Charlotte's POV
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I had searched L'Aria in a hurry, a sheer frenzy of panic, distress and anger. The audacity of him! How could he go and say such things as that to our premier guest. Our savior! Our angel! I was simply aghast. And the way Erik took it -- oh it was all beyond me. I could hardly comprehend it.
No Alexander. He was no where to be found. As I made my way from the last little reasonable space within the Opera House, I assumed he would be off into the city by now. There was no telling when he would return. He had not had one of these rages since...well, since before I knew him. He had always been so peaceful and even in temper. Most recently, that is far from what I can say of his character.
Still in a frenzy, I circled back to the office, opening the door on Erik raised from the his chair and staring into a mirror. I swallowed hard and regrettably attempted to close the door before he noticed, but I was not quick enough.
"Charlotte, you do not have to leave."
The truth was now I did not want to stay. But I nevertheless opened the door and walked in, taking a seat on a sofa. "I...I couldn't find Alex anywhere. He must have headed for town or out somewhere. Erik, I'm sure he didn't mean to say it like that, or say it at all. He's just been so --"
"Save the apology, Charlotte. It is not you who threw the words, you haven't a need to try and immerse yourself in a problem that isn't yours to solve." He replied, cutting me off sharply.
Erik moved a little toward me, although it almost seemed that he attempted to keep the one side of his face turned away from me now. "We ought to continue preparations." He said again with a bite at the end of it that made me shiver.
"Preparations. Yes." I nodded dumbly.
I watched as he moved to sit back at the desk, shuffle through some notes he had made, all the while he sat with a furrowed brow . Suddenly, he looked up at me and frowned. "Are you going to come and help, or do I also have to rebuild this Opera House of yours as well?"
I jumped quickly to my feet and rushed toward the empty chair beside the desk. "Sorry. Sorry, I was just...not fully focused. My apologies." I flipped through my own notes clumsily, dropped a few papers in the way that one does when the brain is not working as sharply as it should. With that move, I heard Erik sigh heavily before he gave me a dark gaze.
"Must we drag along? Pick up your papers now, come Charlotte please!"
"I'm sorry, I'm just--" I felt my throat go dry and my eyes begin to water. Why was I getting emotional? What was this? No, I had no need to be crying, yet as I sat here I felt the gentle stream of tears begin to flow down my cheeks and the harsh little sobs flood the room. I was crying. No, correction I was sobbing. Horribly so. My body shaking with each in-take of breath and every tear becoming more persistent. What was happening?
"I can't lose him! I can't!" I heard my voice shutter before I felt his arms wrap around me. The gentle pull. I was against him, his beating heart to my ear. The rhythm steady and calming. His fingers caressing me tenderly, running through my hair.
His voice was rich, deep and soft in my ear as he lulled me. "You are not going to lose him, Charlotte. Give him time. He will come around. It will be all right. Trust me."
For a long moment, I simply stayed in his arms. I felt so weak but so protected there. There was nothing that could harm me, nothing could come against me there. I knew he would take care of us like he said he would. Erik was more than our savior. He was our everything now. We needed him more than ever.
I felt him pull away from me and my heart dropped a little at that. But once I realized what he was doing, I was all too happy to get up and see what he was after. The front door of the Opera House had began to open, and Erik had heard it before I did. He moved around the desk with me close on his tail. He no more than popped half his person out the doorway when the small but high voice of a young child echoed through the main hall.
"Eri!" The little child grinned wildly and squirmed from who I can only assume to be his mother's arms. He bolted toward Erik, latching onto one of his legs and smiling up at him. "I found you!"
I stared at the boy for just a moment till I moved to look at the woman again. Then to her side, Alexander stood rather pale looking. My eyes began to water again, but I fought back the tears. Instead, I, like the boy, ran toward him and quickly wrapped my arms around his neck. "Don't you dare run off like that again." I hissed in his ear before kissing it. "You scared me."
"I know, I'm sorry." He said softly, wrapping his arms around me and giving my neck a gentle kiss.
We pulled apart a moment, meeting eyes once more. His eyes seemed so much harder and so torn. I felt my own eyes begin to water, and so I turned away from him.
