Second Chances: Pleadings
I hope there's still an interest in this story since I have been sort of MIA with it for a while now. The holiday hub bub of RL is getting in the way at the moment. I hope to have more posted of this story soon. As always reviews are appreciated and welcome.
Lisa
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For several days now Elizabeth hadn't left her studio. Bobbie graciously gave her a few days off knowing that facing Emily's death would be a tough one for her. At first Elizabeth had been grateful but as the days wore on with nothing to occupy her time but her own thoughts she was going a little stir crazy.
She looked at the phone that sat across the room. 'You know you can call me anytime.' Jason's words sprang to her mind as they had done a dozen times on a daily basis since she had gotten into the elevator at Sonny's penthouse. Again, she resisted the powerful urge she had to lift up the receiver, dial the number and ask to see him. Yet with each passing day in solitude, it became increasingly more difficult. The reminders that were strategically placed around her studio weren't any help either. She wasn't sure if she had done it subconsciously or purposely but her painting - Jason's painting - of the wind sat on the easel by the window.
How much she wanted to be on the back of Jason's motorcycle. The wind rushing past them both swallowing up the grief that consumed them. As Elizabeth concentrated intently on the painting she knew deep down that her need to be on the back of that bike had much more to do with her need to recapture something with Jason she's wished she'd never lost than it did dealing with the grief of losing her best friend. Elizabeth wrapped her arms tightly around her chest and staved off another on coming wave of tears she felt threatening to spill from her eyes. She had cried so much in the last weeks she was surprised that she had any tears left.
She got up and walked to the sink and looked at her reflection. "How did I get here?" She asked the person that looked back at her. "How?" She questioned again with no response - not that she expected one. She didn't have an answer. Elizabeth turned on the water and bent her head down to splash cold water on her face. It helped a little but it didn't remove the thoughts and feelings dancing around in her head.
She made herself a cup of tea and sat down the sofa with her sketch pad and charcoal pencil and began to let her mind wonder. Before she even realized what she was drawing the outline of Jason's face appeared across the once blank page. "UGH!" She sighed exasperated with herself. Quickly she dressed and went for a walk hoping to clear her thoughts.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Ric watched as Elizabeth exited her building. He was careful to keep his distance as to not alert her of his presence.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Elizabeth rounded the corner and walked through the iron gates of the Port Charles Cemetery. She wound her way on the stone paths until she came to Emily's grave. She knelt down in the fresh dirt and let her fingers gently run across her friend's name engraved in the pink marble. "Hey Em." Her voice caught in her throat. "I need your advice - don't I always?" Elizabeth joked as though Emily Quartermaine was standing there in front of her. "God, how did I make such a mess of things, Em?" She asked that question once more still getting no reply.
Ric looked on as Elizabeth began to cry. He edged closer to her so that he could hear what she was saying.
"I feel like such a fool. I was a fool. Emily, you were so sick that I couldn't tell you what was really going on. I couldn't tell you what I found out about my husband." Elizabeth ran her thumb across her wedding ring. She hadn't realized that she was still wearing it. She recalled the night that she and Ric were married. What promise their lives held or at least that's what she had thought at the time. "This wasn't how my life was supposed to turn out Em. I wasn't supposed to be on my way to divorce court."
The words divorce court sent daggers through Ric's chest.
"I really wanted loved Ric. I wanted the life he told me about. It all turned out to be nothing but a lie Emily. He lied to me every chance he got and I was so stupid or blind that I believed him. Jason tried to warn me and I didn't - wouldn't listen. I should have believed him. Jason doesn't lie." Elizabeth stopped short. Isn't that what she had accused him of when he hadn't told her that Sonny wasn't really dead. She told him that he lied to her. She had used that as an excuse to run away from him, from her feelings for him.
"Emily, I've been thinking about Jason a lot lately."
Ric strained to hear what she was saying even though hearing her sing Jason Morgan's praises was the very last thing he wanted to do.
"I want another chance with him, Em. I want to show him that I was wrong before. I want him to know that I do trust him - that I can trust him completely. This whole mess with Ric has shown me what real trust really is and I had that with Jason."
