What a mess.
Charlotte lost in a snowstorm in Oxfordshire, and Eliza in full madness-mode. Finally a chance for Sidney to be…
His Best Self
It isn't what we say and think that defines us, but what we do. (Jane Austen, Sense & Sensibility)
Eliza fluttered her eyelashes once more.
"Sidney Parker, do you want to…"
She was distracted by something pushing forcefully through the throng of guests. For a split second, Sidney believed the gym's punching ball had come alive and was out on revenge now for months of mistreatment.
But it was not the punching ball that jumped onto the stage. It was a beefy man with a face like a T-bone-steak and hands the size of frying pans. He was glaring at Eliza who with a surprisingly genuine expression of panic moved backwards, nearly crashing into the spotlights.
"You said it was for show only!" the man roared. "You said it wasn't real! You said you didn't love him!"
Eliza gasped for breath and flailed her arms as if he were an intrusive bird she might shoo away. Only that it was not an angry gull that was assailing her but someone apparently closely related to the Hulk. Not green, but red, and definitely in an even worse mood.
Staring at the apparition towering over a trembling Eliza, Sidney decided that distraction might be a good idea. And he knew just the perfect words for a powerful distraction.
"Actually, I don't love her either," he said into the stunned silence of the audience. With a buzzing sound, the cameras zoomed in on him. The red Hulk turned his head.
Facing the closest camera full front, Sidney straightened his back and added in a loud and clear voice: "I'm in love with Charlotte Heywood. – That is all."
After another moment of silence, a cheer went up in the Babington-Lambe corner, followed by more clapping and whistling in the whole room.
The red Hulk did not cheer or clap or whistle. He kept staring at Sidney for another a second, then stomped across the stage until he stood right in front of him. Sidney saw a vein throbbing on his forehead and rage burning in his eyes.
"And you stop slighting my Lizzie-girl, Mr Flashy Car!" From out of nowhere, a fist appeared and hit Sidney right in the face.
"Rick!" he heard Eliza screech before the lights went out.
x
There was a punching ball in his head, taking revenge for months of mistreatment. Sidney tentatively opened one eye and saw his sister observing him, her face a single large question mark. He closed his eye again. Not a good moment to face interrogation by Diana, not with a punching ball fighting a final battle with his brain.
Something cold landed on his nose.
"Is it broken?" he heard Arthur ask.
"I don't think so," Diana replied.
"He's still more handsome than the rest of us," Tom said.
"Charlotte will love him even with a broken nose," Arthur declared, sounding very serious about the matter.
Charlotte. Sidney opened both eyes and sat up, pain shooting in his head. "Is she here?" he asked.
"Now, you lie down!" Diana exclaimed. "You might have a concussion!"
Sidney looked up. He was sitting on the floor of a dingy, dim room, and apart from the concerned faces of his siblings, the only other thing he saw were chair-legs. Somewhere nearby, music was playing. This had to be the banqueting storage behind the stage of the ballroom. He had not been here since playing hide and seek as a child.
"Is she here?" he repeated.
"No, she's not," Tom said, crushing all his hopes.
He leaned back and closed his eyes again, trying to remember what had actually happened. It was not easy with the punching ball still hitting his brain. Maybe he should just ask.
"What has happened?" Something cold hit his face again.
"Eliza's lover struck you down when she was asking you to marry her and you said you loved Charlotte." That was Arthur. Sidney tried to open his eyes again. Like a proud father, Arthur was beaming down on him with a broad smile and a happy twinkle in the eyes. Yet there was something wrong with what he had said.
"Why does Eliza have a lover when she's asking me to marry her?"
"I told you earlier," Arthur said. "Don't trust her after what she did to you eight years ago."
"She was never after you, Sidney," Tom added with a sad headshake. "She was after the hotel. A place to sell her handbags and her interior design line. And a background for her reality TV show. - We were all but pawns on her chessboard," he added rather dramatically.
