Chapter 29

Opening the door, the cool night air assaulted Beth's lungs as she sucked in the oxygen that her stress-induced body had begun to lack. They both made it out the door and on to the sparsely populated sidewalk.

At least he hadn't let go of her hand.

"What's going on, Darcy?" Beth asked as soon as she determined they were free from being overheard.

"I could ask you the same thing," was his cryptic response.

"What? I don't understand. What's going on is that I've been waiting for you to get here so that I could talk to you about what Jane told me," Beth answered in frustration, stepping closer to him, trying to reach him at least through a physical connection.

"I see," he said, softly, mimicking her movement so that their chests were just a breath apart, him towering over her. "And what did Jane have to say?"

This wasn't Darcy; this wasn't like him at all. Well, no it was like him - the Mr. Intolerable version of him.

"She said that Caroline is back for money," Beth gushed out, "she's only here because she needs money that her grandmother willed to her and she's running out of time and options on how to get it. She's decided —"

Beth stopped as Darcy face broke out into a smile and he began to laugh.

What is going on?!

She stared up at him, hurt and confusion painted all over her face.

"You know, you are really good at finding out information about people," he said, the bitter touch of irony woven into his words.

"I…I guess? Thank you?" she replied, incredulously, "I don't understand. What do you want me to say? Do you not want me to tell you?"

"You can," he began, his gaze looked up for a second, as if he couldn't believe what was happening, "but you can answer something for me, first."

"Ok…" Beth answered, nervously; her gut telling her that something bad was about to happen.

His head leaned down, right next to her ear, as he whispered, harshly, "This plan that you have to fix everything, should I assume that you've already told it to Mrs. DeBourgh? Or are you only supposed to tell her of my life and my plans?"

Oh, God, no…

Beth felt the blood drain from her face, her mouth turning to sand as the implication of his words set in. She'd never told him that she'd been reporting on him to Mrs. DeBourgh when they had first met, mostly because she had stopped not that long after and then proceeded to put Mrs. DeBourgh in her place. Their previous business relationship completely displaced from her mind. Everything that had happened between her and Darcy since then had only further removed that brief moment in time from her mind.

But now she could see her error.

Even though it hadn't been done deceitfully or maliciously, she hadn't been open with him, like she'd forced him to be with her. Now, it looked like she had betrayed him.

This was Caroline's plan all along.

"Darcy…it's not…" she whispered, hoarsely, her mouth barely able to make out the words she was so consumed with fear and anxiety.

"It's not what?" he asked scornfully, pulling away from her, "please, this I want to know."

She stifled her whimper at the loss of him.

"It's not what you think," she mumbled, her brain caught so off-guard by the accusation, a complete shift of gears from what it had been focused on for days, that she couldn't think straight; she couldn't come up with the words to explain or defend herself. "I don't talk to Mrs. DeBourgh, you know that I don't; you know how I ended things between her and I. What she told you isn't…"

"Isn't what? Isn't true?" He laughed harshly, "Did you or did you not give Mrs. DeBourgh personal information about me, my life, my comings and goings?"

She was caught and the worst part about it was that she could see the thread of hope glimmering in his eyes, begging for her to deny the accusation.

But she couldn't, because it was true.

Her mouth opened and shut, tears rushing to the surface of her eyes, beginning to spill over. She couldn't do it, in that moment, she couldn't find the words to admit to what she had done.

Beth closed her eyes and nodded, painfully, feeling the hot rush of tears that had been freed course down her cheeks.

The silence that followed was suffocating. Beth opened her eyes again to see him staring at her, neither of them able to find the words to speak. His face was etched with so many emotions: anger…pain…betrayal.

The last gave her the strength to break through the emotional wall muting her.

"But, it's not what you think," she began, her voice thick with unshed tears.

"Not what I think? No, Beth, you spied on me for a woman who has tried to control me and her daughter for most of my adult life. How much did you tell her, I wonder? Did you tell her what is really going on between Anne and I? Did you tell her about Caroline? God only knows what she will try to do with that information."

"No! No, I didn't —" Beth began to plead, but cut off as Darcy raised his hand, indicating for her to stop.

"You didn't? How can I believe you? Our very first interactions seem to have been built on secrets and lies. She certainly knows about Caroline now and if you didn't tell her, who did? Caroline? I doubt that would help Caroline's case very much, knowing what Cathy's hopes are," he scoffed, "no, Beth, I don't know what you think it is, but what I think you did is nothing short of betrayal."

"I didn't mean to, please, Darcy," she begged, "I'm so sorry. Please, just let me explain."

"God, part of me wants to, Beth, it really does, but the other part of me knows that if I don't leave here now, I'm going to be in worse shape than I was six years ago," he admitted painfully, the anger repressed by the pain of her betrayal.

