"Cath's been gone for almost an hour. What do you think has happened to her?" Mariah asked worriedly.

"It's only been thirty minutes. I'm not sure what's happened to Cath. I'm not even sure why I'm standing here. Would you mind explaining that to me?" Caleb asked with some irritation. He had been planning to meet his friends at a local bar and hang out, but instead he was here doing God knows what, for God knows what reason. At this point, Caleb was tired and he wanted to go home.

"You remember that freak at stage door two nights ago?"

"I think so...It's been a long day."

Mari's eyes shifted nervously around the room. "Caleb, I think he's been sending her notes. She thinks she's meeting him."

"I don't understand. Why do you care if she meets with some guy?" Caleb asked in confusion.

Mari curled her lip in disgust. "My God, Caleb you're utterly hopeless. Your girlfriend is in there chatting it up with some stalker in her mirror. That doesn't concern you?"

"He can't be in her mirror," Caleb argued. "All it is is a storage space. There's barely enough room for a small child in there, let alone a grown man. Believe me, I've tried."

"You know what, Caleb?" Mariah groaned in exasperation. "Just go home, alright? You're giving me a migraine."

"Fine. When you see Cath, tell her to call me. I have something very important that I want to ask her."

As Caleb turned away, Mari growled aloud and pretended to strangle him with her two tired hands. "Idiot! Degenerate!" She repeated to herself bitterly. It seemed she would have to take this into her own hands.

—————

Catherine had been singing for Christopher this entire time.

Finally at last, the poor man found the courage within his heart to ask the dreaded question. As the music stopped, he felt nervously around for his mask. "Why do you not shun me?" He asked in confusion, his voice breaking ever so slightly.

Catherine, seeing his groping, snatched the mask and held it behind her back. "Why would I shun you?" She questioned.

"Please," he whispered, reaching out his hand and covering his face. "Please, give it to me, and I will answer you."

Catherine pulled his hand down gently. "Tell me, and then I'll give it to you."

Tears welled in Matthew's light blue eyes, covering in waters. "A man as ugly as I am is capable of startling many a person."

Catherine took his face in both of her small hands. She looked him square in the eye and said, "There is not one thing wrong about you."

"You're a funny kind of girl, Catherine Daei," he laughed sadly, a few stray tears rolling down his cheeks as he looked at her in breathless adoration.

"Oh my goodness, I could kiss this guy right now," Catherine thought.

"She's the one," Matt told himself, his heart aching and pulling inside him. "Catherine..."

"Christopher," Catherine mumbled, pulling him in close.

With a swift movement of his hand, he managed to procure the mask from behind her back and jumped two feet from her, placing it back on securely. "I've only known you ten minutes," he said with a little laugh. "Is it possible...dare I ask...for ten minutes more?"

"It's been more than ten minutes. And I'll give you all the time in the world if you take that mask off," Catherine smiled mischievously, biting her bottom lip ever so slightly.

"Your Vicomte de Changy would not be pleased," Matt replied with a small knowing raise of his unmasked eyebrow.

"Yeah..." Catherine laughed. "Could we leave the boyfriend killing out of this plot line?"

"If you so desire."

"If I'm being totally honest, I meant to break up with Caleb a little while ago. I just didn't have the heart to do it," Catherine confessed.

Our masked vigilante could barley find words. He murmured a surprised little "Oh," and then returned to silence. That certainly changed things.

Catherine's heart fluttered and she clutched her chest. By now, she knew exactly what she was feeling. She tried to put the thought out of her mind. "He can't possibly love me," she thought. The man was so...perfect, and Cath was very flawed. "What's your first name?" She asked after a few moments. It was the first thing that came to her mind, so she asked it. It was all she could think of. What was the name of this mysterious masked man?

He gave a small chuckle. "Christopher for now. I may yet live to regret that. Now, from the top of the aria?" He made a rather grand sweep of his arm towards the recording booth in the furthest right corner. Its contents were laid out, neatly organized and prepared just for her.

Catherine suddenly realized that her phone was ringing. She had just missed a call. "Twenty-three text messages and fourteen missed calls," Catherine muttered to herself. "My friend is trying to get ahold of me. Do you mind if I call her and let her know I'm alright?"

He gave a faint smile. "You best go. It will give me time to think. Besides, if I'm arrested now there will be no lessons in the future."