"And imagine," Diana's look was full of disdain, "she suggested converting part of the gym into a beauty salon so she could promote her eyelashes and hair-extensions."
"Right," Sidney said, touching his nose and temples. Everything was still there. So Eliza had not been after him but after the hotel. Just as he had not been after her, but after her money and contacts with the TV industry. And she had a thing going on by the side with the red Hulk. Just as he had a mental thing going on with Charlotte Heywood. Somehow, they both deserved the mess they had landed themselves in.
"Ahem." That was Constable Hankins, standing at the door and clearing his throat. Mrs Hankins was hovering behind him, trying to see what was going on inside the storage room. "I just wished to inform you that the villain is safely in police custody now, Mr Parker." Why did the man always express himself as if he had stepped out of a nineteenth-century novel? "He has been identified as a Mr Richard Pratt. I suppose there is no former acquaintance between you and this individual?"
"Correct," Sidney said. He had never met the red Hulk before, but he saw something in Tom's face change.
"We shall investigate the matter further and keep you updated, Mr Parker," the constable added.
"Thank you," Sidney said, and when Mr and Mrs Hankins had left, he turned to Tom, ignoring the pain in his head. "You know something."
Tom held up his arms, a high red colour in his cheeks. "Not really, no. It's just… well… you know, there was a bit of a mess after Hetty Matthews' wedding last year. Never told you about it… didn't want to stir up old memories. And I never brought myself to send them the invoice after all the hiccup, until… until Charlotte stumbled across it when she… err, sorted out the administration."
"What do you mean by mess?" Sidney asked, for once ignoring the mentioning of Charlotte. As always, popping up when least expected.
"It turned out that the bridegroom was having an affair with Hetty's absent sister. – Which would be Eliza. And the bridegroom was a Mr Richard Pratt. So… I suppose Eliza secretly kept up with him when devising a plan to get back with you and to seize the hotel."
And for that, I broke Charlotte's heart, Sidney thought. What a fool I was. Lies, greed and deceit. Even if he managed to find Charlotte and explain all this to her: how could she forgive him?
"And you knew that, Tom? You knew that all along?" Tom blushed, lifting his hands again.
"I believed it was over between Eliza and that… man, of course, when you met her in London. I had no idea…"
Sidney had no idea either. No idea what to do with this idiot of a brother. No idea what to do with his family's hotel. No idea what to do about Charlotte.
"Can you stand up?" Diana was still fussing around him. Arthur offered him a hand, and with some difficulty and ignoring the pounding in his head, he came to his feet.
"Are you alive, my boy?" It was George Lambe, sticking in his head.
"Not very much, but yes."
"Good. We need to talk." George had enough authority to make the Parker siblings leave just by his presence, Diana leaving a warning not to exert himself too much. Sidney sank down on a banqueting chair, the punching ball in his head slowing down its attacks.
His mentor sat down, facing him directly. "So," he said. "What a denouement. The lovely Eliza a scheming cheat, and you the anything but shining knight selling an innocent girl for the sake of your family."
"Yes," Sidney said, rubbing his head. George's summary was correct, and even if it were not: Right now, he did not have the strength to contradict him.
"Why did you not tell me about Charlotte when we spoke earlier? – I know everything about her, of course. Gigi talks about nothing else. I feel I know more about her than about my ex-wives."
"I wanted to be honest about Gigi, Otis and Marissa. That's what I was owing to you. I did not want to bother you with my sorry love life on top of everything else."
"Then tell me about her now." George kept looking at him.
Sidney closed his eyes. Charlotte. He thought of that moment on the driveway up to the hotel when he had noticed someone sitting next to Mary in the golf cart.
Miss…?
Heywood.
That prim tone of her voice and that look on her face as if she wanted to say: And who are you? Definitely overrated if you forget other people's names within one second.
"She was the most infuriating person I've ever met," Sidney said. "Stubborn, headstrong and full of baseless assumptions that unfortunately all turned out to be correct."