"Please…I love you," she whispered, thickly, one last time.

Tears washed her face as his ironic laugh that responded to her words.

"That's the worst part; that's the fucking worst part." The sadness in his laugh that followed tore right through her. "I loved you and I fucking believed that you loved me too because I could see that you were nothing like her, but I was wrong to think that that was going to work out better for me. At least with her, I knew where she stood, even though I chose not to believe it for a long time. But you, I believed you when you told me where you stood, when you told me you loved me, and now, I realize that even with every reason to trust you, I shouldn't have. No, believing that you cared about me only to learn that you did this is a thousand fucking times worse than anything that Caroline ever did."

A sob escaped her, her hands coming up too late to cover her mouth. His words tearing through her like a hot knife through butter.

God, everything that he said was true.

"I'm sorry…" she choked out.

"Goodbye, Beth," he replied, his voice devoid of all emotion.

She watched in agony as the stony mask that had ruled his face when they had first met began to rebuild itself over his achingly beautiful features. She watched, through watery eyes, as Darcy turned and walked toward the curb where his car was waiting and climbed in, leaving her standing there, frozen in place with desolation, as the tears rolled down her cheeks in droves.

What had she done?

What was she going to do?

And then, her mind went blank; maybe it was from the stressful over-thinking of the Caroline situation this past whole week, or maybe it was from the all-consuming devastation of losing the man that she loved, the irony of which was not lost on her - losing the love of her life, not because of the woman she viewed as the most obvious threat to her happiness, but because of the woman she had thought the least - herself. Regardless of the reason, the next thing Beth was cognizant of doing was climbing into her old bed in Jane's apartment. She didn't know how she got there, or what had happened after Darcy had left, all she knew was that when she woke tomorrow morning she'd pray it would be to realize that this was all a bad dream.

"Beth?" Jane's soft knocking pulled Beth from her slumber.

She peeled her tear-stained face off of her pillow just as Jane opened the door, concern immediately flooding her sister's eyes.

"What happened? Are you ok? You disappeared last night and I assumed you left with Darcy, but then I got home and found you here…"

Beth groaned as she pulled herself up to sit in bed, still wearing her clothes from last night.

"I'm sorry," she answered hoarsely.

Her mind fighting the inevitable reality that last night was real, last night happened, last night she lost Darcy.

"What happened?"

"Fought with Darcy; it's over," her voice cracking on the last.

"What? Why?! I thought knowing about Caroline was going to make things easier, I don't understand."

"I betrayed him, Jane; it's my fault," she admitted in defeat, feeling her eyes try to muster up more tears, unsuccessful in their attempt as she had apparently used them all last night.

"What do you mean?"

"I betrayed him. I spied on him for Mrs. DeBourgh months ago right after we first met. She hired me to do her PR, but it was only because of the proximity that I had to dad's firm while he was in talks with Charles…and Darcy. I told her everything I knew about why he was here, what he was doing, where he was going and who with," she paused, laughing in disgust at herself, "you know how much he irritated me at first, so, I didn't care. But then, I started to fall for him, and realize how ridiculous she was, so I stopped."

"Oh, Beth, how could…" Jane stopped, realizing that chastising her sister wasn't what she needed right now. "The point is that you stopped though."

"A point that gets lost in the fact that I never ended up telling him about it; which makes it look like I was trying to keep it from him this whole time that I've been berating him for not being open with me."

"Ok, but that's not what happened. You didn't purposefully keep it from him. Why wouldn't he want to believe that? Why would he want to believe…whomever told him…over you? Who did tell him?"

"I don't know. Probably Mrs. DeBourgh, but Caroline was part of the conversation too. Of course, he wouldn't want to believe them over me, but I've given him no choice. It is true what they told him that I did. He doesn't want to know the whole story because he's already been betrayed by a woman he didn't love once, and now, to find out the woman he does…did love betrayed him as well, by the very woman who hurt him in the first place… it's safer to just close all of us out; it's easier to be alone that to subject himself further to the potential of being hurt," Beth responded hopelessly.

"Oh, Beth. I'm sure that he doesn't think that. Ok, maybe he did last night, in the heat of the moment. I'm sure it was shocking and hurtful to learn what happened from the people that he did, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't love you and that he doesn't want to hear your side of the story. Just think about how you have been these past weeks when he has done something to you that you initially felt was irredeemable; you felt angry and hopeless. But, after some time to calm down, and think it through, or talk it through, you realize that it's not that bad and I'm sure that it what he is realizing now."

Beth stared out at the wall in front of her bed.

Could what Jane said be true? Maybe he was regretting his rash words, just like she had done many times in the recent past. Maybe, this morning, he would listen to her - not to her excuses, but to her sincere apology.

