Music of the Night
By Lorie

"Stop fidgeting! How am I supposed to get your make-up on 
straight if you don't sit still? We're rushed as it is." 
The make-up mistress was losing patience with her. But, she 
couldn't help herself. Only a two hours ago it was decided 
she would go on as Christine Da'ae for that night's 
performance and she was jumping out of her skin with 
excitement. Melissa was sick and her understudy Gloria 
twisted her ankle at rehearsal that afternoon. Since she 
knew the part, she was asked to perform tonight. She said 
yes and broke the land speed record for a run through 
rehearsal with the lead actors. It was while she was 
getting ready that she realized what would happen at the 
show tonight. In character, she will kiss the one and only 
Paul Stanley! She had been a fan of KISS since her brother 
got the ALIVE! album as a Christmas present one year and 
played the records constantly. She was thrilled when Paul 
was awarded the role of the Phantom and couldn't believe it 
that she was actually going to work with him. Because she 
wasn't one of the main characters, she only saw him at 
rehearsals and at the performances. She never really talked 
to him, which was kinda good, because she knew she would 
make an idiot of herself. And now she was going to kiss 
him! He wasn't there for the rehearsal because of an 
interview so his understudy stood in for him. Paul was 
called and told of the substitution so he wouldn't be 
surprised, but that didn't help her nerves much. She was 
shaking so bad she needed help with her stage make-up. 

Alexa stood back and looked at her handiwork. "Fortunately 
the base covers your red face. Will you calm down! 
Everything will be fine," she encouraged the young actress. 
"Alexa, I finally made it. I've wanted to do this role for 
years." It was the truth. After all those years of waiting, 
she had finally made it. Alexa smiled, "And who you're 
doing it with is the icing on the cake." The phrase 'doing 
it' associated with Paul made her blush ever redder. After 
Alexa left she began to warm up her voice and stretch her 
legs. She did some deep breathing exercises to calm down 
and made her way to the backstage area. She was doing 
pretty good until Paul walked up behind her, gave her a 
quick kiss on the cheek and said, "Break a leg." It 
unraveled her so that she almost missed her opening cue. 
Fortunately, her years of training kicked in and she 
portrayed Christine perfectly through the first act. After 
she reached backstage at the intermission, Paul walked up 
to her. "I'm sorry about messing up my line in the mask 
scene. Great recovery by the way," he complimented her. 
"Oh, it was nothing. No one noticed the slip," she 
reassured him. "I noticed!" It was the director, angry as 
usual. "Look Stanley! You better not screw up in act two or 
there will be hell to pay. Now you two work on that kiss 
scene. I want it perfect! From the line 'You deceived me'" 
Paul walked over to a chair and sat down in the pose for 
the scene. Her legs could hardly work as she knelt down 
beside him, knowing what was to come. She sang the line, 
"Your deceived me. I gave my mind blindly." As the Phantom, 
Paul whipped around to face her, "You…try.. my…PATIENCE! 
Make…your…CHOICE!" Even though he was yelling, she couldn't 
help notice how beautiful his eyes were. He stood up and 
walked three paces away. That was her cue. "Pitiful 
creature of darkness, what kind of life have you known." 
She closed the space between them; placed her hand on his 
arm, "God give me courage to show you" He turned around and 
looked at her. She took his face in her hands; "You are not 
alone!" She stood on her toes and gave him a 'stage' kiss: 
press lips and that's it. She stopped and kissed him again 
but at the end of this kiss she felt the tip of his tongue 
on her lower lip. The director yelled, "CUT! That was 
perfect. Okay get ready for the Masquerade scene," then 
stalked off. Paul was still holding her, looking into her 
eyes, "I wish we had more time to practice. Later, maybe?" 
he asked. She stared at him dumbfounded.. She finally 
nodded her head and said a very shaky "Sure" and let go of 
him. He smiled, let go of her waist and said "See you 
later." He turned around and walked away. She sat down in 
the chair, her eyes as wide as saucers, not believing what 
had just happened. Jackie from wardrobe found her like this 
and yelled, "Will you snap out of it. Your back on in 
five!" "Huh?" she muttered as she came out of her trance. 
She realized what was going on and made a mad dash for her 
dressing room and got ready for the next scene. 

The second act was fantastic, even though she thought she 
would faint during the 'Don Juan' scene. Paul's hands were 
suppose to appear to glide over her body as the Phantom 
seduced Christine but he was really feeling every curve he 
could. The thought of him doing this in private was nerve 
wrecking but for him to do this in front of a full house 
was over the top. She silently thanked Andrew Lloyd Weber 
for the scream written for Christine. She needed to release 
the tension. When the kiss scene came, she tried to detach 
herself from it. Paul had other ideas. No 'stage' kiss for 
him. On the second kiss, he slid his tongue in her mouth 
and gave her a real kiss. When he let go of her, the look 
in his eyes was smoky with desire. In an instant, he was 
back in character. In the script it called for her to stand 
there in shock at what she had done. This time she didn't 
need a script. She almost missed her cue again to turn 
around and continue the scene. As soon as she was off stage 
she collapsed in a chair. Am I imagining it or did he 
really kiss me? she thought to herself. There was no time 
to think about it. She had to get ready for the curtain 
call. When she walked out to receive her applause she was 
handed a bouquet of red roses with a note attached. She 
stepped aside as Paul walked out to a standing ovation. 
After he took his bow, he grabbed her hand and kissed it. 
She played it casual but on the inside she was shaking like 
a leaf. He held her hand during the group bows and gave it 
a squeeze as the curtain fell. He turned to her, leaned in 
close and whispered "Read the note," then walked away. She 
turned and walked the opposite way to her dressing room. 

After she changed out of her costume, she opened the note 
in the flowers. It read:"Meet me in my dressing room before 
you leave. I have something for you. Paul" She read it 
again and again to make sure she wasn't dreaming. She 
hurried in getting all her stage make-up off and getting 
into her street clothes. When she was done she realized 
that he wouldn't be done removing his stage make-up so she 
walked as slowly as she could to his dressing room. Along 
the way, she received congratulations for a good 
performance and said her thank yous. She was only half 
hearing what people were saying because her mind was 
elsewhere. When she reached his dressing room, he was 
sitting on the couch wearing a black satin shirt and tight 
jeans. "I'm glad you came," he said in a low voice. He 
stood up, walked around her, closed and locked the door. He 
pulled her in his arms and whispered, "Want to practice 
that kiss some more?" He slowly rubbed her back while he 
waited for her answer. She could feel the heat of his hands 
through her thin shirt. In a bold move, she wrapped her 
arms around his neck and pulled his mouth down to hers. His 
tongue danced with hers in a long kiss. When he pressed her 
up against the wall she felt the heat of his body! This was 
everything she could ever wish for! She slid her hands from 
his shoulders and began to unbutton his shirt. As she 
slowly slid her hands up his stomach and chest to his 
shoulders, he moaned with pleasure. Then she pushed the 
shirt off his shoulders and it fell to the floor. "Now it's 
my turn," he said as he unbuttoned her shirt. He took his 
time undressing her. When he was done, he leaned over her 
and kissed her first on the mouth then on the neck working 
his way down. Her legs wouldn't hold her anymore. She 
started sliding down the wall. Paul caught her and carried 
her to the couch. He laid her down carefully and lay down 
on top of her. When he caught his breath, Paul told her he 
had been watching her ever since he started at the 
Pantages.  He tried to talk to her several times but 
something always interrupted him. "I knew tonight would be 
the night," he said as he stroked her hair, "the night the 
Phantom would get his Christine."

THE END

KISS4EVER!

Lorie