Chapter 2
When Charlotte got up the next morning Maria was busy rummaging through her kitchen; pots and kitchen utensils spread as far as the dining table. "What are you doing?" Charlotte muttered, rubbing her eyes to fight off sleep.
"Morning sis!" Maria answered without even turning around. Still in her pyjamas Maria stood in front of the stove, with her laptop propped up on the crammed work bench. Charlotte sat down at the kitchen table, where Maria had left the remnants of her own breakfast, and grabbed a piece of cool bread from the toaster. "Are you cooking?" she asked in disbelief.
"Yeah", Maria answered. "I had an idea. Since it's my last night here I thought we could throw a party".
Charlotte stopped mid-bite. "A bit last minute, don't you think?"
"I guess. It will be fine, though. I'll make the food and send out the invitations. You don't have to do a thing".
"What about all the things we talked about doing? We said we'd go to that museum".
"We can do that next time I come visit, okay?"
Charlotte narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Okay", she nodded and chewed down the last of her toast. "So who are you going to invite?"
"Stan and some of the others from the offices. Is that okay?"
"I bet they'll be thrilled to party at their boss' house". Maria finally paused her frantic stirring of a pot and turned to face her sister. Her eyes lingered, searching for something. "What?" Charlotte said, shrugging her shoulders uncomfortably.
"It's just..." Maria furrowed her brows and absent-mindedly crossed her arms, sauce dripping on the floor from the wooden spoon. "You're so cynical as of late. Did something happen?"
"No, of course not". As her sister's attention returned to cooking Charlotte rose to go get ready for the day.
"When will Ricky be back?" Maria sat in the passenger seat with her phone in hand, currently sending out a mass invitation via the Collins & Collins' facebook page.
"Mr Collins", Charlotte corrected her automatically, as had become her habit. "He won't be back for another couple of weeks at least. Why?"
Maria shrugged. "Just wondering". A pointed silence filled the car for a moment while Maria tapped away on the touch screen. "Hey, would it be all right if Stan brought a friend with him?"
Charlotte wrinkled her brow. "I don't have that big of an apartment".
"A lot of people from the offices have already answered that they can't come", her sister coaxed.
Charlotte sighed and pushed her bangs out of her eyes. "Okay then". Maria smiled but Charlotte cut her celebration short. "It's your party. Your responsibility. I won't help you tidy up tomorrow". Even as she said it she knew she wouldn't stand a chance to her little sister's persuasive smile.
"Of course", Maria smiled and slid her phone in her pocket as they had just reached the drive way. Charlotte halted the car and they got out, Maria weighed down by bags of last-minute bought groceries. "What time is it?" she asked as she waited for Charlotte to open the door.
"About 4.30 PM".
"You're kidding!? How...?"
"It's only because the supermarket was crowded". Charlotte let slip a chuckle. "I'm beginning to think Mrs. Bennet had a point about grocery shopping in the middle of the night". Maria giggled.
Charlotte unlocked her apartment and at that moment her phone started vibrating. She reached for it and, checking the display, nodded to her sister. Maria disappeared into the kitchen to unpack and Charlotte closed the door behind her. "This is Charlotte Lu"
"Miss Lu! How do you do!" Mr Collins' energy sprouted from the speakers like a meteorite breaking atmosphere.
"Mr. Collins, how are you", Charlotte answered in her practised, composed manner.
"I only call to tell you that younger miss Lu informed me of our successful negotiations of yesterday. I am abundantly pleased, though, of course, expected nothing less from such a shrewd and clever business partner, such as yourself".
He paused, seemingly waiting for an answer and Charlotte cleared her throat. "I- um", she started. "Thank you, Mr. Collins".
"Why, you're welcome. Now, as for the project in itself, I gather-"
Charlotte quickly cut him off, an art she had perfected over the previous months. "I am already on it. I have a projection meeting with our clients planned for later this week, and I will have the project plan, including budget and crew, ready for you to look over no later than Friday".
"Excellent, excellent. As miss DeBourgh always so wisely says: 'Planning without action is futile but action without planning is fatal'".
"Of course", Charlotte agreed.
"I saw you had the most delightful idea of hosting a party for our employees, as brought to my attention by younger miss Lu. I knew you would understand the importance of personnel bonding; in fact, I knew you would from the very first moment I met you! However, might I suggest...?"
