Page 46 of First Impressions
“Did I ever tell you guys about the one time he came into the office wearing two different colored shoes?” Jane started to giggle. “His assistant, Donna, asked him if he realized that they were two different colors and he proceeded to tell her that she was colorblind because they were the same color. They must have gone back and forth for fifteen minutesabout the shoes, and you know how Bill gets when he’s frustrated, all red and flustered.” Jane was having a hard time continuing because she had started to laugh so hard. “Meanwhile, I hear all this because it was going on in Donna’s office, which is right across from mine. So, I get up to leave because dad and Bill actually had a meeting; they see me and follow me quietly up to dad’s office.” By this point she had tears rolling down her cheeks. “We go into dad’s room and dad looks at Bill and goes, ‘Bill, why are you wearing two different colored shoes?’ And then Donna loses it and spits her mouthful of coffee out all over the back of Bill’s shirt.”
Now, all the girls were laughing hysterically, if for no other reason than that Jane had struggled so much to get the rest of the story out between her laughs. It was the first time since her breakup that she seemed truly happy.
“I thought he was going to fire Donna on the spot.”
“Did he?” Beth asked as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
“No, oh my gosh. I really thought he was going to but Donna is great so now they just laugh about it. Well, mostly Donna still laughs about it whenever Bill says something that she knows isn’t right.”
“Well, Char, once you’re married, you’ll have to make sure that he leaves the house with the right shoes on!”
“Oh man, guys. That is great. I’m totally going to bring that up when I see him on Sunday.”
“Oh ok, so Char we need to make the next left onto Scuttle Hole Road and then the house should be on the left.”
As they turned into the private drive, everyone grew quiet, taking in the vastness of the estate. There was a pond idyllically set off to the left immediately after entering the property. Continuing down the drive, there was a lane on the left that led to a moderately sized house as they started to pass part of the private golf course on the right. They passed an even larger lake on the left as the drive turned toward the main house.
“Holy shit,” Char exclaimed as they got their first full view of the main house. “How big is that house?! Jane, Zillow it!”
Jane used the Zillow app on her phone to find the details about the house. “It’s twenty thousand square feet. And the property is over sixty acres.”
“Dear Lord...” Char trailed off as they pulled in front of the house and parked.
Mrs. DeBourgh’s assistant, Victor, had told her to come to the main house when she arrived so she could be given keys to the guest cottage. Beth was in awe of the house as she stepped out of the car. To think that this was just a normal house for some sent shivers down her spine. She could just imagine what Darcy’s houses looked like.Stop it. Why did her brain have to go there?
Before she made it away from the car, the front door to the house opened and a younger man in a tight-fitting suit came power walking over to them. He had sleek, narrow glasses on and his hair looked like it had been slicked to the side with about three times more hair gel than necessary.
“Hello, may I have your name please?” he addressed Beth abruptly.
“Yes, I’m Beth Bennet with the Gardiner Group. I’m the publicist and will be staying for the whole week. I was told to come to the main house to get the key to the guest cottage…”
“Yes, yes. I know,” he responded smartly. “I’m Victor; I emailed you the details about your stay. Mrs. DeBourgh and her daughter haven’t arrived yet, however, here is the key for the guest cottage. You may go and settle in. Mrs. DeBourgh would like to see you and your associates for dinner. It will be served promptly at six. If you have any questions, you can dial star-three-eight on the cottage phone and it will connect you to me or one of my assistants.” He finished marking something on the clipboard he was holding and handed her a manila envelope containing the house key. “Any questions?”
“Uh, no, just how do we get to the cottage?”
With a huff and an eye roll he responded, “It was the first lane off to your left when you entered the property.”
“Thatis a cottage?” Beth stared at him incredulously since that building had to be at least four thousand square feet.
“Yes.Please remember dinner is at six. There is a golf cart parked outside the cottage for your use or you arewelcome to walk up to the house.” With that, his mouth thinned and he gave her a slight nod before turning and walking back into the house.
“Well, he sure is a character,” Char laughed from the driver’s seat. “It’s only two-fifteen. Let’s unpack and then go explore!”
Beth got back into the car and they proceeded back down the drive until they got to the lane for the cottage.Cottage, my ass.The guest house had two stories, columned porches and a patio. Inside the house were three separate bedrooms, each with its own bath, a living room, dining room, and fully stocked kitchen. After unpacking, Jane assessed what options were in the fridge for lunch on-the-go. She found some prepackaged deli meat and cheese and made them all sandwiches to take with them on their exploration of the property.
In the envelope with the key was a map of the property; after looking it over, they decided to try to eat lunch in the Orangery and then explore the rose gardens. Hopping into the golf cart conveniently parked outside for their use, they drove back towards the main house.
Pulling up to the front of the house they saw a few large, black SUVs parked out front. Beth cringed, hoping they wouldn’t run into Mrs. DeBourgh or her daughter before they had to at dinner. Leaving the cart off to the side of the cars, they followed the path to the left of the house which led them through landscaped formal gardens to the Orangery. Inside the window covered building was a dining table along with a sitting area. In awe of their surroundings, they sat at the table to eat lunch in silence, taking in the picturesque landscape visible through the windows.
When they had finished, Char began asking Jane a bunch of questions about Bill since she saw him almost every day at the firm. Beth could tell that she was excited about her new boyfriend and she was also grateful that Char’s line of questioning would keep Charles in the background of Jane’s thoughts for a little while longer.
Beth had wandered out into the rose garden, rambling along the stone paths, under the arches trellises examiningeach type of rose bloom as she went. She stopped to take in their scents and smells, enjoying the fresh air and sunshine. She was happy that Char was finally able to see her future with someone, but at the same time it made her heart ache, thinking about a future that she no longer had with Darcy.Who was she kidding? She probably never had a future with him in the first place.She was not his type - always arguing with him and making him mad. And she definitely didn’t look like a model, like Anne DeBourgh did. How he was even attracted to her after being with someone like Anne was beyond her. Not that she wasn’t attractive, it was just that she and Anne were so different and she couldn’t help but compare herself to the other woman.
He can like more than one type of woman.
True, except he doesn’t act like he likes you, except for physically.
No, that night he was different.
