(The next day)
Struggling under the weight of her shoulder bag, Elizabeth made her way towards her studio. She was drained after her talk with Lucky last night, and had almost stayed inside instead of going to class, but instead, she pulled herself out of bed, forcing herself to start moving again. And she was glad she had. There had been a debate in her Art Interpretation class and she had loved every minute of it.
"Elizabeth."
Jerking her head up, Elizabeth caught sight of Jason as he jogged towards her. "Hey there," she said, a smile coming to her face. "I was just about to drop my things off and then go to Jake's to look for you. I need an ear."
Jason's brows furrowed. "Is something wrong?"
Shaking her head, Elizabeth took a deep breath. "Nope… no… I just wanted to talk to you."
Jason sighed. "I just came from your studio."
Elizabeth chuckled lightly. "How do you always know when I need you?"
Watching as she shifted her weight, Jason took her bag from her as he spoke. "I didn't. There's something I need to tell you."
Immediately, Elizabeth's eyebrows merged. "Is something wrong?"
Looking around, Jason put his hand on her back, leading her towards her studio. "How about we go to your studio and talk there."
Letting him lead her to her studio, both Elizabeth and Jason were silent until they were inside and the door was closed. "What's going on, Jason?" Elizabeth asked as she pulled off her coat and scarf.
Jason looked around the studio for a moment before looking back at her and Elizabeth held her breath. She had a feeling he was about to say something she didn't want to hear.
"I need to disappear for a while."
Elizabeth took a step towards him. "Are you in danger? Is someone coming after you?"
He shook his head. "It's nothing like that. You don't have to worry."
She took another step towards him, reaching out for his arm. "If you were in danger, you'd tell me, right? I worry about you, Jason." She clasped his hand with her own and both of them looked down to where their hands were connected.
"You can't know about business," Jason said softly, still looking down at their clasped hands. It looked right. It felt right.
Elizabeth looked up at him. "I'm not asking to. I just need to know if you're ok."
Jason brought his gaze back up to her face and the second his blue eyes locked on her, her breath caught in her throat. "No one's coming after me… not now at least."
Elizabeth let out a sigh of relief. She looked down for a moment, trying to calm herself. "You are coming back though, aren't you?"
Jason nodded, his gaze still focused on her. "I'll only be gone three days tops. I'll be back, Elizabeth."
Taking a deep breath, Elizabeth moved around to the table set up in her studio. "Thank you… for tell me. Especially since it's only for a few days. It… it means a lot to me that you'd search me out just to tell me."
Jason followed her movements with her eyes. "I didn't want you to worry if you couldn't find me… especially with what's been going on."
"With Tom?" she whispered, looking down.
Jason inhaled deeply. "It's not Tom, Elizabeth."
Her head jerked up and she looked at him in confusion. "It has to be. Jason, who else would know all of those details? And… and I SAW him!"
Shaking his head, Jason watched as she began to pace in front of him. "I don't know who's doing this, but I'll find out. But Tom Baker is still in Pentonville, Elizabeth. I had it checked out myself."
Elizabeth looked up at him. "Is that why you're leaving, to find out who's doing this? Because if it is, I want to go too."
"No… my leaving has nothing to do with that. But I have men working on it, and I'll be checking it out while I'm gone."
"These men," she asked slowly. "Did you tell them about…"
Jason shook his head. "They only know what they need to know. I didn't tell them about your attack."
Elizabeth took a deep breath. "I'm going to miss you. You'll only be gone for a few days but I'll miss you."
Jason reached out, brushing his hand against her arm. "When I come back, Elizabeth… when this trial is over… I'll get to the bottom of whoever is doing this to you."
"I know you will."
Jason forcefully exhaled. "If you need anything while I'm gone, I want you to go to Sonny. He'll help you, Elizabeth. And I've put a guard on you. It's Francis. Sonny said he's guarded you before."
Elizabeth nodded. She couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. With everything going on in her life, and now add on top of that the fact that Jason was leaving and she was being guarded by Sonny's men again…
"I like Francis," she said simply.
"He'll stay hidden unless you need him. I know you don't really like guards. I can see it on your face."
Elizabeth chuckled before looking up at Jason. "Take care of yourself, ok?"
He nodded. "And you promise to go to Sonny if you need help."
"I'll be fine."
"I mean it, Elizabeth. Sonny will help you." He stared at her for a moment, making sure she understood that she could turn to Sonny if she needed help. "I should get going."
