Wishing That You Would Be Here

Chapter 29- Meg and I

(Christine's POV)

It was a cold day, December 21st. The opera house gave all actors and dancers a holiday for two weeks and I was roaming around the a bit abandoned halls of the backstage. My steps weren't as usually leading to the stage, the chapel or my dressing room, which was always filled with the scent of fresh flowers. This time, my footsteps led to my old dressing room, back when I was just a chorus girl.

I stepped onto the beautiful black spiral staircase and went higher and higher. With each step, I sang a simple song in my mind which we sang together with Meg when we first met about three years ago and we had time to freely roam around the opera house. We would sing the song as we went down the stairs and we would punch each other into the shoulder if we messed up the song. Meg came up with the song after I told her the story about Little Lottie and the Angel of Music.

"Father once spoke of an Angel,I used to dream he'd appear.Now, as I sing I can sense him,And I know he's here!Here in these rooms he calls me softly, somewhere inside hiding.Somehow I know he's always with me.He the unseen genius."

I sang softly to myself while walking up the endless spiral.

"Little Lottie thought of everything and nothing.Her father promised her that he would send her the Angel of Music." 

I heard a voice reply to me and I sped up, practically running up the stairs.

When I got to the top, I saw Meg sitting on the top step, her skirt gathered in her lap, her legs in striped gray stockings crossed and a playful smile on her lips. "I heard you sing as you went up the steps." She said as she slowly got up and smoothed out her skirt. "What brings you here?" She asked softly, leading me to the dressing room. 

"Well, I just wanted to ask you for advice." I told her and she smirked at me. 

"Don't tell me anything." She said with a constant smirk. "You were invited to the masquerade by your boyfriend and you came to the great and wonderful Meg Giry to help you with shopping for the perfect masquerade dress!" 

I stared at her in awe "How did you know what I wanted?" 

"Female intuition." She replied back through a chocolate she just threw into her mouth a few seconds ago. She got it from a huge box with a red ribbon on it with a note and an orchid flower next to it.

"But first, I need to change my dress." Meg said as she opened her closet. "Luckily I have a lot of-" she stopped as she got to see what was inside her closet. Absolutely nothing.
"I forgot I gave the dresses to my friend to get them washed up along with hers." She had a bit worried look on her face but it was automatically replaced with her usual smirk. "But I'm sure I can borrow something from you, right, Christine?" 

"Sure." I replied to her. "I have just the thing for you." I said taking her by the wrist and pulling her out of her room and down the stairs, singing our song as we went down.

We finally got to my dressing room and I opened the closet filled with dresses and I started digging through the clothes to find what I wanted. "Found it!" I victoriously screamed as I picked out a big bag from the bottom of the closet and I dropped it onto the pile of dresses which was almost to my knees. I untied to bag, pulling out two matching dresses, one red and one pink. I shoved the pink one into Meg's arms and I myself went behind the changing screen to put on the red one.

About 30 minutes later we were done and we looked like sisters. The dresses had a beautiful white and golden lace on the top and long tight sleeves trimmed with more lace. The top had three bloomed roses going down the lace just like buttons and the skirt was made of white and silver striped fabric with a beautiful lace trim and it had fabric covering it's sides and back. I put on a pair of brown heeled boots while Meg put on a pair of pink flats and light pink stockings.
"Okay, let's go!" Meg said happily and we went into the city.

"Oh my goodness I am tired."said Meg after we came out of the 8th shop with dresses. We didn't seem to find a perfect dress for the masquerade for either of us, so we sat down at a café to have a rest and a snack.
Meg ordered a croissant and hot chocolate and I had tea and a buttered up toast with jam. "Looks like we won't be lucky today." She said disappointed, slightly staring down the melting whipped cream on her hot chocolate. 

"Don't worry. Just one more shop left and we will go back." 

We wandered through the foggy streets on Paris and we got to the shop. An older lady greeted us immediately and started showing us different dresses. "Christine! I think I found the one!" Meg excitedly screamed at me and I saw her holding a long white dress trimmed with soft white feathers and lace. 

"Oh, so I see you picked the swan costume." The shop owner said. This goes along with it." She said, handing Meg a white mask decorated with feathers and little crystals and a hair pin consisting of a white bow and a few orchid flowers with small roses around them. Meg tried the dress on and it fit her perfectly, ending barely above the ground. 

"I am taking this one!" She happily said as she twirled in the dress. "Have you found anything?"

"I did find this one." I showed Meg the costume I picked out so far. The bodice of it had intricate beading and shifted from purple to pink in color. Frills of blue, pink and purple covered the bust and created two giant sleeves. The skirt was giant and fluffy, turning from bright pink to creamy white in color, with strings of beads and stars running down it. The outfit was made complete with a pair of shiny blue and silver boots, a silver tiara with a moon crescent on it and a silver mask with clusters of stars. "It is called the Star Princess. However, I am not sure about it. May I leave it here as an option if I don't find anything else?" I asked the shopkeeper.

"Sure, miss. I will have it kept for you for the next few weeks." The elderly lady announced and went to store it in the back of the shop.

Me and Meg came back to the opera and I bid my best friend goodnight. I wandered through the catacombs to Erik's home and I found him at his usual spot, on the piano bench.

"Hello Angel!" He greeted me with a smile and went to me, giving me a hug and kissing me. Aeisha was in his footsteps, throwing herself onto my boots and squeaking.

"How was today?" Erik asked leading me to the sofa, where he already had prepared a cup of tea for both me and himself. 

"I was with Meg in the city to shop for dresses for the masquerade but we didn't find anything for me." 

"Christine, dear, why did you worry with the dress? I already had one special dress kept away for you." He said surprising me a little. 

"Don't tell me you sewn an another dress for me." I said with a bit of worry in my words. 

"Don't worry, my Christine. I actually had this one custom made by a seamstress for you." He said, carrying in a big box.

I slowly untied the ribbon and lifted the lid. What was inside was the most perfect dress I have ever seen. "Thank you so much Angel." I whispered into his ear.