A new face after the race
Chapter 2
Lucky parked his truck in the parking lot near Kelly's and gained the courage to face a very angry Emily. An angry Emily is bad, but a very angry one was worse. But if she loved him she would give him the time of day right? He hoped so. With a prayer he opened his door, closed it and started walking towards Kelly's. He didn't stop because he knew he would just stall the confrontation more. It was a good strategy if you wanted the relationship to slowly disappear, but he didn't want that. He needed the relationship he and Emily shared. He looked through the window before entering and saw that the crowd was gone. That was good. Emily could have her break and they would talk. Or was it argue? He didn't know, but he knew that if it turned that way he would be glad that Emily was at least talking to him. The little victories, Lucky thought. He lived off them. With a deep breath Lucky opened the door and entered the small food business.
Liz looked to the door when she heard it open. She smiled when she saw it was Lucky. "Hey Lucky." She called. She didn't know if she could handle more lunch crowds.
"Hey. Is Emily here?" He asked as he got to the counter.
"Yeah, she's in the back doing dishes." Elizabeth answered and waved him to the door that led to the back of the business.
"Thanks." Lucky called as he went through the doors. He quietly closed the door, so not to get Emily's attention just yet, and get kicked out already. He needed to have his say before that happened. Lucky didn't have to look too hard for Emily; her red tank top she wore made her look like a target. His target to be exact.
Emily was standing at the sink washing the dishes, as she heard Lucky try to be inconspicuous. Go ahead, Emily thought, think that. She had determined silence to be a deadly weapon with Lucky. He always cracks under the tension of silence.
Lucky himself was trying to think of what to say. Should he go dive in and apologize or just greet her like nothing was wrong? Lucky decided to try the latter. The conversation would reach the apology soon enough.
"Hey, Em. How's it going?" He asked neutrally. His answer was silence. Damn, he thought, she was using the deadly weapon of silence that always worked on him. What was he going to do now? Provoking her to talk was a thought, but in the past Emily waited for him to crack before saying anything. So be it, he was going to crack. He expected to anyway.
"Would an apology make you say something?" He asked as Emily continued to ignore his existence and wash the dishes that laid in the left part of the sink.
Lucky realized he was being a coward from backing away from her and the anger that was boiling inside. No, he decided, the anger will be let go. He was going to try another strategy. He would take whatever she was doing and put it aside. Chances are Emily would just give him a cold stare, but at least he would be able to see her face and eyes.
Lucky did just that. He marched over to where Emily stood and grabbed the rag from her hands as soon as she finished with the last dish she held. He didn't need to break innocent glass in the process of his relationship problems.
Emily did as he expected she would. She gave him a cold stare, but did something unexpected. She walked away from him and toward the door that led to the alley.
Lucky started panicking at that thought. Bad things happen in alleys. Lucky followed her as she opened the door and started to step out. Then Lucky found himself outside with a door slamming in his face moments later. He couldn't believe it! Emily tricked him by making him think she was going out that way and then went back in and closed the door on him! He considered knocking, but Emily would never open it and he knew it had an automatic lock from the outside. Defeated, Lucky stalked away and back to his truck. He had chores to do at home, so why not do them if he found himself tricked by his girlfriend who was giving him the silent treatment and had the rest of the day off.
Emily didn't feel so happy at the thought of she just tricked a Spencer though. She felt so miserable and wanted to forgive Lucky, but couldn't find herself doing that. All she had gotten from her boyfriend was apologies, greetings, and tricks to make her talk. But she was going to stand her ground. She wouldn't stand for those anymore. If Lucky thought he could hide for a few days, cancel dates at the last minute for the hundredth time in the row, and get by with just apologies, he was wrong.
Up in front of Kelly's, love was treating one couple right though. Liz was waiting for more customers, while drawing on a note pad when Jason and Melissa walked in. Liz brightened immediately and met Jason, giving him a quick peck on his lips while Melissa snarled.
"What are you doing here?" Liz asked as she made sure no one was watching. She had made enough of a spectacle of herself for today.
"Melissa was hungry after her play date and I thought it wouldn't be too bad to see you in the process." Jason answered, oblivious to Melissa's glares.
