Beginning, Previous Section, Section VII, Next Section
After the party, Darcy invited Charlie upstairs to see his apartment. "It's only fair, because I've been in yours several times and you have yet to see mine," he said.
Charlie, who'd had more than her fair share to drink, giggled often as she made her way slowly up the stairs. Darcy opened the door to his place and escorted her inside, turning on the light.
"Wow," Charlie said, her eyes sweeping over his apartment. "This is great."
"Thank you."
"I don't wanna think about how much your furniture cost. Probably a fortune."
"It wasn't so bad," Darcy half-lied. To her it would've cost a fortune. To him it hadn't.
Charlie ran her hands over his entertainment center. "Man...compared to your stuff, our Salvation Army rejects look worse than usual."
"I like your apartment," Darcy protested. "It may not be featured in a magazine, but it's got charm."
"Right now, it's got three thousand beer bottles and cans and spilled ashtrays and God knows what else. Ohhh...I'm not looking forward to cleaning up that mess."
"I've seen your apartment when it was fairly clean, so I know how nice it can look."
Charlie sat on the couch and examined the coffee table. "Mmm...I feel like I'm falling into a cloud, this couch is so soft."
"Yeah, I like that about this couch. When I come home from work I can put my feet up and..."
"You have money, don't you?"
Darcy stilled. "W-what makes you say that?"
Charlie shrugged. "The shoes, to start off with. Before you bought those Walmart shoes, yours were expensive. Your pants looked like they'd been tailored to fit you. The stuff around here...well, I may not be an expert, but I know it cost money. You went to Harvard and got a master's degree. You...you just have the look."
Darcy sat heavily beside her on the couch.
"You don't have to worry. I'm not going to run around telling anyone." Charlie slipped her arm around his waist. "But between us, I'd just like to know if I'm right."
Darcy sighed. "I suppose you deserve the truth."
"I'd hope so. I am your girlfriend, you know."
Darcy didn't answer that, but he said, "You know that my parents have been dead for a long time."
Charlie nodded. "You told me that much. Did the money come from them?"
"My aunt took my sister and I in after that happened. She was my mother's sister and a very successful woman so I guess it was only natural for her to do it."
"So the money comes from her."
Darcy hesitated. He wanted to say no, that he earned his money, but really, hadn't every dime he received come from Catherine? She had arranged his education and job. If it weren't for her, he probably would've been working for Planet Earth Pizza or someplace similar to it long ago.
"I went to work for her, so in a manner of speaking, yes," he said. "I didn't inherit anything."
"I didn't mean to imply that you hadn't worked hard for it." Charlie sounded contrite.
"I know you didn't."
"Why aren't you still working for her? Why are you here?"
Darcy again hesitated. He had a feeling that Charlie would know if he lied and said she didn't know he was here. On the other hand, he couldn't very well tell her the truth.
"We had a falling-out because of my sister," Darcy finally said. "My aunt's never really liked her because Ginger reminds her too much of my mother. So one day I got fed up with the way she was treating her and quit. She swore she'd never give me a reference so I could get another job in my field, so I decided to leave town."
"You could've gone to Chicago or Los Angeles or about a thousand different places other than here, and gotten a job in your field."
"Without a reference from C-from her, I wouldn't have a prayer. And if I lied and claimed no experience and they found out I did have some, I'd be out of a job again. So I figured I'd start at the bottom and work my way up, the way everyone else in this world does."
"Does she know where you are?"
Darcy nodded. "I'm sure she's sitting in her office in New York laughing her head off at the thought of me here. She's already told me she doesn't think I'll last long."
"Will you have a job if you have to go back to her?"
"I think I would. But going back means never seeing my sister again. She made that quite clear."
Charlie let out an angry huff. "What a witch!" she hissed. "To keep a brother and sister apart after they've lost their parents? What kind of inhuman woman is she?"
"She's a woman used to getting her own way," Darcy said resignedly. "She didn't expect me to defy her."
"Well, I'm certainly glad you did. She'd better be glad she's about a thousand miles away or I'd punch her in the mouth."
Wham. Guilt smacked Darcy upside the head once again for thinking about Elisabeth and how he'd like to have her sitting on his couch right now instead of Charlie.
"I'll be sure to tell her that."
"Oh, you can't do that! What if you decide to mend fences with her someday-for the money only, you understand-and she doesn't give it to you because you once had a crazy girlfriend who threatened to assault her?"
Wham! Wham! He was definitely going to rid himself of these thoughts of Elisabeth, just as soon as Charlie left. Where else was he going to find a girlfriend with Charlie's sense of humor and loyalty?
"Fine, then, I won't mention it to her. But thank you for the thought."
Charlie smiled. "Thank you for telling me the truth." She leaned a little closer to him, and Darcy knew she was expecting him to kiss her.
Darcy closed his eyes and inclined his head, touching his lips to hers. The kiss deepened, but to his horror Darcy didn't feel excited about this development. Kissing Charlie before tonight had been pleasant and somewhat stirring, but he'd figured that the passion would develop as Charlie became more accustomed to kissing. Now he was just wondering when he could stop, something had hadn't happened to him before.
After a minute, Charlie pulled away from him. The loss of her surprised him enough to open his eyes. He expected to see her smiling at him, but when he looked at her, all he saw was puzzlement.
Oh, God. She knows.
"Charlie? Is something wrong?" he asked, as if he didn't already know.
Charlie turned away from him.
Oh, God, please, no. I didn't want this to happen. I didn't want to hurt her.
"Charlie, please, look at me. Is it something I did?"
Charlie was starting to shake. Darcy put his arms around her. "I'm sorry, Charlie," he murmured in her ear. "I'm so sorry."
Charlie pulled away from his arms and turned to face him. When she did so, he was shocked to see that she wasn't shaking because she was crying.
She was shaking with laughter.
"Charlie?"
"I...I can't believe this. Do you have any idea of how unfair this is? I finally meet a great guy who doesn't mind what I look like, and it isn't there."
"What isn't there?"
Charlie stopped laughing, her face turning from mirth to sadness. "It. You know, the spark."
"Spark?" Darcy had no idea what she was talking about.
Charlie sighed. "I'm an idiot, that's what this is. I read books like J.D. Robb and I dream that my love life is going to turn out like Eve Dallas'. The reality is that I should be content to have found a great guy like you. But I can't help it. I want it all."
"What would 'all' be?"
"Someone who is great, doesn't care what I look like, and who...who...can get my motor started."
Darcy was beginning to get Charlie's point, and he blushed. "I don't...I don't 'get your motor started?'"
Charlie groaned. "I shouldn't have said it like that. It's not you. It's me."
"Now you've lost me."
"You're a great guy, Darcy. If I were smart, I'd hang onto you for dear life because I doubt I ever find another like you. But I don't want to...to...well...did you feel anything just now?"
Darcy wasn't sure how to answer. Should he lie and say yes, and have her feel more guilty than she was starting to look? Or should he tell the truth and say no, and possibly make her mad?
When in doubt, go with the truth. "No," he said quietly. "I felt like I was kissing a friend...a good friend, of course."
Charlie nodded. "Yeah. A friend. Nice, but not quite what you wanted."
"Exactly." Darcy smiled, and was relieved when she smiled back. "I'm sorry, too, Charlie."
"You don't have anything to be sorry for. It's just something that happens. If it's not there, you can't fake it. And I wouldn't want to trap you in something nice when you could have something better. Something special."
Darcy quickly replied, "I wouldn't want that for you, either."
"Yeah, but the difference is, you're a lot more likely to find something better than I am."
He went cold. Had Charlie seen the look he'd exchanged with Elisabeth? Darcy decided that she probably hadn't, otherwise she'd be upset about his lack of response rather than pragmatic.
"You don't know that," he said. "Something special might be waiting for you out there right now. Maybe he works with you."
