[006] the luckiest gal in new york

                                 Elizabeth couldn't shut up about Logan. And so she would talk to her very own best friend, Freida. Besides Jack, Freida was the one person that she could talk to about anything. And Elizabeth knew she could trust her with any secret she had.

                                 "I really do feel like the luckiest gal in New York," Elizabeth smiles, twirling the spoon around in her tea. "Logan's a real gentleman. I mean, sure, he has his flaws. But he's still a lot better than most men in this godforsaken city. I mean, look at the bracelet he bought me. Isn't it beautiful?"

                                 Freida sits across from her gear friend inside of the cafe, chuckling softly as Elizabeth shows off the diamond bracelet she now wore proudly around her wrist. "It's beautiful. He certainly sounds like a real catch, Lizzie. So why is it that you haven't told your parents about him?"

                                 "I'm scared that my parents will ruin the perfect fairytale for me. For my father, no one's good enough for his precious daughter. And for my mother, she'll just stick her nose in my business and try to discourage me from seeing him. I can't have that," Elizabeth shakes her head. "The only time I'll tell them everything is when our relationship is really secure. That way, I can leave with him if my parents get too upset."

                                 "Good luck trying to hide the fact that you're dating the city's most eligible bachelor underneath the noses of your own parents," Freida scoffed.

                                 Elizabeth pouts. "You're supposed to be encouraging me, not making fun of me."

                                 "You also want me to be honest with you, don't I? That's what friends are for," Freida corrects her. "When are you going to be seeing Logan again anyways?"

                                 "Tomorrow night," Elizabeth answers, the smile reappearing on her lips again. "He found the perfect bar for us to go to. I've heard about the place before but I never had the chance to go. According to him, I'm the first girl he's ever taken there."

                                 Freida raised a brow. "And you really believe him?"

                                 "Honestly? No. But it's nice to imagine that it's true," Elizabeth admits. She wished she could be dumb and naive just enough that she believed what everyone told her. But she was cursed with being too smart (most times) and able to read through bullshit (also most times). "Can't a girl pretend?"

                                 "If a girl has to pretend, then it's probably time to reevaluate if your dream gentleman is really such a dream boat or not," Freida advised.

                                 Deep down, Elizabeth knew that she was right. But it had been a long time since Elizabeth had been with a man capable of making her feel something other than hollow. And Elizabeth was desperate to cling onto that feeling or else she'd have to go back to her bleak reality at home.

                                 And Elizabeth truly didn't want that.

                                 "Ugh, I'd prefer for you to lie to me instead, Freida. A lie is so much nicer than the truth sometimes,

                                 "Fine, Lizzie," Freida sighs, "I have nothing but full confidence in you that everything will go well and your relationship with Logan will have no problems. Oh, and your parents will definitely support your relationship despite the fact that you've been going behind their back for weeks."

                                 Elizabeth takes a sip from her cup of tea, signing contently afterwards. "Thank you so much, Freida. I know I can always count on you."

                                 Freida rolls her eyes, muttering something Elizabeth couldn't quite make out. But before Elizabeth could ask what that something was, her eyes caught on something red. Elizabeth glanced up, realizing that the red came from Viola Duval, a rich hotel heiress with a rather scandalous reputation.

                                 As though she could sense eyes on her, Viola turned around and locked eyes with Elizabeth. She smiles over at Elizabeth and waves at her, forcing Elizabeth to do the same. Freida turns around, following Elizabeth's gaze before she too waves at Viola.

                                 "I haven't seen Viola in ages," Freida recalled as she turned back around to look at Elizabeth.

                                 "I hear her family purposely hid her away after her last rendezvous with the valet. I hear she got pregnant and was forced to get an abortion because her family didn't want her having a poor man's baby," Elizabeth stated, leaning closer so no one else could hear her gossiping.

                                 "You can't seriously believe that, Lizzie," Freida scoffed.

                                 "She was gone for months. You can't blame me for noticing the signs," Elizabeth shrugs. It was definitely suspicious that a woman who loved to party suddenly dropped off the grid for months. What else could it have been if not an unplanned pregnancy?

                                 "Well, if it is true, Viola looks wonderful for someone who's been through such hell," Freida relented. Even she had to admit that the circumstances were incredibly strange.

                                 Elizabeth looks over at Viola again, realizing that she did look amazing. With her hourglass figure and bright red hair and her pretty face, it was no wonder men seemed to be tripping over themselves just to get her attention. The thing is, Viola gave them a lot more than just her attention. Viola was loose, sleeping with any man who looked her way. Every other week, you'd find Viola around town with a new man on her arm. Sometimes, she'd be juggling two or three men at the same time.

                                 Whenever Viola Duval walked into a room, women clung onto their men just a little tighter.

                                 "I heard Viola used to go out with him," Freida remarked.

                                 "Who?" Elizabeth raised a brow.

                                  "Logan. They were a hot item for a while," Freida explained.

                                 "She used to go out with lots of men. She's not exactly the Virgin Mary these days," Elizabeth shrugs. Needless to say, the news wasn't terribly shocking to Elizabeth.

