Infertile efforts have exhausted Eric. Realizing the futility of his attempts, one day he - not knowing why - came to Christine in the morning, when she was alone in the room of choirboys, and once again invited to the cafe. He wasn't going to charm her, no. I just wanted to talk to someone. Convince her of the truthfulness of his words and... confess, I guess. And to whom else could he open his soul, except Christine? And let her feel sorry for him, let him - he agrees to pity as well.
- What did you want to tell me? - Cristina asked, "You're nervously holding a coffee spoon.
- You know, I think I'm a god," Eric exhaled.
- What?" Christine opened her mouth a little bit, but quickly coped with herself and pressed her lips. - You were already an Angel of Music, wasn't that enough for you?
- No..." Eric got better, "not the one, of course," he poked his finger up to make sure, "but some other guy did. I tried to kill myself... - Christine was hunting, - but I always woke up without a scratch. I always wake up on this day, the day of the premiere of "Don Juan".
Christina shook her head:
- You are insane. Why are you telling me all this?
- I want you to believe me.
- Did you believe that kind of nonsense? - Christina started to come up, obviously with the intention of leaving. Again. Eric caught her by the hand.
- Stay, please. And listen to me. I can predict any event of the day to the nearest second. Look, in ten seconds the waiter will drop the tray. Ten, nine, eight, seven...
When the tray was on the floor, Christina shuddered - and looked at Eric with some superstitious horror.
- Let's go outside! - He said he threw a bill many times the price of two cups of coffee on the table and pulled Christine with him. - Now the chaise is going to be here, and a cat is going to run across the road in front of him. The fireplace will swerve and shoot down a basket of flowers.
- How did you... how could you know? - Christina whispered five minutes later. - Is this some kind of trick?
- Well... - Eric shook his shoulders. - Maybe God is doing tricks, too. Maybe he's not so powerful at all, but he's just been living the world for a long time. So, you see the greengrocer? - he led Christine to the grass tray. - This is Monique Lennier, her husband died in the Crimean War, and she was left alone with two children. The children grew up and flew away whoever went where. And recently a neighbor got married to her. How could I know all this if I had only left the theater at night before - and that was extremely rare?
The greengrocer was frightened and snapped her eyes:
- How do you know... Did I do something wrong? I'm not a spy!
- Calm down, madam. - Eric held out a gold coin to a trembling woman. She looked at the money with even more horror... but still took the coin.
Cristina looked at him with a test look.
- Okay. And what happens now in this house?
Eric turned to the direction she was pointing out:
- Nothing in this one, but in the next one - there are Barno's spouses on the second floor. Recently they married their daughter and successfully sold an old house in the suburbs, which Madame Barno got from her sister, the old maiden. Now Madame Barno will find out that her husband has managed to launch a paw as proceeds from the sale, and will make a grandiose scandal.
Christina waited a little bit, then snapped:
- It seems that you are mistaken...
From the window of the second floor of the notorious house, there was a loud scream, which was replaced by a square brawl. Something broke, there was a clatter and rumble, and then a bald man flew out on the porch. He ducked down and covered his head with his hands, trying to dodge the broom of a fat woman who came out after him.
- Now do you believe me? - Eric asked me hopefully.
- I do," Kristina said after a pause. - You couldn't have set up so many things at once.
- Especially here, outside," Eric smiled. - But to dispel your doubts completely..." he pulled a folded sheet of paper out of his pocket, "when you get back to the theater, go to the chapel. Raul will come there and try to calm you down and convince you that you are doing the right thing. He'll want to take you away, but you'll refuse... I hope you will," Eric said.
Christine refused.
- Where are we going to go? - She asked when Raoul left.
- Where do you want to go? - Eric answered with a question, unwittingly freezing on the other side of the wall.
- I'd just like to spend the day with you to see what happened. But the show... and Raoul will be looking for me.
- We will go to the outskirts, to the park. I also rented a cabin nearby. Raul won't find us.
- But how do I explain it to him?
There's no way," Eric wanted to answer, "because tomorrow it's going to be like nothing happened again today. Instead, he said:
- Lie. Say the Ghost kidnapped you, but you managed to escape. And that you don't want to get involved anymore. Have the Viscount take you away.
Christina sighed:
- And you agree...
- Go to the back entrance, which is near the kitchen. I'll be waiting for you there," Eric interrupted her.
As I walked out to meet him, Christine lumped a piece of paper in her hand with the same words that Raoul had told her.
"You said yourself that he was just a man. And as long as he lives, he won't let us go. Don't think I'm not worried about you, but you have so many lives in your hands now..."
This day was like the day Eric tried unsuccessfully to conquer Christine. Only this time between them wasn't his deception, and that's why Eric felt much freer.
Later in the evening, they came back.
- What a wonderful house!
Eric covered his eyes: he had heard so many of these words from Christine that he was ready to take a "yes" off his lips, but that would have been inappropriate...
After dinner, he entertained Christine by teaching her card tricks.
- So this is how you kill for eternity? - She slylyly asked while Eric was hiding the card behind her cuff with an elusive movement.
- Actually, I'd been killing for so long before I got stuck in one day," Eric smiled. - Every day for four hours, you'll be a virtuoso. And when you get tired of it, you can learn ventriloquism, study architecture... and if there aren't many classes in the world.
- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," Christine stopped him, putting her hand on his elbow. - I just forgot...
Eric slipped out of her hand - a touch burned him now that Christina trusted him, just like before.
- That's not the worst part," he sighed and sank on the couch in front of the fireplace. - The worst thing is that tomorrow you'll forget everything and think I'm a monster again. And I am a monster. - Eric slowed down and, with his head down, covered his palm with a disfigured cheek.
- No," Cristina sat down next to him and took his hand carefully, "that's not true. You're not a monster, a gargoyle, or a shell catcher... or what was it you called yourself?
- What difference does it make? - Eric brought his palm back. - I'm a Ghost, I'm scared of young ballerinas, I'm blamed for all the accidents that happen in the theater, even if I wasn't there. If I left the Opera House, nothing would change: there would also be rumors and people would see a ghost in any shadow. Sometimes I feel like I don't exist at all.
- You do," Christine assured him. - I see you.
She suddenly crawled from the couch to the floor and knelt down right in front of Eric. He froze, not knowing what to expect, and then Christine pressed her hand to his chest from the left side.
- And I can hear your heart," she finished quietly.
That's when the clock started beating, and they both shuddered in sync. Christina looked at the dial and her face was filled with indignation.
- Why didn't you disappear?
Eric looked at the clock too:
- I didn't know it was midnight. But everything would happen at 7:00 a.m., the same time I woke up on my first day. And you will disappear.
- But... I was waiting for midnight," Christine said in a confused way.
- So you're going to leave? - Eric couldn't hide the bitterness.
- I'll stay.
Christina climbed onto the sofa with her legs and put Eric's head on her shoulder.
- I'm really tired," she said quietly.
Eric leaned back on the sofa so Christine could get comfortable. That's how they sat until Christine dozed off. After making sure she was asleep, Eric gently kissed the curly top and whispered:
- Good night, my love. May you dream of the Angel of Music.
to be continued ...