"Not willing to admire Sidney Parker and his darling car?" George did nothing to hide his grin.
"No. Not willing to admire anything about me." Even when given a prime chance to admire practically everything about him, she had turned away, he thought with a rueful smile. If only… he shook his head. "I kept telling myself that she was not my typewhen in truth, she's one of the rare people whose outer beauty only reflects the even more shining inner beauty. - I spent a hell of a time yelling at her when, in reality, I should have asked her to become the mother of my children. And when we finally had a chance at happiness, there was the fire, and it was all over within a week." George nodded.
"I see. And I suppose when the lovely Eliza met her, the dislike was mutual?"
"Well, there was not much love lost between them. Charlotte has a way of seeing the positive in other people, but Eliza gave her a tough time with that," Sidney said. His mentor chuckled softly, taking his glasses off and wiping them thoroughly before putting them on again and leaning forward.
"Obviously, Gigi does not know the details, but she believes there must have been some shady deal between you, Eliza and the production company," he said. "Otherwise, Charlotte would not have left without a trace, cutting off any contact with her friends in Sanditon. Knowing the business, I assume money was involved?"
"She was offered a pay-off, but she refused to accept it."
"Good girl," George commented. "Shows a backbone." Sidney hung his head.
"There might be yet another reason for her disappearance." He had to get it out. It was the right thing to do, for honesty was his only chance now. "I… when I told Charlotte about the deal… when I told her she had to leave Sanditon – I suggested… we might go on with each other in secret."
He looked up, finding his mentor staring at him, dumbfounded for once. "Sorry, Sidney," George finally said. "Have I got that correct? One of the reasons that made you fall for that girl is her deep moral compass. Nevertheless, you ditch her for a silly TV show, offer her money as compensation for heartbreak, and as the cherry on top of the cake you ask her to be your dirty little secret affair?"
Sidney kept his mentor's gaze. "Yes. That's what I did."
George leaned back, shaking his head in disbelief. "My God, Sidney… that's the act of either an utter scoundrel or a man so torn between love, despair and duty that he's losing his mind."
"I'll choose the second option if I may."
"You do. Especially since you seem to have regained your mind tonight. – That poor girl. And what a despicable creature." If there was any proof of how agitated George truly was, it was in his incoherent stream of words. "Eliza, I mean. To do that to Charlotte… and you. How did you put up with her? You haven't gone back to drinking, have you? Or drugs?"
Sidney shook his head. "No drugs, no drinking. At least never too much, not since the End of Season Ball. And otherwise: a punching ball, some bracing exercise, the knowledge that I'm saving the family business, and the memory of better times."
"And was that worth it?"
That was indeed the question, now more than ever.
"Time will tell. Until half an hour ago, the hotel was safe, the workers were safe, we were about to be promoted on nationwide television, and my brother did not have to live with the shame of being the one who crashed two-hundred years of family tradition." George shook his head.
"You were given a devilish choice, Sidney."
"I know." They remained silent for some time. Sidney knew that his mentor needed these quiet moments to analyse what he had heard. As his own head was still lodging a punching ball, he did not mind the break. Finally, George spoke again.
"Well, my boy, I hardly know what to say. Truth be told, I always feared your second and last love might be called Aston Martin. So whatever the outcome, I'm glad that you have had the chance to experience true happiness." Sidney looked down, evading his steady gaze. This was moving way beyond their usual conversations about financial opportunities and investment fonds.-"However, you were right earlier," George went on. "If you had asked me directly after the fire, I would not have been prepared to pump seven million pounds into a crumbling hotel business, just out of kindness and generosity. – When I see you now, and when I listen to you, I understand though that you have learnt many lessons this year. You are, in fact, a different man." Sidney twitched his mouth, not knowing what to say. And George wasn't finished yet.
"I must admit though that I'm not very much inclined to help a former mentee who fell for my ex-wife's seduction methods the moment she crooked her finger at him. - However much you may regret the event."
