Amy is looking through her own paintings and sketches and has a disturbed expression on her face. Lottie enters. Her lot in life is always to be apologising to on March sister or another, and she looks truly contrite. "Hello Amy!" Amy doesn't turn to look at her " I don't want to see you." Lottie sighed " oh Amy I'm so sorry for how I behaved and how Laurie behaved. Please? Forgive me?" Amy refuses to turn around " Have you both been drinking again?" Lottie looks down " only a little, and it's 4pm, you can't be to hard on me." Amy sighed " someone has to do it." Lottie pushes her feelings of sorrow and sadness to the side and lifts her head up to look around at the paintings " so when did you start your great works of art, Raphaella?" Amy spins around " Never" Lottie sees her face, the ashen worry traced on it. " What- why?" Amy looks at her " I'm a failure. Jo is in New York, being a writer, and I'm a failure." Lottie looks at her worriedly " That's quite a statement to make at twenty." Amy sighs " Rome took all the vanity out of me. And Paris made me realise I'd never be a genius. I'm giving up all my foolish artistic hopes." Lottie walked towards Amy but stops " why should you? You have so much talent and energy." Amy just stares at the small brunette " Talent isn't genius, and no amount of energy can make it so. I want to be great or nothing. I won't be a common place dauber, so I don't intend to try anymore." Lottie watched her and then says conspiratorially " what women are allowed into the club of geniuses anyway?" Amy smiles at her " The Brontes?" Lottie smirked " that's it." " I think so." Lottie tilts her head which makes Amy's heart rate speed up as it always had when she tilted her head that way. Lottie smiles at her " And who always declares genius?" Amy looks back at her painting " well men I suppose." Lottie looks around and her eyes land on painting of pears " They're cutting down the competition." Amy wants to laugh at this statement " That's a very complicated argument to make me feel better." " Do you though? Feel better.?" Amy sighed again "I don't think male or female, I am of middling talent." Lottie sighs she knows there is no point in saying anything else to try purse wade Amy she is to stubborn. " Middling talent? Then may I ask your last portrait be of me?" Amy laughs " All right." Lottie looks at Amy questionably " Now that you've given up all your foolish artistic hopes, what are you going to do with your life?" Amy sighs looking down at the brushes in her hands " Polish up on my other talents and become an ornament to society." Lottie sighed sadly which did not go unnoticed by Amy " Here's where Fred Vaughn comes in, I suppose." Amy smiles at her "don't make fun!" Lottie starts laughing "I'm not!" Lottie looks at her surprised " your not engaged, I hope?" Amy pauses "No....." Lottie sighs looking out the window. She seems to be doing that an awful lot during their conversation, sighing that is. " But you will be, if he goes down properly on one knee." Amy doesn't take her eyes off of the brushes if she does and looks at her she might give her the wrong answer the answer she has been wanting to say for years but never did. " Most likely, yes." Amy continues on "He's rich, richer than you and Laurie even." Lottie just stared at her " I understand queens of society can't get without money. But it does sound odd coming from one of your mothers girls." Amy seemed to snap back at her nearly something Lottie was not expecting or used to happening to her. Amy never seemed to get annoyed at the younger girl until know and it sort of puzzled her by this. " I've always known I would marry rich. Why should I be ashamed of that?" Lottie paused for a moment " There is nothing to be ashamed of, as long as you love him." Amy just sighed at this " Well I believe we have some power over who we love, it isn't something that just happens to a person." Lottie could disagree with her on this one she could tell her how she truly felt that she never need any power to choose who she loved and even if she did have that power to chose she knew it would be her who she would chose. Amy was the person would chose to fall in love with over and over again. But Lottie had no power over who she chose to love it just happened to her, from the moment she saw her sitting in the living room of the March household Lottie knew it was Amy and she found herself thinking even if she could choose who her heart would rapidly thump in her chest for it would be Amy she would choose time and time again it would be her I mean how could she not Amy was perfect talented and smart and undeniably gorgeous. This broke Lottie a little knowing that Amy has the power to chose who she loved meant everything she thought as a child growing up with Amy that she felt the same way, obviously she had read it all wrong. "I think the poets might disagree." To Lottie it seemed that Amy was in love with Fred like she had said Amy had power over who she loved and she had chosen Fred Vaughn. Amy was pushing her away she had to push her away if she didn't push Lottie away if she didn't she might slip up and tell her how she really felt. Amy knew she had no power over who she loved she knew from the first time Lottie walked into the house and her heart felt like it was going to explode but Amy couldn't tell her this, it wasn't that her family would hate her because they didn't care as long as she was happy. Amy just couldn't come to terms with it herself . "Well I'm not a poet, I'm just a woman. And as a woman I have no way to make money, not enough to earn a living and support a family." Amy continued on " Even if I had my own money, which I don't, it would belong to my husband the minute we where married. If we had children they would belong to him not me. They would be his property. So don't sit there and tell that marriage isn't an economic proposition, because it is. It may not be for you but it most certainly is for me." Lottie dropped her head so she was looking at the floor trying to stop tears from falling. The girl she had fallen so deeply in love with was going to be married soon to one of her brothers friends, she was going to have kids and be happy. But as long as she was happy that is all Lottie cared about. Before Lottie could say anything else the sound of a carriage approaching stoped her, Amy turns to look out the window and back at the small brunette "That will be Fred now. How do I look so I look alright?" Lottie looks at her, she looked stunning " You look beautiful. You are...... beautiful". Amy suddenly blushes, but smiles in thanks. And then runs off to great Fred. From the top of the staircase, Lottie looks at Amy and Fred embrace. Feeling her heart sink she tells herself that as long as Amy is happy she will be too.

Sorry it took so long but here you go thank you for nearly 1k reads

Word count 1256