Charlie shook her head. "I only work with women at Heartland, and as for the people at Planet Earth Pizza...well, if any of them had considered me their 'something special,' they've had more than enough time to tell me. I don't think it's going to happen."
"Charlie..." Darcy wasn't sure how to phrase this without being insulting. "We can still...we'll still be friends, even though we aren't...can't we?"
Charlie smiled. "Of course we'll still be friends. And it won't be awkward because we're both agreeing that breaking up is the right thing to do." Her smile faded. "It makes us sound like a friendly merger that didn't work out." And then her face fell. "I can just imagine what Caroline's going to say about this."
Darcy felt like cursing. Then he said, "To hell with her."
Charlie stared at him.
"I mean it. If she says something to you, tell her that...that at least I found you attractive. She can't say the same. If all else fails, send her my way. Or stab her with a fork again, whichever works best for you." Darcy was relieved when she smiled again.
"I guess I'd better go," she said.
"Okay."
"Thanks for coming to the party. I hope you had fun."
"It was. Are we still on for bowling tomorrow night?"
"Of course! I'm looking forward to kicking your butt again."
"I don't remember that happening last time. I seem to remember that you lost badly."
Charlie's grin widened. "We'll just see which one of us is right." She kissed him on the cheek, then stood up and walked to the door. "Darcy...thanks."
"Thank you," he replied. "For everything."
Elisabeth could've killed Charlie. Of all the times for Charlie to get a boyfriend and disappear upstairs to his apartment! They had a major mess on their hands!
Well, she wasn't going to clean it up alone. She'd wait until Charlie came back. She laid down on the couch and managed to close her eyes when she heard the door open. When she opened them, Charlie was standing there, looking a bit forlorn.
"Hey." Elisabeth gave her a little wave.
Charlie returned the gesture before heading to the kitchen. She took out a stray key lime Bacardi Breezer and unscrewed the cap. She took a quick drink.
Elisabeth bolted up from the couch. This was bad. Really bad.
Oh, God. She saw Darcy and me exchanging looks and broke up with him. Oh, GOD!
"Are you okay?" she asked hesitantly.
Charlie nodded. "Yeah, I guess so. But like I told Darcy, life can really be unfair sometimes." She flopped into her chair and took another drink.
Oh, God. This is my punishment for all the evil and hideous things I've done. I've hurt one of the few people in this world I give a damn about.
"Why is that?" Elisabeth wished her voice hadn't been so shaky.
"Because he's the perfect guy. He really is. He's smart, funny when he wants to be, handsome...I could list all the good things about him for a week. Don't look at me that way. You may not like him, but there really are good things about him."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to look at you...how am I looking at you? You're not looking at me." Charlie was looking at the television.
Charlie turned to face her. "I could guess."
"You'd be wrong. I don't...think that Darcy is...well, you've convinced me that he's not as bad as I thought. Remember?"
Charlie nodded.
Elisabeth opened her mouth to ask the next question, but it wouldn't come out. The cousins sat there in silence for a short while before Charlie finally said, "We broke up."
"That...that jerk!"
"It wasn't his fault. When it isn't there, it isn't there. I have read too many romance novels and have now, officially, become what every guy thinks of when he sees a woman with a romance novel in her hands. I can't be happy because there is no man in my life who comes close to the ideal I've built up in my mind."
"Just what exactly happened up there?"
Charlie took another drink. "Okay, we go up there, we get to talking, he opens about...about his family. Then we kiss. It's nice, but it's not...passionate. It's not what I expected."
"But you've kissed him before and had no complaints."
"I know, but those kisses were...they were innocent."
"Innocent?"
"Yeah. They were beginner's kisses. They weren't anything I didn't expect them to be. But this one...I thought it would be romantic. All my thoughts would drift away and my world would center around him. But that isn't what happened. When he was kissing me, I just got this feeling...that it was wrong."
"What was wrong? Did you think he wanted to be kissing someone else?"
"No, not at all. But...I can't really describe it, El. But I think that when you're kissing someone you should know it's right. You should be able to look at them and something inside of you goes off. You know that feeling, don't you?"
"Actually...." Elisabeth was about to say that no, she didn't. But then she thought about that look. "I have, a couple of times."
"Darcy's not going to be that person for me. And I don't know if anyone ever will be. I'm kind of like Charles in Four Weddings and a Funeral. I keep looking for a thunderbolt that might never come. I should be like Tom. I should just find some guy I like the look of and hope the look of me doesn't make him sick. And I just blew it with the first guy who fits that description. I am such an idiot!"
Elisabeth took a brief second to breathe a sigh of relief. It seemed as though Charlie had no clue about what might have happened earlier in the evening. She'd broken up with Darcy of her own accord.
"I'm sorry to hear that," she told Charlie. "What did Darcy say?"
"He felt pretty much the same way. We've agreed to stay friends. We'll have to, otherwise working together would be impossible."
"Are you going to be okay?"
Charlie looked at her funnily before she laughed briefly. "This is a real switch. Usually, I'm the one asking you that question."
"Look at this as a step in the right direction. Maybe the next time you find a boyfriend, I won't need to ask you because he'll be the right one."
"Yeah, maybe."
Elisabeth sighed. "You know, Charlie, I truly believe that every woman is looking for something special. I know I am. How does that quote go? 'You have to kiss a lot of toads before you find Prince Charming,' or something like that."
"I don't think Darcy's a toad just because he wasn't Prince Charming." Charlie frowned. "We are going to remain friends."
"Don't go getting literal on me. I'm trying to make a point and be supportive here."
"I know. I'm just...confused. And sad. And depressed."
"Why?"
"I don't want to sound like a fatal attraction because Darcy and I went on a few dates, but I was hoping this was going to lead somewhere."
"I know. Believe me, Charlie, I know where you're coming from. If things didn't feel right with Darcy, then you did the right thing by breaking up with him."
Jeez, Elisabeth, that wasn't self-serving at all....wait a minute. I don't like Darcy...do I?
"We need to clean this place up," Charlie said, looking at the disaster left behind in the wake of the party.
"Yup." Elisabeth yawned, not feeling up to doing much of anything but sleeping. "We'll do it later."
"Dammit, you always say that and I'm always the one who ends up cleaning around here. I have to work in the morning, so let's do it now."
"But I'm tired," Elisabeth wheedled.
"If we work together, it won't take more than half an hour. C'mon-you can empty ashtrays and put the beer cans in the recycle bin." Charlie went to the kitchen and started running water, presumably to begin washing dishes.
Groggy, Elisabeth decided to start with the coffee table, where most of the ashtrays were. The first one she picked up was sitting on Charlie's Grinch calendar.
"Oh, no," she murmured, hurriedly wiping ashes from the page it was opened to. All she succeeded in doing was smearing the ashes onto a picture of the Grinch because someone had also used the calendar as a coaster. Elisabeth noticed that the month was March.
Maybe she won't notice if I switch to the right--
"My CALENDAR!" Charlie shrieked, running across the room and snatching it out of Elisabeth's hands. "I'll kill the jerk."
"Charlie, you can't possibly know who did this, and killing everyone who was at the party will mean you have to run the store by yourself."
Charlie whimpered. "My Grinch calendar."
"It'll be okay." Elisabeth took it and flipped it to May. "See? This month's fine."
"Hmph."
"What was it doing off the wall, anyway?"
"I don't think I want to know."
Elisabeth started to put the calendar back on the wall when her eyes fell on today's date-May 23. Something pinged in the back of her mind, but the exact thought eluded her. Something she was supposed to do? Something she'd wanted to get? Someone's birthday?
She mentally shook her head. It was nothing, obviously, because looking at the entire month, the only things written down were their work schedules and Charlie's six-week check-up with her dermatologist next week.
Elisabeth put the calendar back and noticed a heavy black circle around May 9.
"Charlie, did something happen May 9?" she asked.
