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Emptiness	By : Josephine1881 Category: M through R > The Phantom of the Opera > Slash Views: 8257 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own The Phantom of the Opera, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Disclaimer: See Chapter One!

Chapter Thirty

“Where are we going now?” I asked curiously as we left the stage behind us.

I was still a little out of breath from our enjoyable pastime and hoped that the next place Erik wanted to show me wasn’t far from here. All I longed for at the moment was somewhere to sit down, but I was afraid of telling him so. After all, Erik was much older than I was, and he didn’t show any signs of exhaustion. I didn’t want to appear weak.

“Well,” Erik replied slowly. “I was thinking of showing you around the dressing rooms and offices, but I guess we should do that later. You look tired, boy. Why don’t we go to Box Five, relax and watch the rehearsal?”

To my immense relief, there was no trace of irony or sarcasm in his voice. He merely sounded concerned.

“I’d like to do that,” I admitted. “That is, if you don’t mind…”

“Why should I mind?” he asked. “I’m rather exhausted myself.”

“You don’t look exhausted at all,” I remarked.

Erik shook his head, looking almost amused.

“Just because you can’t see something doesn’t mean it’s not there,” he said wisely. “That’s the first thing you’ve got to remember about me. Of course I don’t show it when I’m weak. If I did, everyone would start taking advantage of me at once.”

“But you’ve shown weakness in front of me,” I argued.

“That is because you mean everything to me,” he said simply. “I don’t have to act when I’m with you. I feel completely at ease. Shall we go to Box Five now?”

I nodded, feeling a happy smile spread across my face.

To my surprise, we took the normal way to get from the stage to the boxes. Erik explained that we didn’t have to be afraid of being seen, for the boxes and the auditorium had already been cleaned early in the morning. Nobody else would be there at this time of day. It was amazing how much he knew about the opera and everyone who worked there. It was as if he knew the location of every single person in every single minute of the day.

The moment Erik had unlocked the door to his box and opened it, I walk past him and sank down in a chair. It was soft and comfortable and felt like the best seat in the world, at least just now.

Erik sat down next to me. Looking at me with a smirk on his face, he remarked,

“I seem to be expecting too much from you. Maybe we should limit our sexual activities to once or twice a week instead of once or twice a day, so you’ll be able to relax properly in between.”

“No!” I said quickly.

It was only when I heard him chuckle that I realised he had been joking. I blushed slightly, feeling foolish.

“I’m sure I’ll get used to it,” I added. “Besides, it’s good that we’ve come here. I like it, and we can watch the rehearsal.”

“I doubt it’ll be very enjoyable,” Erik warned me. “There are a few new ballet rats, and they have no idea what they’re supposed to do. Given the number of times Mme.Giry has to shout during the rehearsals, she’ll be hoarse before the week is over.”

Ten minutes into the rehearsal, I could only agree with him. The new chorus girls, easily recognisable by the shy smiles on their faces and the somewhat pointless way they waved their arms and legs in the air, really had no idea what they had to do. Mme.Giry bellowed instructions that left little to the imagination, but some of the girls seemed to be completely deaf towards criticism or even good advice.

I shook my head in disapproval and saw Erik doing the same. We looked at each other and smiled.

“It’ll become better soon,” he promised. “Once the other dancers make their appearance, you won’t have to endure the ballet rats again. And funnily, they usually improve their performance if they’re not being watched.”

I nodded. I could understand the chorus girls. It couldn’t be pleasant to have someone criticise every move one made.

When I looked back at the stage, two new faces had indeed appeared there. Meg Giry was dancing a pas de deux… with none other than Jean-Paul, the dancer Erik and I had watched last night. At once, I grew much more interested.

The effect the handsome dancer had on the ballet girls was quite remarkable, though not at all in the way Erik had predicted. Even those who had been dancing well before started making stupid mistakes, sometimes tripping over their own feet or hitting each other with their arms because the were too busy looking at Jean-Paul to pay attention to anything else.

Only Meg seemed indifferent. I recalled that the men had said some people at the opera knew about them, and I guessed Meg was one of them.

“Yes, she knows it,” Erik told me when I asked him about it. “Meg and Jean-Paul have been friends ever since he came here. They have to be careful to keep the contact casual, though, or everyone else will expect them to get married. But they’re a beautiful couple, aren’t they?”

I could only agree. Meg’s hair was just as blond and shiny as Jean-Paul’s, though they had both tied it back today. His arms fit perfectly around her slim waist, and when he lifted her into the air, it seemed absolutely effortless.

“Where’s Pierre?” I asked. “Doesn’t he watch him practice?”

Erik shook his head.

“I’ve never seen him around when Jean-Paul practices a pas de deux,” he replied. “Can’t you imagine why?”

I watched the two for another minute, watched the way their bodies moved gracefully together, the way they touched each other. Then I nodded slowly.

“Yes, I see,” I muttered. “He’d grow insane with jealousy. It’s good that you’re not a dancer,” I added as an afterthought, placing a hand on his arm.

“Yes, it is,” he agreed. “Especially for the female dancers. I doubt they’d lie as willingly in my arms as in his.”

“But you can always lie in my arms,” I reminded him. “And they…” I pointed at the dancers. “…can’t.”

“I shall certainly hope so,” Erik all but growled.

We continued watching the rehearsal, but after the pas de deux was over, it grew rather boring. The chorus girls went on with what I assumed was their usual routine. About half an hour later, they were finished and started talking among themselves, while Mme.Giry left the stage, probably to get herself a nice hot cup of tea. She certainly looked as if she needed it.

I wanted to leave as well, but Erik motioned me to stay.

“Let us hear what everyone has got to say,” he told me. “I have a feeling that I might grow interested in gossip again. It can come in useful.”

I shrugged. As long as I was with Erik, I didn’t care where I was or what I was doing.

Meg and Jean-Paul were standing at one side of the stage, not far from Box Five. We could hear every word they spoke.

“I don’t believe it,” Meg was just saying, shaking her head. “I just don’t believe it.”

“But it’s true,” Jean-Paul insisted. “I heard it myself.”

“Are you sure that you didn’t fall asleep after the rehearsal last night and dreamed the whole thing?” Meg asked sceptically.

“You can ask Pierre if you don’t believe me,” Jean-Paul replied indignantly. “He was with me. He heard it as well.”

I held my breath. A terrible suspicion arose in me. They had to be talking about Erik and me. What else could they have heard last night? I leaned forwards in my seat, eager to hear more.

“I’m telling you, the Opera Ghost is in love,” Jean-Paul said excitedly. “And I think his beloved is a man. He asked Pierre and me all kinds of questions last night, about what it is like to prefer men to women, and how we live with it. It was very peculiar.”

“I don’t believe it,” Meg muttered yet again, though she looked sad rather than incredulous now. “I thought he loved Christine… Has he forgotten her that quickly?”

“NO!”

Erik jumped up from his seat. His breath was coming in harsh gasps, and I could almost see his heart hammering in his chest.

“I have not forgotten Christine!” he yelled, his voice breaking. “I love her! How dare you say that I could have replaced her? No one will ever replace Christine! No one!”

I didn’t wait to hear the reaction of the people on the stage. I didn’t care what they thought or said. I had heard enough. My chair fell to the floor as I jumped up from it and ran out of the box. Erik didn’t even turn around.
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Emptiness