I don't know what I'm getting into with this. I'm blaming the coffee for this one. It's a Phantom/Casablanca cross-over, inspired by caffeine, the ALW film, and "Casablanca," of course. Reviews welcome...
Chapter One
It was quiet in the upstairs room of the Belle Vivre Cafe.
The nightclub was not due to open for another few hours and the chairs were still upturned on the tables, the piano still closed, glasses lined in shining rows behind the polished bar.
Erik smiled when he heard the sound of a woman's quick footsteps on the stairs.
A few seconds later, Christine was in his arms.
"Am I late, dearest," she said as she wrapped her arms around him.
"Not at all, love," he answered, kissing her foreheard lightly.
"I was so afraid I would be. I went to pick up my new gown from Madame Tribot and she gossiped for what seemed like hours. I couldn't wait to get away, to be near you. I see Sam isn't here yet."
Letting the young singer go for a moment, Erik lifted a chair from a table and set it down in a sqaure of sunlight near the large window.
Sitting, he drew her onto his lap and pulled the tortoise shell comb from her cinnamon-brown hair.
"Are you nervous about tonight, Christine," he asked, toying with her long curls.
"Just a little bit," she admitted, resting her smooth cheek against his, feeling just a hint of a five o'clock shadow grazing against her skin.
"You will be wonderful, Christine. You will sing like the angel you are."
"I do hope so, dearest! I want to...for your sake. You and Sam have put so much into this club. I don't want to let you down."
"And after, Christine?"
He slipped one large hand beneath her blue skirt, finding the softness above her silk stocking and garters.
She gasped when she felt his touch...it was so intimate, so unexpected. But she took his other hand and laid it against her breast.
"Are you ready for this, for tonight." he said, his voice hoarse and hot against the delicate skin of her throat.
"Oh, yes, Erik," she whispered, tangling her fingers into his dark hair, "I am ready for tonight...for you."
He could have taken her then and there. He knew she wouldn't refuse him. And it wouldn't be the first time he'd had a woman that way.
But not his innocent Christine.
Tonight, she would sing for him in that very room. Dressed in shimmering white, she enchant the cafe's patrons with her exqusite voice.
Later, in his small apartment above the club, he would remove that spangled gown from her sweet body and slowly make love to her for the first time.
The night could not come soon enough for either of them.