"Is there a circle around it?"
"Yeah."
"Then that's when I got my period. Why?"
Elisabeth blinked several times, her eyes having trouble focusing on the circled date.
"El? What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Nothing at all." Elisabeth turned away from the calendar and went to her room. Her calendar was on the wall above her bed. She pulled it down violently and flipped back to March, finding March 3 circled.
But there was nothing in April and May.
I had to have gotten it. I've just been under so much stress that I forgot to write it down.
Try as she might, she couldn't remember getting her period in April or May. And in the back of her mind, the exhaustion she'd felt, the nausea, and the larger bra she'd had to buy started adding up to one inevitable conclusion.
No. I can't be.
"El?" Charlie stood in the doorway.
"I have to go out," Elisabeth said. "I swear I'll clean my share of the mess when I get back, but I have to go out for a while."
"You shouldn't drive when you're upset."
Elisabeth ignored her, grabbing her keys and purse and leaving the apartment.
Five minutes later, she was sitting in the Walmart parking lot, her hands trembling. She rested her head on the steering wheel and sent a multitude of prayers to God, swearing to do anything from giving up smoking to attending church rather than taking the phone off the hook so her mother couldn't reach her-anything, if she wouldn't turn out to be pregnant.
Elisabeth opened the car door and got out. On trembling legs, she walked into the store and wandered aimlessly around for a while, looking at items she wouldn't be caught dead buying, but also making sure the cashiers were strangers before she finally ventured over to where the pregnancy tests were stocked.
Not even bothering to compare prices, Elisabeth picked up three different tests, figuring that at least one of them would tell her she wasn't pregnant. She rushed up to the register, money out, and waited impatiently as the checker, whose name was Linda, rang up her items.
"You know, First Response is really the best one," Linda said.
"Excuse me?"
Linda held up the box. "First Response. It's the best one. The most accurate. You don't really need the other two."
Elisabeth felt blood rushing to her cheeks. "I'll take my chances with the others."
"Yeah, but you're kind of wasting your money when this one'll tell you all you need to know."
Elisabeth eyed the store entrance warily, knowing that at any moment someone she knew was going to walk in. Maybe she should've gone to Mattoon or Champaign to buy the test. Almost no one knew her in those towns.
"Thanks, but I want these, too."
"Are you sure? Because-"
"Yes, I'm sure." Elisabeth was talking through clenched teeth. "Now please ring up my purchases or I'll be more than happy to speak to your manager."
Linda gave her the total and was putting the tests in a bag when Caroline walked in with Louisa's daughter Valerie, who never seemed to need any sleep.
"God," she hissed, turning her back to the door and taking her change as Caroline passed her, giggling as she chased after Valerie. Elisabeth grabbed the bag without waiting for a receipt and ran out of the store. She threw the door to her car open, got in, and started the car.
She didn't want to do the test at home, with Charlie breathing down her neck, but she didn't want to go somewhere where she might be disturbed. She had no idea how long the stupid tests took to get a reading. Not long, probably, but you never knew. She needed privacy and an out-of-the-way place to do this.
But even as she rationally thought of her options, the manic voice in her head was screaming, I can't do this. I'm not ready for this.
Elisabeth started the car and, with a squeal of tires, took off, heading for Petro, where she prayed she ran into no one she knew, and where the bathrooms would hopefully be deserted.
Charlie was waiting for her when she walked into the apartment. Elisabeth dropped her keys onto the dining room table with a loud clang, feeling lifeless.
"Is it what I think it is?" Charlie asked softly.
Elisabeth nodded.
"Did you get something so you could-"
"I already did it."
"And?"
Through tear-filled eyes, Elisabeth nodded. She heard Charlie sigh heavily.
"That test could be wrong, you know," Charlie said.
"Yeah, I thought of that. So I bought three. And I got the same answer all three times. Even the damn First Response." Elisabeth broke into sobs. "Oh, God, Charlie, what am I gonna do?"
Elisabeth didn't know how long she sat there weeping, but when the tears slowed, she looked up. Charlie hadn't moved at all, just sat there waiting for her to quit crying, the same sympathetic look on her face.
"George?" Charlie asked softly.
"Well, who the hell else!" Elisabeth snapped. Immediately, she felt guilty, because it wasn't Charlie's fault she was in this mess. She burst into tears yet again. "I'm sorry, Charlie! I didn't mean to snap at you."
"It's okay. This has to be pretty rough for you."
"You have no idea."
"And likely never will." With another sigh, Charlie asked, "What are you going to do, El?"
"I don't know," she whispered. "I don't know. I don't think I can cope with what this means right now. I know I can't answer that question."
"How far along do you think you are?"
"Two months, give or take," Elisabeth said with a sniff. "The last time I slept with George was the middle of March, so it has to have been then."
"Don't chew my head off, but didn't he use anything?"
"God! Do you honestly think I would've gotten into bed with him if he hadn't been using something? Who knows what diseases he might have." Elisabeth turned very pale. "Oh God!"
"Don't think about that right now," Charlie said. "Let's try and be positive about this."
"Positive? Positive? Charlie, I'm pregnant. What in the hell do I have to be positive about?"
"You might have AIDS. Compared to that, a baby is nothing."
"I don't think he's got anything. You know how obsessed George is with his health. He visits a doctor every six months."
"Unlike some people I could mention," Charlie mumbled.
Elisabeth glared at her. "You're not going to be very supportive about this, are you?"
"Yes! Yes, I am. I'm just pointing out one very important fact to you. You have to see a doctor and soon."
"I know. I really do plan on calling Dr. Hewitt in the morning, although...I don't suppose you know any good baby doctors, do you?"
Charlie shook her head. "I don't keep up with them."
"I didn't think so." Elisabeth sighed. She spied her cigarettes sitting in the middle of the coffee table and reached for them. She took one out of the pack, lit it, and took a drag from it. "Charlie, what am I gonna do?"
"I don't know. What are you gonna do about what?"
"About...about this! About this baby."
Charlie leaned back in her chair. "You've got three options open to you. One, which some consider the easiest, is to have an abortion. One procedure, and boom, problem solved." Charlie looked at her. "However, doing that can open up a new set of problems, especially if you're the sort of person who gives postmortem last rites to road kill."
"I don't give postmortem last rites to road kill. That's you."
"Yes, but you're the one who always goes, 'Oh, that poor thing' whenever we come across it."
"True, but I don't cross myself at the sight of it and think silent prayers. Why do you cross yourself, anyway? You're not Catholic."
"I always thought it was kind of neat...El, you're avoiding the topic and we can't do that right now."
"I know." Elisabeth pressed a hand to her stomach, thinking about abortion. Five seconds later, she knew it wasn't the answer for her. Charlie was right, she wouldn't be able to do it because the guilt would kill her.
And if the guilt didn't, her mother would.
"Option two-you keep the baby and raise it. A financially difficult decision."
Elisabeth took another drag off her cigarette and looked up at the ceiling, slowly exhaling. "I can't do that and you know it, Charlie. I can't afford it."
"You can go on welfare, get food stamps, that sort of thing."
"I swore to myself I wasn't going to do anything like that."
"It would only be until-"
Elisabeth shifted her gaze to the opposite wall as she took grabbed an ashtray to tap her ashes into. "Charlie, do you remember what you told me when we were looking at places to live? What were the first words out of your mouth when we opened the classifieds?"
"I didn't want to live in a trailer. So?"
"And why didn't you want to live in a trailer?"
"Besides the fact that we're already living in a part of Illinois called Tornado Alley? I don't like being labeled and people who live in trailers get labeled."
"So do welfare mothers. I'm not going to be like that. You didn't want to be labeled 'trailer park trash,' and I don't want to be labeled 'welfare mother.' End of story."
"So options one and two are out...right?"
Elisabeth turned her gaze back to her cousin. "You knew before you even mentioned number one that it would be out."
