Masquerade

         “Lucky! Lucky lemme draw! Puh-leese?” Asia begged. Lucky sighed, then gave a chuckle.
         “Go for it,” he agreed, watching her face light up as she opened the pack of colored pencils and a new sketchpad. He left her to sketch as he tended to the cash register though business wasn’t really picking up pace at the time. After awhile, Lucky decided to go see what Asia was up to.
         “Trust me, these markers are your best bargain,” she was talking with a customer. Lucky gave a smile as he walked back to the cash register and waited for some customers. People usually left with more than what they came in for lately, and Asia was good at helping them find the best of what they needed. Finally, the woman came to the counter and paid for all the supplies before Lucky looked at his watch and saw it was time to close.
         “Hey Asia, it’s time to close shop, “Lucky called out.
         “Okay,” Asia called back. She went to straightening things up as Lucky tallied up the cash register and receipts.
         “You got a ride?” Lucky inquired while Asia grabbed her coat, sketchpad and colored pencils.
         “Yep,” Asia smiled as Lucky locked the doors and pulled down the gates around the windows.
         “So what did you draw with your first paycheck?” Lucky questioned as they stood around waiting for Asia’s ride to show up.
         “Oh, wanna see?” Asia handed the sketchpad over to Lucky after she slipped her coat on. He flipped it open and found a colorful sketch of a girl in a long gown sitting near an outside staircase as a man who looked strangely familiar stood in the doorway, nowhere near the girl. In the background she had begun to draw couples dancing in the ballroom behind the man. On the bottom of the page, the words “Masquerade” were scrawled. Lucky glanced once more at the man and realized he had a striking resemblance to Stevie.
         “That’s beautiful Asia,” Lucky said with a smile as he handed back the pad. “If you don’t mind my asking, why is Stevie standing so far away from you?”
         For a moment, Asia looked stunned and embarrassed, as if she didn’t expect anybody to notice that it was Stevie she drew, but quickly regained composure. “It’s a long story,” Asia finally answered quietly. “Is it that obvious that it’s Stevie?” She asked, slightly fearful.
         “No, not at first,” Lucky admitted. “Are you okay?” He questioned worriedly as Asia gave a shaky sigh and a sniff.
         “Not really,” Asia answered truthfully.
         “Do you want to talk about it?” Lucky prodded gently. Asia nodded.
         “I’ll give you the short version of it, because my ride will be here soon, and because I don’t think my heart can handle remembering the whole thing right now,” she explained, Lucky listening intently through the whole story.