~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lucky spotted Liz in the park as he made his was back to Kelly's. He smiled to himself, stopping to watch her sketch. She was so focused on her drawing that he decided to let her finish. Whistling a tune, he walked away, missing the look of shock on Elizabeth's face by seconds.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Jason," she whispered. She looked once more at the pad, not believing she had drawn Jason as she had seen him the night before at the warehouse. The look of helplessness in his eyes as he dropped to the ground. She felt tears come to her eyes as she remembered the way he looked at her, begging her for help, without saying a word. And how she had to turn away from him. She ran her fingers over the page, as if she were caressing Jason's face. Her heart broke just thinking about it.
Looking at her watch, she realized she was supposed to meet Lucky for dinner pretty soon. Picking up her bag, she gingerly placed the sketch pad inside, and headed for Kelly's.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lucky heard Liz enter her room, and decided to give her a few minutes before he went over there. Running his hand through his hair he smiled to himself. Not being able to wait once second longer, he went over and knocked on her door. When she didn't answer, he knocked again. She still didn't answer, so he decided to sneak in. As he entered, he heard the shower running, and Elizabeth singing, rather badly. He chuckled as he noticed her sketch pad lying on the bed. Curious as to what had her so engrossed earlier in the park, he opened it up. The first couple of pages where old sketches that he'd seen before.
He decided to try one more page. He suddenly dropped the pad on the floor. Blinking, he looked at the pad again, making sure that he really saw Jason on the page. Using every ounce of energy he had to keep himself from tearing the page up, he closed the pad and placed it back where he found it.
Two seconds later he heard the shower turn off. Not sure what the sketch meant, Lucky left. Writing a note to Elizabeth saying he needed to see someone, Lucky set off for the docks....
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Elizabeth could've sworn she heard someone in her room. She quickly finished up her shower, and dried herself off as rapidly as possible. Wrapping the towel around her, she peeked out the bathroom door. When she didn't see anyone, she stepped outside fully. That's when she noticed Lucky's note. She frowned to herself. I hope everything's ok, she thought. When she turned around to get dressed, she noticed the pad lying on the bed. Holding her breath, she opened it to the picture of Jason, making sure it was still there. Did he see it? she wondered. She looked uneasily at the door, not sure of anything anymore...
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jason was walking along the docks, on his way to see Emily at Kelly's, but thinking about Elizabeth, hoping he might bump into her too. So engrossed in his own thoughts, he didn't see Lucky lurking in the shadows, watching him, wondering...
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Since Lucky had decided to cancel their date, Liz thought it would be a better use of her time if she went to the studio. At least she could be by herself and think. Maybe get a few emotions out on the canvas. She didn't notice Jason nearing Kelly's, and was surprised when he grabbed her arm as he ran to catch up to her.
Startled, she immediately pulled away from her aggressor, but when she realized who it was, her whole face lit up. "Jason! Hi."
He smiled back at her as he took a moment to catch his breath. "Hey. Where you headed?"
"My studio."
"Mind if I walk with you?"
"Of course not," she said.
When they reached her studio, Jason immediately made himself at home on the sofa. "I'm sorry I had to leave this morning. I thought it would be best in case Lucky came by looking for you."
Elizabeth waved off his apology as she dropped her pads on the sofa next to Jason. "That's ok. Actually, he did show up, so it was probably best." Turning to her table, she remember the rosebud. "And thanks for the rosebud. It's beautiful."
Not as beautiful as you, he thought, but he bit his tongue. Knowing she was in love with Lucky was killing him, but he couldn't stand to be away from her. He hated himself for it, but as long as he kept his feeling for her to himself, there wasn't any problems.
He noticed her sketch pads there next to him, "Mind if I look at these?" He didn't wait for an answer. Opening up the first sketch pad, he sucked his breath in. Elizabeth spun around, wondering what was wrong. She knew before she saw him looking at the pad what he had seen. She tried to say something, anything to distract him, but he was focused firmly on his face on the page.
"Jason..." she whispered. He didn't hear her. Studying every line, every curve on the paper, he finally looked at her with a shocked expression.
Elizabeth found herself spilling everything, "Jason, last night, when you looked at me that way, you broke my heart. I wanted to come to you, but I couldn't. I'm so sorry." The tears started streaming down her face. She walked over to the window to look at the gutted remains of the warehouse.
Jason couldn't tear his eyes away from the picture as the thoughts whirled
through his head. What does this mean? He wondered,
could she feel the same way?