"Right. Which leaves option three, which may be the most difficult of all. You can have the baby and give it up for adoption. This means you'd have to go through pregnancy and childbirth and run the risk of becoming emotionally attached to the baby."
"I don't know if I can do that, either," Elisabeth murmured.
"Well, then you'd better get on the phone with God, because those are the only three options He's given us, although half this country believes it was the devil who came up with abortion. Whichever of the other two you decide to do, you're going to have to carry the baby." Charlie's eyes narrowed. "And that means making a few changes in your life."
Elisabeth was starting to get very uncomfortable. "What do you mean?" she asked, picking up her cigarette.
Charlie, in a move which would've made Flash Gordon proud, reached out and snatched the cigarette out of Elisabeth's hand, burning her fingers in the process. She hissed in pain and dropped it.
"Charlie!" Elisabeth picked up the cigarette before it burned a hole in their carpet and set it in the ashtray. "What the hell were you trying to do?"
"Keep you from finishing it, what else?" Charlie leapt up from her chair and into the kitchen to put ice on her fingers. She came back a minute later with ice wrapped in a towel on them. "What the hell were you doing, smoking now that you know you're pregnant?"
"If there were ever a time in the history of the world when a cigarette was absolutely necessary, now would be that time," Elisabeth growled.
"Well, I hate to break this to you, but I hope you enjoyed that one because it's the last you're going to have until after the baby's born."
"What?!"
Charlie smiled. "I can't believe this. At last, at long last, I'll get to live in a smoke-free apartment." With her good hand, she snatched the half-full pack from the coffee table before Elisabeth thought to get them herself. "At least for seven months."
"I'm not going to quit smoking."
"Oh, yes, you are! Do you want me to show you a list of the birth defects that can result from smoking while you're pregnant? Whether you keep the baby or not, you're not going to smoke as of now. If I catch you with a cigarette, I'll do the exact same thing I just did, no matter how many times I burn myself. And I'll tell everyone else to do it if they...catch...you." The determined look on Charlie's face suddenly changed to a worried one. "Oh, God, El. What are you gonna tell everyone?"
"That's another problem." Elisabeth really wished she still had that cigarette. "I don't know what the hell I'm going to tell everyone. Well, the truth, obviously. But...I..." Elisabeth tried to laugh but it came out as a pathetic snort. "The Gossip Sisters are gonna have a blast with this, aren't they? This is the screw-up they've been waiting for me to make for a long time."
"Be honest, Elisabeth. You've screwed up a lot more than this."
"Not this big, though. Pregnant by George Wickham...Caroline's gonna crow it from the top of the roof. Especially since you're my cousin and she wants to score what she thinks are brownie points with Darcy."
"That shouldn't matter. Darcy and I aren't seeing each other anymore, remember?"
"Then it's a banner week for her."
"Maybe we'll luck out and the roof will cave in on her when she goes up there. It's not all that sturdy." Charlie chuckled.
"I don't have such luck. If I did, I wouldn't be in this predicament now." Elisabeth blinked back tears. "As for Mom..."
"I know. Your mother's going to kill you."
"I was thinking more along the lines of disowning, but killing isn't out of the question, either." The tears started falling again. "Charlie, why do I keep screwing up my life like this? Why can't things go right for me just once?"
"I don't have any answers for you. No one ever does, but that's life on planet Earth for you." Charlie checked on her fingers, grimaced, and put the ice back on them. "What are planning to do about George?"
"I'm going to bet you a hundred bucks that the minute George finds out, he's going to deny it's his kid. He'll say that he always used protection and that if I got pregnant, clearly I was cheating on him. To be quite honest, I think I'd prefer it that way. The less I have to do with him, the better."
"If you decide to keep the baby, you'll need him for the child support. And if you don't, you'll need him to sign away his rights so he can't contest the adoption."
Elisabeth made a sound of derision. "Oh, yeah. I see that one happening. Can't you just picture George with a baby? It's about as hard as seeing me with one."
"I think you'd make a good mother."
"What makes you think that? I have no patience, a bad temper, no money, I smoke, I drink, I don't eat right, I fall in love too easily to give a baby a good father figure or be a good influence myself. I'm neurotic and in need of some serious therapy. I would make the world's worst mother."
"You don't know that. You have a large capacity for love, you're loyal, you care for those you love fiercely, you're smart-"
"Not smart enough, obviously."
"You can give up the drinking, which you don't do as much of anymore. You can quit smoking and you can start eating right." Charlie looked at her body. "That's one both of us can do."
"So you're saying you wouldn't mind helping out with the baby when it comes?" Elisabeth gave her cousin a knowing look, because while Charlie thought babies were cute and acted as silly as anyone when there was one around, she wasn't the most patient person in the world, either. A baby would drive her bananas.
"That wasn't the point I was trying to make. I was just trying to get you to stop putting yourself down."
"Well, thank you, but right now I don't think that's possible. I'm in a serious emotional quagmire here and I don't see any way out of it." Elisabeth sighed. "Charlie, tell me the truth. What do you think I should do?"
"I can't answer that question for you," Charlie said softly. "I have absolutely no experience when it comes to this. And I can give you all the advice in the world, but in your heart I think you already know the answer. I do want you to know something, though."
"What?"
"Whatever you decide, I'll be there to support you. You won't have to go through this alone, okay?"
Elisabeth nodded. "You'll even hold my hand during the delivery?"
"Absolutely. I don't promise not to pass out, though."
"Thank you," Elisabeth whispered, throwing her arms around her cousin.
"You're welcome," she heard Charlie murmur.
Darcy arrived at work half an hour early the next day. He'd hoped to arrive before Charlie so that he'd have time to acclimate himself to this new step in their relationship. He also hoped to get a quick look at his schedule, praying that it wouldn't be as bad as the last one.
He was surprised to see a motorcycle sitting in front of the store when he pulled up. He figured it must belong to Bubba and he almost groaned. He really didn't want to work with Bubba again today.
When he got in, however, he was surprised to see Sean posting the schedule on the board.
"Hello," he called.
Sean grimaced. "Don't talk too loud, okay? I definitely had one too many last night."
Darcy, who had a slight headache himself, could understand the need for restraint. He walked over to the board and looked at the schedule. He found his name and followed the line, relieved that instead of working five days with two long shifts on the weekend, he was working six days, every day from eleven to four-thirty.
"Thank God," he murmured.
"Is six days okay?" Sean asked. "I didn't know whether you preferred what you worked last week or if you'd rather work six."
"I'd much rather work six, thank you."
Sean looked up at the board, nodded his head, and said, "Your aunt called me today."
Darcy closed his eyes as the humiliation hit. Catherine was managing to do everything in her power to make this experience as embarrassing as possible. He'd been hoping she had been bluffing about calling his boss, but apparently not. "She told me she would," he said resignedly.
"She asked me how things were going for you. I told her you were working out well, showing up early and all that. I didn't tell her that your people skills could use a little work."
"She already thinks that," he muttered. "I care about the wrong people and don't care enough about the right ones. If I did things her way, I'd still be in New York."
"I didn't so much mean the people you work with, Darcy. I meant the customers. I give you the benefit of the doubt because you're still learning, and more than that because you're coming from a job where you had a lot of authority. You're learning, though, and that's good. There are people who've been working here a lot longer than you who still need to learn that the customers are the most important things around here."
"J.P.?" Darcy asked before he could stop himself.
Sean chuckled. "Exactly. Plus, J.P. doesn't have a lot of respect for the people he works with, which makes him a double liability. But you didn't hear that from me."
"Of course not."
"You've made an effort to get along with just about everyone. Even Elisabeth, and she hasn't been her greatest in the past couple of weeks."
Darcy's head started to pound a bit. He'd been up half the night thinking about Elisabeth and still feeling residual guilt about Charlie. It didn't surprise him that he'd had a headache since waking up.
