Chapter 4

When we stepped into the reception, we found Jane and Zach standing there talking.

"Hey Beth!" said my cousin.

Zach grinned at us and then introduced my cousin to Darcy.

"Did the site visit go well?" he asked us.

I waited for Darcy to answer. "Yes, it was satisfactory," he replied. "After I get out of my biosuit, I'll come over to discuss with you." He nodded at Jane and then walked off without looking at me.

I felt a little hurt although I knew it was unreasonable. Just because I had a 'moment', things were no different for him.

Zach also left after giving Jane a quick kiss on her cheek. I gave her a look, "So? What is going on?"

Jane giggled. "Oh Beth, he is so amazing. We are going out tonight to that new club that's opened."

"You mean 'Savage'?" I asked.

"Yes, that's the one. I'm so excited! I'm off work early so I'm going home now to get ready."

It seemed a bit early to start getting ready, but what did I know about getting ready for a date? I said bye to Jane and then went to get out of the biosuit before I started wallowing in self-pity.

By the time I went to speak with Dad, he had already got an update from Darcy and the go ahead to move the ship.

I had just sat down to have a chat with Dad, when Lydia and Mom burst into the office.

"Oh, you should have told us earlier that Will Darcy was coming. I can't believe it - the 'Most Eligible Bachelor on Earth' here on Titan!" shrieked Mom. "Where is he sitting? I have to have a party in his honor this Saturday!"

I knew this would happen. I shook my head at Dad but he told Mom where she could find Darcy and before I could do anything about it, Lydia and she had rushed off.

"Dad, you know what they are like!" I scolded him.

"There is no point trying to stop the force that is your mother, Beth."

He always did let Mom do what she liked and he wouldn't discipline Lydia either.

"But what is Mr. Darcy going to think?" I asked.

"Why don't you go and find out?" Dad replied.

I stepped out of the elevator and stopped in the passage. I could hear Mom and Lydia speaking with Zach.

"Don't worry Mrs. Bennet, I will definitely come to your party and I will bring Will as well."

I waited where I was until Mom and Lydia saw me and walked in my direction. "Did you invite Mr. Darcy to the party?" I asked.

Lydia snorted. "Such a pity, he is so good-looking but awfully boring."

"Oh?" I asked with a smirk. "Didn't flirt with you?"

"He was really rude. There wasn't an extra chair so I sat on his desk and he asked me to move. Didn't even look at my legs! Then I stood and bent down to talk to him and he told me I was blocking the light!"

It would have been funny if it was someone else but the thought of my sister behaving like that with Darcy was humiliating. I eyed her cleavage-baring dress with dismay.

"And you are still having a party for him, Mom?"

"He might not be a very nice man but he is still famous. I shall have a little gathering with our closest friends. Everyone will be jealous that he attended our party! And Zach is such a wonderful man! So charming and good-looking. I think I caught him giving Lydia a considering look."

"Mom," I said. " Zach is going out with Jane." I wasn't worried that Lydia would try anything with him after the brush-off she got last time, but I didn't want Mom putting Zach in uncomfortable situations.

"Really? Well, Lydia is still very young. I suppose he is better for Jane. After all, she is family. And she does look very much like me - lucky for her she doesn't take after her mother. Once Jane is married, then it will be time for me to find someone suitable for Lydia to settle down with."

Oh? And am I not a member of the family? I know I should be glad that Mom didn't want to set me up with someone, but it still bruised my ego to be ignored.

Mom and Lydia left to plan their party. I hesitated before I decided to go and check with Zach and Darcy if they needed any help. The door was closed - probably to prevent any more Mom/Lydia visits. After I'd buzzed them and the door slid open, I entered to find them hard at work. Zach smiled and Darcy just looked at me.

"I wondered if you had any further information requirements," I told them.

"No, we have all the data we need for now," Darcy replied.

"That's great. Zach has my communicator and wristlet ids in case you need to contact me."

As I left, I decided it was a good time to finish marking the huge bunch of tests that were clogging up my inbox. After all, I wasn't going partying at 'Savage' and had nothing better to do!

