My Dearest Saffron

Chapter Nine

"There you are!" Alexander shouted, as he ran towards me. He wrapped his arms around me.

"What's going on, Xander?" I asked. "Is everything alright? Are my siblin-"

"Everything is okay, Saffron." He cut the end of my sentence off. He tore out of our embrace.

"Where have you been? I- We've been worried sick!" He said. He stared at me as if he was a mother finding her missing child.

"I was... Out." I lied. My mouth felt dry.

"Well...Let me take you out to lunch. It's the least I could do." He offered. Alexander shrugged.

"Uhm..." I stuttered. "Thanks...but no thanks." I faked a laugh, and attempted to get around him.

"No! I insist. We have at least..." He looked at his wristwatch to check the time. "Four hours until the show. And Norman found a small bistro about half a block from here."

I bit my thumb nail. What if Erik was watching? Is he thinking about harming Alexander, I thought. Whatever. It'll be fine. I nodded, and Alexander beamed.

"Let's get to it, then!" He said. I followed him out into the auditorium, and I shot a glance to Box Five. Nothing. I sighed in relief and headed out the doors. The lobby was empty, too. On the way out the door, we started talking about past rehearsals, much like the conversation Rosaria and I had a little while ago. We laughed until he said;

"We're here."

The bistro was just how Alexander had described it; Small. The brick building had a yellow and white awning, and a black sign reading, Affinité.

"Affinité?" He said, turning his head to the right. "That's affinity in French, right?"

"Yep!" I nodded, and he opened the door. The door made a slight ding when he opened it.

"After you, Mademoiselle." Alexander held his hand out, motioning me to walk in.

"Why thank you, Monsieur." I replied. We bursted out into laughter.

We walked up to a table, and a waitress with caramel colored hair came over to our table.

"Bonjour. Puis-je commencer avec quelque chose à boire?" She said.

"Bonjour, puis-je avoir un thé à la menthe s'il vous plaît?" I said. The waitress nodded, and motioned for Alexander. He looked at me.

"Il aura le même," I said. The waitress nodded and walked away.

"You never told me you didn't know French!" I shouted, and I hit his shoulder playfully.

"I was embarrassed! I only know how to greet people and stuff, but that's about it." He massaged his shoulder. I laughed a bit more.

"Well, you should've told me!" He started giggling, and that's when our waitress came back.

"Avez-vous déjà décidé quoi manger?" She placed our mint teas onto the table. I admired the porcelain teacup which the tea was in.

"Pouvons-nous avoir quelques minutes de plus?" I asked. She nodded and walked away. I took a sip of my tea. And so did Alexander.

"Oh my God, this is great." I nearly finished the tea in one gulp because it was so good.

"You're right. Good choice, Chris." I cringed at the nickname. Since I'm playing Christine, he calls me Chris. He's been doing that since he found out I was playing Christine.

"So... Where were you...actually?" He asked.

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me..." I reasoned. "But...Let's just say...I made a friend, and we talked last night." I set down the teacup.

He raised his eyebrows, teasingly. "Oh... And who might this friend be?" He said. I giggled.

"Oh... Nobody." I shrugged it off. He gave me a skeptical look. Our waitress came back, and I ordered for the both of us. He raised his brow. I couldn't stop smiling. I was honestly having a lot of fun right now. I haven't hung out with just Alexander, so this was an amazing time.

"So... How long until closing night again?" He asked.

"I think it's in four days." I replied. Our 24 performances were just about over. As sad as it is, I had a lot of fun during this run of Phantom.

"Wow... It's already been 20 days. How time flies." Xander took another drink of his tea.

"Am I ever flat on any of our songs together?" That was the first question that came to my mind. It was something I wanted to know, but it was out of nowhere.

"What are you saying? I mean, you're flat sometimes..." The volume of his voice lowered, but I could still hear him. I looked offended in the most over dramatic way.

"How dare you say that about such a talented individual, such as myself?" He bursted out laughing, and so did I. His gaze shifted across the room, and then back to me.

"I am kind of worried about you, Chris." He took another sip of the tea. "You don't show up for three performances, and you mysteriously disappeared last night. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. There's just been a lot on my mind lately." Another lie. I couldn't tell him about Erik. Speaking of...

~

After two hours of talking and recalling old memories, we got up and headed back to the theater. The rush of happiness came back to me as I walked through the main door. It felt magical to walk up to the theater, to see the glowing marquis, and the pictures of the cast outside the theater. My personal favorite picture outside is the masquerade scene, with the ensemble, Norman, and myself dancing around. Sometimes, I just sit there and admire the picture, enjoying the amount of talent put into the costume design.

"Chris? Chris? Come on, Saffron." I was taken out of that trance. Alexander was nudging my shoulder.

"Sorry. I love that picture."

He held the door open for me, and that rush increased. I smiled. I love walking into the theater, looking up at the chandelier, and just admiring the velvet house seats. The theater is something I admire, even though I had been brought here suddenly. I love this theater, and nothing can replace it.

We went up the stairs onto the stage, and then we headed backstage.

"We have like two hours until the show so... Bye, Xander." I waved to him, and I headed into my dressing room. It still smelled like cinnamon and roses, like it has since opening night. I breathed in, and turned on the lights. And there was Erik, standing there in the darkness. I smiled and ran up to hug him. When I did hug him, he tensed up, and then hugged me back. When we tore out of our hug, he smiled at me. I smiled too. He pulled my hand up to his lips and kissed the back of it. My face turned red.

"How are you feeling?" Erik asked.

"I feel fine. The headache went away." My lips formed a smile, and so did his. I enjoyed being in Erik's company, and I imagine he feels the same way. For a second I just stared into his eyes. I could just stare into them for hours. He stared back. My gaze shifted to his lips, and I went in for another hug. This time he didn't tense up.It was as if he melted into my arms.

I slowly tore out of our hug, and said, "I really should get ready for the show tonight..." His eyes sparkled with realization, and slowly headed for the door.

"Erik?" I called. He turned to face me. I gave him a smile as a response. He smiled back, and left my dressing room.

A/N: For the French words, I just used Google Translate so I'm sorry if any of the translations weren't accurate. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!!

WC: 1288