Chapter 7: Liz

A/N: Thanks for your comments so far!This chapter contains two layers of flashbacks, moving between the present moment (Liz having a conversation with her father), to the distant past (the aftermath of Liz's breakup with Will 8 years ago), to the recent past (her date earlier that evening), and then back to the present. I think I've made the transitions clear, but I'm giving readers a heads-up to make it easier to follow.

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"Whatcha thinking, kiddo?" her father asked.

"Huh?"

"I've said several things to you over the last ten minutes, and you haven't answered. It seems like you're deep in thought."

She was deep in thought and hadn't heard a word he'd said. In truth, she couldn't even recall a thing about the late night movie she and her father had stayed up to watch on Saturday, her mother having gone to bed hours ago. Earlier that evening, she'd had dinner with Abner, the guy she'd dated on the rebound after breaking up with Will, and her mind had returned repeatedly to the memory of the heartache she'd caused him.

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She thought back to her sophomore year in college when she'd run into Abner while waiting for the bus near the campus of Oakwood Tech, where both he and Kathy were students. A week after the end of her relationship with Will, the dark gray skies of twilight in January had matched her mood.

"Hey there," Abner had said. "Hanging out with Kathy?"

She nodded, and at that moment the bus arrived. After they boarded, Abner sat next to her and began chatting until he noticed she wasn't responding. "Are you okay, Liz?"

She shook her head. "Not really."

"What's wrong?"

"Will and I broke up." She had just finished telling the whole story to Kathy and didn't want to talk about it anymore.

"I'm really sorry to hear that," he said, putting his arm around her shoulder and giving her a quick squeeze. He removed his arm and they were both quiet until Abner spoke again a few minutes later. "Liz, would you like to have dinner with my family tonight? My mother likes to fuss over people." He grinned. "She usually helps me feel better when I'm upset about something."

It was a sweet offer, so Liz gave him a small smile and said okay. She stayed on the bus with Abner as it passed through Longbourn City and arrived at Castle Hall, the housing project where he lived. As soon as they reached the tenth floor where his family's apartment was located, the scent of garlic, curry and several spices she didn't recognize filled her nostrils, and her stomach growled.

In an apartment even smaller than her family's own, Abner's mother, a short, bosomy woman with hair pulled back in a bun, stirred a pot in the kitchenette attached to the living room. Abner kissed her cheek and told her Liz would be joining them for dinner.

Abner's mother immediately stopped what she was doing, wiped her hands on a towel, and embraced and kissed Liz. "You are from LOFTY Dreams!" she said, patting Liz's cheeks. "Elizabeth, right? That's a good name. Jesus' auntie! I'm Rebecca, and you are always welcome here."

Liz found herself smiling. Abner had been right. Rebecca's warm hug, effusive words and musical accent were already lifting her spirits.

They were joined for dinner by Ruth, Abner's twelve-year-old sister, who had been working on her homework. His father, Abner told her, wasn't there because he worked a security job in the evenings. As they were sitting down, Abner's older brother Elijah came out of one of the bedrooms and said a brief hello before rushing out the door.

"He's in night school, getting his diploma," Abner explained.

"Elijah has been in some trouble," Rebecca said, "but he is trying to do the right thing now. It is very hard sometimes in this country, especially for boys, to stay out of trouble." She reached across the table and squeezed her younger son's hand. "I'm so proud of Abner. He has never caused me worry. In a few years, he will be an electrical engineer!" From the joyful expression on her face, Liz could tell that Abner had made whatever struggles his parents had had in the U.S. all worthwhile.

The delicious aromas emanated from meatballs in sauce, rice, and stewed vegetables. "I added hot peppers to the food because I didn't know you were coming. I hope that's all right," Rebecca said.

Liz grinned. "It's fine. I like spicy food."

She spoke too soon. A minute or two later, she was about to tell Rebecca how good everything tasted when she stopped suddenly. Her nose started running and her eyes were watering. She felt like a cartoon character with steam coming out of every orifice in her head. Rebecca, Ruth and Abner began laughing hysterically, even as Abner pounded Liz on the back to help her stop coughing. Rebecca placed two glasses of water in front of Liz, who downed them immediately.

Ruth giggled. "Americans can't handle anything!"

Liz grinned at her. Now that the fire had been doused from her senses, she could see the humor in her spectacle. "I thought I could handle it! It didn't even taste that spicy at first."

"It takes a while to hit you," Abner said, "but boy, does it hit you!"

