Coming Home

A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I've been busy lately, but here's a new chapter. Thank you for reviewing the previous ones. I hope you enjoy it!

"You look horrible" Julie commented Saturday afternoon when she picked up Elizabeth from the airport. Elizabeth slumped down on the passenger's side of Julie's car and closed her eyes. She felt horrible. She had worked the past three days through in order to stop thinking about John.

"Yeah, I feel horrible" she sighed and opened an eye to peek sideways at Julie. She felt tired, depressed and frustrated. And all that because of a man. That was pathetic.

"How did that Charity thing go?" Julie asked and Elizabeth couldn't help the groan escaping her throat. She turned her head to look out the window. They left the parking lot of the airport.

"Lots of people I didn't want to see again" she sighed tiredly.

"Anyone I know?"

"No"

"Really?" she asked and Elizabeth turned her head at her friend's surprised tone. She raised an eyebrow at her.

"Rodney was there" she explained slowly, watching Julie's expression carefully.

"McKay? Jeez, I don't envy you. I still can't touch my camera without getting goose bumps everywhere" she said and shook herself. Elizabeth smiled slightly. She had asked Julie to take some pictures of Rodney for the cover of his latest book and Julie had described this afternoon as the worst 4 hours of her life. "Anyone else?" she then asked.

"I have the feeling you want to hear a particular name" Elizabeth said. Julie shortly looked at her before she concentrated back onto the street.

"Well, then just say the name and I'll be happy"

"He was there, I saw him, I left the party, he came after me, I told him to go and I left. Happy now?" Elizabeth sighed.

"Not really" Julie said.

"How do you know he was there in the first place?"

"I have my connections" Julie said in an amused tone.

"You're supposed to be my friend, but you're working against me. You could have told me that he would be there, unless..." she said and raised an eyebrow at Julie. "Unless you wanted me to bump into him"

"You seriously need some help there, Elizabeth. I told you that I bumped into him the other day. He mentioned that he would go to New York to this Charity Ball and I let slip that you would be there too. That's all"

"That's all? Julie, stop interfering in my life. I don't need your help. I don't need anyone's help. I don't want to see John again. When are you getting that?" Elizabeth said angrily.

"When you give me one good reason why you refuse to at least talk to him. Give me just one reason why you won't let him explain" Julie said seriously. Elizabeth was silent. "Is there a reason at all or are you just too stubborn, because you let yourself get hurt again? I don't get it. Explain it to me" she added agitated. Elizabeth felt a tear roll down her cheek and she wiped it away quickly.

"I can't" she said quietly. "I just...we were in a relationship, he said he loved me and then I find out that he is married to another woman. He kept it from me on purpose. Why would he do that and where does that leave me? I know where it leaves me. I don't want to be the mistress. I don't want to be the mistress of the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I don't want to hear his explanations, because just seeing him hurts. It just hurts and reminds me of what I can't have" she said and rested the side of her head against the window.

"Ok" Julie said quietly. "I think there's still a bowl of ice-cream in the freezer" Elizabeth laughed slightly.

"Thank you"

"No problem. Tell me about McKay. Is he still that arrogant and annoying person? I can't believe that he's actually a friend of yours. How can you endure that? Four hours and I was ready to kill him. Did you know that he is allergic to citrus? Read it on the cover of his book. I think I'll carry a lemon from now on in case I see him again sometime" Julie started talking really fast and Elizabeth's thoughts drifted away from John and from her work.

Coming home had definitely been a good idea. Maybe she now had the chance to clear her mind a bit. She had Julie back for the next couple of days and she hoped that her friend could take some of her misery away.

"You have to look into the camera, Elizabeth" Julie groaned and Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

"I didn't ask you to take your camera with you. I asked you to take a walk with me" she said and sat down on a bench.

"Please, we're in a park, the sun is shining and you really should look into the camera" Julie said and waited patiently. Elizabeth sighed and stuck her tongue out at her friend. "You have to smile, Elizabeth"

"Hey, I'm not one of your models. Don't be so bossy with me" Elizabeth complained.

"Do what I tell you and I won't be bossy. Now smile" she ordered and Elizabeth laughed. Julie sat down on the bench next to her only moments later. "I think that's going to be a nice picture" she said.

"I hope so"

"Elizabeth?" a voice suddenly asked and Elizabeth looked to her right. A wide smile spread across her face.

"Mia!" she exclaimed and got up from the bench to give the other woman a hug. "How are you?"

"I'm great. How are you? What are you doing here? I thought you were in New York" the young woman asked.

"She was. I dragged her away from work" Julie cut in and stood up. "I'll be over there to take some pictures" she said and let them both alone.

"I'll be gone again on Wednesday. Hey, how are your father and Josh?" Mia groaned.

"Oh, please. Dad is so annoying. It's Kelly Sheppard's birthday in about 3 weeks and there's a party. He's driving me insane with all the planning and preparations and Josh found this new recipe of a cheesecake. He's also driving me crazy. Oh and Sheppard senior had a mild heart attack about 2 weeks ago" she explained.

"Is he ok? How did that happen?" Elizabeth asked concerned.

"Yeah, he's fine. He came out of the hospital last week. It happened at home; he had a pretty nasty fight with Sheppard junior. They were shouting at each other and then it happened. Dad heard it all, but he doesn't want to tell me what it was about" she said and Elizabeth winced slightly at the mention of John.

"But he's going to be ok?"

"Yeah, he's already working from home again, but there's total silence between him and Sheppard junior. Whatever they were arguing about, it was pretty serious I guess. Sheppard junior is acting strangely lately anyway, but giving his father a heart attack has really upset him. He spent last week in New York keeping his father's appointments" she said and Elizabeth wished she would stop talking about John. Wherever she went, he was there. There seemed to be no place to hide from him. "We all miss you terribly" Mia then said and Elizabeth smiled sadly.

"I miss you guys too, but it was time to get back to my old job" she sighed. She did miss them.

"I see, well, I don't want to keep you from your short holiday. It was nice seeing you again" Mia said and gave her another hug.

"Yeah, you too. Take care and say 'hi' to your dad and Josh, ok?" Elizabeth said and Mia nodded. They said goodbye and Elizabeth watched the young woman walk away before she went looking for Julie. Her mind was once again racing. She found Julie taking pictures of a bare tree.

"I really should go into landscape motives" she said when Elizabeth came to stand beside her.

"He's haunting me. It's Sunday and he's still haunting me. He had a fight with his dad and he had a heart attack" Elizabeth sighed.

"Who, John?"

"No, his dad. John was in New York to keep his dad's appointments" she said, a new feeling rising in her: sadness. She knew John was feeling guilty for what had happened to his father, of that she was sure. And she felt sad that John had to go through all that. It confused her even more.

"That's sad. You could send a 'Get well soon' card. He's your former boss, it would be a nice gesture" Julie suggested and looked at her.

"Yeah, maybe I could do that"

"So, he's haunting you, huh?" she asked and Elizabeth sighed.

"Yeah"

"You know what to do with ghosts? You have to face them if you want them to go away. Trying to ignore them and hiding under your blanket only makes them haunt you more" she shrugged.

"Yeah, so I've noticed"