Ric felt his blood come to a slow boil in his veins. She trusted Morgan, a man that killed on command, but she couldn't trust him when all he was trying to do was give them what Sonny had stole from them - give them what they deserved - a child.
"I'm afraid to tell Jason how I feel. Carly says I lost my chance with him. I know, I know," Elizabeth said as if Emily was about to make a protest concerning Carly Corinthos. "I know she's never been my biggest fan but she made a point and maybe just maybe she's right. What if Jason is just reaching out to me cause I am the one real connection he has left to you and could I be doing the same thing?" Elizabeth wished that Emily had been there to answer those questions. She needed someone to tell her what to do. Anymore she didn't trust her own decision making process.
Ric was thrilled to hear Elizabeth questioning her sudden surge of feelings for Jason. It gave him the slightest bit of hope yet her next sentence dashed that as quickly as it had come.
"I'm not clinging to him as a way to hold onto your memory, Emily. I'm not," she paused, "but the thought of loving Jason scares me."
Loving Jason..Loving Jason..Loving Jason..Ric couldn't stop those two simple words from ringing in his ears. His gaze rested on Elizabeth's still form. How could she love a man like Jason Morgan. He was nothing more than Sonny's lackey. He couldn't stand there any longer. He moved out of the shadows and made his way to her.
"Elizabeth." His voice was soft and gentile all the while the anger inside him raged.
"Ric?" Elizabeth was noticeably startled. "What are you doing here?" Quickly she stood up and faced him.
"I followed you."
"What? Why?" Elizabeth's eyes darted around wishing suddenly that there had been others in the cemetery.
"I needed to talk to you. You won't return my calls..."
"Doesn't that tell you something?" Elizabeth interrupted him. "I don't have anything to say to you."
"But I have things to say to you."
"Please save them. If it's more of how sorry you are and that you did all of this for us I don't want to hear any of it." Elizabeth turned away from him.
"NO, don't go!" He grabbed her arm.
"You're hurting me." She winced under the pressure of his grip.
Immediately Ric released her arm. "I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you."
"But you did."
"Please Elizabeth just hear me out. That's all I ask just listen to me."
"That's all I have ever done Ric is listen. Listen to one lie after another. I can't listen anymore. I won't. It's over. I don't love you. I'm not sure I ever did."
Instantly Ric's thoughts were drawn to the conversation he had listened to her having with Emily's headstone about her feelings for Jason. "I don't believe that. I know that you loved me Elizabeth and some part of you still does."
"I loved the Ric Lansing you pretended to be. I loved the man who had a love of the arts. I loved the man who was tender and romantic. But that wasn't the true Ric Lansing. The man you really are I could never love. You held a pregnant woman hostage. You chained her to a wall in our house!" Elizabeth cried. "You thought that you could steal her baby and give it to me as a way to make up for the child we lost. That's no man that I could ever love."
"Elizabeth, please." Ric knew he sounded desperate but he couldn't help himself. He was desperate. He couldn't lose her. "I love you."
"I don't love, you." She stressed.
That sentence had Ric suddenly seeing red. He grabbed her hard by the shoulders and began to shake her. "Yes you do. You could love me again. I can change.I really can change. I love you!"
"Let go of me...let me go!" Elizabeth's high-pitched voice permeated the still air.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Mr. Morgan," Francis began, "We have a problem."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"HEY! You heard the lady. Let her go!" Zander Smith came up upon Ric and Elizabeth. The sudden intrusion startled Ric enough for him to drop his hold on Elizabeth. "Are you okay?"
"Yes," she said with a shaky voice.
"Elizabeth, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean..."
"to hurt me?" she finished his sentence for him.
"Yes."
"Ric, this is why we are finished. I can't love you. I can't trust you. Please just leave me alone." With that said Elizabeth removed her wedding ring from her finger and placed it in Ric's hand.
"You want me to drive you home?" Zander asked her.
"You came to visit with Emily."
"I think she'd understand." Zander remarked staring at Ric with a hardened gaze.
"Thank you."
Ric watched as Elizabeth and Zander walked away from him. He rolled her wedding ring around in the palm of his hand. One way or another that ring would be back on her finger he thought to himself.
