“Let’s not rush it, eh?” He smiled. “We’ve got all night. Let’s save it for later, make it special.” They kissed again.

“Good idea!” Amelia grinned, hopping up. “They could show up with our presents any moment anyway!” She looked pointedly at the “Do Not Disturb” sign which currently hung on the inside of the door. “Let’s look around!” she encouraged him, looking around the room. Directly in front of the bed, next to the door, was a long desk with a telephone and a folder on it, presumably with information guests might need to know about their room and the facilities at the hotel. Mounted above the desk was a large TV, angled down slightly so that it could easily be enjoyed from the bed. To the right of the bed itself was a sort of lounge area with an L-shaped sofa which hugged the corner and a low coffee table. At first, Amelia thought that the fabric hanging along both walls behind the sofa was just for decoration but then she saw the button on the wall and realised that it was curtains!

Intrigued, Amelia pressed the switch and the curtains began to draw back electronically, revealing that the entire corner of the room from the wooden windowsill that was level with the top of the sofa, all the way up to the ceiling, was window, giving them a panoramic view of the city’s theatre district.

“Wow!” She hugged Josh’s arm. “Isn’t this romantic? It’s going to be even prettier when it gets dark with all the colourful lights! Can we leave it open tonight? Please?” She looked up at him with puppy-dog eyes. For a moment Josh was about to express concerns about people seeing in from other buildings but then he noticed the tell-tale shimmer on the glass which told him that the windows were mirrored on the outside so they would have total privacy even if they stood naked directly in front of the windows.

“Of course!” He leaned down and kissed her again. “Did I hear right that the lady at the desk said we had a jacuzzi bath?”

“Yeah!” Amelia grinned, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the slightly ajar door which led to the bathroom. “In here I bet!” She pushed open the door and gasped. The bathroom was almost half the size of the main room and had a shower area with various heads and jets, probably big enough to five or six people to share, as long as they knew each other fairly well, shielded from the rest of the room by a clear glass scree but open at the front. The bath was on a slightly raised platform and looked like a perfect size for sharing. “Where’s the toilet?” She looked around, slightly puzzled. Josh looked around with her then spotted a door on the wall next to where they stood, opposite the shower. Opening it revealed a large, comfortable-looking porcelain throne.

“We definitely need to try this out after the show!” Josh slipped his arms around Amelia’s waist as she stepped up onto the platform around the bath and lovingly caressed the edge. She tilted her head to the side as he nuzzled and kissed her neck.

“You know,” She stroked his face, “this almost feels like a honeymoon sweet.”

“Well, tonight,” she kissed her tenderly and lovingly on the lips, “you can be my bride!”

With more than an hour to go before their restaurant booking, they left their bags in the room and decided to go look at the Christmas lights and shop windows that Josh had explored with Samantha just a few days earlier to keep her occupied while they waited to go watch Emily being butchered. Just like her recently-consumed friend, Amelia loved the window displays with scenes from different stories and Josh promised that they could explore the famous toy shop once they had checked out of the hotel the next day. When it reached twenty to five, they began to head towards the restaurant.

Realising that he should probably check in, Josh took out his phone and sent Laura a message confirming that they were safely checked in and on their way to the restaurant to which the reply came within moments:

“Good! Now put your phone away and make that little girl feel like your Queen or Goddess! Xxx”

Chuckling, Josh did as his wife’s message told him but Amelia gasped in alarm as she checked her own phone.

“What’s wrong?” Josh asked, seeing the expression on her face.

“Twelve missed calls from my mum!” She gave him a worried look, baring her gritted teeth. “I guess I’d better call her!” They ducked down a quiet side-street which seemed to be mostly the back doors or shops and restaurants, where deliveries were made and bins were kept, getting off the busy city high street to make conversation easier then Amelia called her mum back.