After dinner, Liz helped Abner with the dishes and then said she had to go home to study. "My son will take you," Rebecca said, in a voice that brooked no opposition.

Liz let Abner wait with her until the bus arrived and he started to get on with her. "You really don't need to do this, Abner. I know you have to study, too."

"Sure, I do," he answered. "There are a lot of crazy folks around at night, and you're a beautiful young lady. I want to make sure you're safe. And my mom would kill me if I didn't."

Liz smiled. She could see Rebecca, for all her sweetness, also being a formidable parent. She was quiet on the ride home, and Abner allowed her to be with her thoughts. She liked the warm emotions she'd felt when Abner said she was beautiful and that he wanted to protect her. And she'd really had a good time that evening. She loved the affection between Abner and his family. Whenever she visited the Darcy home, the tension was always heavy and unpleasant. It took visiting the home of a guy whose family was not like that to realize how much she'd hated it and how draining it was to deal with.

Abner walked her to her door, and on an impulse, she moved closer to him and kissed him on the lips. Abner stepped back. "I'm not sure this is a good idea, Liz."

She took his hand. "I think it is, Abner. I like you."

He squeezed her hand. "I like you, too, but, Liz… you just broke up. You're hurting. It's probably not a good idea to jump into another relationship."

"I'm ready to move on."

He looked at her intently. "Are you sure about this?"

"I'm sure."

She and Abner dated for the next two months. He was kind and funny, and she enjoyed experiencing attraction to someone besides Will. He understood her work and family obligations, because he had many of his own. It was nice to be liked by her boyfriend's mother for a change, and it felt good to live like an average college student, taking public transportation together and having cheap dates such as fast food dinners and matinees. She had had a hard time convincing Will that he didn't need to take her someplace expensive for her to have a good time. Now she no longer had to deal with that discomfort.

One weekend, they attended an "under 21" dance party at a club in the city. They had only been there a few minutes when they ran into Will. He stared at Liz and Abner, who were holding hands, with a look of fury. "It didn't take you long, did it?"

A girl came up to Will and took his arm, trying to pull him away, but Will stood his ground. Liz felt her blood boiling. "Go to hell, Will!" she snapped, before turning and heading for the exit.

Abner ran after her and put his arms around her when he caught up with her on the street. Several minutes passed before Liz stopped sobbing. Abner then led her into a local McDonald's and helped her sit down at a table. He walked away and came back with a pile of napkins. "I'd better buy something so they don't ask us to leave."

By the time he returned with two Cokes in hand, Liz had wiped her face and blown her nose. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked gently, as he sat down beside her.

Liz placed her head in her hands. "I can't believe he said that. He cheated on me, and even now he was with someone else. How dare he judge me!"

"He's a jerk, Liz. Forget about him. Don't let him have that power over you."

"I wish I could forget him." Liz looked up at Abner and accepted the Coke from him. She took a few sips and tried to calm down. She wanted to find something, anything, to help herself not feel so horrible. "I bet it made you happy to see Will so mad."

"Why would I be happy when you're hurt?"

"Because you finally beat Will."

Abner, whose arm had been around her, pulled back and stared at Liz. "What are you talking about?"

"You and Will always had that rivalry going. You finally won."

Abner looked straight ahead at the front door. "Is that what you think, Liz? That my being with you has something to do with Will?"

His angry tone bewildered her. "Doesn't it?" she asked tentatively.

"Hell, no! Yeah, I used to like yanking Will's chain, but that's because it was fun. It had nothing to do with you. In fact, my respect for him grew when he was with you. I thought he had good taste and you two seemed happy together. I thought he was the biggest fool in the world to hurt you the way he did and to lose you." Abner turned back to her, pain and anger etched into his face. "But maybe he's not. Maybe I am, since your being with me apparently has everything to do with Will Darcy."

He stood up abruptly. "You can see yourself home." He turned and walked out of the restaurant.

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Liz brought her mind back from her college years to her dinner with Abner a few hours ago. Going out with him wasn't unusual, because a month after that painful night in McDonald's, he had called her to say hi and they'd resumed their friendship, without mentioning the breach that had occurred between them. Now, eight years later, he'd taken her out to celebrate her getting the job at City Hall.

Liz enthusiastically told Abner about the position, in which she'd have the opportunity to provide support to start-up and existing small businesses in the city, connect investors with companies to invest in, and help to ensure that the city was conducive for entrepreneurship and commerce. Most exciting, the job involved occasional travel to Meryton's sister cities in Asia and Europe, which would allow her to continue globetrotting while having the connections to home.