"I have to go," Beth said, moving swiftly out of her bed, almost knocking Jane over as she brushed past her into the hall, "I'm sorry, I have to see him. I have to know if this is really it."

"Good luck!"

Beth barely heard her sister's reply as she jetted out the door, climbing into the first cab that she saw. Her heart raced as the cab finally pulled up in front of the Plaza and she climbed out, running into the hotel.

When the elevator doors finally opened on the penthouse floor, she stepped out, stopping short at the door to the apartment. All at once the eagerness with which she had rushed over here transformed into fear; fear of the unknown.

No, fear of the potential known.

She didn't knock, she just pulled out her key and inserted it, softly opening the door when it unlocked.

"Hello?" she said, cautiously.

Instead of a response, she thought she heard someone either say something or moan, she couldn't tell which. Worried, that Darcy had drank himself to the point of alcohol poisoning, she quickly set her things down on the table and rushed to the bedroom.

There was no one in the bed. However, someone had been in it, the covers were completely messed, one pillow had fallen on the floor next to the bed - next to her side of the bed. Walking into the room, she leaned down to pick it up and place it back on the bed. As she did, she saw a black, lace thong hidden underneath and her heart stopped.

Was someone else here? With Darcy?

Nausea rolled through her at the possibility. Looking to her right to the bathroom door, she saw the rest of what was definitely a trail of female clothing leading into the bathroom. She walked over them, following their trail, even though she knew no one was in the bathroom.

As she stepped over and took note of each piece of clothing, the thought came unbidden to her and yet, turned her world upside down.

This is what Caroline was wearing last night.

At first her vision went almost completely black at the implication; it returned a second later, just in time for her to lean over the toilet and vomit into the bowl.

She had to get out of here.

Wiping her face, she practically ran out of the room back towards the front door when she heard the noise again. It was definitely a laugh this time - a female laugh, and she knew where it was coming from.

Walking around the entryway table, she peered down the hall leading to Darcy's studio. The door to which was wide open. She took a few steps closer and then froze when she saw Caroline's naked form pass by the doorway, her face smiling at something…someone…that Beth could not see.

She heard Caroline's enticing laugh again, followed by the words, 'Oh, Darcy!'

And then she was running.

Out the apartment door, out of the hotel, she ran and ran until she couldn't breathe, and then kept running in the direction of Jane's apartment.

Jane had been right, in the worst way; her betrayal had only proved to Darcy that relationships built on true feelings didn't work, that they weren't something he deserved, and that had pushed him back to the only thing he felt he did deserve - Caroline.

"Beth, what happened? Oh my God, you look like someone died!" Jane exclaimed as Beth entered the apartment.

"Someone did."

"What? Who?"

"Me," Beth replied.

There were no sobs, not even any tears. Darcy had been on to something here, having no feelings made life a whole lot easier.

"What happened?"

"Nothing happened. It's just over," Beth said as she walked past her sister into her bedroom, opening her closet to pull out a bag.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm leaving. I can't stay; I need to get away from here…from him," she explained.

"Where are you going? What am I going to tell mom? dad? everyone?"

"That I took a new job that requires me to travel. It won't be forever, Jane, but just for now. I'm on the verge of breaking to a point where there is no coming back," Beth pleaded with her sister.

"Ok…ok. What can I do? Can I do anything to help?"

"No, you've done so much already. Thank you," she said, trying to give her sister a smile.

Beth zipped up her sparsely packed bag and walked over to hug her sister.

"I love you. I get in touch when I get wherever it is I'm going."

"Ok, but Beth, I just want you to know how worried I am about you right now, please take care of yourself. Promise me," Jane said, blocking the doorway, refusing to let Beth leave the room without giving her word.

"I promise," Beth answered hollowly, praying that she would be able to keep it.

As she walked out of her room and passed the couch in the living room, she slipped her phone between two of the couch cushions before grabbing her purse and laptop bag and walking out of the door.

Less than an hour later, she sat down on the bench in the trail station, waiting for her train to arrive. She pulled out her laptop and opened her email.

Time to tie up the rest of the loose ends.

Her first email was to Phil, apologizing for everything that had happened and for what she was about to do. She told him that things were right and she couldn't continue to work for him until she had her life more under control; she told him her two assistants were more than capable of handling her existing clients and that when and if she returned, she did not expect her job to be waiting for her.

Second, she emailed her assistants thanking them for the pleasure that it had been to work with them, letting them know that they were more than capable of running the show on their own.

With her train arriving in two minutes, she opened up one last new email.

Hey Pat,

Sorry for the delay in response. It actually looks like I'm going to be in Boston for the foreseeable future. Any chance that the Dempsey Center needs an in-house PR person?

*** The End ***

Keep reading for an except from the first chapter of the last book in the series, Third Time is the Charm!