“Hey it’s me!” she greeted her brightly. “Yeah, having an awesome time, thank you! Yeah, sorry, my phone is on silent.” Josh could only hear Amelia’s side of the conversation but it certainly did not sound as if she was being reprimanded in any way. “Yeah,” she continued, “with Mr Martin. We’re going for dinner then to a show. Yes I will! Yeah, don’t worry, I promise I will! So why… Oh I see! Wow, really?” A beam of delight spread across her face. “Yeah of course that’s okay! Yeah perfect! Yeah we can talk about it on Wednesday. Yes,” she turned to Josh and rolled her eyes, “of course I’m still sure! Okay, cool! Well enjoy the rest of your trip. Yes, I will! No, I won’t. Yes, I promise! Okay Mummy, have fun! Love you!” She hung up the phone, eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Good news?” Josh asked, seeing the look of excited happiness on her face.

“Yeah!” She clasped her phone as if it were made of gold and precious jewels. “They’ve set a date for the Christening! Sunday, fourth of May!”

“Star Wars Day, nice!” Josh grinned.

“Star Wars Day?” Amelia asked, puzzled.

“You know!” Josh chuckled. “May the Fourth be with you?” Amelia rolled her eyes and slapped him playfully on the chest.

“Just think!” she told him dreamily. “On that day, you’ll get to watch me roast then get to to enjoy a slice or two of my juicy rump! I know you’re looking forward to that!”

“Oh yes!” Josh pulled her into an embrace and kissed her. “You’re going to be incredibly delicious! Wow…” He sighed happily but with a hint of wistfulness. “Fixing it date makes it all feel more real, doesn’t it?” Just like his daughter, his sweet young concubine was going to be roasted and eaten like a little piggy.

“Guess you’d better make the most of me while you can?” Amelia giggled.

“Oh I intend to!” Josh kissed her again. “I definitely intend to! You can rely on that!”

They arrived at the restaurant in good time for their reservation without being obnoxiously early. Since it was still really only late afternoon, despite how dark it was outside, many of the tables were still empty and those that were in use were occupied either by older couples or, judging by the way they were dressed, theatre-goers like themselves wanting an early dinner before their show. They waited at the lectern near the front door as instructed and were soon greeted by a smiling member of staff who took their name, looked up their reservation and showed them to their table, an intimate table for two near the window so that they could enjoy the view of the very festive city street as they ate.

“This is so romantic!” Amelia smiled, teasing Josh’s lower leg with her foot, knowing that they could not get away with too much obvious intimacy but unable to resist pushing her luck just a little. “Let’s hope they don’t ruin it by bringing me a pack of crayons with the menu!” Josh chuckled and held her hand across the table. While not as well-known a custom as in America, Daddy/Daughter dates, where a man takes his young daughter out for a meal to help her learn how she should expect a gentleman to treat her, were no unknown in Britain, especially in a big, cosmopolitan city. Anyone looking at them, Josh reasoned, would likely take them for father and daughter and find the scene adorable. Either that or, he hoped, much like the hotel receptionist, they would see how happy Amelia looked and decide to mind their business.

They did not have to wait very long before a friendly-looking waiter brought their menus, two the same, fortunately, and with not a single crayon in sight, then asked what they would like to drink. Josh ordered a glass of red wine and Amelia, wanting to seem sophisticated and not just wanting a drink she could have in McDonalds, ordered a St. Clements, a mix of orange juice and bitter lemon that her grandparents had introduced her to when they took her out for dinner over the summer. The waiter promised to be right back with their drinks and left them to look over the menu.

“Too bad there’s no…” Amelia began as her eyes scanned the menu then went wide as she spotted something. “Oh wow! They do have some Girl dishes! Look!” The main courses on the menu were divided into sections based on their primary ingredient, be that chicken, beef, pork, lamb or, to Amelia’s delight, Girl!

“Oh wow! So they do!” Josh chuckled, reasonably certain that his wife would have been very well aware of this when she made the booking. The Glory of Artemis sounds good!”

“What’s that?” Amelia checked for it on the menu, reading the description next to the name which did indeed sound very tasty but having a hard time connecting it to the title. “Ooh yeah that does sound good, but so do a lot of things! Do you think Artemis is the name of the girl the meat came from?” She turned the menu around in her hands to inspect it. It certainly did not seem to type to be printed every day to keep up with the specials.