"I think it's great that you're dating Charlie. She's one of my best servers and a nice person besides. I've seen the way Caroline's been hounding you, and I know she's pretty tempting. But you've stuck by Charlie's side, and that's good."
"Uh...." Darcy sighed. "Charlie and I aren't dating anymore."
Sean frowned. "You're not?"
"No. Last night...we...Sean, can I ask you for some advice?"
"Sure."
"Is there anyone else here?"
"Bubba's gone out to get the deposit bags from the bank. He'll probably be gone for a few more minutes. Step into my office."
Darcy followed Sean into the office, sat in the chair across from Sean's desk and told his boss all about what had happened at the party, from the moment Elisabeth had opened the door until the moment Charlie had walked out and back to her apartment.
"I've felt like a...a toad ever since," Darcy finished. "I didn't break up with Charlie for the same reason she broke up with me."
"You didn't tell her about Elisabeth, did you?"
"Of course not. She'd have killed me."
"That's something good. Unfortunately, I don't know what sort of advice to give you. Elisabeth's a complicated young woman. She's not as bad as she seems at times. Usually, she's a lot of fun. Last night was the first time I've seen her anything like she was before the Newton debacle. Has anyone told you about that?"
"You mean that she was having a relationship with George Wickham and that they broke up the same day he took over her store? George told me that."
Sean sighed. "I think George is a good worker, but he's an arrogant little jerk. What it came down to was that Elisabeth was having a lot of trouble keeping her food and labor costs down. After six months of trouble, Thomas Palmer, our district manager, decided it was too much for her to handle and handed it over to George."
"George made it sound like she couldn't handle anything."
"He would. It makes him look good to say that, doesn't it? Elisabeth's only problem was the numbers. Everything else was going great. Few customer complaints, great relationship with her staff, fast service. I'm working on the numbers part, and if she can prove to Thomas that she can do it, she might get another store next year."
"That seems to be a popular theme these days," Darcy said with a sigh.
"Yeah. I wish I could be of more help with this Elisabeth situation. The only advice I can give you is to take it slow. I don't know much about the particulars, but she's been burned a few times. The last thing she needs is for someone to hurt her again."
"I wouldn't do that."
"I'm not saying you would. But things might happen that take a decision like that out of your hands. You know what I'm talking about."
Darcy knew exactly what Sean was talking about. "So Catherine called here? What else did she want to know, besides how I was working out?"
"That was her main concern. She kept asking me, 'Are you sure he's doing well? I didn't think my nephew had it in him. Does he seem to have any problems with the other employees? Does he get along with some more than others?'"
Darcy bit back a curse. Catherine's questions were so obvious. She was wanting to know who he'd be going bowling with, probably wanting to know if a woman was involved.
"What did you tell her?" Darcy asked nervously.
"I reassured her that yes, you were doing well and that she shouldn't be surprised at how well you were adapting because you are her nephew and as we all know, no one works harder than Catherine de Bourgh."
Darcy chuckled. "Did the blatant flattery get you somewhere?"
"She laughed and thanked me, then returned the compliment, although I doubt she would recognize me in a line-up much less know how hard I worked around here. As for the rest of it, I told her that I thought you got along with everyone pretty well, and that I didn't know about your social life."
Darcy blanched. "In those exact words?"
"Of course not. Give me a little credit, will you? But I knew what she was looking for. Is there someone back home you're seeing?"
"There's someone she'd like me to be seeing. Anne Ripley."
Sean stared at him. "You're kidding."
"How do you know Anne?"
"She came here to work for about six months when I was still a delivery driver. God, the attitude on that one! It's why I was reluctant to take you on, knowing who you were. I figured you'd be even worse than she was."
"You were almost right," Darcy admitted. "I came here with no doubt the same attitude Anne had."
"What changed you?"
"Charlie." Darcy smiled. "I have her to thank for helping me out those first few days. She even forgave me for calling her cousin ordinary-looking."
"You called Elisabeth ordinary-looking? I didn't know that was what caused the uproar your first few days here."
"That's what it was. Well, that and the fainting spell she had."
"If you thought Elisabeth was ordinary, why...this is going to sound bad, but why did you go out with Charlie?"
"Because I liked Charlie. She was funny and I thought she was kind of pretty."
"And now you don't think Elisabeth is so ordinary and that's why you broke up with Charlie."
Put like that, Darcy felt like a bigger toad than ever. "More or less."
"Then the first real piece of advice I can give you is to wait a while before making a move on Elisabeth, or she'll figure out the truth and hate you for it."
"She probably hates me anyway. I know Charlie's told her about last night."
"Yeah, but Charlie wouldn't have lied to her about it. I don't think. I'm not saying she's a saint, but I don't know her to lie about much and certainly not something like this. But because you did date Charlie first, you should definitely wait a month or so before asking Elisabeth out."
Darcy nodded. "I was thinking something like that myself."
"Then what did you need me for?" Sean demanded.
"Moral support." Darcy grinned. "Did my aunt ask anything else?"
"She wanted to make sure you were working plenty of hours, and I told her you had six days on my next schedule, five and a half hours each day. She was fine with that. She told me to call her at the first sign of trouble, which I assured her I would."
"You could've called her last week when I accused those teenagers of lying and theft."
Sean shrugged. "I think her idea of trouble and mine differ somewhat."
They heard the door open and shut. Darcy heard Bubba shout, "Hey, Sean! The bank says something's wrong with last night's deposit!"
"Is there something wrong with last night's deposit?" Sean shouted back.
"I don't think there is!"
"That means he wants me to straighten out his mess," Sean muttered, getting up and walking away just as the door opened and shut again. A minute later, Charlie walked into Sean's office.
Darcy stood up quickly, struggling to find something to say. Charlie looked decidedly upset. "H-hello," he stammered.
Charlie started as though she hadn't seen him sitting in the chair. "Hi."
"Uh...I brought back your book," Darcy said. "I left it in the car."
"Great." Charlie glanced at the time on the computer clock and then walked out of the room.
Darcy's heart sank. He knew that Charlie was mad at him. She'd had a night to sleep on it, after all. He moved his chair so he could see her.
"Damn it! Sean, I can't work next Monday! I have to be in St. Louis at eleven-fifteen!"
"Did you put it on the calendar?"
"Of course!" Under her breath, Darcy heard Charlie mutter, "If you'd check it, you'd know."
"Then I overlooked it. I'll just find someone else to work, don't worry."
Charlie stared at the schedule for a couple more minutes before turning to look at Darcy. He flushed and turned away.
"It's not you," she said quietly. "Believe me, it's not you. Right now, I'm mad at the world."
"But it's because of me, right?"
Charlie shook her head. "It's something else entirely."
"Something I can help you out with?"
She shook her head again. "Thanks anyway." She walked into the wait station, calling a hello to Sean and Bubba.
Darcy put a hand to his head. He had a terrible feeling that he wasn't going to have an easy time winning over Elisabeth when her cousin was furious with him.
Despite Elisabeth's secret hope that perhaps all three pregnancy tests had been wrong, Dr. Hewitt confirmed what she already knew. Elisabeth Bennet was definitely eight weeks pregnant, and the baby due in December.
The news shouldn't have made her break down again----she'd had another nice long crying jag after an exhausted Charlie had fallen into bed----but it did. To Elisabeth's relief, Dr. Hewitt had supplied the name of an obstetrician, although she intended to ask Charlie if she'd heard anything negative about this Dr. Knightley before she went to see him. She figured he was good, if Dr. Hewitt had recommended him.
Two phone calls later, Elisabeth was scheduled to see Dr. Knightley in three weeks, late in the afternoon. With her appointment and rather less-than-joyous-news in hand, she decided to wait for Charlie at the store, planning to invite her to dinner somewhere other than Planet Earth Pizza before going bowling. But when she pulled into the parking lot, she groaned at the number of cars there. On a normal Monday afternoon, the rush died out soon after the lunch buffet ended and no one was around. The number of cars could only mean one thing.