"Honestly, George, I don't ask…" Not quite true. Of course, Sidney had hoped to ask… His friend held up his hand.
"Let me finish, my boy. I'm not inclined to help you. Not at all." It was like another punch in the face. Sidney looked down, abashed. So on top of everything else, this was the end of his friendship with his mentor.
But George Lambe had something else to say.
"Yet I might be inclined to help the girl that made you the man I see in front of me. The girl that was prepared to stand by my daughter's side, no matter what. The girl that was a friend to Gigi when everyone else, including her own father, had turned away from her. – I believe I owe a large debt to Charlotte Heywood."
For a moment, Sidney was too shaken to say anything. He sensed his mentor's eyes on him, and he practically felt his own addled brain cells working out the meaning of what George Lambe had just said.
"I… I suppose Charlotte will tell you that you don't owe her anything at all. That friendship is nothing to be paid for." In fact, Sidney could see Charlotte making this statement – her head held high, an indignant frown on her face, her dimple very prominent – could see her so clearly that he almost held out his hand to touch her image.
"And still I intend to thank her by freeing your family's hotel form Eliza Campion's influence," George Lambe said.
"I… I don' know what to say, George."
"You don't have to say anything, Sidney. I'm informing you that I wish to thank Charlotte Heywood for what she did for my only daughter. And come to that, also for the man who is the closest thing I have to a son. And as Gigi will confirm, my only emotion is money, so my thank you will be in the form of an investment."
"That's… very generous of you." To say the least. George shook his head.
"Hear me out. I have five conditions." He would be a fool if he had not. "The first one: Find your Charlotte. Get on your knees, beg for her forgiveness, and make sure she returns to the hotel and your life. If you don't manage that, you can forget everything else." Sidney nodded, a lump growing in his throat.
"Two: Once you've brought her back, we will work out a financial solution, but I don't intend to leave your brother in charge of anything having remotely to do with money. He's welcome to drive the shuttle bus, lend a hand in breakfast service and entertain guests with Sanditon tales of old, but that's about it." Sidney nodded again. Tom's demotion was to be expected. If he were an investor, he would request the same.
How Tom would take it was another question, but in this regard, he had to rely on Mary's persuasiveness. However, remembering the messed-up business with Eliza and the red Hulk, Sidney decided that right now, even scrubbing pots in the scullery was too good for his brother.
"Three: Your sister-in-law will find someone to help her with the children and return to her job as the hotel's accountant." Clearly, George had been thinking this through. This was an easy condition, though, Mrs Hankins would be happy to supplement her husband's policeman salary with some extra pay for childcare, and Mary would be glad to go back to work.
"Four: I won't force you to become a hotel manager, but you will become the hotel's financial supervisor. No financial decision, no acquisition is to be made without your approval, Sidney."
"Right." He would have to scale back the number of his clients, but that was a sacrifice he was willing to make. He found little joy these days in making wealthy people even wealthier. Though he would always like the commission cheques.
"And five." George took off his glasses again and wiped them once more. "Take down that purple Christmas decoration. It hurts even in my eyes, and I'm half-blind. - Do we have a deal?"
"We have a deal," Sidney confirmed and shook his mentor's hand.
George left the storage room, but Sidney needed a moment alone to process everything that had happened. His head was still buzzing, and yet, the path ahead was strangely clear now. Find Charlotte. Get George Lambe in as an investor. Resolve all legal matters pertaining to Eliza's investment. Perhaps even find a legal loophole claiming that Eliza's behaviour had been a breach of contract… well. That might be one road to travel. But not tonight. Not at a ball, not with his headache.
Outside the storage room, the festivities had simply continued. And why not – to most guests, Eliza's mishappened proposal and the appearance of the red Hulk had been nothing but an amusing intermezzo. Tom had engaged the Gaelic singer again, and she was now inviting everyone to join her in a dance to her strange and arcane music.
"Sidney, are you alright again?" Babington, the good soul, came up to him.
