a Piece of Art

13.0 T H E C A R

   He came to get me in a freaking limousine.

   Used to the life I had here, the life Naomi and the rest of my friends had, I almost forgot that Parker was still from my hometown. Still lived the lifestyle my parents had, have. In other words, he was loathed. That made me a bit uncomfortable, I never liked ostentatious.

   Inside the car, he offered me a glass of champagne. He had apparently already started.

   "You look beautiful, Elizabeth." I had noticed he never called me by my nickname. My name rolled deliciously off his tongue.

   I wasn't one for dressing up, so I set for a simple yet classic little black dress.

   "Thank you." I said, both for the glass and the compliment. "Where are we going to, may I ask?"

   "I thought we could go to my favorite bar for a couple of drinks." He suggested. "Have a nice conversation."

   I nodded, comfortable with the situation. Knowing Parker it wouldn't be any normal bar, it would be as exclusive as he liked it, somewhere no one would take a photo of us.

   Indeed, when we arrived the place was simple but clearly showed off money. Women were dressed elegantly and men sported formal tuxedos. I feared I wouldn't even make it through the door.

   Surprisingly or not quite, as soon as we got to the door, Parker said hi to the man standing there and he didn't even second glanced us.

   "Let's head there." Parker signaled with his head to a private booth, near the back of the bar. It felt private, a place where we effectively could talk.

   We took our seats and a waiter came to take our orders. We agreed that wine was fine, to begin with. I definitely didn't want to get trashed like Naomi instructed me was usual to do in bars. It was one thing drinking one too many cups with her but one different thing would be doing it with Parker at a place like this, I didn't want to risk it.

   Don't go into the friends territory. I though. I knew that as soon as I started thinking about them, and our usual hang outs, I would be feeling deeply upset easily again. It was Christmas Eve for god's sake and I was spending it with the man who had been my crush for years. This didn't make sense.

   When the waiter left, I tried and joked with him. "It's funny because you do know I shouldn't be allowed here, right?"

   He seemed surprised, "that's true. Shit. I keep forgetting how young you are. I shouldn't be providing you with alcohol either." He smiled. "But I'm sure it wouldn't be your first rodeo at a place like this."

   Now he was mocking me. I laughed. "Well, I can't deny the alcohol part. But I had never been to anywhere so fancy without my parents."

   I almost didn't notice my slip up. Not until he responded.

   "Do you parents usually come to places like these?"

   I never mentioned my parents, why I had done it now, unintentionally, I didn't know.

   "Well, not really usually but they probably would."

   Thankfully, he noticed how uncomfortable the topic made me and dropped it. We continued talking about everything and anything. He asked me about school, about my major, my minor. He told me about his job, how he had inherited the gallery and some other business from his father.

   I didn't let it show that I already knew this information, I appreciated every piece of his history he showed me. As much as I wanted to deny it, this man was gorgeous... with his soft hair and deep eyes, it didn't surprise me he felt so comfortable in his own skin.

   So we drank, and chatted, and drank some more till Parker told me it was fifteen minutes till midnight. I was surprised, we've been in the same booth for hours.

   "C'mon. I don't want to start our Christmas at this bar."

   He contradicted his own previous words but I decided to ignore it. I didn't mind. I followed him to the limo, apparently this was his usual way of transportation and Richard, his driver.

   We were five minutes away to my house when he told me it was Christmas already. I was looking outside, to the world that was put through the window when he surprised taking my hand.

   "Merry Christmas, Elizabeth."

   Somehow, his smile, his words, warmed me up inside. It sounded sweet and almost unrealistic to see him like this, in his formal suit.

   "Merry Christmas, Parker."

   What seemed unrealistic the most, though, was the fact that that he leaned in then and placed his lips softly on mine. Barely a touch, a peck. Carefully caressing my cheek while he did so. Seconds after, he pulled away. We were already outside my building.

   I was surprised, "isn't it in New Years that you have to kiss when the clock hits midnight?"

   He laughed. I got ready to leave the car when the driver opened the door for me.

   "Goodnight, Elizabeth."

***

   When Blake got back to the city, the first thing we did was get Jackson's car from the police department. It was destroyed. We agreed that Leah shouldn't see it, and I didn't know how to drive so I had to wait for Blake, who was hurt to see it but it wasn't as traumatic as for Leah.

   We took the car to the nearest car shop, see if it could be fixed, sold or honestly whatever. Jackson's family didn't really care, they didn't want to keep it, and I understood.

   There they asked us to check the inside of the car, in case something had been left behind, Jackson usually let clothes in the back of his car, or any kind of paper.

   Blake took the backseat, while I took the front one. We weren't really on a talking moody, most of time together that been spend in an understanding silence.

   When I opened the compartment in front of the passenger seat, I found something that definitely shouldn't be there.

   There was a white envelope with "to Leah" written in the front.

   I stopped for a second and took a deep breath. "Blake, you've got to see this."