“I think it’s a sort of joke.” Josh explained with a slight chuckle. “From what I can tell, it seems like a fancy version of Hunter’s Chicken, but made with girl rump rather than chicken breast, and Artemis was the Greek goddess of hunting. Calling it her glory is basically saying her bum was her best feature!”

“Ooh right, I know that feeling!” Amelia giggled, wiggling a little in her chair. “What about these others? Clorinda’s Delight?”

“Shepherd’s Pie!” Josh chuckled, proud that his knowledge of mythology and folklore was finally coming in handy. Several of the dish names made classical allusions while others were more straight forward and descriptive.

When the waiter returned with the drinks, Amelia ordered the Glory of Artemis while Josh opted for something called “Pride of The Mississippi” which seemed to be a piece of girl thigh, blacked Cajun style. The waiter complimented their choices and promised to be back quickly with their meals.

“Laura said you watch the original Phantom of the Opera with Sam?” Josh asked conversationally. “Do you remember it fairy well?”

“Yes, I think so.” Amelia nodded thoughtfully. “I thought Raoul was kind of a douche honestly, and Christine should have stayed with the Phantom who really loved her, rather than just wanting her as some sort of trophy wife!”

“That’s definitely how it seemed in the production you saw.” Josh nodded. “It came out around the time the one we’re seeing today was first released, with most of the same cast, actually, and things were re-framed quite a lot to make them fit better. In the traditional version, Raoul is a dashing hero and the Phantom is a lot older than him and Christine. Like, a lot older!” He put the emphasis on “lot”. “So people were a bit surprised by some of the places the sequel went, so I think that production they filmed was an attempt to bring the two a bit more in line.”

“I see.” Amelia nodded. “Have you seen it before? This one I mean.”

“Not on stage,” Josh sipped his wine, “but I had the concept album and there was a recording made of the Australian production that I saw. It was okay but quite a lot was changed and I felt like they didn’t quite get what it was about. I’m hoping this new production is closer to the original vision!”

“Well, we’ll see soon!” Amelia grinned, finding herself looking forward to the show almost as much as what would come afterwards! Certainly she had developed a great liking, bordering on an addiction, for sex in the past few weeks, sex with Josh specifically, but there was still something really nice about being treated to a romantic night out and getting to see a full-scale lavish stage musical in the theatre! “No spoilers!” she grinned. “I want to story to be a surprise!”

They continued to sip their drinks and chat about other things while they waited for their food, mostly about the party, how delicious Samantha had tasted, and Emily too of course, and how Amelia had got on with the various people she had been meeting for the first time. True to his word, the waiter returned with their food in a length of time that was just long enough to be reassuring that the food was cooked fresh but not so long that they had started to wonder where it had got to and whether the girl the meat came from was about to run in through the front door, sweating, panting for breath and apologising for being late!

“Wow! This looks so good!” Amelia gushed as she looked at her dish which came with sautéed potatoes and green beans. “So does yours!” she grinned, seeing Josh’s blackened thigh with seasoned wedges and some kind of leafy greens.

“Let’s hope it tastes as good as it looks!” Josh raised his glass and clinked it to Amelia’s in a kind of toast then they both happily tucked in. It was testament to the versatility of the meat, Amelia thought, that every time she had eaten Girl it had tasted different, very much taking on the qualities of the kind of meat traditionally used in the dish in question. Idly, she wondered whether the piece of rump she was eating, which she estimated to be perhaps a quarter of a buttock from a girl a few years older than herself, came from the same girl as the crispy bacon with which it was topped, between the layer of cheese and barbecue sauce, and also whether the meat Josh was eating was a different part of the same girl too.

