And Nothing

Chapter 38

Erik

Premiers are overrated.

Don Juan was today and it killed me to hear the damn trumpet section screw up the Overture.

As I yelled at them, a saw a small figure slip into the pit. Christine.

I lowered my voice, "Just, learn it!"

The principal nodded vigorously, and the rest followed his lead.

Christine gave a small smile to me as she walked over. "Maestro. . ."

I smiled, "Christine. . ." She brushed her hair back, grinning up at me, "That was intense. Give them a break, they're not used to being yelled at, they're trumpits"

I snorted, stepping down from the conducter's podium. "What are you doing here?"

She sighed, "The chorus needs help."

I frowned, "Why did they send you?"

She laughed, "Because none of them wanted to come near you. "

I rolled my eyes and walked backstage with her. As I instructed the chorus, I could see Christine in my peripheral.

She's talking  to the male lead, Etienne Liska. A bright smile is on her face and he's  laughing with her. I felt my hands clench, but I turned my focus fully onto the chorus.

They were awful.

I could barely finish a sentence with one of them chiming in to ask a stupid question. I gave up and forced Maestro Reyer to deal with them. I scanned the room for Christine, but she had disappeared. Along with Etienne.

Dislike for the handsome baritone boiled in my stomach and I marched back down to the pit.

The principal trumpet shrank into his music as I rushed down the steps. "Goddamnit, stop acting so stupid! I cannot believe how idiotic you must be to think that I wouldn't notice how you barely practiced the Overture! Or maybe you did practice, but you didn't practice correctly!"

The whole section stared at me wide eyed and I went back to the conducter's podium.

"Now, from Rehearsal letter C."

Christine

"Holy Hell, I had no idea that it was possible to throw up twelve times in twenty minutes! No wonder she couldn't sing! And she lost her voice too?! "

Etienne nodded cheerfully, "Oui, the soprano who the managers originally hired had to leave because she lost her voice! Well, I am truly glad she left, now we you!"

I blushed, and he gave me a shy smile. "I think you have the most angelic voice I've ever heard."

The beautiful gentleman in front of my offered me his arm and I easily took it. "Thank you, Etienne. I'm grateful to have such a great partner."

He smirked, "I get that a lot." I snorted, slapping his arm playfully. "You are quite the angel, Miss Daaé."

I froze, and remembered the lesson I'd had with Erik last week.

"You're an angel, Daaé."

I laughed, pushing back my curls. "Barely. If I were an angel, these notes would be coming much more easily. I'm pretty sure that you weren't thinking of how the soprano would feel singing these notes."

He smirked, looking me up and down, "Do you really think that?"

I put a hand on my hip, leaning against the piano. "Most certainly."

A barely there smile crept onto his lips and his eyes gleamed, "I wrote this duet with your voice in mind, Christine. I, naturally, kept in mind how you, as a soprano, would feel about the trial. I'm perfectly aware of the rask at hand, and I am eighty-five percent sure that you will master it."

I smiled, my heart warming immensely. I'd never felt this kind of excitement for a while, but I reminded myself of the last time I chased my feelings for Erik. A marvelous disaster.

I paused before speaking, "This must be the millionth time you've left me without any real words"

He shrugged, "It's a talent that I have aquired."

I paused, thinking, and then arched an eyebrow, "You're only eighty-five percent sure of my skill?"

He let out a rather relieved sigh, "I was wondering when you would catch that. I am eighty-five percent certain that you will master it, but the other fifteen percent is because human error is always possible and usually there is a twenty-five percent chance of failure."

I frowned, "You said that you were eighty-five percent sure. Shouldn't the twenty-five percent chance of human error lessen my odds to seventy-five? "

He chuckled, "You're an angel, Miss Daaé"

I looked back at Etienne who was leading me to the costume room."Etienne, you're very kind, but I have something else going on right now, I'll see you at the premier."

I rushed away, blinking back tears from my eyes and turned the corner into my dressing room. The pink flowers lended their sweet perfume to the air, and the beautiful costumes added a romantic feel to the room, but my head was spinning out of control and I couldn't stop thinking about Erik.

How had he manifested into my mind so well? Well, not my mind, my heart. I shuddered at how strange it was to have such cheesy lines racing through my head. Oh dear, did I. . .? Was it possible that I. . .? This was going to kill me. . .

I loved Erik.