In that time, Erik had picked up the child and was now carrying the small boy on his hip toward us. "Ella, I believe this is yours." He said, bouncing the child playfully. "He seems to be quite attached, I'm not sure he will let go this time."
I caught a small smirk on Erik's lips before he wiped it away with a gentle sigh.
"I'm only teasing of course." He replied hastily and placed the boy back on his own feet.
"I'd appreciate it if you kept your distance from my son." The woman, or rather Ella, replied harshly, taking the child into her arms again. "I am not particularly fond of strange men imprinting on him. He's already got the wrong idea about being a man from his father, let alone having a womanizing, playboy carry him around on the hip like some eye candy."
I watched as Erik's face grew a shade redder. "Womanizing playboy? Ha! My word, what a revolting collection of adjectives you have there. I certainly do not know who you would be directing that toward."
Ella curled her lips in disgust. "Oh you really are pathetic! You know that? You think you have everyone all figured out with your smug attitude and charismatic swoon. Well, you know what Erik? You don't have me figured out. You'll never have me figured out, and I like it just like that. So quit thinking you can get in my head and mind your own damn business."
I covered my mouth quickly before a harsh gasp could form. Alex cleared his throat uneasily and took my arm, attempting to pull me toward the office. I could feel the air grow thicker as I watched Erik's face turn from a delicate sunburn red to a harsh, bright tomato in its prime.
"E-Excuse me?" Erik stuttered.
"You heard me, and if Arthur wasn't hear you'd hear a lot of other things too." Ella snarled.
Erik crossed his arms, "I resent that comment. I'm shocked and quite frankly very appalled!"
"Good, you should be! Think how I feel, having a complete stranger stumble into my life, pick up my son out of the blue, kiss me unwantingly, offend my honor as a mother and as a human being. You think you can just read me like a book don't you? You think that one little sexy look with those pretty grey-blue eyes and you have me wrapped around your finger? No, you're wrong! So wrong! I'm not falling for any more of your tricks, sir. Sir...ha! You're not a sir. You're just a man. An ordinary man, just like my husband. All the same. Fake, inconsiderate bastards. I'm leaving."
With that she turned and walked out, leaving the three of us in shock but leaving Erik with a temper hotter than anything I've ever seen. In my small window of time knowing Erik, I've only seen him as a gentle spirit. But it was at that moment when Ella's foot hit the threshold that his temper was loosed.
"Who the hell does that woman think she is talking to?! I'm the Phantom of the Opera damn it! She cannot talk to me that way!"
"Phantom of the who-what?" Alexander broke in.
"Phantom of the...er, I...never mind! She's made me so angry I'm not even talking sense! Damn that woman!" Erik spat out, beginning to pace in a wild frenzy of rage.
I cleared my throat timidly, "Perhaps we ought to call it a day, gentlemen. Tension is a little high wouldn't you say?"
"Ha, right, tension." Alexander chided. "More like testosterone levels. Can't seem to get yourself in the swing of things again, old man?"
Erik had a dark scowl on his face as he turned toward Alexander and I. "Old man? Excuse me, sir, if I'm not mistaken I recall you insulting me bluntly and then proceeding to run off like a coward. Not to mention, if I am also not mistaken, bringing that damn woman here to hide behind. Was that not your plan?"
I turned to look at Alexander who had turned an awful white, pale color. He cleared his throat after a moment of silence and loosened his collar in what I could only assume was an attempt to look more dignified than his current stature put off. "Fair enough, if you wish to point fingers. Yes, I admit to having poor intentions and cowardice actions. But, I certainly am not the one who ran the dame off, nor assaulted her, as it now seems apparent."
"Assaulted her?" Erik spat out in disgust. I saw his fists clench at his waist as he stared down my husband in absolute loathing. "I merely made a poor choice of judgment and kissed the woman, and now you fall on her side after all your incessant teasing? I dare say, you are about as much to blame for my premature gesture."
"I'm to blame? Ha! Oh please, now you wish to point fingers. Of course, just like everyone else. Never willing to take responsibility for their own actions."
"You're certainly one to talk." Erik snarled.
Alexander rolled his eyes and crossed his arms in some effort to look in control, but I could tell by the pale yet flushed look of his face that he was far from composed. If anything, he was good liar. A great liar at that. Having lied to me for heavens knows how long about his brother...his brother.
