The Man behind the Mask (The Phantom of the Opera)

Chapter 19

"What are you doing here?" The Phantom asked when I walked in.

I jumped a little at his voice. This time I didn't break a vase or knock over any of his lamps.

"I just wanted to say thank you." I answered.

"For what?" He asked.

"For tutoring me. With our voice lessons I not only got to stay at the opera house, I also got promoted. I'm now the lead in our next musical and I get to continue on with the lead role for the play we are doing right now." I said.

"I guess congratulations are in order then." He said.

"It was because of your teaching and a little luck as well. Carlotta couldn't get out of her dressing room. She said the door was locked but it must have been stuck." I said.

"She may be right about the door being locked." The Phantom said as a sly grin was coming into his face.

"Wait how would you know that?" I asked. And then it hit me.

"You locked the door!" I exclaimed.

"I was just giving you your best chance." He responded.

He then started to laugh and I couldn't help it, I started to laugh as well. This was the first time I actually saw The Phantom happy about something.

"She got fired for that too!" I said in between laughs.

"Serves her right, she never deserved the leads in any of those plays." He said.

Then he got serious again. There was an awkward silence between us for a moment. I wanted to say something but I could tell he was lost in thought. Every so often he would say something that would remind him of his past. It was one of those moments right now. I always wanted to ask him what he was thinking about and what made him so sad. But I didn't want him to get mad at me, especially since we were coming friends. I finally broke the silence because all of the sudden I had a fit of coughs.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah I'm fine. I'm just dying here but I'll be alright." I say in between coughs. "I didn't come here just to talk about tonight."

"What is it then you came to talk about?" The Phantom asked.

"I wanted to ask you if you would still tutor me." I said.

The Phantom was very quiet for a moment which made me nervous. I don't like to have to many awkward silences so I just started blabbing out sentences.

"I mean you don't have to if you don't want to. I'm sure you have much more important things to do with your time. I've already learnt so much with you I would be fine and I could find another tutor but I don't want to." I said really fast.

"Why don't you want another tutor. I'm sure there is someone who isn't as dangerous as me." He said.

"It doesn't matter to me if people think your dangerous. You are the best tutor I've ever had and plus I started to like you." I said.

The Phantom looked at me wearily and he looked surprised. It was only just then I realized what I said could have sounded funny.

"I don't mean like you as in like like you. But as in I've started to like you as a friend." I quickly babbled out.

"Ah I see, in that case I would be honoured to continue to tutoring you." He said with a slight smile on his face.

"Great! Thank you so much!" I exclaimed. After an awkward silence I started to head back. "I better get going."

Just as I was about to walk away I remembered something I wanted to say to The Phantom.

"Before I go I still have one more request." I said.

"Well what is it then?" He asked raising an eyebrow at me.

"The thing is the new owners, Derek and Sawyer which my friends are totally obsessed with. Jen is always following Derek around. She's actually kind of stocking him now that I think of it." I said lost in thought. "Anyways that's not the point." I said trying to get back on track.

While I was still talking about the Smith brothers The Phantom started laughing at me. I was confused for a second and I was about to tear up.

"What are you laughing at?" I asked him.

"Nothing I just like seeing how much you care about stuff that's happening in your life." He answered.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Every time you talk about your family or friends or even music your face starts to light up. Over time I've come to notice what's important to you." He said.

"Why have you noticed who's important to me? You're  not going to hurt them are you?" I teased.

"No I wouldn't hurt them, I'll just kill them." The Phantom said in a serious tone.

I was confused for a moment but then we both started laughing at the joke. This was the second time I've seen him laugh tonight. Maybe he was starting to warm up to me and we could possibly become friends.

"What was it that you wanted to ask?" He said.

"Well the Smith brothers are hosting a ball. It's to celebrate the grand reopening of the opera house. And each person who works there is allowed to invite one person to accompany them as there guest. Jen is inviting her sister Becca, besides that I don't know who anyone else is inviting." I explained.

"And who are you inviting? A loved one that's back home?" The Phantom asked.

"No I wanted to invite you." I said. "As a way of saying thank you for basically getting me my job." I quickly added.

The Phantom was quiet for a moment but then he looked at me with a pained look on his face.

"I'm grateful that you invited me but I'm afraid I can't go." He said turning his head away from me.

"I understand, if you were to come you would get caught. When will we continue our lessons?" I asked trying not to cry.

"After the ball, until then I wish you the best of luck." He said.

"I will keep you posted on news of the ball. Besides that I'll see you in a couple days." After I said that I walked away with tears down my face. I don't know why I was crying over him. But my feelings for him, even if they are just friendly, are starting to scare me.