Elizabeth walked up to Shawn's car, looking back over her shoulder to see Graceila watching her from the front door of their apartment building. She smiled and waved her friend over but Graceila shook her head and stormed back into the building. Elizabeth opened the car door and slipped inside, offering Shawn a small, sad smile.
"I guess that was as close as I'll come to meeting your friends," Shawn commented as he pulled back into traffic.
Elizabeth heavily sighed at the comment. She could feel Shawn's sadness at the thought but also sensed the humor he had intended with it. "I don't know why she's being this way. You're only taking me to a charity event. It's not like we're getting married or something."
Shawn looked over at Elizabeth for a moment and smiled, trying to bite back a laugh. "Maybe she knows something that we don't."
"That's funny, Shawn, but you might be right."
Shawn was suddenly confused but he continued driving without responding. What could he say to something like that? What did Elizabeth mean?
"I'm not saying that she knows you and I are going to get married one day," Elizabeth continued, sensing Shawn's questions. "I'm saying maybe Gracie knows that I might not be coming back after that event."
"What do you mean?"
Elizabeth's sad smile came back and she shook her head. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes at the thought of leaving her friend. She didn't even want to think about it much less talk about it. "I'd rather not talk about it right now."
Shawn softly nodded his head. He understood what she meant now – even without her answering his question. The way she was acting told him enough. That and the fact he could almost feel what she was feeling which was kind of odd. It was going to take some getting used to.
"Where are you taking me?" Elizabeth asked, wiping her eyes of stray tears that had fallen without her realizing it.
Shawn reached over and gave her hand a quick squeeze as if to tell her things were going to be all right. "It's not far from here."
Elizabeth nodded. "All right. I'll play this game."
"What game?"
"The trust game. I'll trust that you're taking me to a store and not ... well, who knows where." Elizabeth gave him a sweet but strangely wicked smile.
Shawn loudly laughed at that. "It's only a couple more blocks," he replied. "I've been assured that you'll like the clothes there."
Elizabeth nodded. "I'm sure you have."