I hadn't got very far with my marking when Dad called on my communicator and said that he would like me to go along with the guys who were towing the ship to the hangar. I was happy to be occupied and agreed immediately. He gave me the details on where to meet them.

Only after he hung up did I remember to ask him whether he had confirmed the weather forecast. I knew that the towing company reps would have checked, and after the storm we had earlier in the day it should be quiet right now. However, I checked three different met company forecasts to make sure. I didn't want that lovely ship damaged further. If a storm should break out and tow-lines break it would be disastrous.

After I had got suited up for the second trip outside for today, I went in the hovercraft to the towing company office to meet up with the reps who would be handling this job. They were all suited up and waiting for me when I got there. A couple of the guys were familiar, they'd worked on Bennet jobs before. There was one new guy whom I'd not seen in the office before. The others were in a rush and asked me to follow them to the tow-ships. As I walked behind them, the new guy slowed down to keep pace with me. I thought he was cute. He had an athletic build, short ginger hair and gray eyes.

"I think I should introduce myself," he said with a smile. "My name's Hal Casey. I started work here a week back."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Elizabeth Bennet as you probably already know," I replied.

"I've heard a lot about your flight school … and about you!"

I grinned at that. I knew people in the pilot business talked about me like I was a genius.

"I've only moved to Titan a couple of weeks ago, so this place is still fairly new. I figure you are the best person to ask questions about the Titan, your family is like Titan bluebloods."

"Well, I don't know about us being bluebloods but ask me what you'd like to know about Titan," I answered.

We'd got to the tow-ships by then. "Why don't you get into my tow-ship? We can talk while we work!" said Hal.

I didn't see any issue with that so I agreed. Hal was assigned the tow-ship which would be behind the RS-567 so anyway I'd have wanted to be in that one.

It had taken two and a half hours to finish the job. Luckily, the weather had been really calm or it would have taken even longer. Hal had talked non-stop – he was full of questions about Titan. I thought he was pleasant company.

After we had got the ship in the hangar and gone back to the tow company office, I said goodbye to Hal and was going to leave when I heard him calling me.

"Beth, I was wondering whether you would like to grab some dinner together. If you don't already have some plans for today, that is."

I hesitated for a second but decided that it would be nice to go out with him. I'd found myself thinking about Darcy more often than I liked and perhaps going out with Hal would help me put Darcy out of my mind.

I got out of my biosuit and dumped it in the back of the hovercraft. I didn't want to go back home to change so when Hal rejoined me after he had changed out of his work clothes, I suggested we go to May's Diner. I wasn't comfortable going to an unfamiliar restaurant in my flight suit and May's was the only diner I patronized since it was so close to the school.

The restaurant wasn't too crowded for Friday evening. We were able to get a nice table for two in a corner. Lindsay came to get our order and made a thumbs up at me when Hal wasn't looking. I was sure she would tell Jane about him when she came into work tomorrow.

Hal was interested in the flight school and the current pilot certification programs and kept asking me questions throughout dinner. I was so busy answering his questions that I didn't get a chance to ask him anything about his background.

When the check came, Hal grabbed it. "I don't let my dates pay," he said with a charming smile. He got out his card and gave it to Lindsay.

As we waited for Lindsay to get back after charging the card, I felt the hairs at the back of my neck rise. Was someone looking at me? I turned and was shocked to see Will Darcy sitting at a table on the opposite side of the room and glaring at me. Then I realized that he wasn't looking at me, but at Hal. I looked back at Hal who was staring in confusion at me. "What's up, Beth?"

"Hal, do you know ..," I started before I was cut off by the man himself standing in front of our table.

"What are you doing here?" Darcy demanded of Hal.

"Will! A s... surprise to see you here. I m... moved to Titan a month ago," Hal replied, stumbling over his words a bit.

"What are doing on Titan?"

"I work for a towing company." Hal sounded defensive.

"What fake credentials did you show them?" Darcy looked at him threateningly.