"How sweet." Liz said and gave another quick kiss to Jason. "Emily's in the back, Melissa. Why don't you go tell her what you want?" Liz asked, looking down at Melissa. Melissa bit back the cold look and quickly ran back to where Emily was. Her sister was a much better person to be around than her father's evil girlfriend, in her opinion.
"You could have taken her order too." Jason noted as he took a seat at one of the tables.
"I know, but we need to talk about Emily." Elizabeth replied and sat in a seat across from Jason.
"What about her?" Jason asked a little confused. "Is she okay?"
"Depends on your definition of okay." Liz noted and watched a person walk by the window.
"What do you mean?" Jason asked. "Emily is okay as far as I know. I would know if she wasn't alright." Jason said. He lived in the same penthouse as Emily, and she seemed fine, no exhaustion, no anger, and no nothing. He would have known if she was, right? He was no expert with girls, but he saw nothing wrong.
"I'm not so sure about that Jason. Emily is good at hiding her emotions behind a mask. You told me you didn't even notice she wasn't sleeping a few years back until it was almost too late." Elizabeth responded. Jason was quiet about that time, but he told her a few things about it. She wanted to know more, but knew Jason would tell her when he was ready. She respected that.
"That's true, but I was dealing with Brenda too. That was a handful in itself." Jason stated, being vague about his estranged wife. He could never talk too much about Brenda, not even around Melissa. He had chosen not to tell Melissa too much about Brenda and her condition because it was too much for a young child to know.
"Yeah, but Brenda isn't here and hasn't been for a year or so." Liz said. She wasn't too happy when she found out Jason was married, but understood when he explained the whole situation and learned to respect the situation.
"I know that, and Melissa doesn't like it anymore than me, but were supposed to be talking about Emily." Jason said, feeling the need to change the subject. Brenda was always a sore spot in their relationship. It always led to an argument with no answers.
"As I said Emily isn't as okay as she seems. Physically she's fine, but mentally that's a different question." Elizabeth said, taking in the subject change. It did no good to go down that road.
"Emily has never been too good mentally." Jason argued. Everyone knew Emily was a little off the top when it came to that department. Few knew the reasons too. Emily didn't want all the pity. She had faced her past years ago and accepted it, letting her move on with her life.
"Yes, but more than usual I mean." Elizabeth protested. She needed to find a different angle on this subject. "Have you seen Lucky?" She asked out of the blue. That's what was wrong with Emily anyway. Not that Jason would know. He was too busy dealing with Melissa.
"No, but I expected as much. I mean if I kept canceling dates at the last minute, would you be happy with me?" Jason asked, knowing the answer.
"Of course not." Elizabeth objected. She didn't want Jason to start either. Look at what happened to Emily and Lucky's relationship.
"We're agreed then. But what does Lucky have to do with Emily's mental capacity?" Jason asked, clueless.
Elizabeth refused to scream. Jason was a guy after all! He didn't understand about relationships and love. "Everything. Think about it. Emily needs to be okay with Lucky to be at full mental capacity. If Lucky keeps canceling dates and acting as he is, nothing will be okay between them. Lucky is learning to regret it now, but Emily is at her wits end. She wants to forgive him, but can't. Lucky has thrown too much at her to let her." Elizabeth calmly explained.
"Makes sense, but what can we do about it? Tell Lucky he's being an insensitive jerk? I mean hasn't he figured that out already?" Jason suggested.
Elizabeth frowned at Jason's reply. They couldn't do anything about it. It all depended on Emily and Lucky. Hard reality, she thought. She was supposed to be Emily's friend, and all she can do is sit and watch the relationship go down in smoke?
Jason sensed Elizabeth's thoughts and grabbed her hand. "I know you want to help, Liz, really I do. I wish I could too. But we can't do anything more than listen and watch."
"I know, but it isn't fair. Emily and Lucky belong together. There has to be a reason why Lucky is being a jackass, but he isn't telling." Elizabeth said sadly. At least Lucky realized he was being unfair and was trying to do something about it, but Emily had had it, for all good reasons too.