                                 "I'm just saying, she's someone you should watch out for. If she wants Logan back, you might have to worry about her. Logan has never been the type of man to settle down and I wouldn't be surprised if he likes having two women all to himself," Freida remarked.

                                 Elizabeth frowns, glancing over at Viola who was shamelessly flirting with one of the men in line. While Viola was beautiful and charming, Elizabeth wasn't too worried about her. "Oh, Freida, you think the absolute worst of men."

                               "Can you blame me? All men do is cheat and lie," Freida remarked.

                               "Logan may have been that way in the past, but I'm convinced that he's going to change his ways," Elizabeth insisted.

                                "For you?" Freida questioned.

                                "For me," Elizabeth nods with certainty.

                                Maybe it was bold of her to be so certain about her and Logan's relationship. At the end of the day, their entire relationship was one giant gamble. Elizabeth truly didn't know what to expect at the end of the day. But the last little bit of hope in Elizabeth's body told her to put her faith and trust in Logan.

                               After Elizabeth and Freida finished with their conversation at the cafe, they had to part ways. Freida had to go back to work so that left Elizabeth on her own. Elizabeth had no choice but to go back home, having to deal with her mother since her father was busy with work. If Elizabeth was lucky, the woman would be passed out drunk and Elizabeth would have a peaceful rest of her day. 

                               But when she arrived at the house, she'd quickly find her mother in the living room - pouring herself another glass of scotch. She probably just started drinking from the looks of it since she was able to still stand upright. Her mother looks up when she hears Elizabeth walk into the parlor room, a small smile onto her lips.

                                "There you are. I was wondering when you were going to come back. Lately, it seems like you're hardly ever home," her mother remarked before taking a large sip from her glass.

                               Elizabeth shrugs. "I'm usually busy with my friends. I just finished having tea with Freida."

                                "Oh, Freida. She seems like a good friend for you. A bit strange but good," her mother shrugged.

                                 "Strange how?" Elizabeth furrowed her brows, confused by her mother's statement.

                                 "She acts more like a man than most of the men around here," her mother explained.

                                "I admire her for what she does, how she continues to break boundaries in the working world. I think she's really going to change things," Elizabeth argued.

                                "Or make them worse. A woman isn't meant to go out there and work. She's meant to stay home with her man and start a family," her mother shakes her head. "It's how things have always been since the dawn of time."

                                "I really hope you don't want to talk about Freida all day," Elizabeth sighed.

                                "No. I want to spend more time with you, Elizabeth. I feel like we hardly spend time with each other now," her mother frowned, now sitting down at the end of the couch and motioning for Elizabeth to join her.

                               Elizabeth ultimately relents. After all, her mother wasn't going to leave her alone until she joined her. "The only reason we haven't been spending time together is because you're always drunk and passed out. Maybe if you stopped drinking -."

                               "I know that I should stop, Elizabeth. I really want to, but I can't. This... it helps to take the pain away," her mother cut her off, "It makes life so much easier to bear. And the only reason I even have this pain is because of your father. He turned me into this."

                               "How?" Elizabeth questioned, her features softening.

                               Her mother sighs, brushing some of Elizabeth's hair behind her ear. "I tried to shield you from so much of the issues between your father and I. But I think the cracks are beginning to show. It's getting harder and harder to pretend like everything's fine. So instead of pretending, I decided to self medicate."

                              Hearing her mother talk like this, it made Elizabeth sympathize with her a lot more. And it also made Elizabeth feel very guilty for the resentment she harbored towards her mother.

                              "Do you want my advice?" her mother added.

                              Reluctantly, Elizabeth nods.

                              "Never get married. You're better off staying at home with your father and I. That way, you'll never experience what I've had to experience," her mother remarked.

                              Elizabeth frowns. "I won't. I'll never go through what you had to. I'm going to find the love of my life, I'm going to marry him, and we are going to have a good and happy marriage. I'm going to make you and Father proud."

                            "You were always so hopeful, Lizzie. Never lose that. The moment you lose that, you'll end up just like me," her mother bitterly chuckles before reaching over to pour herself another drink.

                            But Elizabeth reaches out to go and stop her mother, even going as far as moving the bottle of whiskey away from her mother so she wouldn't be able to grab it. "No, you need to stop this. I'm sorry for what you're going through. I know dealing with Father isn't easy but you can't let him win by destroying yourself like this."

                          "Don't you get it?" her mother snaps, glaring at Elizabeth. "He's already won. He's already destroyed me and having you... that was just the cherry on top. I'm just doing the rest of the work now. Leave me alone and let me drink."

                          Elizabeth flinched. She isn't sure which one is worse: her words or the harsh tone she used when saying them. Regardless, it's enough to make tears spring forth in her eyes and she storms away from her mother. If she wanted to kill herself by drowning in alcohol, there was nothing Elizabeth could do. Elizabeth couldn't save her mother unless she wanted to be saved.

                            More than ever, Elizabeth was determined to not end up like her mother. But that was the tragedy of it all: Elizabeth would end up becoming even worse than her.

(🦢🍸💄)

word count: 2068
notes: logan will be in the next chapter but for now we get a solely elizabeth chapter which, as you can expect, ended in tragedy