All three women were stunned by the message they knew was for them. Slurry was not going to let them go without a fight. Their lovers were pleading with them to not leave, to come back.
It was a bizarre reversal of events, and all Elizabeth knew for certain, as she looked at Jane’s shattered face, was that they needed to pull back, and get some distance, before they could move forward.
Caroline stood alone watching the scene before her. Darcy and Richard had left as soon as the VMAs were over. Caroline would have been happy to escape with them, but Charles insisted on going to the De Bourgh party. She felt pity as she watched Charles hovering around Jane, who was ignoring him.
Caroline hadn’t been able to hear their brief conversation, but Jane’s body language made it clear. She was not willing to listen to anything Charles would tell her. She felt her twin’s pain as he couldn’t leave her yet couldn’t be with her, doomed to circle her like a planet orbiting the sun. Jane was politely talking to a writer and an actor Anne had introduced to her, and together they were discussing the possibility of LBS’s doing a theme song for an upcoming movie.
Caroline felt a certain boredom with it all. Slurry had done several soundtracks and the experience had only shown her that the movie industry was more shameless than the music industry. At moments like this, Caroline found she shared Darcy’s disgust with the whole business.
Caroline turned away and her eyes fell on Elizabeth Bennet. Elizabeth was talking politely with the people standing next to her, but Caroline knew her well enough to know she was bored.
Caroline made excuses and took Elizabeth away from the group and to the refreshment table. “I hope you don’t mind,” she told Elizabeth.
Elizabeth chuckled once. “No, I’m quite in your debt. I have never met such boring or fake people in my life.”
Caroline smiled in agreement. “Now you know why Darcy avoids these like the plague.”
“Is that why he’s not here?”
Caroline knew the curiosity in her voice was more than just idle conversation. “No, I don’t think so, but why don’t you tell me, Lizzy?”
Elizabeth’s eyes met hers, and Caroline waited while Elizabeth considered the offer. Finally Elizabeth said, “Could we find a quiet place to sit?”
Caroline nodded and led her to a private corner, near the windows. Elizabeth looked out into the darkness and tried to find a starting point.
“He loves you, you know,” Caroline said, relieving Elizabeth of the burden.
“I do now,” Elizabeth replied softly. “I know you all must think I’m really stupid, but for the longest time, I didn’t think he liked me at all.” Elizabeth gave a bitter huff. “Change that: I also think I’m stupid.”
“Lizzy,” Caroline said gently, “why did you think he didn’t like you?”
“Because he was so cold and abrupt when he spoke to me. And he said things that were very arrogant and hurtful.”
“He can be hard, Lizzy. No one knows that better than me. But believe me, he never meant to hurt you.”
“You mean before today.”
Caroline nodded and sighed. “Yes. What happened today? I’ve never seen him like this.”
Elizabeth shook her head. “I guess everyone is going to know now.” She shrugged. “What the hell? It’s not like I don’t live in a damned fishbowl anyway.”
“Did you sleep with him?” Caroline asked her calmly.
Elizabeth nodded. “And in the morning, he told me he loved me.” She could hardly believe it had only been this morning.
“What happened?”
“I ran.”
Caroline had to laugh at the irony of it. “If it’s any comfort to you, Elizabeth, I think that you’re both stupid right now.”
“Thanks,” Elizabeth said sarcastically. “You know what, I actually agree with you.” She put her hand to her face and rubbed her forehead.
“So what comes next?” Caroline asked.
“I don’t really know. We tried to get kicked off the tour, and I’m told we fucked that up good, so frankly, I just don’t know.”
Caroline smiled. “The one time you are trying to not advance your career and you end up giving yourself a huge boost, right?”
Elizabeth nodded and held up her hands. “I don’t get it.”
“I’m sorry, Lizzy. You need to work this out for yourself, but I can tell you one thing: Don’t give up.”
“On what? The career or Darcy?”
“Both, actually, but I meant Darcy.” Caroline looked at Elizabeth, letting her true feelings rise. “He’s a good man. He’s one of the best men I know. He’s very hard, I know that, but he does love you, and he only wants to make you happy.”
“And this afternoon?”
“He was hurt, badly, and lashed out.”
Elizabeth nodded. She knew that, but it validated her feelings to hear it from someone else.
“I know he comes on strong, but that is his way. He doesn’t realize that other people can’t read his mind. He thought it was clear to you that he loved you.”
Elizabeth nodded, feeling very sad inside. “You love him, don’t you?”
Caroline smiled. “Of course I do.” To Elizabeth’s unasked question, she said, “I love him enough to want to see him happy. And that’s you, Lizzy.”
“Caro, I don’t think he will ever want to see me again after today.”
Caroline reached out and rubbed Elizabeth’s arm. “Of course he does. He loves you, and one little spat isn’t going to change that. Couldn’t you see it during ‘Feel Me’?”
Elizabeth nodded, her lips tightly pressed together, and Caroline took her into her arms and hugged her. “It’s okay, Lizzy. You go home, and take a couple of weeks to get your head together. Darcy will be waiting when you come back.”
Elizabeth blinked back her tears. “I will.”
Elizabeth walked to her sister, suddenly very tired. “Let’s go,” she told Jane. Jane nodded and found her eyes resting on Charles.
“Have Alex get the car, okay, Lizzy?” she told her as she stared at Charles.
Elizabeth nodded and stepped away, letting Jane have her needed privacy.
Jane signaled to Charles that he could come to her now. “Can I touch you?” he asked softly.
Jane shook her head no.
“What happened, Jane?”
Jane knew she owed him an explanation. “I realized some things this afternoon, that Slurry was hurting us all, and we needed to stop it. To pull away.”
Charles’s eyes revealed the pain he was feeling. “Why didn’t you talk to me?”
“I tried,” she said, her voice dropping to an intense whisper. “I tried to talk to you and all I got was ‘wait.’ And I waited, and what did I get? ‘It’s All a Joke’!” Jane stopped and visually struggled to regain her control.
“So you did hear that?”
Jane nodded, her eyes cast downward.
Charles pushed aside a surge of anger. “Jane, that was never about you. I don’t know how you could ever even think it was.”
“But I did!” she answered him, her voice full of wretchedness. “I did! I thought you were tired of me and I thought you wanted to break up with me. And frankly, now I don’t know what to think.”
Charles’s expression sobered. “My God, Jane, I love you!”
Jane looked like she had been struck. “Please. Don’t say that.”
“Jane?”
Jane took a deep breath. “I have to go.”
“But we need to talk.”
Jane shook her head. “Charles, I don’t trust you, so I don’t know what we have to talk about.” She turned and left the room, rushing so he wouldn’t see her tears.
The next morning, Jane took Elizabeth to the train station. Mechanically Elizabeth got a ticket and took the metro north to Grand Central Station. There she took a subway down to Greenwich Village.
As she rode, her mind traveled like a train on the same track. She remembered the events of yesterday, from waking up in Darcy’s arms, all the way to her talk with Caroline. She traveled the same route again and again, without finding any answers.
She was so deeply lost in her thoughts that she was only slightly surprised to find herself not at the lot where she had left her truck a lifetime ago but at Darcy’s building. She realized that her thoughts weren’t going to give her any peace, so she entered the building and asked the doorman to announce her.