A single red rose

Shopping

AMIELE'S POV:
Today was three months after the last performance of 'Il Muto', four days after Christmas, and three days until New Years.
And New Years meant the masquerade.
I celebrated Christmas with a lot of people, a giant collective of me, Cat, Jordan, Firmin, Andre, Raoul, Christine, Madame Giry, and Meg. Erik and I also had a Christmas dinner together after a lot of pleases from my side.
Me and Erik had become closer on three months, I didn't exactly know what kind of relationship we had. He focused mainly on his music but still gave me lessons every two or three days.
For Christmas I had gotten Erik a custom made music box that was made of oak. It had roses all on the outside with vines and thorns weaving around it made of porcelain. There was a little notch on the side that when you cranked played 'All I Ask Of You' and made a little porcelain man holding a girl in his arms spin. The wallpaper on the inside was a black and white music sheet, and glistened with the new look shine.
Erik had gotten me a silver necklace with a golden bird that had white music notes behind it, I wore it almost every day, proudly too.
Firmin had showered me with gifts, most of which were kept in a room designated to me at his house. He was quite rich honestly, and had been courting me for a full three months now.
The plans to get Erik and Christine were going good, operation red death was to be executed soon, in which Erik would present Don Juan and make Christine his star. Then making her fall for him in the opera, more effectively though.
I sighed and fingered through the racks or dresses, not one stood out, and masquerade was soon!
"Amiele what is wrong?" Christine asked concern lacing her voice.
I was about to answer when Catherine answered for me. "That's her thinking face."
I glared at her, "oh, well your thinking face makes you look sad." Christine mumbled.
"Or constipated." Cat added.
I smacked her playfully, "excuse me Mrs. I'm Pregnant, I can not control my thinking face." I countered acting hurt.
I heard Cat and Christine burst into giggles, "what's going on here?" Meg asked suspiciously.
"Amiele is thinking." Cat said between giggles.
"And what's so funny about that?"
"Her face." Christine replied this time.
I huffed and walked away, when I felt something tug at the bottom of my dress. I looked and saw the hem of my dress was caught in another dress. I gasped when I saw the most beautiful red dress right in front of me. It looked exactly like the Cinderella dress from the modern movie, except in red, and instead of little butterflies there were roses. And the straps more less poofy. "Oh my gosh." I whispered to myself in awe.
"That's the one." Cat stated, running her fingers through the fabric, "looks like Cinderella's dress, maybe you can find your Prince Charming that night." I smiled at her and hugged her tightly.
"Your the best friend you know?" I whispered happily. She replied with a hum and grabbed the dress, I looked at the price tag. "Five thousand franks?" I whispered to myself.
"Yep, be happy your guys' partners are rich." Meg said pressing her lips together.
"Aren't you going with that Jacques?" I questioned conversationally.
She blushed a bright shade of red, "yes, he asked me after ballet rehearsals yesterday." Meg replied shyly.
We all nodded and began moving towards the mask section, I picked a red lace mask that matched my dress in color. It was made of metal and let glimpses of my skin show, it had fake jewels embedded in between the lines of the design. I made a mental note to buy a single red rose to match the dress and add on the dress.
We all bought our dresses and masks, the total was a huge number, but I knew it would pay off with how pretty we would be.(no pun intended)
"So, do you know if it's a boy or a girl, Cat?" Christine inquired excitedly biting her lip.
"Boy, definitely a boy."
"How would you know, you know so early in the pregnancy and all..." I trailed off frowning slightly.
"Mothers intuition." She answered without hesitation, a smile gracing her face.
"So, any names yet?" Cat pursed her lips at Meg's question.
"Yes, Aris." She replied confidently, "I have always loved that name." I nodded, she predicted she would name her child that about five years ago. I smiled at the thought, I liked names but they always changed. Constantly too.
"Mademoiselles, we have arrived." Our chauffeur stated holding out his hand to help us out. We were greeted by a group of men in which splits and allows Firmin to come to my side.
He picked up my bags and took my arm in his, "Amiele, I was wondering if you would do me the highest honor of being my partner at the masquerade."
I knew this was coming, and I had no one else to go with.... And it's not like he was the worst company. "Of course, I would be delighted." I answered a smile on my face. He smiled widely and kissed my cheek.
No heat.
No electricity.
Nothing special, just a kiss.
I sighed inwardly, at least it wasn't the lips....