Charlotte listened with half an ear, muttering occasional uhums and rights to appease her boss. Meanwhile, she watched Maria scurry around the flat, doing the finishing touches. She cut her boss off in the middle of his ego-stroking monologue. "Mr. Collins, I need to go now. I'm preparing for the party".
Ricky went silent for a moment, but soon regained his momentum. "But of course, miss Lu. Until later".
Charlotte gave her adieus, clicked off the call and went to join Maria in the kitchen. She reached into the cupboard and pulled out a cookie jar. "What? I'm getting hungry", she explained when she noticed the look Maria gave her.
"Are those Jammie Dodgers?"
Charlotte looked quizzically, first at her sister, then at the cookies and then back at her sister again. "What are you talking about?" she said exasperatedly and bit into a cookie. "So what have you planned for tonight, anyway?"
Maria's expression suddenly turned into a slug smile. "Spoilers", she said in a mocking tone.
Charlotte shrugged, rolled her eyes and spread out in the sofa.
About an hour had passed and Charlotte's apartment smelled of curry and caraway. The clock hands were drawing close to the appointed time and Charlotte was still sprawled in the sofa, flicking through Maria's latest paper for some constructive criticism. Maria was in the kitchen, hurrying to get everything ready. She turned over the last page of the document and put it on the table in front of her. "It's really good, Maria. Have you got the instruction sheet somewhere? I need to see if you covered all areas". She couldn't see her sister from where she was, but the noise coming from the kitchen made it clear that Maria was still in there.
"My laptop's on the table", Maria yelled to make herself heard above the wheezy sound of the kitchen fan. "It's in my inbox".
Charlotte pulled the laptop towards her and opened it. She rolled her eyes at her sister's naïvety as she logged on without a password and pulled up the g-mail tab. She found the mail in question quickly enough, but before she could open it her eyes caught on something. The arrow was hovering over a mail at the top of the inbox – 'Application for study break'. She hesitated for a second before clicking it and the page appeared before her. As she scanned the page a sour taste of gall rose in her throat. 'Your application has been approved', and 'any intention to resume studies must first be presented to, and approved by, the committee' were phrases that confirmed her fears and she didn't have to read it all. "Hey!" The ferocity in her voice surprised her. "Maria! What is this?"
Her sister appeared in the door-way, a confused look on her face which soon transformed into horror as realization dawned on her. "Oh, gosh. I was going to tell you, but-". She broke off, and turned into the kitchen.
Charlotte quickly rose and followed. "Don't walk away", she said with a harsh tone.
"I'm just setting the table", the younger sister returned fiercely.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Charlotte crossed her arms and stared.
"Because I didn't want you to freak". Maria looked up and met her stare dead-on. Charlotte opened her mouth to deny it but Maria raised an eyebrow. "Don't", she said, crossing her arms as well.
"Maria..." Charlotte took a deep, unsteady breath to subdue the anger. "You need to-" suddenly she remembered the double standard Maria had pointed out the night before, and stopped. When she spoke again her voice resembled a whine. "So what are you going to do?"
Maria's gaze had dropped to the floor. "I don't know yet. I want to take some time to figure it out". They both looked at each other in silence. The resolute smile on Maria's face was comforting and although anger and nerves were still ripping at Charlotte's insides, she found herself returning the smile. Suddenly the sound of the door-bell rang loudly and they were shook out of their reverie. Maria opened and showed the first-comers inside.
The first guests to arrive were Stan and his friend; a man with dark eyes, wide shoulders and a large Stetson pulled down over his shaved head – a stark contrast to Stan's pale skin and slim build.
"What's that?" Charlotte asked Stan, pointing to the hat on his head.
"Hi boss. It's a fez". He took it off and bowed awkwardly before shoving his friend in front of him. "Miss Lu, this is Jackson. Jackson, meet miss Lu".
"Call me Charlotte". Maria who's been standing beside her sister disappeared as the bell rang once again, but Charlotte lingered with the two men. "So, what's up with the hats?" she asked casually.
Jackson gave Stan a side-ways glance before answering her. "Doctor Who is on tonight".
"Ah", Charlotte nodded knowingly and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, come on in". She showed them to the kitchen and turned around to welcome the next round of guests; this time employees from the offices. Everyone was in high spirits and it didn't take long before the troubles of the evening were erased from Charlotte's head.