Managers' meeting.
Once a month, all the managers in the district met at the Effingham store to talk about sales, new promotional items, customer complaints and numbers were going. The Monday meetings were the reason that Elisabeth always had that day off whether he was in the store or not, because her demotion was still a raw subject and George Wickham receiving praise for running what she would always think of as her store was not something she wanted to see.
Elisabeth was tempted to pass the store by and spend her time walking around the mall or Walmart. In the end, she decided against it because she would only be tempted to spend money she didn't have in order to keep her mind off of her situation. Besides, she would rather die than allow George Wickham to keep her from entering her place of business, no matter how bad it would be to hear him gloat about how well Newton was doing.
She parked in the back of the store, next to Charlie's car, and got out. Elisabeth looked at her reflection in the window and thought that she didn't look half bad for a change, even after the crying spell. She was wearing her favorite sea green sun dress. She hadn't been sick that morning, although her craving for a cigarette was about to make her weep, and her brown hair was looking better than usual. She opened the car door and reached into her glove compartment, pulling out her one good, expensive pair of sunglasses. She put them on and checked her reflection again. With a small smile, she realized she was missing one more thing and got into her purse for it.
Her fiery red lipstick completed the look of cool sophistication, the look that told George Wickham that he may have ditched her, but she didn't give a damn. In her mind, she kept hearing Nancy Sinatra singing one of her all-time favorite songs, "These Boots Are Made for Walking." As she walked toward the door, her hips started swaying to the beat of the song and she started humming the chorus as she walked inside.
"Elisabeth!" Charlie exclaimed as Elisabeth looked around the room. It was difficult to make out shapes while wearing sunglasses, but she wasn't taking them off until she absolutely had to. It looked like Charlie was rolling silverware at the front counter.
"Hello, Charlie," she replied with a grin. "Like the outfit?"
Elisabeth knew she could count on Charlie to know what she was really asking, and she wasn't proven wrong. Charlie's gaze slid over to the center table to see if any of the managers had noticed Elisabeth's entrance.
"Absolutely," Charlie replied, which meant that George had taken notice. "Who are we today? 'You Oughta Know' or 'Boots?'"
"'Boots.' What else?"
"Right. Non-smoking table for you, right?"
"Charlie, I'm not about to eat here. How long until you're off work?" Elisabeth decided she'd had more than enough of the darkness, so she raised her sunglasses and set them on her head.
"Give me twenty minutes. We had a slight disaster on our hands because the schools let out early, so Darcy and I are way behind. And the best news is, I only made a lousy twenty-two bucks in tips. People are cheap."
"What about Erin? Wasn't she here?"
"She left ten minutes ago, but I'm having to show him how to cut lettuce so they'll have something tonight."
Elisabeth snorted. "They can get it themselves. It's not like we do roaring business between four and five."
"Lucy closes tonight. You know how she is."
"Yeah, yeah. She'll complain to Sean or more likely Bubba and you'll never hear the end of it."
"Worse than that, I'll probably get written up by the time Lucy quits whining. You know that J.P. got Chazz written up for not doing sauces."
"Must've happened while I was gone, but I'm assuming that's why the night drivers are now having to do sauce as well."
"Uh-huh."
"Which one of them is working today?"
"J.P. is here now, Chazz is coming to replace him. By the way, you got your wish. Chazz is going back to days starting on the next schedule."
"I knew there was a God. Remind me to buy Sean an extra beer tonight."
"Speaking of tonight, you weren't planning to wear that to bowl in, were you?"
"Of course not. I just wanted to look nice for a change."
Charlie glanced furtively around before she whispered, "So, did you go see the doctor?"
Elisabeth nodded. "Like I didn't know what she was going to say. She recommended a Dr. Knightley to me. Do you know anything about him? Is he any good?"
Charlie's brow furrowed in thought, then brightened. "Yes, he is. He delivered my friend Eve's son."
"Is Eve the one who's married to the black guy?"
"His name is Chris, and yes, that's her husband. You remember how much trouble Eve had with her daughter? This time, everything went as well as it could. Dr. Knightley's good. He kept a close eye on her."
"Okay, then I won't worry so much about that." Elisabeth spotted Darcy walking through the kitchen with two containers of dressing in his hands. She smiled brightly and wished she had the sunglasses back on. It would look ridiculous to do it now. "Hi, Darcy."
Darcy hesitated. Elisabeth thought, Oh, hell. I forgot. It was strange, suddenly, that she would forget something like that look. She guessed that finding out she was pregnant would be a good excuse for forgetting.
"Uh...hello, Elisabeth."
"Did you have a good time last night?" Elisabeth ignored the strange look Charlie gave her.
"I did, thank you. It was nice of you to invite me."
"I was glad you showed up. I was sure you wouldn't after what you said yesterday about being tired."
"Elisabeth, you know better than to interrupt someone when they're trying to work. You get on Caroline's case often enough about having her boyfriends here while she works," Charlie said. "So let Darcy get back to his."
"Jeez, if I can't bend the rules every once in a while, what's so great about being part of management?" Elisabeth asked as Darcy hurried to the salad bar.
"The power of telling everyone else what to do."
"You never listen when I do."
"That's because I knew you when you were a drowned rat in a party dress." Charlie set another roll of silverware on her rapidly-growing pile. "So what was the deal with Darcy?"
"What deal?"
"Why were you looking at him like you'd just found paradise?" Charlie had picked up a knife and fork and started rolling.
Elisabeth slid the sunglasses back down to sit on her nose. "Because, my dear cousin, George Wickham told Darcy some very nasty things about me, some of which were probably true but that's beside the point. So if George sees me flirting with Darcy, he'll see that I'm completely over him."
"Which you keep saying you are." Charlie stopped rolling silverware to brush a lock of hair that had fallen onto her forehead.
"I am. But that slimeball's been running around telling everyone I'm not. In addition to the other lies he tells about me. So now the other managers can see that he's full of it. Was he watching?"
Charlie gave him a quick glance. "He's still got his eyes on you, so I'm gonna say yes."
"Good. The jerk."
Charlie looked over at the managers' table again. "Uh-oh. Trouble ahead."
"Thomas Palmer?"
"No. The slimeball himself approaches. I'm getting out of the line of fire." Charlie picked up her tray of rolled silverware and the silverware tub and started to walk away.
"You didn't feel this compulsion to leave the night you hit him," Elisabeth called loud enough for George to hear. She turned just as he came to a stop beside her. "Hello, George," she said coolly. "What brings you over here?"
"You're disturbing our meeting, Lissie," George said.
"I am?" Elisabeth tried to look innocent. "How am I doing that?"
"And you're disturbing the employees. I think you should leave and give up this pathetic attempt to..."
"Pathetic attempt to do what? Get your attention? Please. I have better things to waste my life doing than hoping you'll notice me." Elisabeth's gaze drifted over to the managers' table, where Thomas Palmer was frowning.
Mad at me or at George? she wondered.
"Did Thomas tell you to come over here? Or Sean?" Elisabeth asked.
George's neck started going red, and Elisabeth knew she'd guessed correctly. She grinned. "You know, you keep talking about how I can't get over you. Maybe it's you who hasn't gotten over me."
George scoffed. "Please. To quote you, I have better things to do with my life. Why would I care about you?"
"Because I'm the one who dumped you rather than the other way around." From the corner of her eye, Elisabeth spotted Charlie lurking in a corner, listening in. Under normal circumstances, this would've been hilarious.
He laughed. "What planet are you on? I dumped you, remember?"
"That's not what I remember. And I think Charlie would back me up, wouldn't you, Charlie?" Elisabeth raised her voice so Charlie could hear her.
"Yes!" Charlie agreed.