She couldn’t imagine that a restaurant this relatively small in the middle of the city had its own on-site girl-butchering facilities, especially since Girl dishes only made up a small part of their menu, so the meat was probably delivered in from a slaughter-house or perhaps a more artisanal butcher’s shop like the one where Emily had been harvested and where, she, hopefully, would be going in a month or two to receive her own A-grade meat-stamp.

This set her thinking about her own meat and how it would taste. Out of everyone she had eaten so far, she would probably be closest to the girl at the fair, although she had been at least five years older which probably effected her flavour somewhat. Either way, Amelia was very happy that her family had agreed to hire professional caterers to cook her! Another thing she could not help wondering was whether it was eating her meat that the rest of their family and the other guests were most looking forward to or watching her roast, impaled, turning naked over coals, squirming and humping her spit as she cooked. She was certain that both would feature prominently in the memories people would take away from the event.

They took their time over their main courses, sharing pieces of their own with each other so that they could experience the taste of both, then ordered relatively small desserts, conscious of the time and that not only would they likely be having some kind of sweet treats during the interval of the show but but that they had also been promised a gift basket to enjoy when they got back to their hotel room.

With their meal complete, Josh paid and thanked the waiter with a modest tip then they held hands as they walked to the theatre, stopping outside to take a selfie in front of the poster depicting the Phantom’s iconic half-mask in front of a brightly lit Ferris wheel.

“Love Never Dies!” Amelia exclaimed, reading the name of the show above the theatre door and squeezing Josh’s hand. “I hope that’s true!” He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips then they went into the lobby and looked at the merchandise kiosk where CDs of both the original concept album and the newly recorded cast album of this twenty fifth anniversary revival production, the original “Phantom of the Opera” novel with a cover that matched the branding of this musical, T-shirts, key-rings, jewellery and other trinkets and even Phantom masks of three different qualities – simple plastic ones such as might be worn to a fancy dress party, sturdier vacuum-formed ones with some airbrushing to enhance their contours, and luxury versions made from formed leather, lined with soft kid on the inside and painted by hand. Promising that they could come back in the interval and look again once Amelia had got a feeling for the musical and its story, Josh bought her the souvenir brochure, filled with glossy pictures of the production, behind the scenes photos and sketches, interviews with the creative team and principal cast and an article about the real history of Coney Island at the turn of the twentieth century, which is where the story was set. He then purchased two bottles of painfully over-priced water from the bar and placed an order for interval drinks then, properly equipped to enjoy the show, they made their way into the auditorium.

Somehow, and Josh never failed to marvel at his wife’s abilities in this direction, she had managed to book them seats in the middle of the stalls, twelve rows back from the front, so that they had a perfect view of everything that would happen on the stage as well as the other smaller stages and performance areas that seemed to be arranged on either side and would presumably come into play once the show got started. There was no curtain covering the stage and, as Josh had always imagined from listening to the original album, the scenery was a shabby-looking corrugated iron fence with some tattered, peeling and faded posters stuck to it. Behind the high fence rose shadowy, skeletal remains of a burned-out amusement park which seemed to be projected from behind onto some kind of backdrop curtain, their shapes appearing to shift eerily, barely visible against an overcast night sky so that it was impossible to tell exactly what you were looking at.

A hush fell over the audience as three ragged figures, shrouded in grey-brown blankets, stooped with their faces concealed, shuffled into the auditorium from three different entrances and slowly made their way up onto the stage where they wandered around in front of the fence for a while as if searching for dropped coins or other valuables in the sand. The sound of crashing waves gradually came up as the house lights went down, punctuated with ominous squawks from unseen seagulls, and the three mysterious figures, one by one, gave up their searching and settled down to sleep against the fence, knees tucked and heads down or laying curled up on their sides so that they were barely recognisable as people, looking more like bundles of rags that had been rolled up and left against the fence.

As another mysterious figure walked slightly nervously onto the stage, Amelia slipped her hand into Josh’s and rested both on his lap. This figure was a woman, tall and dressed in a floor-length black dress with a full skirt, her head and shoulders covered by a shawl, presumably against the chill of the night. She ran her hand along the fence then lovingly touched the posters, lifting up the torn corner of one to see the full picture as she began to reminisce out loud, fondly at first, then with increasing distress, about the various acts and the venue where they had performed.

