Page 31 of Second Chances
With a cold stare at Mr. Intolerable, she turned and walked purposefully through the throng of guests and out of the party, her gorgeous captor at her heels.
Chapter Ten
She was livid.Then again, so was he.
They sat in complete silence during the car ride back to the Plaza, Darcy brewing over whatever conversation, interaction that had caused him to force her to leave. She was just so angry, she just didn’t even know where to start, other than with the temptation to tell the driver to take her back to her and Jane’s apartment.
That won’t solve anything.
No, she wasn’t going to let her emotions get the best of her - even if that emotion was justified anger. Something had happened back there, something that had affected him to his core and God help her, she wanted to know what it was. She was angry and wanted to punish him, but more than that, she didn’t want to blow up at him because she wanted to know who he had talked to.
Was it someone that he had done business with?
Maybe it was something to do with George.
Or Mrs. DeBourgh. God, I hope not.
A million scenarios ran through her mind as the city lights passed by the window, but for some reason, she had this feeling deep down that this was about someone in Darcy’s past that she hadn’t encountered yet, that it had to do with a personal situation in his past that he hadn’t shared with her yet. Yes, she was angry that he forced her to leave, but it was true that she technically didn’t have to stay for the entire event; everything was prepared and scheduled, and usually for a scenario like this, she only stayed for the first hour or two except with Renée, as the gathering was usually much smaller and so she had always just stayed the whole time.
She felt her anger rising again, but she refused to look at him, even though she could feel his eyes on hers. She felt her phone buzz inside her purse and pulled it out to see that she had two texts from Patrick - one asking if she was ok and the second to let her know that everything was fine at the party and that Renée said to feel better. She smiled at his thoughtfulness; he was such a nice person. Feeling Darcy’s gaze searing a hole through her back, she knew that he watched her message someone on her phone and she could only imagine who he thought that it was. As much as she wanted to reassure him that Patrick was just (barely) a friend, she was too pissed to bridge the gap between them right now.
Serves him right. He can stew over it for a little longer.
She typed out a response, assuring Pat that she was just fine and she was sorry for jetting out but not to worry. She hit send just as the car pulled up to the hotel.
Not waiting for the driver, Beth opened her own door and got out of the car, walking purposefully into the hotel and towards the elevators. She needed space from Darcy, and a drink, before this confrontation that was about to happen. She reached the elevators just as one was closing and managed to hop inside, glimpsing a livid Darcy stalking towards the doors as they closed. Using the few quiet moments on the way to the top, Beth tried to organize her plan on how to deal with this situation.
Like most situations involving Darcy, she could kick herself because she wasn’t even mad that he forced her to leave.
Well, she was on some level, but she was mostly upset because he didn’t tell her what was going on before forcing her to leave.
At least have the decency and respect to tell me what’s going on before making me leave an event that I’m responsible for.
She had seen his face, his body language - whatever had transpired was traumatic and she would have left willingly had he just opened up.Men!She stepped off the elevator and hastily entered the apartment, making a beeline for the dining room and the liquor cabinet. Pouring herself two fingers of whiskey, she walked into the living room and stared out into the sparkling skyline of the city, lighting up the night.
The door to the apartment slammed harshly as the sound of Darcy’s footsteps became louder with his approach. She didn’t turn, but she could sense that he had stopped at the edge of the couch and was staring at her, waiting for her to make the first move.
One deep breath. One deep drink.Her last-minute fortifications before moving to face him.
Tortured.That was how he looked and it wasn’t what she had expected; she had expected to see the same anger in his face that was present their whole ride home, the same anger that grew more exaggerated as she’d let the elevator doors close without him. Sure, it was still present, but his expression was overwhelmingly laced with pain. It was the typical Darcy response: rash actions followed by remorseful apologies.
Why couldn’t he just be open with her in the first place and avoid all of this?
Her mouth thinned as her anger and frustration began to surface again.
“God, you are so beautiful,” Darcy said, as if he couldn’t help the words from coming out of his mouth.
Her mouth parted slightly at the unexpected compliment, anger momentarily dispersing as pleasure filled her. She couldn't help the blush that stole over her cheeks at his words, but she steeled herself from being completely distracted by her desire for him.
“What happened tonight?” she blurted out indignantly, washing her nerves down with a quick sip of whiskey.
“Fuck,”he said vehemently, running his hand through his hair as he took a step towards her.
“Why can’t you just tell me, Darcy? Why do we have to go through all of this? If you could just be open with me, this whole situation could have been avoided,” she continued, exasperated, her outrage growing with each question that slipped from her mouth, “why did we have to leave? What happened? I saw you talking to someone and you were so angry, angrier than the time that you punched George. Why couldn’t you just explain what happened?I would have left if you had just asked.”
When she had stopped, mostly to catch her breath, she realized how much her voice had risen during her tirade as her frustration found the words to express itself.
Darcy was staring at her, his jaw clenching, as her words sank in. His eyes darkened and she knew that he was hurting, not just from whatever had happened earlier but by how he had treated her as a result.