After an enjoyable dinner of sharing about the changes in their lives since she'd left the country, Abner said that he wanted to see her more often. Liz was a little stunned. In the past eight years, neither of them had ever spoken about or alluded to their two-month romance, until now.

She'd hesitated. It was tempting. Abner looked great. He'd lost some weight since she'd last seen him and he still worked out, so he was really buff. He'd also had laser surgery on his eyes and no longer wore glasses. And he had the same great sense of humor.

She knew that if she said yes to him now, however, it would be for the same reason she'd gone out with him back in college. It wasn't fair to Abner then, and it wouldn't be fair to Abner now. His expression that night in McDonald's had burned itself into Liz's conscience, matched only by the memory of the look on Imani's face. Abner was a good man, a really good man. She couldn't love him the way he deserved to be loved, and she didn't want to hurt him again like she had before.

She spoke slowly. "I think we do much better as friends, Abner."

He pursed his lips together and nodded. "You still have a thing for the Golden Boy, huh?"

She shook her head. "It's not about him."

"I think it is. I think it's always been about him."

Liz looked down at her plate. She didn't know how to answer Abner. Anything she said would risk hurting him again. She thought about how much she'd loved being at Will's track practice that morning. When he smiled at her upon her arrival, she had almost swooned. The day became one of warm memories rekindled: remembering the fun she and Will had had when they used to run together, and recalling his sweetness as he patiently encouraged the kids. The thing that hit her the hardest was when Will said she'd been his best friend. He'd been her best friend also, and she was starting to realize how much she had missed him.

"Liz, it's okay," Abner said. "Like you said, before anything else, we're friends. You met your soulmate at a young age. Most people aren't that lucky."

"Well, he's unavailable now, so it doesn't really matter." She felt like crying as she said the words.

He chuckled. "Let's see how long that lasts, now that you're back in town."

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Sitting in her parents' living room, Liz couldn't stop thinking about her dinner with Abner earlier that evening and the memories of all the mistakes she had made.

"Honey, want to talk about the deep thoughts you're churning in your head?" her father repeated, bringing Liz back to the current moment.

"Daddy, can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Do you ever have any regrets? I know you had a lot of things you wanted to do with your life, but you just ended up married with kids because Ma had a baby. Do you ever regret that?"

Her father didn't even have to think about it. "I can honestly say I have no regrets, Liz."

"How can that be? I mean, you didn't get to go to college, and Ma embarrasses you sometimes, and—"

"Liz, I made a choice. I decided I was going to be the father I never had, and I accepted all the consequences of that choice. Looking back, it was 100% the right thing to do. Yeah, your mother has her ways and sometimes gets on my nerves. But I have my ways and sometimes get on her nerves. She's a good woman. She doesn't run around in the streets, she loves me and she loves you girls. I love her, and together we have three amazing daughters and two beautiful grandkids. And life is never boring with your mother. I'm a lucky man, Liz. No regrets." Her father's voice was emphatic by the time he finished speaking.

"Daddy, I feel like I made the wrong choice, and now I'm full of regrets."

Her father did something he almost never did—rose from his easy chair and sat next to Liz on the sofa. He put his arm around her shoulder. "Do these regrets have anything to do with a certain young man, and not the one you went out with tonight?"

Liz nodded.

"Let me ask you this: do you feel like you changed in Africa, maybe became a better person because of what you experienced?"

"Absolutely."

"Do you regret that? Do you want to give that back?"

"No, but what if it's too late for Will and me?"

"It's not too late, Liz. The boy's not married."

"Yeah, but how am I supposed to compete with Diane?"

Her father laughed. "Believe it or not, some of us men aren't so shallow that all we care about is a big bra size."

Liz burst out laughing. "Daddy, I don't believe you just said that! You're talking to your daughter, remember? Besides, she's intelligent and has a good personality, and other things too."

"But she's not you. Will's going to realize that sooner or later."

"What do I do in the meantime?"

"Nothing, unless you want to try to bust them up. But you're not that kind of person. So you wait and see what happens."

"That's hard to do."

"Yeah, it is, honey. But you're tough. You can do it."

Imani and Abner flashed in her mind again. Her father was right. She wasn't going to do anything except wait and see. If Will loved Diane, she'd accept it and let him go. She wouldn't cause anyone else any more pain.

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Does this chapter help you better understand why it's not so easy for Liz and Will to jump back into a relationship with one another? Please let me know!