"George!" Thomas shouted. "Get your butt back over here and finish this meeting! We have a few problems to talk about in your store!"
Elisabeth's eyes widened in triumph as George grimaced. She grinned. "Yes, George, head back and talk to Thomas about the problems in your store."
George looked like he wanted to say something, but kissing up to the boss was clearly more important than insulting her. He darted back to the table. Elisabeth started humming the chorus of "These Boots Are Made for Walking" again.
When George was seated, Thomas gave her a pointed glance, which she correctly interpreted as an indication that she needed to leave. He might castigate George about things going wrong, but he wouldn't do it in front of her.
To hell with that. He'd demoted her in front of George, so by God, she'd earned the right to be present when George was called on the carpet. Elisabeth placed an order for bread sticks so she'd technically be a customer, turned her back on the proceedings, and listened with glee.
Elisabeth and Charlie arrived at the bowling alley after a dinner at Ryan's. They were the last to arrive after Sean and Rachel, Chazz and Jenna, and Jack and Darcy. Kit was with a friend from out of town for the night.
Elisabeth had a small tension headache building at her temples, which always meant trouble, although trouble had already visited her a short while ago.
Trouble had come in the shape of Caroline Benson, as it did five times out of ten lately. Caroline had been having dinner with her boyfriend du jour and had spotted her from across the restaurant. Caroline had been in smoking while Elisabeth and Charlie sat in non-smoking. When Caroline was finished, she strolled over in what she must've thought was a casual manner and greeted the cousins.
"Hello, Caroline," Charlie said pleasantly. "How are you?"
"Fine. Did you have to work today?"
"Of course. When don't I?"
"I hear ya. So, Elisabeth, how are you feeling?"
Elisabeth had raised a forkful of macaroni and cheese to her lips. Rather than lower the food to speak to Caroline, she ate it, chewed slowly and deliberately, then set her fork down. "I'm doing just fine," she replied. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, I heard about Saturday afternoon. I was amazed that you were feeling well enough to have your little party yesterday."
Charlie and Elisabeth exchanged a "can-you-believe-her" look. Caroline made it sound like a Victorian gathering rather than the usual wild party.
"Thanks for your concern, but all I needed was a little rest. Which I got." Elisabeth ate another bite of her macaroni.
"A little rest...is that what they're calling it these days?"
Elisabeth felt a twinge of nausea but told herself she was imagining it. "Calling what, exactly, Caroline?" she asked.
Caroline smirked but didn't answer. Elisabeth refused to let herself rise to the bait. She turned back to her dinner and took an unusual interest in it as Caroline turned her attention back to Charlie, asking her the usual questions about Darcy and wanting to know what had happened after she'd left the party. Charlie took great delight in saying, "We went back to his place," which clearly annoyed the other woman.
"Well, I have to go. Dave and I are off to see the new Tom Cruise movie," Caroline said. "I'll see you two later. It should be a very interesting six or seven months around the store."
Any hopes Elisabeth had that Caroline didn't know about the pregnancy faded. Caroline obviously knew everything. It wouldn't surprise me if the witch had bugs in the doctor's office, Elisabeth thought angrily.
She barely had time to get her shoes changed before Sean charged in with the big question. "So, did you get to a doctor, Elisabeth?"
Elisabeth sighed. She'd really hoped to have some time before she had to do this, but time was a luxury she couldn't afford. It would be better if they heard it from her than from Caroline. God only knew what spin she'd put on it. Elisabeth would love to know how she'd found out, though.
That stupid checker from last night is probably her best friend.
"I've got something to tell you guys," Elisabeth said quietly.
"Huh? Speak up, El. We can't hear you," Sean told her.
"I've got something to tell you," Elisabeth repeated. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to do it, but it's better if you hear it from me rather than from someone else."
"I don't think we need to say whom," Charlie muttered. "How did she find out?"
"Damned if I know," Elisabeth replied. "I was pretty sure she didn't see me last night when I was at Wal-Mart, but you never know."
"You've lost me here," Jenna said. "What's going on?" Her face reflected the hurt she was feeling, and Elisabeth felt guilty. Jenna usually knew everything that was going on her Elisabeth's life, just as Elisabeth knew everything that went on in hers. But there hadn't been time to tell Jenna without telling everyone else.
"They've discovered that pizza causes you to grow a third eye on your forehead," Chazz quipped. "It's a little bizarre, but she'll rake in the bucks when she sells her story to the tabloids."
Elisabeth gave him a dirty look. "You're hilarious, Chazz."
"Well, that's how you're making it sound. Whatever it is, we're your friends. We love and support you and we won't make much fun of you. Not for long, anyway." Chazz grinned.
"End the suspense, Elisabeth, and tell us what it is," Sean said. "That way we can get started."
Elisabeth took a deep breath before making the plunge. "I'm pregnant."
It seemed as though the entire place had gone silent with her announcement, but Elisabeth knew that wasn't what happened. She could still hear balls being rolled and pins being knocked down. Conversations were taking place all around her. But with the exception of Charlie, her friends were sitting very still.
Jack was the first to recover. "Good joke, El," he said with a weak laugh. "I mean, really good joke. One of your best."
"This is a joke?" Rachel asked, her voice low. Her face was white. "If this is your idea of a joke, Elisabeth Bennet, then you've got a sick sense of humor."
"I-I'm not joking," Elisabeth stammered, startled by Rachel's reaction. "I really am pregnant. If this were a joke, I wouldn't have done it when the only possible father was George Wickham, believe me."
"Oh, my God," Jenna murmured. "Mom's going to kill you."
"Thank you, Jenna. I'm well aware of that."
"Hey, don't snap at me. I'm just telling you the truth here."
"Didn't either of you two idiots think about using protection before falling into bed together?" Rachel hissed.
Elisabeth put a hand to her throat as if to ward off a physical attack. She'd figured on the stunned silence. She'd expected a few jokes. Nothing, however, could've prepared her for the look in Rachel's eyes. She looked like she wanted to punch someone, and Elisabeth just became the target. Although she wanted to snap back at her, something held her back. Exactly what it was, she couldn't have said.
"Of course we did, but nothing is perfect. This happened because of one of the imperfect times."
"Oh, well, that's just great! Congratulations, Elisabeth. I'm sure you and George will make wonderful parents!"
"Rachel, honey," Sean murmured.
"I'm giving the baby up," Elisabeth replied hotly, feeling her temper slide away from her.
"Oh, perfect! You've been given a gift from God and now you're just going to throw it away like it's garbage or something."
"What business is it of yours what I do or do not do with this baby? It's not yours, it's mine. You have no place to object to what I do with it! If you were in my situation, you'd have made the same decision I did. So butt out!"
This time, Elisabeth knew for certain that everyone in the bowling alley was looking at them, because she heard nothing going on. Her face turned crimson as she realized just how big a scene she was making. Well, this wasn't exactly her fault. Rachel, for no apparent reason, was attacking her.
Rachel's eyes were suddenly tearful, but before Elisabeth could apologize, Rachel took off. Sean ran after her, calling, "Honey! Rachel, wait, please!"
Jenna gave her sister a doleful look before rushing off in the direction Sean and Rachel had gone.
"What was that all about?" Jack asked.
"I don't know," Elisabeth replied. "I don't know what it was that just made her go berserk like that. It's just a baby, for God's sake."
"Why did Jenna go after them?" Charlie asked Chazz.
"I don't know. This is our first date, remember? In a couple months, I'll be the world's greatest living expert on Jennifer Bennet, but until then, I'm as clueless as the rest of you." Chazz sipped his Coke. "So you've already decided to give the baby up for adoption, have you?"
Elisabeth nodded absently, her mind still on Rachel's puzzling reaction to the news. Something about it just didn't make any sense. Why would Rachel care what happened to her baby? Unless...