All of that a lie. All of Erik's identity a lie. Funding the woman across the way in the hotel. Who was she anyway? How much else was he holding back from me? Was that woman more than just a needy hand? A needy heart and more so perhaps? Was the rug being pulled right out from under my feet while I stared at it blankly the whole time?
Unknowingly, tears began to rise in my eyes as I thought of these things. Distantly, I heard my name in a voice of concern.
My head turned toward Erik, his eyes now a soft grey as he looked at me.
"Why are you crying?" He asked ever so softly.
I felt myself break there, something snapped in me. Something in my core broke down for but a moment. However, that was all that was needed before I found myself collapsed on the floor and sobbing. "You lied to me! You lied!" My voice raspy, echoing through the hall. My blurred, teary vision thrown toward Alexander as he stood almost helplessly above me.
It seemed as soon as I fell Erik was there at my side, holding me as my body shook in uncontrollable gasps and wails.
"What are you talking about?" Alexander knelt before me, taking a hand into his own and looking at me with a ghastly amount of concern. "When did I lie to you? Darling, you must breathe!"
I shook my head and pulled from his hold. "This whole thing! Everything! You're a liar! The opera, the music, Erik, the woman! You lied to me!" I buried my face into Erik's chest and sobbed uncontrollably. My mind ran in a million different directions, uncertain to what had brought me to this point in my life. I wanted to run away. I wanted to start over. I wanted to stay in the conservatory and sing and perform! I wanted to marry someone who knew music as I did! I wanted a life different from my own right now in this very moment!
"Darling, I...." Alexander broke off his sentence sharply. I felt the rush of him standing, moving away from me.
I stayed in Erik's hold, embraced by the warmth and tenderness of a melodic heart soothed me. I felt the beat run delicately in my ears as I pressed against his chest. It was heated but steady in that way that is protective and secure.
"You have already caused enough pain for one day. I think it best you retire, Alex." The bite that came off Erik's tongue as he hissed my husband's name sent a shiver down my spine. Pure loathing. Absolute disdain. Raw disgust.
"You're telling me to leave? Leave my own wife in your arms? You must be daft if you think--"
"Alex, go." I murmured.
"What? Charlotte, darling...I don't understand."
"I said go!" I hissed, looking up at him with hatred. "Go and stay gone. I don't want your lying tongue around here anymore! If you're not willing to help you're as good as useless. Give me the keys and leave. I don't want to see you right now."
"Char-Charlotte, I...h-here." He fished in his pocket and dropped a ring of keys on the floor. "If you're going to feel that way, I might as well pack up and dismiss myself all together then." He snarled, a few tears springing into his eyes but he tried to fight them off. He was not as strong as he tried to outwardly show.
"You're wasting your breath if you wish for me to feel sorry for you." I dismissed his childishness. "Leave if you must. I will only miss the memory of you, nothing more."
I saw Alexander's jaw slack in shock before he wiped his face void of emotion. "You'll see. I'll prove myself to you. I'll prove myself to both of you! You'll worship the very ground I walk on one day, I swear it!" He scowled before pointing a finger at Erik. "And you! O Mighty Maestro, I will make you lament the day you were ever born."
Erik scoffed.
Alexander marched heavily toward the door before turning to look at the two of us still on the floor. "You will curse this day! The day you lost a man far more worthy than that half rotted corpse!"
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Ella's POV
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I stood in the small hotel shower, the water rushing over my face. My mind fogged and everything around me making little sense. I felt so drowsy and so used. So much like I was back in the hell of my former house. Under the thumb of a man who chose me as a dog on a leash rather than a wife and companion.
Exhausted and overwhelmed by such thoughts, I leaned my head against the shower wall and let my eyes shut. A moment seemed to pass and then another. Then a dreamy tiredness overcame me. I felt myself waking, laying in a plush and exotically designed bed. I was not entirely certain what it was, but the entirety of it was a rich black color with delightful red silk bedding.
I wrapped my body with it, feeling the soft silk encompass my body. It was in that moment I realized I was not entirely dressed, or it felt like the silk went beyond anything I was wearing and instead cradling my bare form. Its velvety and luxurious texture brought a certain euphoria to me as I lay there for a moment more.
