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Christine stared at the mirror to see herself in her full makeup, minutes away from marrying her angel of music, until she heard a gentle knocking on the door. "Come in, who is it?" She asked, fixing some stray strands in her hair.
Whoever it was at the opposite side of the door lingered. Silence. Something was wrong.
She heard the turning of a doorknob and the door creaked open. Her heart pounded hard against her rib-cage as she dared to sneak a glance at her visitor's reflection through her mirror. She stifled a gasp. Her whole world collapsed.
It was Raoul, her ex-husband in a suit and a red rose in his hand. He stopped to gaze at her in her wedding dress and seemed to have lost his words. His eyes watered at the sight of her.
There they were again, in a dressing room, with Raoul offering her a rose as it happened more than a decade ago.
Worlds ago, the sight of this man would have caused joy in Christine's heart. The world was so simple back then, the darkness of losing her father and light of joy his childhood friend gave her. The angel of music was only a mystery she wondered of in dreams.
Oh, to return to that time. The energetic young man who enthusiastically applauded at the excited singer, and only wanted to share a chance to be with her for the rest of her life. Going to that dinner date did not seem to be such a bad idea now.
"Raoul," Christine uttered so softly as the moment caught her in absolute weakness. 'What are you doing here?"
"I- I heard about the wedding," He began to speak, still partly in a trance after seeing her again. Drunken nights and lonely sunsets have not erased the memory of her in his mind, and to be across her felt like a apparition he didn't deserve to have.
"You shouldn't be here."
"I just- I just needed to see you. I somehow wished I didn’t leave right away, and ever since I’ve been wondering if I still had a chance, or if you were alright-“
"Well, I'm fine now." She adjusted her posture and kept her head high, as if to appear to Raoul that she has clearly moved on and did not want to see him. "I'm marrying Erik. He comforted me, he was there for me. I love him."
Raoul wanted to retort, to tell her to stop. Maybe it was stupid, but he itched for another chance. He stands there again, like the idiot he always has been, begging for what seemed to be a hopeless situation.
"I'll never bother you again after this Christine, but I just need this one last chance before I can ease my mind and move on." He gestured to her wedding dress with a bittersweet smile. He began to sing,
“You look beautiful as always
You never fail to take my breath away
He's a lucky guy to have you
How'd I ever let you slip away?”
Christine shook her head, backing away slowly. “I-“ She could not look at Raoul, oh his eyes that adored her ever since they were innocent children. “Raoul, I am so sorry-“
“And I am just as sorry, perhaps even more. I should not have given up so quickly on our marriage.” He neared her with pleading eyes. "We could still fix this,"
"Oh, I don't know." She whispered.
Their marriage would have been perfect. In another world, the Vicomte de Chagny would have found her again in the opera house, rediscovering a love that sparked for as long as they have known each other. There would have been no fears or secret engagements, and for sure there would have never been the incident that has led Christine to carry guilt throughout their ten years of marriage.
Perhaps she would have loved Raoul with all her heart if she had never crossed paths again with her angel of music. The lack of passion from her was evident early on, which made Raoul in turn resort to other things. There was no anger or violence, but clearly both of them had a flame of hope that died out slowly and surely. If the world was kind, she would have been gleefully in love and he would have never given up.
He continued to sing.
“In a completely perfect world the two of you would not have met
You wouldn't look so radiant there in your wedding dress
But this is not a perfect world and I know I should not be here”
Christine dreaded the next words that she was about to hear. She braced herself as tears began to form in her eyes. She turned away before he could see her face. There was no time for this now.
She attempted to walk away before Raoul held her hand.
“Just have to say one thing before you disappear
Again”
He knelt with the rose directed to her. He pleaded.
“I love you still
I've never stopped, who knows if I will”
Christine had the strength to pull away, ignoring his declaration of love as if it meant nothing. So many emotions have now surfaced, and she did not know which to feel, and which ones were right.
Raoul, still kneeling, did not stop singing,
“I don't want to see us end
So here I am, hoping you'll come home to me
Again”
She shook her head as she clearly tried to avoid him. Everything seemed so straightforward a few minutes ago, when she buried each memory of Raoul deep. She sat down on her chair, checking her makeup in an attempt to do something else.
Raoul rose slowly as he continued. He approached her trying to lock eye contact with her, and did not give up on trying to get through to her.
“Please say something, say anything at all
I can't handle the silence
Yes I know this is not the place or time
But I can't bear that I may lose you”
He took her hands and leveled himself with Christine sitting by going on one knee. She finally turned to his direction, evident she had tears and so much to say. Despite that, she kept an agonizing silence.
“If I could turn the hands of time
And have a chance to right my wrongs
Would have loved you twice as much, held you twice as strong
I should have never let you know
The night you walked away to leave
But now that we are here, there's one thing that I need
To say”
A tear finally escaped from her face. His hand gently approached to wipe it away.
“I love you still
I've never stopped, I don't think that I will
I don't want to see us end”
“It’s almost time for the ceremony,” She muttered. "I'm sorry, I can't deal with this-"
Raoul continued, now kneeling and pleading with all his heart, close to crying with each line.
“And here I am hoping you'll come home to me again
And I'm down here on my knees again
Begging you not to marry him
If you do I know my heart will break
There is only so much it can take
Come with me, go on take my hand
Leave him a note, I'm sure he'll understand”
Christine, stood up, no longer avoiding what has been building up in her chest. With no restraint, she cried as she spilled out the words. "Raoul, where was all this before? Did you know that I had doubts after picking him, that perhaps I was wrong, and I sometimes wished I could get a second chance because Raoul, you deserved better, so much better..."
"And to you Christine," Raoul replied, now crying. "What happened to us?"
"I loved you, I think. We could have made our love work in those ten years, but look at us. After many sleepless nights of regret, silent tears, I finally told myself some sense that this was over. I made my choice, and there was no turning back. And you come to me, now, minutes away before my wedding, for a chance that I might have considered ages ago!"
She shook her head. "It's not fair. It's too late now... too late..." She wiped away her tears as she gained strength again.
Raoul, still kneeling, softly sang the last few lines. His sobs made it difficult to get through it, but he managed to make his last message heard.
“I love you still
I've never stopped, I know I never will
Please don't let this be our end
Here I am praying you'll come home with me...”
"Christine, are you ready?" A voice called from the other side of the door accompanied with a couple of knocks.
Christine walked toward the door, turning to look at the man that would have been, should have been, the love of his life.
"Things have changed, Raoul."