"Oh, hell," Elisabeth said, standing up and hoping that someone would be around to confirm her suspicions. She ran across the bowling alley, ignoring the strange looks people were giving her, and reached the front doors. She looked to her right, then her left, and found Sean standing outside the women's restroom in the left hallway. She walked over to him.
"Rachel, honey, how was she to know?" Sean was saying. "This didn't happen on purpose." He looked up at Elisabeth and waved her off. Elisabeth ignored him. As she approached the door, she could hear the sounds of Rachel sobbing and Jenna's low, soothing voice talking to her, although the words were incoherent from outside the room.
Elisabeth motioned for Sean to follow her away from the bathroom. He gave one last look at the door before walking away. Elisabeth stopped by the rails protecting someone from falling into the games area and leaned against them.
"She's not listening to me," Sean muttered. "I just hope she's listening to Jenna."
"You're not mad at me, are you?" Elisabeth asked warily, taking a step sideways.
Sean shook his head. "You don't know what's going on, so I can't really blame you for what happened. God, I need a cigarette. You got one?"
"You don't smoke," Elisabeth reminded him. "And no, I don't. Charlie's vowed to kick my butt if she sees me lighting up until the baby's born."
"Smart girl, your cousin." Sean turned to look at the group of teenagers playing pool.
"Yes, she is." Elisabeth didn't speak for a minute, not sure how to ask the question she already knew the answer to. Finally, she said, "Rachel can't have children."
"Nope."
"And that's what you didn't want to admit to at the party last night, isn't it?"
"Uh-huh." Sean sighed heavily. "She had a miscarriage five years ago. When the bleeding wouldn't stop, she had to have surgery. Now she can't have children. I told her we could adopt, but she wanted her own children or none at all."
Elisabeth put a hand to her head. "And hearing me talk about being pregnant, then callously giving the baby away, must be infuriating. I'm so sorry, Sean."
"You didn't know, El. How could you? Rachel would rather have people think we've decided against having children rather than admit she can't have them. You want to talk about major fighting, you should see her go at it with my mother. My mother thinks it's unnatural for a 'perfectly healthy young woman' not to want children. So every time we're over there, my mother starts in on her and Rachel can only take so much."
"I shouldn't have yelled at her like I did."
"Well, you were only saying something that was the truth."
"I could've been nicer about it."
"I don't know how." Sean glanced down the hall, where Charlie was now standing, looking hesitantly at the closed bathroom door.
"I'm sorry about her not being able to have kids," Elisabeth said. "This is probably going to be pretty rough on her."
Sean looked at her. "It'll be rough on you, too."
"I'm trying not to think about that right now." Elisabeth stepped away from the railing and walked down the hall. She saw Jenna leading Rachel out of the bathroom. Rachel's pretty face was streaked with tears and she was leaning heavily on Jenna.
"I think I should take her home," Sean said quietly. "You guys go ahead and play without us." He took out his wallet and thrust a twenty-dollar bill at her. "To cover...whatever." He put his arms around Rachel and hugged her. "Let's go home, honey, okay?"
"Okay," Rachel said in a small voice. She didn't look at anything but the floor as Sean led her down to the doors and out them.
At first, Darcy wasn't sure he'd heard Elisabeth right. He thought, as Rachel had, that it was a joke. But when Elisabeth and Rachel started shouting at each other, he'd come to realize that it was no joke.
Elisabeth was pregnant.
Dear God, how long have I been here again? Has it really only been two weeks on Wednesday? It feels like a year.
This weekend had completely messed up his mind. He'd gone numb from overwork, drunk from Charlie's heavy-on-the-rum rum and Cokes, guilty from breaking up with a nice girl for no better reason than because she didn't arouse him...
And dazzled. He couldn't forget dazzled, by a pair of amazing green eyes flashing in the face of Elisabeth Bennet. Elisabeth, who was pregnant by George Wickham. Elisabeth, who had made it clear that she had no intentions of being a mother to that child.
Darcy leaned back in his chair and frowned. It seemed a bit callous to him, the way Elisabeth seemed set in her decision about her baby's future. Didn't she care about the child at all?
Then Darcy thought about it from Elisabeth's point of view, or at least, he hoped he did. Elisabeth was twenty-six and still working in what was, to be honest, a dead-end job. She didn't make a great deal of money. If she did, she wouldn't have a roommate and wouldn't complain about how many bills she had. She worked fifty hours a week to make ends meet. And if the rumors about her mother were to be believed----and at this point, Darcy thought he'd believe just about anything----she would get no support from that quarter. As for George Wickham, well, he doubted she wanted much more to do with him. They had a mutual loathing society there.
There were government programs set up to help poor families, yes. But while he hadn't known Elisabeth Bennet long, he had a feeling she was too proud to accept that kind of support. So if he ruled that out, it meant Elisabeth wasn't financially capable of raising a child. Which meant she saw giving her baby away as the best thing she could do for the child.
Which wasn't such a bad reason for adoption.
But what if she had money? What if you were to help her out? What if the two of you were to come together the way you thought about all last night, thinking about a future? Would she still give up the child? Or would she keep it because she was able to?
Maybe that was the question he should be asking himself.
He declined Jack and Chazz's offer of another drink as he heard voices being raised in the hallway----the same hallway everyone had disappeared to. Darcy stood up and went to investigate.
"So, what's going on?" Charlie demanded.
Elisabeth sighed. "She can't have kids of her own," she said. "And no, I wasn't aware of that." She turned an accusing at Jenna, who squirmed.
"She made me swear I wouldn't say anything," Jenna explained. "And while I'm not technically her therapist, I would've felt like I was violating her confidentiality if I'd told you."
The three of them fell into a stunned silence, which Jenna finally broke. "Were you serious about adoption, El? If you want to keep the baby, I can get you assistance. I know people."
"Yes, I was." Elisabeth quickly cut her off before she could continue. "This child deserves something more than me."
"Maybe, maybe not. You're the only mother this child has right now. And what does George have to say about it?"
"I haven't told him yet, and I'm not sure I will. There's no future for us, obviously, and I don't anticipate that..."
The door at the end of the hall were practically ripped open, and a strident voice was shouting Elisabeth's name.
"There you are!" George Wickham was marching toward them. "I don't care what you claim, your brat isn't mine!"
Elisabeth felt hot shame stain her cheeks, but she kept her voice steady as she turned back to her sister and cousin. "Like I was telling you, I don't anticipate that he'll take any interest in the matter. And as you see, I was right." She looked at George. "Who told you I was claiming you were the father of my baby, George? Caroline?"
"Who cares where I heard it? And damn right, you're right. It isn't my kid."
Elisabeth again spoke to Charlie and Jenna. "That must mean Caroline was kind enough to pass along the news of my impending joy." And then back to George. "Fine. If you say so, it's not yours. It makes my life a hell of a lot easier."
"Who knows how many guys you----"
"Probably not as many girls as you've slept with, I'm sure. And you're younger than me."
"That's beside the point."
Elisabeth chuckled. "Of course it is. Like I told you the last time we were together, I don't care what you do with your life, as long as you stay out of mine. For the record, though, this is your baby. It works out fine for me if you don't want to acknowledge that fact."
"Bull. You'll probably be suing me for child support tomorrow."
"The only legal document I want from you is for you to sign over your parental rights as soon as can be arranged." Elisabeth glared at him.
"Why should I have to do that? It's not my baby. Everyone knows all about you, Lissie, and everyone knows you're just a----"
Whatever George intended to say next was never heard, because seemingly out of nowhere, a fist came flying at him. George keeled over onto the floor, out cold.
"That man has a tendency to run into people's fists," Charlie said, amused. But she hadn't been the one to hit him, because she was standing against the wall.
Elisabeth stared in shock at Darcy Williamson, who was standing over George, cradling his hand and wincing in pain.
"I'm out of practice," he said. "I used to be able to hit people without hurting myself."