Catherine gave a sigh of disappointment and nodded. He was right. Mariah would likely send in the entire police squad after her if she didn't return. "I'm gonna kill you, Mariah Gerry," Catherine thought.

Matthew watched as she made her way to the elevator, those two strong doors closing her life off from his once again. He couldn't help but give a grin. He had loved a girl once, the only woman to ever love him truly and constantly. And yet even she had left him. He ran over to a computer system and opened up his Google hangouts. "Need groceries. Have news. Come at once. Your friend, Matt," he typed.

—————

When Catherine reached her room, Mariah was there waiting for her.

"Where were you?" Mari exclaimed. "I was worried sick."

"I was with a friend," Catherine replied, her heart still fluttering.

"Oh my God," Mari exclaimed, tackling her in a hug. "If I wasn't so glad you're not dead, I'd kill you!"

"Mariah, I'm fine," Catherine said, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Cath," Mari frowned nervously, "what happened?"

Catherine grinned and twirled her friend. "I met a man," she giggled.

"Oh?"

"Mari, I think I'm in love," Cath said with a twinkle in her bright blue eyes.

"With who?" Her friend exclaimed in great concern. "The wallpaper?"

"Christopher, the masked man," Catherine sighed. She knew that Mari wouldn't believe her, but she didn't care.

"Masked man?" Mariah questioned. "Cath, are you alright?"

"I'm not crazy!" Catherine exclaimed in frustration. It probably didn't help her case. She calmed herself before saying, "I'm going home."

Mari gave a sigh and rested her hand on Cath's shoulder. "Cath, I'm sorry. Try not to misinterpret me. I mean no cause for offense. I only would blame myself if something were to happen to you. It isn't 1870 anymore. Masked men mean trouble."

"I know you mean well," Catherine sighed, "but Christopher isn't trouble."

Mari's face changed ever so slightly. "Christopher? Christopher who?"

"Nobody. You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"His last name," Mari said with increasing urgency. "Did he tell you his last name?"

"Yes," she lied. "Thompson."

Catherine knew that her friend would likely be going to the police. Giving them a wrong name would definitely throw them off Christopher's trail.

Mari gave a suspiciously loud sigh of relief. "Thank God. I thought it might had been...of course that's impossible. Nothing. Never mind. Have you seen Jeremy? He was supposed to take me home."

"It wasn't my father," Catherine said, guessing the end to her friend's sentence. "Christopher isn't even the man's first name," she added, immediately regretted divulging that information. "And, no, I haven't seen Jeremy," Catherine said quickly, hoping her friend didn't hear her prior statement.

"No...there was a guy here...long before your time. I was thinking..." she checked her watch and adjusted her side back, sending a sweet tempered smile in Cath's direction. "I should wait outside. Walk with me? Did I.T. Guy show up?"

"No, he didn't," Cath responded, recalling that she had asked the man to meet her in her dressing room. "I wonder what became of him."

"Probably found a microphone that was far more attractive," Mari snorted.

"Probably," Catherine laughed. "There's Jeremy over there."

Mari gave a nod in Jeremy's direction. "You know how to reach me. I want the full story within the hour, okay?"

Catherine rolled her eyes at her friend's overprotectiveness. "Yeah, sure. Go. Have fun with your boyfriend," Catherine teased.

—————

"So," The young man in glasses grinned, stepping of the elevator with arms full of paper bags, "I got everything you wanted, plus four extra bags of popcorn so you'd shut up about my incompetence."

"Josh, will you stop babbling about popcorn? I met a girl!" Matthew exclaimed.

Josh gave a groan as he set the heavy bags onto the table. "God, I need to work out. Who's the girl? Cathy?"

"Yes, you do," Matthew said with a smirk. "How did you know I was speaking of Miss Daei?"

Josh turned around and pointed at the red welt on the back of his neck. "You see, I'm hoping that wasn't for nothing."

Matthew blushed slightly. "Yeah, sorry about that."

"Sorry about that," Josh mimicked in a high pitched voice. He sent a terrified glance in Matthew's direction, attempting to ascertain if he had invoked his delicate temper. His friend seemed too happy care. "So, it went well?"

"It was perfect. She sings like an angel," Matthew gushed. "She took off my mask and demanded that I tell her my name."

