Page 42 of First Impressions
“Charles said he was going to pick me up around five o’clock.”
Beth found her phone to check the time. It was almost four; they had been talking for almost three hours and her mom had just tried to call her three times.
“Did mom try to call you?” she yelled to Jane.
“I don’t think so. My phone is on the coffee table; you can look.”
Beth reached over and checked the phone - no calls from their mom, just two texts from Charles. She had a twinge of frustration that she had no way of contacting Darcy and that he hadn’t gotten in touch with her yet.He had to have gotten her note by now.
“You have two messages from Charles.”
“Ok! I’ll be right there.”
Beth dialed her mom, wondering why she was the only one to be repeatedly called.
“Beth! Thank God. Why didn’t you answer your phone? Are you with Jane? Is she ok?” her mom answer frantically.
“What? Yes, we were hanging out and I didn’t realize that it was ringing. She’s fine, why? What’s wrong?”
“It’s Charles.”
“Is he ok? What happened?” Beth’s face immediately fell in worry over their friend. Jane came back into the room with tea at that moment and saw the look of concern on her face. Jane quickly reached for her phone to read what he had sent.
“Yes, he’s fine. Well, physically, but not mentally apparently. Your father just told me that the whole deal is on hold and that Charles is going back to Boston for the indefinite future.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
“Wait, what? Why?”Beth asked in shock, darting her eyes to Jane to see if she had heard her.
“I don’t know! He didn’t say anything more than that to your father; trust me, I asked. Did he say anything to Jane?” Beth looked back at her sister again, just in time to see Jane’s face fall and her eyes glaze over with tears and she knew that Charles had said something.
“Are you positive that’s all Charles said?”
“Yes! Well, no, it wasn’t Charles! It was Mr. Darcy who called and spoke to your father. Charles was supposed to meet your dad and then a half an hour before the meeting, Mr. Darcy called him. That’s why I asked if Charles said anything to Jane?”
Beth felt like she’d been punched in the stomach. She watched as the tears began to roll down Jane’s cheeks.Darcy did this.She couldn’t breathe. After everything that had happened last night, he woke up and left her to go out and destroy her sister and Charles’ chance for happiness.How could he?
“Mom, I have to go.” Beth hung up before her mom could interject any more questions. She had to be strong for Jane. She took a deep breath and focused on her sweet, kind, loving sister whose heart had just been shattered.
“Jane,” she said softly, reaching out her hand to touch Jane’s arm. Jane looked over at her with a blank stare in her eyes, tears trickling down her face. “Oh, honey. What happened? What did he say?”
Jane’s mouth started to move as though she wanted to answer, but couldn’t. Instead, her head ducked down as she swallowed hard and handed her phone to Beth for her to read.
Hey, Jane. Sorry for the last-minute notice but I won’t be able to make dinner tonight. Have to head back to Boston for a while. I’m not sure when I’ll be back.
Take care of yourself.
No reason. No explanation.No mention of Darcy.Beth would have expected this from Darcy; it was basically his trademark move - get close and then run. Charles was a completely different person though, or so she thought; she could never have imagined him doing this to Jane especially without any sort of justification.It had to be Darcy’s doing.Pulling herself from the anger she felt starting to build inside her, she set Jane’s phone down and pulled her sister in for a hug.
“I’m fine, Beth.” A complete lie as Beth could hear the words getting choked up in her throat while her tears began to fall on Beth’s shoulder.
“I’m so sorry, Jane. I don’t know why he would leave so suddenly. Maybe there was a family emergency?” She was grasping at straws, but she had to give her sister some sort of hope.
“Maybe, but he would have told me.” Jane shook her head. “Maybe he just didn’t like me enough. Or maybe all the talk about marriage was too much, too fast. Or maybe it’s because I didn’t sleep with him last night.”
“I don’t know, Jane. I do know that whatever the reason, it’s a shitty one and he doesn’t know what he is walking away from.” Beth felt her own tears start to collect and fall, not just for her sister, but for herself.
She knew, even though she wouldn’t get the courtesy of a text, that Darcy had gone with Charles. He’d left her this morning to meet with Charles and convince his friend to leave her sister broken-hearted.How could she have been so stupid?She felt like it was her fault, that she had done something last night that made Darcy feel like he had to sever the bond between Jane and Charles. Maybe because they had invited Wickham? She shook her head, unable to imagine an excuse good enough to separate two people who were clearly in love. How could he have done this to Jane? Sweet, loving, perfect Jane. She didn’t deserve this.