"I'd say as alright as can be, given the circumstances."
"Good. I'm glad you told the truth about Charlotte." His friend patted him on the back. "Really glad. Wasn't good for you, you know. All that sadness. - Now I know you have one-hundred million things on your mind right now, my friend, but you don't happen to have heard anything from Crowe, do you?"
"I thought he was out on a charitable mission," Sidney said, checking his phone. "Sorry, no news."
"I hope they didn't get lost." Babington shook his head. "And there was snow for parts of Oxfordshire in the weather forecast."
"You know Crowe." Sidney wondered what his elusive friend was supposed to be doing in Oxfordshire right now. "He'll invite himself for a drink, wherever he ends up, and enjoy a jolly evening with the local ladies."
"Yes. Yes, of course…" Babington sighed. "I'm sorry about the whole Eliza-business, Sidney. What a cheat! But I'm sure we'll have it all sorted out very soon. By tomorrow, I'd say."
"I hope so, too," Sidney said though he did not share his friend's optimism. What he needed now were some fresh air, aspirin and a good night's sleep. And then, tomorrow, he would start the search for Charlotte. He did not have one single day to lose.
"Just let me know when you hear something from Crowe," Babington asked. "It's all about your Christmas present, of course."
"Sure." He really liked Babington, but future fatherhood was making his friend go soft. Sidney had just turned his whole life upside down in front of a TV camera, and all Babington could think of was Christmas presents.
"Sid! Good to catch you!" It was Sam from the production team. "Are you alright again? How's your head?"
"I'm still alive."
"Listen, Sid, you won't sue us for a breach of security, will you? We didn't know about Eliza and this guy, and security is still figuring out how he came in. He must have sneaked in through one of the backdoors after he had been declined admission at the desk."
"In fact, he did me a great favour," Sidney said. "Though I suppose there's no way to save the show now, is there?"
"What do you mean?"
"Eliza, madly in love? But not with me. We made quite a mess of it tonight."
"Are you kidding me? Tonight was just brilliant! The absolute highlight of the show! A marriage proposal gone completely wrong, the bride exposed as a deceiving monster, the potential bridegroom pleading his love to a mysterious absentee. All we need now is some clever editing, and we'll get the best ratings ever."
"But Eliza won't like it."
"Do I care what Eliza likes?" Sam snorted. "She better reads her contract. It's reality TV, after all, and we'll make her as real as it gets. Doesn't say anywhere that she will come across as a kind, thoughtful person, or that there will be a happy ending for her, come to that. – By the way, we have been considering offering Arthur a baking show. He's quite a natural on-screen, and his pastry… delicious. – What do you think? Might he be interested?"
You'll have to discuss that with Tom and Arthur, Sidney wanted to say when he realised that Tom would not be the one to discuss these matters any longer. "Can we talk about that later? When my head has stopped exploding?"
"Sure. Good man, Sid." Sam patted him on the shoulders. "And I hope you'll find her soon. Your girl, I mean. You won me fifty quid tonight, after all."
"I'm sorry?"
"Most of the team believed you'd last until New Year's Eve, but when you made such a mess of the photo shooting, I was sure you'd give up before Christmas. I mean look at your face, Sid – they had to photoshop you? – And apart from that, it was obvious that Eliza was many things, including mad, but not madly in love. At least not with you."
"Right," Sidney said. "And you think you can fix all that through editing and find something to broadcast?"
"Definitely. Though the ending will not be happy for Eliza, and I see no chance to fix it in a second season. Or do you believe your Charity…"
"Charlotte."
"… Charlotte might be interested in her own show? I'm thinking something like … ChaRTL: Charlotte - Returning to Love… or how about… oh, right, now that's really cute: Sid'nLottie – Forever and ever after… We may even follow you on your search for her! A modern-day Cinderella tale!"
"No," Sidney said. "Thank you, but no. My career in reality TV ends right here." Sam shrugged his shoulders.
