In this chapter, get ready to meet Carla Luis ( Charlotte Lucus in P&P) . As usual, please leave a review!
"Hey Lizzie!" It was Carla Luis, Elizabeth's friend since kindergarten. She was Puerto Rican and her parents ran a restaurant that served all kinds of Hispanic foods. Unlike with the Bennets, there was never a lot of pressure on Carla to become an actress; it was just something that she always wanted to do. She had two brothers and felt that Elizabeth and her sisters were like the sisters she never had. Her own parents were a little careless, but part of the reason for this was because they were always busy, and they supported their children in everything they did. In addition to comedy, Carla was obsessed with romance: romance movies, romance novels, telenovelas, she was familiar with them all, so it came to no surprise to Elizabeth when she asked, " Isn't William Darcy the most handsome man you've ever seen?"
"I don't care for his looks, Carla. To me, it's all about personality, and when it comes to that, I think he's the most arrogant man I've ever met."
"Oh Lizzie! You judge too easily. Just wait till you get to know him better. He seemed like a nice guy when I met him."
"Really?" asked Elizabeth, a little astonished. How was it that William Darcy was nicer to Carla, who could be a little annoying sometimes, and not to her?
"You should have seen him. When I started doing my impressions of romantic Spanish girls in soap operas, he thought I was being very original. Charlie Bingley was very nice, too, although you can't say the same about his sister. Now there's someone who's full of herself."
They started walking around the block to go to the restaurant when Carla said, "What's going on with your parent's divorce?"
"Nothing yet. Mom's trying to find a lawyer, and we haven't heard from dad since he left for that vacation in Europe."
"You know, Lizzie? Even when we were little, I knew your parents weren't meant for each other. Your mom was always full of big ideas and so active with your activities, and your dad was so introverted. He rarely ever talked to people."
"Remember how worried I got that one time about how they didn't love each other? I got so mad at you for not trying to convince me that they would always stay together."
"I would never lie to you, Lizzie. My theory about all this is that happiness in marriage is completely by chance. Couples never walk down the aisle fully convinced that the rest of their lives will be perfect. When my mom got married, she says that at one point, she wanted to drop everything aside and just run away, but now she's been married for twenty- five years and has no regrets. Your parents just never found happiness with each other after all those years."
"Oh Carla, I wish I could believe you, but I just can't. If you don't think you're going to be happy with someone, what's the point in going through marriage in the first place?"
"It was worse for our parents. Back in those days, you could do nothing to really bond until you got married, and I'm not just talking about sex. Men were the ones who did everything, and women just had to listen to them instead of taking action for themselves, but things have changed. Women work more often now and couples can take all the time they want to get to know each other before getting married. But there are still no assurances of happiness in marriage. When you put that ring in your finger and say yes, that's not a promise of happiness, just that you'll stick together through it all."
"But you need to be happy with each other in order to do that." At that moment, they walked into the restaurant. Sitting at a table next to the entrance were the two people they would have last wanted to see: Alan Collins and Candice Bingley.