Page 22 of First Impressions
“Oh, nothing. Just life, I guess.” She wasn’t going to open up that easily just because he made her laugh. “What happened to my sisters? I’m surprised Lydia let you out of her sight.”
George chuckled, “Well she and Kat went to try on dresses and they won’t let men back in the women’s dressing room, even though I tried to tell them that I was there to try on a dress, but they didn’t believe me. So, it looks like you are stuck with me. I can be your fashion consultant if you want. You know, I did live in Paris for a year.”
“Oh my, well I don’t have anything in mind. I’ll probably just get something last minute, I’m not too fussy,” she admitted. Then, realizing this was an opportune moment, she gave into her curiosity about his relationship with Darcy. “So, you’re going to work for Mr. Darcy then?”
“Yes! It’s very exciting. William promised me a management job right out of college, but I was out of the country for a few years so now that I’m back, it’s time for me to get to work.”
“I see. Well that’s surprisingly nice of him. Have you known him a long time?” Beth assumed this to be the case, since he was the only person she’d ever hear refer to him as William, and not Darcy or Mr. Darcy; not even Charles addressed him like that.
“Oh yes, almost our whole lives. William’s father took me in when I was young, so we grew up practically as brothers,” George began to explain. “I take it from you and your mother’s comments that Willy has been his usual charming self lately.”
She laughed again at his evident sarcasm. “Yes, you could say that.”
“He does have a tough exterior.” Letting out a deep sigh, he continued, “The job was actually promised to me by his father, who started the business and saw me as a second son. When he died, he asked Will to make sure I had a place in the company when I finished school. When I was done though, Will wouldn’t hire me, even though he swore to his father that he would. Being young and adventuresome and angry, I decided to gallivant off to Europe for a few years but now I am back and ready collect on what was promised to me.”
Trying to lighten the mood after revealing that unfortunate incident, he gave her a mischievous smile andpulled off a black satin, strapless gown from a nearby rack and held it up to her with a questioning gaze.
She made a face at him. “No, I don’t like to wear black,” she said as if her expression wasn’t clear enough. “It’s too depressing. Plus, most people wear black to this ball.”Although blending in wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world right now.Not ready to let him off the hook that easily, she redirected back to Darcy. “So, Mr. Darcy refused to give you the job that his father had promised you?”
“Ahh…” Surprisingly, George appeared to be a little flustered by the comment, turning and pretending to be distracted by a different navy blue gown for a minute before he was ready to respond. “Well, not that I would say anything bad about Willy, but we didn’t always get along so well, especially as we got older. He, very formal and rigid, always concerned with school and then the business, and then there was me, the free spirit, always looking for some fun,” he grinned sheepishly. “It’s understandable; he was inheriting an empire, but we were just two different people. I think he was a little jealous of my freedom to do what I wanted and how much his father enjoyed spending time with me. When they were together it was always business, but with William, his father, and I, he was able to relax and have fun. I think it built up resentment. So, William refused to give me the job at first, maybe because I was just out of school and inexperienced, maybe not. I got back from Europe about a month ago though and have emailed and called his office several times, trying to get ahold of him but haven’t received a response; I heard through a friend that he was going to be in the city for the summer so here I am, attempting to track him down in person.”
Beth gave him a puzzled look. Not that she could say that she knew Mr. Darcy with any degree of confidence, but he certainly didn’t seem like the type to ever be jealous of someone. Like her, he was proud of what he had accomplished, even if he was an ass about it; and she would never resent any of her siblings like that and she couldn’t imagine that he would either.
Then again, his reactions to her were complete contradictions - unwilling to notice her and then unable to keep his hands off of her. She wondered if he had done the same thing to George - offering him the position and then threatening to take it away; she didn’t know what was worse, playing with someone’s personal or their professional emotions. Still though, there was something that just didn’t sit right with her about George Wickham.
As if he sensed her distrust, he quickly continued, “I’m sure he fully intends to give me the position. We were like brothers, even in our disagreements, and knowing that this is what I went to school for, I have no doubt he would have offered me the job regardless.”
“Even though I’m certainly not his number one fan, he has a good head for business and if you were the right person for the job, especially being like family, I think he would have given it to you too.” Beth smiled back at him and noticed her mother and Lydia heading towards them. Determined not to be caught in a conversation about Darcy, she quickly turned and scanned the closest dresses, grabbing the prettiest color that she saw - a sky-blue ombré chiffon dress.
“So definitely no black. I think I’ll try this one on, blue has always worked out well for me. What do you think?” she asked George just as Lydia reached them.
“George, there you are! I seriously thought you had left us. What have you guys been doing?” Lydia sent an accusatory stare at Beth, thinking that she had stolen George away while Lydia was trying on her options.
“Ahh… I’ve just been browsing and this dress is the only one I’ve seen that I like, so I’m going to go try it on now.” Not waiting for a response, Beth bee-lined for the fitting rooms only feeling marginally bad for abandoning George to Lydia and her mother. Locking herself in the first dressing room, she hung the dress up and sat down on the little bench. Looking at herself in the mirror, she saw the toll that this emotional rollercoaster had taken on her and put her head back down in her hands.
Who was this person she was becoming?Now she was angry at Darcy all over again for George’s sake;how could hehave refused his dying father’s wish that George, basically a second son, be included in his legacy?
She looked up again and found herself staring at the dress she had haphazardly chosen. The material wrapped around to form a fitted bodice to waist and extended to the one sleeve that was off the left shoulder. The chiffon flowed freely, in layers, down from the waist. From the bodice down to mid-thigh, the chiffon was a sky blue and then began to fade into white at the hem. Realizing that she actually had picked something she liked, Beth stripped down and stepped into the dress.
Finally managing to get the zipper up, she looked in the mirror and loved what she saw. The fitted chiffon to the waist made her look tall and slender. The one, off-the-shoulder sleeve exposed her shoulders and neck. With the dress on, she realized there was a thigh-high slit in the skirt that wasn’t visible when she was standing still, but when she walked, elongated and showed off her legs. The blue also complemented her eyes and hair, making the brown appear not so dull. After a few twirls, she decided that this was the dress; maybe she was delusional, but she loved it.
Changing back into her running clothes, she took the dress out to the counter to pay. She hadn’t planned on buying a new dress but hell, after the past few days, or weeks, she could splurge. She had just finishing checking out when her sisters and mother, with George in tow, caught up to her.
“Did you find something, dear?” Mrs. Bennet said as she walked over and peeked inside the bag. “Oh, that color will look very nice on you. That’s what I would have suggested.”
“Thanks, mom,” the tiniest bit of sarcasm escaping into her response.
“Beth, you will never believe what happened!” exclaimed Lydia as she quickly glanced at George with a huge smile on her face. Bethcouldguess what had happened but she didn’t get the chance. “Mom said I could invite George to the Ball and he said he would go! Isn’t that great!” Her guess was correct.
“Well, after your enthusiastic comments about the dress I picked earlier, I needed a party to wear it to,” George jokedand gave Beth a wink as Lydia looked confusedly between the two of them.
“What do you mean, George?” Lydia asked harshly. Then, remembering the other part of her excitement, she continued, “And, because he said that a date should always bring a present, he bought me the Kate Spade necklace that I was showing you earlier! Isn’t he wonderful?” Returning to her smitten self, Lydia didn’t bother to wait for anyone to answer her before she began pulling George toward the escalator.
Beth didn’t hear his response as Jane finally saw her chance to check on her sister.
“You ok?”
“I will be. Is everyone done finding a dress? Did you find something?”
