7
Elizabeth closed her portfolio in frustration. She couldn’t get any sketching done. All her thoughts lingered with Lucky. She hadn’t seen him all day and it was beginning to worry her. She was about to pick up the phone to call him, when finally Lucky returned, a bouquet of white roses in his arms.
"Lucky," She smiled, wondering what the flowers were for. "Where have you been all day?"
Lucky grinned. The day had been full of
arrangements and buying things. He was determined to lift
Elizabeth’s spirits by wining and dining her. He was going
to take her mind off of the insecurities she’s been feeling
about Portia. "Hi beautiful. What time do you get off?"
"In another hour. Why?"
"Good," Lucky happily smiled. It seemed if everything was going as planned. "Be ready at seven. I have a big night planned for us."
Elizabeth’s eyes lit up with excitement. Another one of Lucky’s surprises. "I suppose you won’t tell me what this plan of yours is, if I asked."
"You know me too well. I’ll pick you up at seven. Be ready."
Elizabeth watched him leave, love and anticipation in her eyes. She went abuot her job, looking forward to the coming night.
~*~
"So where are we going?" Elizabeth asked, dunking into the car.
"The No Name. You do remember that place don’t you?" Lucky smiled, taking her hand tightly in his. "We’re going to have fun tonight Elizabeth. I promise you."
"So Lucky, what’s the occasion?" She asked as he pulled out into traffic.
"There is no occasion, Elizabeth. I’m going all of this because I want to make it clear to you just how I feel for you."
Elizabeth looked at her engagement ring and back at Lucky, truly touched. "I already know Lucky. The engagement ring and the song you wrote me are both proof of your love."
"But not enough," Lucky grinned, before turning his attention back to the road.
~*~
They had finished dinner and were now starting on dessert. Elizabeth again sighed in amazement. She really couldn’t believe that she was once again setting in the most prestigious restaurant in Port Charles.
"This is like a dream or something," Elizabeth looked around. "The perfect food, the perfect atmosphere…the perfect man."
Lucky’s smile was both happy and mysterious as he placed a small black box on the table. "The perfect gift."
"Oh Lucky! You shouldn’t have!" Elizabeth gasped in surprise. She opened the box to reveal a beautiful pearl ring. "Oh Lucky…It’s…it’s beautiful. I love it."
"I knew you would," He grinned, watching her slip the ring on. "The most beautiful pearl for the most beautiful woman."
"Thank you," She sniffed back her tears of happiness, again realizing just how much Lucky truly loved her and how much she loved him. It was so overwhelming at times. At times, she could barely breathe, her feelings were so strong.
~*~
Exhausted from the excitement of the evening, Elizabeth collapsed on her couch and switched on the television. She needed to bring herself back down to reality somehow. She closed her eyes to relax as she listened to the going ons in the world. They popped back open as she heard that there’s been another murder on the docks of Port Charles just the night before.
The victim, this time, was a girl named Sara Hydman. A P.C.U. student new to the area. Like Matt, Sara also was missing something. A pearl ring. Her roommate used to see her wear it all the time.
Frowning, Elizabeth took off her ring Lucky had given her and examined it. On the inside of the band was an inscription: TO SARA. WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU. MOM AND DAD.
She dropped the ring immediately. Staring blankly at the television, her mind whirled with surprise and dismay. Her perfect night had just been reduced to smoldering ashes. The beautiful gift from Lucky had once belonged to a murder victim.
Where had Lucky gotten the ring? Where had he gotten the jacket he had given Nikolas? "Oh Lucky…what’s happening to you?" Hot tears filled her eyes. By the look of things, her kind, sweet boyfriend was a murderer. What was she going to do? Should she call the police? Confront Lucky herself?
She sighed irritably at the ring of the phone. She didn’t want to talk to anyone right now. Especially not to Lucky. What could she possibly say to him, knowing what she knew. For a few minutes, she let it, hoping that whoever it was would think that she wasn’t home or was asleep and would hang up. But unfortunately, they didn’t.
Sighing, Elizabeth picked up the phone. "Hello."
"Liz, thank goodness," Nikolas sighed in relief. "There’s been another murder."
"I know. I just saw the news," Her voice seemed flat and lifeless. That was when he knew that something else had happened with Lucky.
"Elizabeth…I’m coming over. We need to talk."
"Nikolas no…that’s…"
"You need someone to talk to. I can tell. You can tell me what happened when I get there," He hung up the phone, not giving her anymore chances to protest.
"Great. Just great," She mumbled, picking up the ring off the floor. Looking at the inscription, she prayed that Lucky had a good explanation
~*~
Nikolas was quick about getting to Elizabeth’s house. He stood on her doorstep, a bit afraid to knock. She had sounded so…dead over the phone. He was afraid to find out why. He knew that it was more evidence that Lucky had something to do with the murders. Finally he knocked. Elizabeth soon answered, holding out the pearl ring Lucky had gotten her.
"Read the inscription," she crossed her arms.
"Lucky gave this to you?" Nikolas paled as he read. This wasn’t looking at all good for his brother. This meant only one thing. One awful thing. It was a lot more then coincidence now.
"What are we going to do?" Elizabeth asked.
"We’ll go see Luke, and then we talk to Lucky," Nikolas wrapped an arm around the shivering girl. "We’ll get to the bottom of this Liz. We’ll get to the bottom of what’s going on with my brother. And then, we’ll fix it."