"Well if the ugly didn't scare her off, nothing will," Josh noted.

"She's definitely got a temper."

"No doubt of it," Josh laughed.

This was serious. Matt would have killed him for any mention of his burns. Josh had been talking about himself, Cath's determination to speak to him despite his homely looks. He had a whole punchline planned...

Matt was in deep.

"This could be bad," Josh thought to himself. However, looking at Matt's beaming face, he decided to assume it was all for good. "You'll get along grandly then."

"Is it too early to be in love?" Matthew asked, throwing himself onto the nearby sofa.

"Love," Josh laughed popping open a bottle of Shirley Temple, "Love is a lie they tell in story books and operas. Only a word." He tossed Matt a drink and flopped down beside him, "Friendship however, understanding, are the most realistic, basic gifts of the universe along with iTunes."

"Perhaps you're right," Matthew sighed. "Still, she's quite beautiful."

"It's funny," Josh muttered. "After two blows to the back of the from a close friend upon speaking to her, I'm afraid she's lost some of her charm in my eyes."

"She says that she's going to break up with her boyfriend, Caleb Richards," Matt said after a moment of recollection.

"Poor man," Josh chuckled. "He's a good sort of fellow. Worships the ground she walks on. He's desperate to please her. She doesn't ever seem to pay him much heed though. Doesn't matter to him. This will kill him."

"I'm sure he'll find someone else. I'm still wondering whether she will really break up with him or not. She said that she planned to do it a while ago, but didn't have the heart," Matthew reported with a frown.

"Who knows?" Josh sighed. "Will Apple products become paper thin? Will I ever get head phones that don't make my ears sweaty? Some of life's big questions require patience and time to be answered."

Matthew rolled his eyes. Josh didn't understand love. It didn't have anything to do with the latest Apple products, so why would he? Besides, with looks like that, he didn't exactly have his pick of girlfriends.

—————

Catherine returned home and immediately flopped onto her bed. She couldn't stop thinking about Christopher. "Why won't he tell me his first name?" She thought, wishing more than anything that she had someone to talk to about this. Mariah was concerned for her, and was quick to call her crazy. She didn't understand. At this moment, Catherine felt more like Christine Daaé than she ever had before. She knew that anybody she told about the masked man in her mirror would tell her that she was insane. What was she supposed to do?

There was something that just didn't sit right. Times were different now, people who were different weren't locked in cages or ridiculed. People with talent were applauded, they rose to great heights. What else could be keeping him down there? Was he just shy? That seemed unlikely.

She flipped open her laptop and cracked her knuckles.

Tap tap click clack.

"Christopher Phantom of the Opera," The Google search bar read.

"No, not Chris Mann," Cathy thought in irritation.

She tried again. "The masked singer."

"Marshmello?" Cath exclaimed. She angrily slapped the laptop closed. Googling him without more information wasn't going to get her anywhere.

——————

A few days later, Catherine decided to go get take out from her favorite French restaurant. When she entered the establishment, Caleb was sitting at a nearby table. He called out to her, and she sat down with him. The entire time, all Cath could think was, "I have to break up with this guy."

"...and I know we've only been together nine months. But they've been a great amazing wonderful nine months," Caleb said breathlessly, "and I don't think I need to look any further, Cath. You're all I want, all that I've ever wanted. I never want to leave your side again."

"What are you saying, Caleb?" Catherine asked in confusion. She hoped -no, prayed- that he wasn't implying what she thought he was.

"Life, by some miracle, has put you in my path, and when I'm with you, Cathy, I feel for once in my life that I mean something to someone. Now, I'm not a rich man," Caleb laughed nervously. "I mean...I'm an actor so that was a given, but...I want to spend the rest of my life with you Catherine. If you'll have me." He produced a small navy blue ring box and pushed across the table. Cath had never been fond of big speeches or grand extravagant proposals, or so he thought. So here they were, at the table where they were first introduced, a small ring box and his hopeful eyes fixed on her own.

Catherine didn't know what to say. Caleb was incredibly sweet, yes, but she didn't love him. Not truly. Was it better to break his heart or for him to marry somebody who didn't love him in return?

"I...I need some air," Catherine said, quickly grabbing her purse and leaving the restaurant. She went to the only place she could think of: the Garnier.