The Phantom Diaries Read Online Free PDF Page A

asked.
    His brow rose in surprise, but he offered nothing.
    “Maybe my insecurities and uncertainties are the mask I hide behind, while you wear yours plainly on your face.”
    He showed another spark of surprise, but only for a moment. “I thought women enjoyed mystery.”
    It was my turn to cock a brow. “Touché.” I couldn’t deny the effect the mask had on me. In addition to everything that was peculiar and exciting about my time with him, seeing only half of his handsome face left me constantly eager to see more.
    I glanced at the music sheets at the piano and remembered my first singing classes. The enthusiasm and confidence I’d naively displayed had been quickly dashed. “A few years ago I was supposed to sing in a play at school. Eileen, my cousin and nemesis, was upset she’d not been asked to sing. Just before going on stage, she berated me and told me I’d only been asked to sing because I was…”
    “Beautiful,” he finished for me.
    I nodded.
    “There’s no shame in realizing one’s own beauty.”
    I shrugged off his comment and continued. “She said my voice was shrill and irritating and that Mr. Roach, the music teacher, had only put me in the show out of pity. By the time I got on stage, my throat was paralyzed with a lump of tears. I tried to swallow, but couldn’t. And when the music began, I panicked. All those people were out there in the auditorium, just waiting for me to sing, expecting so much.   It was awful. I was awful. I never sang in front of people again.”
    “It’s time to get past that and move on.”
    I pushed the pain of that night aside and looked up at Eric. His compassion for my story was touching and I suddenly wanted to reach out to touch him. “Why are you doing this?” I asked as I clamped my hands together. “Why are you helping me?”
    “A true love of fine music, I guess.” He seemed so sincere and wise, I knew his heart was in the right place. “Having heard Marie put her false emotions into the music for the past months, it’s refreshing to hear how the songs were really meant to be interpreted.
    “I’ve always felt music was the best way to express oneself,” he continued. “It has always been a part of me. I think it’s a part of you as well, you just have to believe it.”
    “You know this music so well, and you play it with such intensity. It’s almost as if you wrote it yourself. Where do you find the passion?”
    “I know the pain of which the music speaks.”
    “You seem too young to know so much about these strong emotions.”
    “Have you ever been in love?”
    I immediately flustered and knew he was aware of it. He reached up to touch my cheek and I was shocked by the sensation his fingers created.
    “How can one so beautiful not know such stirrings of the heart?”
    “I’ve always worked; always helped my mom. I guess I just never had the time.”
    “My one true love, Kristine, left me on the verge of insanity. It’s a far more powerful emotion than one can imagine. Kristine was almost as beautiful as you are and just as enchanting.”
    “She hurt you?”
    “Love can be painful enough to leave you fleeing all that you hold dear. I left Paris and came to New York soon after.”
    “Paris? How romantic.”
    He grinned, but was obviously pained by the emotions his memories left him with. “My only love now is the music and my only concern is assuring this opera conveys the notes, the heart and the soul it was meant to express.”
    “I’m just not sure…”
    His eyes hardened and his lips tightened. He got to his feet and stood just inches away from me. My eyes went to the piano, now closed and silent.
    Eric’s strong fingers caressed my cheek, and took a firm grasp of my chin, pulling my attention up to his eyes. “The time for insecurities and doubts has passed. This is not a school play and I’m not your jealous cousin. I know the music. I know the emotion each note and word is meant to evoke. And I know that you are the