Slowly, like ghosts, the ragged figures rose to their feet and began to confront the woman, telling her that what happened all those years ago was her fault, that she had destroyed their world and their lives with her greed and selfishness. Appearing to recognise them, although the audience could still not see their faces, she expressed shock that they were still there, to which they responded that they had never left. Circling her like wraiths, they challenged her to remember how things had been, back when that place had been filled with life, possibilities and opportunity. It was then that the overture, a sinister, discordant waltz, began to play and the show began in earnest.

To be continued...

Along with the audience, the characters on stage were transported back in time to when the carnival had been a thriving and successful holiday destination, ruled over from a skull-shaped tower in the centre by the mysterious Mister Y. Amelia watched in awe as the story unfolded, Josh delighted both to see how much she seemed to be enjoying it as a totally new experience and also with the production that seemed to embrace the inherent weirdness and theatricality of the story. They watched as the Phantom, who had escaped Paris and fled to America with the help of Madame Giry and her daughter Meg, pined for Christine, how he plotted to have her come sing at his concert hall so that he could hear her just one more time, and the revelation that Raoul was now a bitter drunk who had gambled away his family’s fortune, living off his wife and jealous of her success, a very distant husband and father to their ten year old son.

In their room in the Phantom’s tower, Christine discovered the music box she had last seen in his lair below the Paris opera house, telling her who their host really was at the same time as Raoul ran into Madame Giry and confronted her, discovering the same thing! Of course this caused high emotions all around and Raoul tried to demand that they leave immediately but Christine refused, reminding him that she had a contract, which counted as a promise.

When the Phantom and Christine were finally able to confront each other, singing about the night they had spent together before her wedding where it had been dark enough that the Phantom did not have to feel ashamed of his deformed face and they had made love all night long, only for the Phantom to slip away before Christine awoke so that she would not have to see him in the daylight, Josh noticed Amelia squirming quite urgently in her chair, biting her lip the way Samantha always would when nearing climax. He could not blame her. Something about the rhythm of the music itself gave the impression of sex and, although the two fully clothed performers were simply stood facing each other, fully clothed, the scene was incredibly erotic! As the song continued, becoming more passionate and urgent, Josh felt Amelia’s hand slip from his and begin to stroke him through the front of his trousers. Of course his manhood could not help but respond to her touch and he resolved at that point to play the soundtrack for her later that evening once they were back at the hotel!

The pace calmed a little after that with a lot of politicking and arguments between the characters and the Phantom introducing himself to Christine’s ten year old son, Gustav, and offering to show him all the dark and hidden parts of his park that were normally off limits to the public before warning Christine that Coney Island is a dangerous place for small boys and that, if she should try to leave before fulfilling her promise to sing for him, young Gustav may meet with a tragic accident! While Christine and Raoul were arguing some more, the Phantom’s minions, the three who had confronted an older Madame Giry at the beginning, came and spirted Gustav away and took him to the Phantom.

What followed seemed to come as much as a surprise to Amelia, judging by her reaction, as it did to the characters on stage as the Phantom realised that Gustav had a unique musical talent like his own and, not only that, but saw the world seemingly through the same eyes. Putting two and two together, the Phantom realised that Gustav could well be his own son, conceived during that one night he and Christine spent together, although he could not quite bring himself to believe it! What followed was a surprisingly sensual heavy rock duet during which the pair discussed their shared love of the strange, macabre and mysterious, finding beauty in things that others found repulsive or scary. Feeling confident that he had now found the one person on Earth who would be able to accept him as he was, the Phantom removed his mask, only to be devastated when Gustav screamed in terror and ran to his mother who had come to find him.

“Just checking,” Amelia leaned over and whispered to Josh, “you’re not secretly my Dad, are you?”

“Pretty sure I’m not!” Josh chuckled in response. “First time I met your mum was when she came over a few weeks ago!”