Elizabeth followed Jason to the door, opening it for him. "See you later, Jason."
Looking down at her, Jason brushed his hand over her cheek. "See you later."
The door to Kelly's was shoved opened and startled, Emily looked up in surprise, along with the other customers, as Lucky stormed inside. He slammed the door behind him as he stormed through the dining area.
"Uh… Lucky?" Emily tried as she wiped her hands on her apron. She walked around the corner and pulled on Lucky's arm as he stormed by her. "Hey, what's going on?"
Lucky was fuming. Jerking away from Emily, he stormed up the stairs as fast as he could. Emily watched him go for a second before calling out to Tammy that she was going to take her break and running after him. Lucky stood in the hallway and when Emily walked up to him, he slammed his fist in the wall.
Pulling on his arm, Emily dragged him away from the wall. "Hey! What do you think you're doing? Lucky, what's gotten into you?"
Jerking his arm out of her grasp, Lucky breathed heavily. "She broke up with me."
Emily's eyes widened. "What?"
"You heard me, Em. Elizabeth broke up with me."
Emily's jaw dropped. "I don't… You two love each other… why? I don't understand."
Lucky laughed but it was full of cynicism. "Yeah, well Em… neither do I." Be began pacing in front of her and Emily watched him, not knowing what to do. "No wait, I do. I know why she did this."
"Why Lucky?"
"She said she wanted her independence again." Lucky sneered as he turned to look at his best friend. "She's a liar, you know that."
Emily flinched at the words coming out of Lucky's mouth. She would never have believed that Lucky would say that about Elizabeth if she hadn't been standing there to hear it. "Lucky…"
"She doesn't want her independence," he spat out angrily. "I know what she wants. She wants Jason."
Once again, Emily's eyes widened. "No… Lucky, you don't understand. Elizabeth thinks of Jason as just her friend. They're just really good friends."
"NO YOU DON'T UNDESTAND," Lucky yelled, stepping closer to Emily as he screamed. She backed away from him until her back hit the wall. When Lucky saw the fear in her eyes, he backed off, lowering his voice. "She said she wanted to stand on her own… but she's not doing that."
"Lucky…"
"I SAW them together. They were on the docks, Em." Tears started to form in his eyes and he angrily wiped them away. "They went to her studio together! He had his hand on her back!"
Emily shook her head, not knowing what to do. "I'm sorry Lucky."
"DON'T SAY THAT!" When Emily jumped again, Lucky looked at her, his eyes glassy with tears. "That's what she said… last night… She broke up with me, Em… she broke up with me so that she could be with Jason without feeling guilty."
"Lucky," Emily tried again. "You don't know that. Maybe you saw wrong."
Shaking his head, Lucky stared at the floor. When Emily reached for his arm, he jerked away from her. "Leave me alone, Emily. I want to be alone."
Sadly, Emily nodded, keeping her eyes on him as she slowly made her way down the hall. Before she reached the stairs, she looked back at him, watching as he turned towards his door, unlocking it before stepping inside.
When he walked into his room, his eyes landed on the many paintings that adorned his walls.
Elizabeth's paintings.
His face contorted in anger as he ripped the paintings off the walls, breaking the frames as he threw them on the ground, pulling on the canvases until they ripped in his hands. Shaking, he collapsed next to his bed, crying.
"I hate you both for doing this to me… I hate you both."
(Later that night)
Elizabeth stepped cautiously inside Kelly's. Her shift was starting in a few minutes but she didn't want to be there. Her eyes wandered towards the stairs and she wondered if Lucky was there, if he would be confronting her during her shift. She hoped not.
She didn't know if she'd be able to handle hurting him anymore.
Taking a deep breath, Elizabeth walked towards the counter, reaching for her apron. She quickly tied it around her waist, calling into the back room to Tammy to tell her that she was there.
As Elizabeth stepped towards the coffee machines to make a fresh pot, her foot brushed against something on the floor. Looking down, she realized she was stepping on something… on an envelope.
Lifting her foot, Elizabeth was surprised to find her own name typed on the front of the cream colored envelope. Her eyes furrowed in confusion, she leaned down, picking it up. Turning it over in her hand, she tried to find a return address or marking that would tell her who it was from.
There was nothing.
Frowning, Elizabeth ripped open the envelope, pulling out a small card. The card had a red heart on the cover and fear started to grip her stomach as she slowly opened it.
Inside, she found four words that made her feel sick to her stomach. Four words that were another reminder from that night… from her rape.
"SHH! NOT A WORD!"