"I know they do, but they have to come to that realization themselves. As for Lucky, I don't know what's happening with him. All I know is he's bringing Emily down with him subconsciously." Jason justified. He hated to watch what was happening, but he was just trying to be a good father and boyfriend.
"Can't you talk to him?" Elizabeth said desperately.
"I could try, but it's not going to do any good. Like you said he's not talking." Jason said, even though he wanted to please his girlfriend and do as she asked.
"I guess your right." Elizabeth agreed. "I just hate this, Emily's my friend. Friends help each other."
"You could always lend an ear if Emily wants to talk, but we are powerless beyond that." Jason said and looked at the door that led to the back. What was taking Melissa so long?
"Melissa is probably eating back there." Elizabeth replied and Jason hid his shock. How did they do that? Did they read each other's minds?
"That's another issue. I love Melissa, but she's being so needy, always requiring my attention. It's driving me crazy! She has never been like this." Jason noted as he thought over the situation.
"My money says it's me. Melissa just thinks I'm going to replace her mom. I don't know how to help the situation besides the obvious." Elizabeth said and thought of "the obvious". It wasn't a good thing.
"Don't even think about it. I'm not going to break up with you, even for my daughter. Just give her a few more days to get use to you." Jason stated. He loved his daughter with all his life and would do anything for her, but breaking up with someone for her was not one of them. Melissa needed to get use to the facts that her mom won't be around for another year or so. That left him free to date, but not marry or get engaged, which was fine for him at the moment.
"I hope she does. I don't want what's happening to Lucky's and Emily's relationship to happen to ours. I prize it too much." Elizabeth commented with a small smile of hope.
"It won't, I promise. As for Lucky and Emily, they'll be fine. Just give it time. Their love is stronger than you think." Jason said as he clasped Elizabeth's hand in his.
"For a guy, you know a lot about love." Elizabeth observed.
"Been there, done that." Jason stated and conversation from there was stopped.
Author's note: Hey everyone! Hope you liked the chapter. The liason was a little difficult, but I got it done! Anyway, thanks for the reviews. More reviews would be appreciated.
Lucky parked his truck in the parking lot near Kelly's and gained the courage to face a very angry Emily. An angry Emily is bad, but a very angry one was worse. But if she loved him she would give him the time of day right? He hoped so. With a prayer he opened his door, closed it and started walking towards Kelly's. He didn't stop because he knew he would just stall the confrontation more. It was a good strategy if you wanted the relationship to slowly disappear, but he didn't want that. He needed the relationship he and Emily shared. He looked through the window before entering and saw that the crowd was gone. That was good. Emily could have her break and they would talk. Or was it argue? He didn't know, but he knew that if it turned that way he would be glad that Emily was at least talking to him. The little victories, Lucky thought. He lived off them. With a deep breath Lucky opened the door and entered the small food business.
Liz looked to the door when she heard it open. She smiled when she saw it was Lucky. "Hey Lucky." She called. She didn't know if she could handle more lunch crowds.
"Hey. Is Emily here?" He asked as he got to the counter.
"Yeah, she's in the back doing dishes." Elizabeth answered and waved him to the door that led to the back of the business.
"Thanks." Lucky called as he went through the doors. He quietly closed the door, so not to get Emily's attention just yet, and get kicked out already. He needed to have his say before that happened. Lucky didn't have to look too hard for Emily; her red tank top she wore made her look like a target. His target to be exact.
Emily was standing at the sink washing the dishes, as she heard Lucky try to be inconspicuous. Go ahead, Emily thought, think that. She had determined silence to be a deadly weapon with Lucky. He always cracks under the tension of silence.
Lucky himself was trying to think of what to say. Should he go dive in and apologize or just greet her like nothing was wrong? Lucky decided to try the latter. The conversation would reach the apology soon enough.
"Hey, Em. How's it going?" He asked neutrally. His answer was silence. Damn, he thought, she was using the deadly weapon of silence that always worked on him. What was he going to do now? Provoking her to talk was a thought, but in the past Emily waited for him to crack before saying anything. So be it, he was going to crack. He expected to anyway.