When Hal opened his mouth to answer, Darcy cut him off. "I don't want to hear it - just don't let me hear you've been up to your old tricks."

Darcy gave me look of disgust. "You better watch the company you keep, Ms. Bennet."

With that, he stalked back to his table, threw down a bunch of paper credit next to his untouched plate, and then stormed out of the diner.

I sat in stunned silence but Hal seemed to recover quickly enough. "I'm sorry you had to witness that, Beth," he said apologetically.

Before he could say anything more, Lindsay came back to the table. "I'm sorry, sir, but your card has been declined."

Hal's face went red with embarrassment and he started digging in his pocket - I assume for another card. But I wanted to hear about Darcy and him so I asked Lindsay to add it to my account over Hal's protests.

"Just tell me what that was all about," I said.

"First, tell me how you know Will Darcy," he said.

I explained how he was currently assessing one of our claims.

"I get that you don't like him much," prompted Hal.

"I have to admit that I find him arrogant and unfriendly," I replied.

"Well, if you can just drop me off at my office, we can talk on the way. And then you'll agree with me that he is a lot worse than just unfriendly."

I asked him if he wouldn't rather I drop him off at his place but he said he had some work to finish up. While I drove there, he explained the reasons for Darcy's animosity.

Hal's father had been the caretaker of the Darcy vacation home on Earth Moon. The Darcys had a little biosphere of their own over there, where they could have complete privacy. The Caseys had a little house near the Darcy mansion and Hal had grown up there, commuting to the nearest biosphere for school. The Darcy kids used to spend every summer vacation there. Apparently, Darcy and Hal had never got along well.

"He was a little shrimp, afraid of his own shadow. His daddy was always at him to man up. He hated me because I was big and strapping, even as a boy, and always into sports. Whenever his father praised me in front of him, I could see Will glaring at me with hate in his eyes. But his sister Gemma was a doll - he never did have any time for her so she was always following me around. He couldn't stand that she adored me. When we got older, we realized that we more than liked each other but I was scared to take the first step and ask her out. I was an employee's son and I worried that Will would make trouble if he found out. Gemma didn't worry about such things though - she had got no crookedness in her at all. She came and told me how she felt, she was just fifteen."

I remembered reading that Darcy's sister was a lot younger than him and interrupted Hal to ask how old he was then.

He was a bit surprised by the question. "Yes, I was a bit older than her, Will and I are the same age. So I had finished school and was helping my father out for a bit while I decided what I wanted to do." He smiled at me. "I know you will understand when I tell you that it had always been my dream to be a pilot."

He continued his story. "It was a magical time. We sneaked off every chance we got. Will hadn't come down yet - he was busy with his own selfish interests and never thought about his sister there alone, with just the servants for company. A shriveled old housekeeper who looked disapprovingly on everything Gemma did. But I should have known it was too good to last. Will came down and although we tried our best to hide our happiness from him, he found out."

Hal looked at me imploringly, "You have to understand, I'd never have broken up with Gemma if Will hadn't forced me to do it. She was my first love. But he threatened to fire my father and I couldn't let him do that. My father had been working for the Darcy's since he was twenty and it would have just destroyed him to have lost his job. He had a heart attack the year before and his health wouldn't have taken the shock. So I left ... never heard from Gemma again."

We were sitting outside the towing company offices in the hovercraft. I was filled with indignation at what I had heard but not surprised. Darcy's behavior was just as would be expected for someone with such arrogance. How could he hurt his sister that way?

I held Hal's hand sympathetically and he smiled gratefully at me.

"I better get going, they'll be wondering why I haven't returned the hovercraft yet," I said.

"Maybe we can go out tomorrow?" Hal asked. "I'll call you in the afternoon, ok? I have work on Saturday morning."

"Yes, I'll speak with you tomorrow," I replied.

I watched Hal walk into the building and wondered if he had ever stopped loving Gemma Darcy. As I drove back home, I found myself laughing out loud at the failure of my plan to stop thinking about Darcy.