I hope there's still an interest in this story since I have been sort of MIA with it for a while now. The holiday hub bub of RL is getting in the way at the moment. I hope to have more posted of this story soon. As always reviews are appreciated and welcome.
Lisa
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
For several days now Elizabeth hadn't left her studio. Bobbie graciously gave her a few days off knowing that facing Emily's death would be a tough one for her. At first Elizabeth had been grateful but as the days wore on with nothing to occupy her time but her own thoughts she was going a little stir crazy.
She looked at the phone that sat across the room. 'You know you can call me anytime.' Jason's words sprang to her mind as they had done a dozen times on a daily basis since she had gotten into the elevator at Sonny's penthouse. Again, she resisted the powerful urge she had to lift up the receiver, dial the number and ask to see him. Yet with each passing day in solitude, it became increasingly more difficult. The reminders that were strategically placed around her studio weren't any help either. She wasn't sure if she had done it subconsciously or purposely but her painting - Jason's painting - of the wind sat on the easel by the window.
How much she wanted to be on the back of Jason's motorcycle. The wind rushing past them both swallowing up the grief that consumed them. As Elizabeth concentrated intently on the painting she knew deep down that her need to be on the back of that bike had much more to do with her need to recapture something with Jason she's wished she'd never lost than it did dealing with the grief of losing her best friend. Elizabeth wrapped her arms tightly around her chest and staved off another on coming wave of tears she felt threatening to spill from her eyes. She had cried so much in the last weeks she was surprised that she had any tears left.
She got up and walked to the sink and looked at her reflection. "How did I get here?" She asked the person that looked back at her. "How?" She questioned again with no response - not that she expected one. She didn't have an answer. Elizabeth turned on the water and bent her head down to splash cold water on her face. It helped a little but it didn't remove the thoughts and feelings dancing around in her head.
She made herself a cup of tea and sat down the sofa with her sketch pad and charcoal pencil and began to let her mind wonder. Before she even realized what she was drawing the outline of Jason's face appeared across the once blank page. "UGH!" She sighed exasperated with herself. Quickly she dressed and went for a walk hoping to clear her thoughts.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Ric watched as Elizabeth exited her building. He was careful to keep his distance as to not alert her of his presence.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Elizabeth rounded the corner and walked through the iron gates of the Port Charles Cemetery. She wound her way on the stone paths until she came to Emily's grave. She knelt down in the fresh dirt and let her fingers gently run across her friend's name engraved in the pink marble. "Hey Em." Her voice caught in her throat. "I need your advice - don't I always?" Elizabeth joked as though Emily Quartermaine was standing there in front of her. "God, how did I make such a mess of things, Em?" She asked that question once more still getting no reply.
Ric looked on as Elizabeth began to cry. He edged closer to her so that he could hear what she was saying.
"I feel like such a fool. I was a fool. Emily, you were so sick that I couldn't tell you what was really going on. I couldn't tell you what I found out about my husband." Elizabeth ran her thumb across her wedding ring. She hadn't realized that she was still wearing it. She recalled the night that she and Ric were married. What promise their lives held or at least that's what she had thought at the time. "This wasn't how my life was supposed to turn out Em. I wasn't supposed to be on my way to divorce court."
The words divorce court sent daggers through Ric's chest.
"I really wanted loved Ric. I wanted the life he told me about. It all turned out to be nothing but a lie Emily. He lied to me every chance he got and I was so stupid or blind that I believed him. Jason tried to warn me and I didn't - wouldn't listen. I should have believed him. Jason doesn't lie." Elizabeth stopped short. Isn't that what she had accused him of when he hadn't told her that Sonny wasn't really dead. She told him that he lied to her. She had used that as an excuse to run away from him, from her feelings for him.
"Emily, I've been thinking about Jason a lot lately."
Ric strained to hear what she was saying even though hearing her sing Jason Morgan's praises was the very last thing he wanted to do.
"I want another chance with him, Em. I want to show him that I was wrong before. I want him to know that I do trust him - that I can trust him completely. This whole mess with Ric has shown me what real trust really is and I had that with Jason."
