(Christine's POV)

The night of Don Juan Triumphant was finally here and I couldn't wait for when my time to get onto the stage came. I was supposed to play along with Piangi, who was playing Don Juan. I then remembered what Erik said to me the previous night: "Don't worry, my Christine. Everything will be just fine." He said, a devilish smirk on his half perfectly handsome face.

I still didn't know what he meant by that, but he was up to something.
The chorus came onto the stage and danced on the wooden floor painted in the colors of red and orange, creating flame-like designs and spread drapes onto the table in the middle of the scenery. I was standing off to the side in my costume. It was a beautiful dress of peach color adorned with complex black embroidery, a hand-embroidered stomacher with red flowers, an apron with luscious golden lace and a black shawl with colorful flowers and black beads. The skirt ended above my ankles, showing off my dark brown boots.

My time came and I went on the stage, carrying a basket of red roses and fruit.
"No thoughts within her head, but thoughts of joy.
No dreams within her heart, but dreams of love." I sang coming in front of the audience and I sat onto the bench that was on the stage, picking out a red apple, pretending to polish it on my skirt.

"Passarino..."
I heard a heavenly voice half-sing, half-whisper.
"Go away for the trap is set and waits for it's prey..."

All the words said over the course of the last day or so suddenly all made sense to me.
And I knew that the man who played Down Juan wasn't Piangi, but Erik.

How he got to the stage is beyond me, but he always surprised me at the most unexpected moments.

He slowly approched me from behind, singing the song.
"You have come here
In persuit of your deepest urge.
In persuit of that wish, which til now has been silent."

I turned around to see his golden eyes staring at me from behind a black mask. He was signalling for me to be quiet and I obeyed.

I played my role and so did he. He walked slowly and gracefully towards me like a cat sneaking up on a bird.
"Past the point of no return
No backward glances.
Our games of make-believe are at an end."

I have to say Erik definitely excelled at pretending too. Although he seemed to be quite not himself around the last visitor to his home, who was Nadir, he now seemed so confident and the whole theater was watching him.

How many times are you going to surprise me, Angel?
I thought to myself.

"Past the point of 'if' or 'when',
No use resisting
Abandon tought and let the dream descend."
He sand as he was inches away from me.
His hands then wrapped around me and I brought my hands up to his.
"What raging fire shall flood the soul?
What rich desire unlocks it's door?
What sweet seduction lies before us?"

He continued and took my right hand, helping me to stand up from the bench. He then led me through the stage, letting my hand go just before he stopped signing.

"You have brought me to that moment where words run dry.
To that moment where speech disappears into silence...silence."

I took a glimpse into the backstage part that was visible to the actors on stage. The small corridor was crowded with the ballet girls, who were looking at Erik like a cat on a piece of bacon.
I quickly gave them a death glare before I continued to sing.

"I have come here, hardly knowing the reason why.
In my mind, I already imagined our bodies entwining, defenceless and silent.
And now, I'm here with you.
No second thoughts.
I've decided."

I climbed up on top of the table, at first laying down, but I later sat down on it while Erik was looking at me from the bench. He then climbed up at the table as well, joining me.
We started singing together, our voices fusing into one.
We then entwined our bodies with one another and we sang the final notes.
"We've passed the point of no return..."

I woke up in the swan bed the next morning, with Erik by my side. His arms were around me and his face had a peaceful smile on it.

I kissed his unmasked cheek and his eyes slowly opened.
"Good morning, Christine."
He whispered and stroked my cheek.

"Good morning" I said, a smile creeping to my lips.
"I think we should get out of the bed." I suggested.

"I'll go and prepare something for breakfast." I announced after I got into a dress and went to the kitchen.

"No, my love. You always make breakfast." Erik said to me hugging me from behind. I loved how he has started to constantly call me his live, darling or any other nickname he gave me.
"I'll cook today."

"Okay, but can I at least help a tiny bit?" I asked, glancing up at him, making puppy eyes.

"Oh Christine. You know how I cannot resist those eyes. Okay."
He said and led me to the kitchen.

We were in the middle of our work, when we heard footsteps in our lair. Erik immediately snatched his Punjab and we tiptoed to the entrance to the lair.
Who we saw there was no one else but Nadir.

"Oh, there you are, lovebirds!" He called when he spotted us. I immediately turned as red as a tomato.

"What are you doing here?" Asked Erik, already annoyed.

"I just wanted to tell you that you two were great yesterday! The performance was the best I have ever seen!"
Erik seemed to let out a sigh.
"And I also brought you a newspaper and the fellow managers of this place are sending you this."
Nadir said and pushed newspapers and a note into Erik's arms.

"I better be going now! I don't want to interrupt you."
Nadir stated and ran off.

Erik straightened the newspaper and on the front page it read:

A marvelous new performance at the Opera Populaire

This new opera, entitled Don Juan Triumphant, sure is the most unusual piece the Opera Populaire has presented us. With it's darker themes blended with themes of unconditional love it is a sight to behold.

It's premiere was yesterday and it was an amazing spectacle to look at.
The cast for this performance was announced a few days ago with the marvelous soprano, Christine Daaé, previously seen as Elissa in Hannibal and Serafimo in Il Muto, playing the lead female role of Aminta.

And we must say she was truly spectacular. Although some people did question the choice of giving the young actress such a risque role, she has shown us a whole new side of herself and just how versitile she can truly be.

Although the role of Don Juan was announced to be played by Ubaldo Piangi, the opera's main tenor, the role was passed onto an another actor at the last moment.

And we only can say that we really liked this new, unknown actor.
He and Christine Daaé sure have some chemistry onstage. We only hope that we will see more of both him and miss Daaé in the run of Don Juan Triumphant.
The music was miraculous and this opera is surely the best we have ever seen.

Erik smiled slightly and pulled me closer to him. "I am so proud of you." I whispered into his ear.

"No, Christine. Us."

"Yeah, us..." I pecked him on the cheek. "What are the managers writing you?"

Erik took his letter opener and teared the top of the envelope apart. The letter inside said this:

Mister Opera Ghost,
We would like to inform you that what you did last night can be only taken as a sick joke. To poison the lead was the worst thing you could have done.

However, we would also like to thank you for taking the lead. We didn't have a lot of expectations for good reviews, since the reviews of Il Muto did already start to mention that Mister Piangi is always in our plays and that they would love to see for once a new male lead. Your performance yesterday got us amazing reviews and that is the reason why we sent this letter.

We would like to form a contract with you to be our lead for Don Juan Triumphant. Please, come to our office on the 30th to discuss the contract and if you don't wish to form it, let us know by sending a letter.

Managers of Opera Populaire,
Richard Firmin and Gilles Andre

"That is amazing, Erik!" I squealed as I finished reading it. "We can play together on stage!"

"I don't know, Christine. I think that I wouldn't make it past Act 1without messing up."

"Oh, come on! You were up on the stage yesterday and you made it through the entire opera. And the audience loved it! Please, do agree to play in there." I begged.

"Okay, we shall come to discuss the matters with the managers on Tuesday, okay?"