Good Times, Bad Times
Jane quietly sighed as she reviewed Lizzie's latest video 'Consequences'. She had received Lizzie's call an hour earlier and her mind had wandered, whizzed and whirred at the possibilities and reasoning behind what was happening with her family.
Her phone rang again, it was Lizzie, "Jane, I tried to talk to Lydia but she's not coming from her bedroom. What else am I supposed to do?"
"Don't worry Lizzie, she'll talk to you when she's ready. I'll be home soon 'k?"
"You…You're coming home?"
"Yes, of course. I couldn't stay here when all this is happening. You are all more important!"
Jane had already begun packing, pretty much from the moment she hung up her call from Lizzie. First, she needed to call her boss. She wouldn't be happy, that's for sure!
"It's Fashion Week Jane, the most important event of the year, and you want time off?" Helen Phillips exclaimed over the phone. Jane's boss was a Type A to her fingernails and wouldn't even comprehend 'family emergency' as a reason for her Assistant Buyer not to be at work. "You can forget it Jane! Either you show up as usual, or don't bother coming back!" She hung up.
Jane sighed again. 'Well, it's just a job. I can get another one. Lydia is far more important'.
It had been a tough year for Jane. She had met a wonderful person, and it felt so right for her. But he left, thanks to the influence of his best friend and sister it seemed. Like Lizzie though, she was still pretty unclear about the 'indiscretion' Darcy claimed to have seen. But now this? Her troubles with Bing seem trivial compared to what that man had done to her little sister.
Her mind continued to wander as she packed her clothes. Her favourite headband, some dresses she particularly loved and a warm burnt orange cardigan, which brought back fond memories of Lizzie's 'costume theatre' version of her back when she first met Bing.
Her mind wandered even further back. Lizzie had mentioned in her previous video about Lydia's first date, and that was something that Lizzie's viewers just didn't see. They had this idea from Lizzie and Lydia's video blogs but really didn't have much idea about who her family really are.
They had never seen three redheaded girls playing with their dolls, make-believing they were princesses. They never saw Lizzie stubbornly declaring that she didn't need rescuing, thank you very much! The three loved fairy tales, especially those Disney cartoons that little girls would inevitably latch onto. If Jane were to compare her sister to any princess, it would be Belle, without a doubt.
Lydia was the opposite, she longed for her prince. The boys at school ignored her, or called her 'carrot top', preferring to admire pretty little Emma Woodhouse. No wonder handsome George Wickham grabbed her attention so easily. Paying her attention, giving her compliments, making her feel like she was worth it. But, it was all a lie wasn't it?
Lydia probably wouldn't have fallen so easily for his charms if it weren't for that boy knocking her confidence back then. She wouldn't have become so guarded, so wild and so uncaring for consequences. Consequences…Jane had so wished she could have been there for Lizzie's last video. She already knew, without a shadow of a doubt that Lydia could not, would not have consented to something like that. But, the viewers might not see that.
But, of course, they only saw the Lydia that flirts with all the boys, doesn't 'do' relationships, and steals medication. They didn't see the person who, in another life, Jane would have compared to Snow White; wishing for a prince to come and rescue her. She hoped that, with her help, they would see that Lydia come back.
She knew those who watched Lydia's video blogs would know a different side to her, not one that plays up to the camera, but one who lets a little more of herself out, her real self. The self that Jane knew was still in there and that wanted to reappear. She just hoped that Lydia would recover from this trauma and sadness.
Jane was determined. She would do anything for her sisters, and if that included actually sitting them down, banging their heads together and making them talk, then so be it! At times they were exasperating, especially just lately.
No, she knew what she would do. She would approach Lizzie first, tell her to watch all of Lydia's videos and see exactly what has been going on in her sister's life, and then hopefully get them to talk again. The last thing they needed at a time like this was for the two sisters to be at loggerheads with each other.
If Jane was any princess she was Pocahontas, wise beyond her years.
As Jane packed the last of her things, looked around her tiny apartment, and sighed once more she remembered a quote from one of Lizzie's favourite characters, Albus Dumbledore (and one she used to quote quite often) – "Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light". She smiled, and knew, whatever happened with George Wickham, if she could heal the hurt between Lizzie and Lydia, they would remain strong.
And with that she set off back home, where she was needed.