"Would an apology make you say something?" He asked as Emily continued to ignore his existence and wash the dishes that laid in the left part of the sink.
Lucky realized he was being a coward from backing away from her and the anger that was boiling inside. No, he decided, the anger will be let go. He was going to try another strategy. He would take whatever she was doing and put it aside. Chances are Emily would just give him a cold stare, but at least he would be able to see her face and eyes.
Lucky did just that. He marched over to where Emily stood and grabbed the rag from her hands as soon as she finished with the last dish she held. He didn't need to break innocent glass in the process of his relationship problems.
Emily did as he expected she would. She gave him a cold stare, but did something unexpected. She walked away from him and toward the door that led to the alley.
Lucky started panicking at that thought. Bad things happen in alleys. Lucky followed her as she opened the door and started to step out. Then Lucky found himself outside with a door slamming in his face moments later. He couldn't believe it! Emily tricked him by making him think she was going out that way and then went back in and closed the door on him! He considered knocking, but Emily would never open it and he knew it had an automatic lock from the outside. Defeated, Lucky stalked away and back to his truck. He had chores to do at home, so why not do them if he found himself tricked by his girlfriend who was giving him the silent treatment and had the rest of the day off.
Emily didn't feel so happy at the thought of she just tricked a Spencer though. She felt so miserable and wanted to forgive Lucky, but couldn't find herself doing that. All she had gotten from her boyfriend was apologies, greetings, and tricks to make her talk. But she was going to stand her ground. She wouldn't stand for those anymore. If Lucky thought he could hide for a few days, cancel dates at the last minute for the hundredth time in the row, and get by with just apologies, he was wrong.
Up in front of Kelly's, love was treating one couple right though. Liz was waiting for more customers, while drawing on a note pad when Jason and Melissa walked in. Liz brightened immediately and met Jason, giving him a quick peck on his lips while Melissa snarled.
"What are you doing here?" Liz asked as she made sure no one was watching. She had made enough of a spectacle of herself for today.
"Melissa was hungry after her play date and I thought it wouldn't be too bad to see you in the process." Jason answered, oblivious to Melissa's glares.
"How sweet." Liz said and gave another quick kiss to Jason. "Emily's in the back, Melissa. Why don't you go tell her what you want?" Liz asked, looking down at Melissa. Melissa bit back the cold look and quickly ran back to where Emily was. Her sister was a much better person to be around than her father's evil girlfriend, in her opinion.
"You could have taken her order too." Jason noted as he took a seat at one of the tables.
"I know, but we need to talk about Emily." Elizabeth replied and sat in a seat across from Jason.
"What about her?" Jason asked a little confused. "Is she okay?"
"Depends on your definition of okay." Liz noted and watched a person walk by the window.
"What do you mean?" Jason asked. "Emily is okay as far as I know. I would know if she wasn't alright." Jason said. He lived in the same penthouse as Emily, and she seemed fine, no exhaustion, no anger, and no nothing. He would have known if she was, right? He was no expert with girls, but he saw nothing wrong.
"I'm not so sure about that Jason. Emily is good at hiding her emotions behind a mask. You told me you didn't even notice she wasn't sleeping a few years back until it was almost too late." Elizabeth responded. Jason was quiet about that time, but he told her a few things about it. She wanted to know more, but knew Jason would tell her when he was ready. She respected that.
"That's true, but I was dealing with Brenda too. That was a handful in itself." Jason stated, being vague about his estranged wife. He could never talk too much about Brenda, not even around Melissa. He had chosen not to tell Melissa too much about Brenda and her condition because it was too much for a young child to know.
"Yeah, but Brenda isn't here and hasn't been for a year or so." Liz said. She wasn't too happy when she found out Jason was married, but understood when he explained the whole situation and learned to respect the situation.
"I know that, and Melissa doesn't like it anymore than me, but were supposed to be talking about Emily." Jason said, feeling the need to change the subject. Brenda was always a sore spot in their relationship. It always led to an argument with no answers.
"As I said Emily isn't as okay as she seems. Physically she's fine, but mentally that's a different question." Elizabeth said, taking in the subject change. It did no good to go down that road.