There was a distant voice that caught my ear, something simply as smooth and silken as the very linens I wrapped myself in. It stayed far and then became closer and closer to me, as if first under water and then surfacing in a graceful and fluid way.
Softly, deftly
Music shall caress you
Hear it, feel it
Secretly possess you....
I listened intently, the voice like sweet honey. The melodic tone put me in a spell, making my euphoric sense grow. I closed my eyes for but a moment, a second in time. A wavering figure appeared upon the opening of my eyes. It, like the voice, slowly became more and more clear and near to me.
Floating, falling
Sweet intoxication
Touch me, trust me
Savor each sensation....
The figure approached me, a strong and tanned man with a mask to cover all but his lips. He wore no shirt but had a short pair of bottoms on. He became clear to me, all but his face, as he sat on the edge of the bed. His hand rested along my cheek, running gently across it to my neck. His voice was so smooth and perfect now in my ears. There was something so familiar about it too, something I had yet to figure out.
I stared at him in a daze, my eyes must have been glassy and distant as he finished his sweet lullaby to me.
"What is it, Ella? You act like you've never heard a man sing?" His voice rang crisp and deep.
"That was amazing." I whispered, barely able to speak.
He smiled. "Thank you."
"Why do you hide your face?" I asked somewhat absently.
He frowned, "I am afraid I cannot say. For I do not control the power of the mask."
"Then...who does?"I questioned.
"You do."
I felt my hand reach for his face, taking the side ever so gently. I had intentions to remove the mask, but as I pulled he moved forward till we were but a breath away.
"You...I know you." I hesitated, feeling an urge to kiss this masked stranger rise within me out of no where.
"Do you?" He whispered, letting our lips nearly brush.
"I...I do." I breathed, my fingers going beneath his mask for but a moment before I removed my hand. "Tell me who you are." I begged.
"Wouldn't that take the fun out of it?" He teased, running a hand through my hair.
Dangerously close. Every hair on end. Every breath mixing into one another. Shivers of delight. Tingling sensations. Electric pulses. His hand through my hair, brushing it behind my ear then to the side of my face. My cheek fit so naturally in his palm and how he just held it there was...it was--
"Can I kiss you?"
I though the words were imagined. I could not image them coming from his mouth. Did they come from his mouth or did I say them? I had not remembered his lips moving, and yet I had not remembered moving mine either.
"W-what?" I asked, still dazed.
"Can I...kiss you?" He asked, his grey eyes pulling me in body, mind and soul.
"Can you...y-yes." I whispered, barely knowing what I was saying before his lips met mine. Soft. Tender. Perfect.
The kiss, a blissful explosion of rapture. The voice. The swooning perfect hold. The grey eyes....the grey eyes! My god!
I pulled away in a gasp, my fingers pulling for the mask. Him! Oh how could it have been! The name in my mind but refusing of the tongue. Finally, it roared out in a moment of shock. "Erik!"
"Momma! Momma, are you okay?" A child's voice called to me, pulling me back to reality.
I shot upright, feeling a cold pulse of water beat directly at my face. The shower. I was still in the shower. I had simply fallen asleep! And that moment was...it was a dream. A nightmare. For to fall into these temptations would mean giving into the flesh. Those sweet, deadly, sinful temptations of the flesh...no. No such thoughts.
"Momma, are you okay?"
I pulled back the shower curtain a tad to see Arthur standing pigeon toed with his teddy in hand. He rubbed his eyes tiredly.
"I'm ok, sweetheart. What's wrong?" I asked, turning off the shower quick and grabbing a towel to wrap myself in. The matted plush brought a faint vision of the silken bedding that made me shiver.
"You were taking too long. I got scared." He pouted slightly.
"I'm sorry, darling." I kissed his forehead tenderly. "Why don't you go lay back down and close your eyes. Momma will be right out. I promise you this time."
"Okay." He sighed and shuffled back to the bed.
A moment past, but a second. I stared at myself in the mirror, visions of masked men dancing in my head. Masked saviors and masked demons. Some to save and some to take away. But none would take from me, not anymore. I was the one who controlled the mask. Yes, I could control my own future. I would provide. I would show them all. I would be the mother and provider like my own mother. I would be just as good if not better. I did not need a man. I did not need my husband, and I most certainly did not need Erik!