Page 54 of Second Chances
Every word she read was a blow, crushing the air out of her lungs, but the last was like a knife to her heart.Mrs. Darcy.Had she ever even thought of herself in those terms? Yet, here was this woman, who hadn’t seen him or wanted him in years, referring to herself as his future wife; her confidence in herself would have been laughable if Beth hadn’t been so legitimately concerned about what this woman was capable of doing in order to achieve it.
Knock, knock.
Beth jumped out of her chair, slamming her computer shut as Phil walked into her office, a very perplexed look coming over his face at her ashen expression and erratic movement.
“Are you ok?” he asked, concerned, “I didn’t mean to startle you. I wasn’t sure if I heard someone in here or not, but the light was on.”
“Yes, yes,” Beth replied shakily, with a laugh.
She was definitely not ok.Her heart was pounding out of her chest; she felt like she couldn’t breathe, even though she knew her breaths were coming out rapid and shallow.
“Sorry, I was working and I didn’t hear you, or anyone, so you just scared me. I lost track of what time it was,” she continued, trying to allay Phil’s concerns; she couldn’t tell him what had happened
She barely had processed what had happened.
“Ok,” he replied, seemingly convinced. “I’m glad to see you in the office early, that sounds like the old Beth is back. It’s also nice not to be the only early bird in today after my vacation last week.”
Beth just smiled at his assertion -if he only knew.He said it, though, more to convince himself that she was ok than anything else; Phil had been out on vacation so he’d missed her high spirits and motivation all last week.
“Anyway, I won’t disturb you for long, but while I’m here I thought I’d ask how the party went the other weekend?”
“Ahh... Good! Very good. I spoke to Renée afterward and she was very happy with everything. It was a little bigger this year than previous years, but the Ritz handled everything really well. I think we should get a lot of good press about it today - just based on the few people I spoke with at the event and then some of the social news I saw trending over that weekend and last week,” Beth responded, trying to maneuver through the maze of thoughts bombarding her, back to that Friday night.
“Wonderful,” Phil said, “Renée actually sent me an email to tell me how great a job that you did and what a pleasure it is to work with you every year. I meant to send it along but service was questionable at the resort and then I just forgot. I’ll forward it along to you today though, but I just thought I would let you know.”
“I would appreciate that; she’s a really great client,” Beth said, a smile breaking on her face. Even after Beth had to duck out of the party early, Renée hadn’t mentioned any of that to Phil.
“Oh, before I forget, I also got an email last Friday from a ‘Mr. Dempsey,’ wanting to meet with you over the potential to plan and publicize some upcoming events for him. He requested you specifically, and he wouldn’t give me any further details on the type of events. Do you know him or is this some sort of scam?” Phil said skeptically.
Beth laughed at Phil’s sometimes lack of pop culture awareness. “Yes, he’s a friend of Renée’s. I see him every year at her party and he mentioned something to me about getting together.”
“Oh, ok. Wait, is he who I think he is? Is he the actor, Patrick Dempsey?”
“Yes, that would be him,” Beth replied with a laugh. Phil could be a little slow on the uptake; she was actually surprised that he even knew who Patrick Dempsey was.
“Oh, fabulous! Well then, I’ll send his information along right away and you can reach out to him.”
“Sounds good. Thanks.”
“Ok, I’ll let you get back to work,” Phil said as he turned and left her office.
For a second, Beth just stood there. As soon as Phil left the room, it felt like he had taken all the air out of it with him. Her breathing became labored, her eyes unable to focus on anything as she cautiously sat back down in her chair.
Fear. Uncertainty. Hopelessness. Hurt.Her emotions rolled over her like waves of a turbulent sea. Her head, her mind, barely able to keep above the water threatening to drown her.
In a fog, she heard her phone buzz, shakily picking up the device and opening the message.
-You are incredible. Can’t wait to see you later.
Darcy’s text sent a rush of oxygen and clarity to her brain, pulling her out of her anxiety-induced paralysis. Beth set her phone back down. She couldn’t respond to him now; she wouldn’t know what to say.
Should she tell him?
The thought came immediately unbidden to her mind. Of course, she should; he needed to know.But he’s already so worried about you, what if he doesn’t want you going in to work?He wouldn’t do that.No? Even if he doesn’t, you know that’s what he would want to do - he would want you to stay in his sight at all times.Just because that’s what he might want doesn’t mean that he doesn’t understand why that’s not possible.What kind of stressful torture are you going to put him through by insisting on not having these threats affect your life?True, but we shouldn’t have to cater to his ex.What is this woman really going to do? You have bodyguards. She can’t hurt you. She can’t force you to leave him.But what about Jane and your parents?What are you going to do, ask Darcy to give the whole family a bodyguard?No.
Beth buried her face in her hands, trying to drown out the internal argument that had begun firing off inside of her brain. On the one hand, she knew she should be honest with Darcy and tell him about the email and the threats. It wasn’t like she wasn’t always impressing on him how important honesty and openness were in a relationship if it was going to succeed. On the other hand, realistically, what else was he going to do?Aside from locking her in their bedroom and not letting her out of his sight.Telling him would only serve to make him feel more angry and helpless.
Not to mention, she didn’t even know how he was planning on actually dealing with the problem - dealing with how to get this woman out of his life for good.
