"Erik! Erik where are you!"

"I'm here…" I mumbled not sure if the voice I was hearing was in my dream or real.

"Erik!" I heard again. I peeled my eyes open and looked next to me. Alaina was still asleep. Now fully awake, I sat up and listened. "Erik!"

"Who in God's name is that?" I asked myself. The voice sounded familiar somehow but I couldn't place it with a person. It was different, strained, filled with hurt. I stood up, straightened my jacket and walked into my sitting room. My eyes widened as I saw who it was. "My God Christine what's wrong?!" She ran to me and threw her arms around my neck sobbing. She said something that I could not understand through her tears. I pulled her away from me and looked her in the eyes. "Has he hurt you Christine? Tell me the truth. Has he hurt you?"

"N-no," she sobbed. "H-he's gone! He's gone Erik! I've lost him!"

"Christine, Christine, calm down. What do you mean you've lost him? Lost who?" I asked.

"Raoul!" she cried. "He left! Oh God Erik, he left and it's my fault!" She collapsed to the floor sobbing and I kneeled next to her. It hurt me to see her in so much pain.

I stroked her hair and held her. "Christine, it's not your fault. It can't be your fault," I said.

"It is Erik, it is. I was bored and I wanted to go out for a while. I went for a walk and I-I came here, to the Opera. I didn't know Raoul had followed me. I saw a very dear friend of mine from when I lived in London and he took me to get a drink. When I was leaving I kissed him goodbye. Only on the cheek though! But Raoul…he saw me the whole time and he thought it was more than it was. I tried to explain but he's horrible to talk to when he doesn't want to listen. So this morning when I woke up he wasn't there. I asked one of our housemaids if she knew where he was and she said she had heard him talking to our butler about going to London." She wiped away her remaining tears and looked at me sadly. "So it is my fault. If I hadn't gone out then it wouldn't have happened."

"No, no Christine. Don't blame yourself. He doesn't realize what he's done by leaving you," I said. I looked at her and pushed a lock of hair out of her face. "I'm very sorry my dear."

"Erik, I don't know what I'm going to do. I can't be on my own. I just can't!" she cried. She buried her face in my shoulder and wept. I kissed the top of her head and held her in my arms. As wonderful as it was to hold her again, it hurt me terribly to see her in so much agony.

"You could always stay here if you'd like to get away from everyone for a while," I offered.

"Do you mean that Erik?" she asked.

"Christine, of course I do. I still love you," I told her. She smiled and kissed me. Taken aback, I pulled away slightly. "Christine…Christine, don't do this."

"What's wrong? You said you love me."

"I do, but you're vulnerable right now. Your husband just left you. I don't want to take advantage of you," I said.

"You aren't," she argued. "Not if I let you." She tried to kiss me again but I held her back.

"Christine," I said sternly. "Don't do this. You'll regret it later. I know you will."

She looked at me clearly hurt. "Erik why would I regret it if I love you?" she asked. Just then something worse than I had expected happened. "Erik, who is she?"

I turned around to see Alaina standing in the doorway of her bedroom. She drifted slowly over to us and looked inquisitively down at Christine. "Christine, this is Alaina," I said slowly. They were giving each other looks of such contempt that I feared speaking too quickly would set either of them off.

Christine turned to me, tears welling in her eyes. "So this is why I would regret being with you. You've wasted no time in replacing me I see!" she screeched. She jumped up quickly and started walking away.

I started after her and grabbed her arm. "Christine I-"

She turned sharply and cut me off with an unexpected and surprisingly painful slap across my face. "Don't touch me Erik! Don't touch me! I hate you! I hate you and I never want to see you again!" she wailed. Tears were pouring down her cheeks now and she looked ready to faint.

"Christine…my dear Christine…please calm yourself," I said, an irritated edge to my voice. She stood staring at me angrily before crumbling to the ground once again.

"How could you Erik…how could you replace me so quickly?" she sobbed.

Very cautiously I sank to the ground beside her, yet far enough away in case she decided to turn violent again. I slowly extended my hand toward her face and when she made no move to stop me I pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Christine listen to me," I looked around and saw that Alaina had gone; most likely back to her room, "I have not replaced you. I love you very, very much my dear."

"Y-you have a f-funny way of sh-showing it Erik," she stammered.

I sighed and moved a little closer to her. "You want to know why she is here I imagine," I said. She nodded and I moved even closer. She was sufficiently calm now and she rested her head on my shoulder. I absently stroked her hair as my story came out. "It was just yesterday. I found that my mind had once again drifted to you and refused to go any other way. I needed something to distract me so I went for a walk. Not far along I heard someone screaming. She sounded so frightened I had to see what was going on. I found her in an alleyway and she was in a considerable amount of trouble. A man had her up against the wall and I presume he meant to rape her. Anyway, I went in and I…I killed the man and saved her. She passed out and I didn't want to leave her alone so I brought her back here to tend to her until she was well enough to leave."

"That's all?" Christine asked, a small smile on her face.

"Yes Christine, that's all," I assured her. I looked down at her and kissed her forehead. I helped her up and we moved to sit on the divan. She positioned herself in my arms and rested her head on my chest. I began to hum softly and within minutes she was sleeping. I stopped humming and pondered the situation I found myself in. I now had two women, both needing comfort and, finding it only in me, I could not turn them away.