The Man In the Mask {POTO}

Chapter 1

Tuesday Evening

Today was a normal day at Oliver's Book Nook. It was gloomy and rainy outside, but Christine Daaè liked it that way. She always liked the quietness of the store with the loud raindrops bouncing off of the windows.

Christine is what you would call an introvert. She loved being left alone with music, a canvas, and some paint, or books. She could spend all day singing, in an art museum, or in a store like Oliver's. She was about 5'8" with long, curly brown hair and vivid green eyes. She can never see her true, natural beauty, but she is constantly trying to find beauty in everything else. No one is more humble and compassionate than her.

Today, she was the only one working, besides Oliver who was back in his office doing paperwork of some kind. Oliver was a kind man who is like a second father figure to Christine. 

One day, in Christine's sophomore year of high school, she was walking down the street in downtown Naperville, a smaller city in Illinois, looking for a place to work. She needed to make some money. She immediately caught sight of a warm, homey looking bookstore she had never noticed before. She quickly crossed the street, went inside, and got the job on the spot. Oliver loved Christine's personality and love for life. He immediately felt like she was the best person that could work there.

Now, Christine is out of high school and still loves her job at Oliver's. She just graduated from high school last week, and was unbelievably she happy to be done with that! Now, Christine is working to earn money for college. She is taking a year off to raise all the money she possibly can. She applied at North Central College, a small liberal arts college in downtown Naperville. While she received quite a bit of scholarship, she still would be in crippling student debt; she did not want that tied to her for the rest of her life. Christine's father, Gustave Daaé, offered to pay half of it, but Christine refused. She wanted to help him as much as possible by paying for most, if not all, of the remaining balance on her own.

Christine's mother, Sarah Daaé, died at childbirth, leaving Gustave and his only child to live life without a wife or mother. Gustave often tells stories of his wife to Christine. He is happy to tell of the love of his life, even though her passing almost put his life to a halt. Christine is a spitting image of her, so it is hard to not always think of her and adore what an amazing woman she was.

Gustave and Christine are very close, for obvious reasons. They both love music almost as much as they love one another, and they both depend on one another for anything and everything. Christine wasn't very social in high school, nor did she have many friends. Of course, she was still involved with music and arts, but she never connected with anyone there. She only connected with one person: her best friend, Meg Giry. She counted on her all through school.

Gustave was always there for Christine, just like a father should always be. He not only had to be Christine's father figure but also had to sort of be a motherly figure as well. Christine has always looked up to the amazing man she is fortunate enough to call her father.

All the sudden, the bells on the door chimed, signaling someone was entering the shop. Christine wasn't really paying attention, she had her nose stuck in a romance novel that she just discovered and couldn't get enough of, so she didn't see that the person entering the store was her best friend- Meg.

"Excuse me, ma'am. I am looking for a teen romance novel," joked Meg in a different sounding voice, knowing Christine was distracted in her own little world and didn't notice it was her.

"Sure! The pla-" Christine finally looked up to meet the bright blue eyes of her bubbly, blonde friend. "Meg! What on earth are you doing here? I thought you were working tonight?"