"Emily has never been too good mentally." Jason argued. Everyone knew Emily was a little off the top when it came to that department. Few knew the reasons too. Emily didn't want all the pity. She had faced her past years ago and accepted it, letting her move on with her life.
"Yes, but more than usual I mean." Elizabeth protested. She needed to find a different angle on this subject. "Have you seen Lucky?" She asked out of the blue. That's what was wrong with Emily anyway. Not that Jason would know. He was too busy dealing with Melissa.
"No, but I expected as much. I mean if I kept canceling dates at the last minute, would you be happy with me?" Jason asked, knowing the answer.
"Of course not." Elizabeth objected. She didn't want Jason to start either. Look at what happened to Emily and Lucky's relationship.
"We're agreed then. But what does Lucky have to do with Emily's mental capacity?" Jason asked, clueless.
Elizabeth refused to scream. Jason was a guy after all! He didn't understand about relationships and love. "Everything. Think about it. Emily needs to be okay with Lucky to be at full mental capacity. If Lucky keeps canceling dates and acting as he is, nothing will be okay between them. Lucky is learning to regret it now, but Emily is at her wits end. She wants to forgive him, but can't. Lucky has thrown too much at her to let her." Elizabeth calmly explained.
"Makes sense, but what can we do about it? Tell Lucky he's being an insensitive jerk? I mean hasn't he figured that out already?" Jason suggested.
Elizabeth frowned at Jason's reply. They couldn't do anything about it. It all depended on Emily and Lucky. Hard reality, she thought. She was supposed to be Emily's friend, and all she can do is sit and watch the relationship go down in smoke?
Jason sensed Elizabeth's thoughts and grabbed her hand. "I know you want to help, Liz, really I do. I wish I could too. But we can't do anything more than listen and watch."
"I know, but it isn't fair. Emily and Lucky belong together. There has to be a reason why Lucky is being a jackass, but he isn't telling." Elizabeth said sadly. At least Lucky realized he was being unfair and was trying to do something about it, but Emily had had it, for all good reasons too.
"I know they do, but they have to come to that realization themselves. As for Lucky, I don't know what's happening with him. All I know is he's bringing Emily down with him subconsciously." Jason justified. He hated to watch what was happening, but he was just trying to be a good father and boyfriend.
"Can't you talk to him?" Elizabeth said desperately.
"I could try, but it's not going to do any good. Like you said he's not talking." Jason said, even though he wanted to please his girlfriend and do as she asked.
"I guess your right." Elizabeth agreed. "I just hate this, Emily's my friend. Friends help each other."
"You could always lend an ear if Emily wants to talk, but we are powerless beyond that." Jason said and looked at the door that led to the back. What was taking Melissa so long?
"Melissa is probably eating back there." Elizabeth replied and Jason hid his shock. How did they do that? Did they read each other's minds?
"That's another issue. I love Melissa, but she's being so needy, always requiring my attention. It's driving me crazy! She has never been like this." Jason noted as he thought over the situation.
"My money says it's me. Melissa just thinks I'm going to replace her mom. I don't know how to help the situation besides the obvious." Elizabeth said and thought of "the obvious". It wasn't a good thing.
"Don't even think about it. I'm not going to break up with you, even for my daughter. Just give her a few more days to get use to you." Jason stated. He loved his daughter with all his life and would do anything for her, but breaking up with someone for her was not one of them. Melissa needed to get use to the facts that her mom won't be around for another year or so. That left him free to date, but not marry or get engaged, which was fine for him at the moment.
"I hope she does. I don't want what's happening to Lucky's and Emily's relationship to happen to ours. I prize it too much." Elizabeth commented with a small smile of hope.
"It won't, I promise. As for Lucky and Emily, they'll be fine. Just give it time. Their love is stronger than you think." Jason said as he clasped Elizabeth's hand in his.
"For a guy, you know a lot about love." Elizabeth observed.
"Been there, done that." Jason stated and conversation from there was stopped.
Author's note: Hey everyone! Hope you liked the chapter. The liason was a little difficult, but I got it done! Anyway, thanks for the reviews. More reviews would be appreciated.