Ric felt his blood come to a slow boil in his veins. She trusted Morgan, a man that killed on command, but she couldn't trust him when all he was trying to do was give them what Sonny had stole from them - give them what they deserved - a child.
"I'm afraid to tell Jason how I feel. Carly says I lost my chance with him. I know, I know," Elizabeth said as if Emily was about to make a protest concerning Carly Corinthos. "I know she's never been my biggest fan but she made a point and maybe just maybe she's right. What if Jason is just reaching out to me cause I am the one real connection he has left to you and could I be doing the same thing?" Elizabeth wished that Emily had been there to answer those questions. She needed someone to tell her what to do. Anymore she didn't trust her own decision making process.
Ric was thrilled to hear Elizabeth questioning her sudden surge of feelings for Jason. It gave him the slightest bit of hope yet her next sentence dashed that as quickly as it had come.
"I'm not clinging to him as a way to hold onto your memory, Emily. I'm not," she paused, "but the thought of loving Jason scares me."
Loving Jason..Loving Jason..Loving Jason..Ric couldn't stop those two simple words from ringing in his ears. His gaze rested on Elizabeth's still form. How could she love a man like Jason Morgan. He was nothing more than Sonny's lackey. He couldn't stand there any longer. He moved out of the shadows and made his way to her.
"Elizabeth." His voice was soft and gentile all the while the anger inside him raged.
"Ric?" Elizabeth was noticeably startled. "What are you doing here?" Quickly she stood up and faced him.
"I followed you."
"What? Why?" Elizabeth's eyes darted around wishing suddenly that there had been others in the cemetery.
"I needed to talk to you. You won't return my calls..."
"Doesn't that tell you something?" Elizabeth interrupted him. "I don't have anything to say to you."
"But I have things to say to you."
"Please save them. If it's more of how sorry you are and that you did all of this for us I don't want to hear any of it." Elizabeth turned away from him.
"NO, don't go!" He grabbed her arm.
"You're hurting me." She winced under the pressure of his grip.
Immediately Ric released her arm. "I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you."
"But you did."
"Please Elizabeth just hear me out. That's all I ask just listen to me."
"That's all I have ever done Ric is listen. Listen to one lie after another. I can't listen anymore. I won't. It's over. I don't love you. I'm not sure I ever did."
Instantly Ric's thoughts were drawn to the conversation he had listened to her having with Emily's headstone about her feelings for Jason. "I don't believe that. I know that you loved me Elizabeth and some part of you still does."
"I loved the Ric Lansing you pretended to be. I loved the man who had a love of the arts. I loved the man who was tender and romantic. But that wasn't the true Ric Lansing. The man you really are I could never love. You held a pregnant woman hostage. You chained her to a wall in our house!" Elizabeth cried. "You thought that you could steal her baby and give it to me as a way to make up for the child we lost. That's no man that I could ever love."
"Elizabeth, please." Ric knew he sounded desperate but he couldn't help himself. He was desperate. He couldn't lose her. "I love you."
"I don't love, you." She stressed.
That sentence had Ric suddenly seeing red. He grabbed her hard by the shoulders and began to shake her. "Yes you do. You could love me again. I can change.I really can change. I love you!"
"Let go of me...let me go!" Elizabeth's high-pitched voice permeated the still air.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Mr. Morgan," Francis began, "We have a problem."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"HEY! You heard the lady. Let her go!" Zander Smith came up upon Ric and Elizabeth. The sudden intrusion startled Ric enough for him to drop his hold on Elizabeth. "Are you okay?"
"Yes," she said with a shaky voice.
"Elizabeth, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean..."
"to hurt me?" she finished his sentence for him.
"Yes."
"Ric, this is why we are finished. I can't love you. I can't trust you. Please just leave me alone." With that said Elizabeth removed her wedding ring from her finger and placed it in Ric's hand.
"You want me to drive you home?" Zander asked her.
"You came to visit with Emily."
"I think she'd understand." Zander remarked staring at Ric with a hardened gaze.
"Thank you."
Ric watched as Elizabeth and Zander walked away from him. He rolled her wedding ring around in the palm of his hand. One way or another that ring would be back on her finger he thought to himself.