"Pity. If you change your mind, just contact me, Sid."
"I will," Sidney promised.
They had reached the stairs. Sam hurried back to his camera team, and Sidney walked down towards reception. On the half-landing, he stopped to look at the life-size painting of his ancestor, the first Thomas Parker, the great projector, a confident Regency gentleman gazing into a future only visible to himself.
Doktor Fuchs had flattered Tom by claiming that there was a certain likeness between him and his ancestor. Contemplating the portrait now, Sidney could not deny it: there was a resemblance not only in their facial features but even in the wiry energy they both radiated. The first Thomas Parker must have been an as difficult man to live with as his great-great-great-great-grandson and namesake.
And yet, where would they be in Sanditon without men such as his notorious ancestor? It is not what we think that defines us, but what we do. And that was true, for him just as much as for his brother.
Which reminded him of his task: Ask Phillida at reception for an aspirin, go to bed, sleep, get up early and start the search for Charlotte. Prepare for a visit to Willingden, and in the worst case: a flight to Vancouver and a fistfight with James Stringer.
He leaned on the reception desk, closing his eyes to weather the last strikes of the punching ball in his head while Phillida was rummaging through the office cabinets in search of a pain killer. When he heard her stop rummaging, he opened his eyes again. But she did not offer him the desired pill: she was staring at someone striding down the stairs.
It was Eliza, holding her head high, keeping a regal demeanour, even though her feathery dress looked more ruffled than ever before and her make-up was completely smudged. One of her eyelashes had gone missing as well, making her face look strangely out of balance. But for once, it did not matter, for there were no cameras following her now. "I was looking for you," she said, her voice as casual as if their last discussion had been about where to have dinner.
Sidney did not feel like talking to her, not now. Not with a punching ball in his head, not with all the revelations still raw and fresh. The legal battle they were facing about her investment was bad enough.
"I believe you don't want to hear apologies or explanations," she said, staring at some point behind his shoulder.
"I don't want to hear anything, Eliza." Basically, he just wanted her to be gone. From the hotel, from Sanditon and from his life. It was only in her best interest. Nothing was going to protect her now from Crowe's sharp tongue, should he ever turn up again. Or from anyone planting real crocodiles in her bed. Or, probably worse, from Charlotte's herring gull.
She leaned over the desk, grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and jotted down a few words.
"Birmingham Cresta Airport Hotel," he read. "What is that?"
"That's where you'll find her."
"What?"
"Your precious little Dimple."
Sidney stared first at the four words, then at Eliza. "How do you…"
"I had a private investigator seek her out." She shrugged her shoulders as if that was just the most natural thing to do. "Posed as a salesman for indoor fountains and had a little chat with her. - It seemed so absolutely impossible that you'd actually dump her - I was convinced you were meeting in secret. Just imagine – me and a camera team accidentally crashing a scene of you two cheating on me! You would have begged me on your knees to maintain my financial engagement and keep your silly brother in business. I would have made sure the conditions of our agreement were amended in my favour to increase my influence on the running of the hotel."
Stay by my side. We'll find a way to make it work for us.
Until she finds out and hell will break out. Then your family's going to lose everything, and this time, you will not be able to save them.
Charlotte. The girl of no experience and little understanding that knew everything.
Eliza turned on her heel and strode to the lift, leaving more and more feathers in the wake. Yet something in her demeanour told Sidney that even now, they had not seen the last of her.
He shook his head and looked at the paper in his hand. Birmingham Cresta Airport Hotel. What was Charlotte doing at an airport hotel in Birmingham?
"Mr Parker?" Phillida was looking at him, wide-eyed and in disbelief. "Did Mrs Campion really mean what she just said?"
"I think so, yes." How long did it take to go from Sanditon to Birmingham?
Phillida shook her head and retrieved her phone from under a pile of reservations. "I will unfollow her immediately. And I'll tell all my friends to do the same."
And that, Sidney thought, was probably the best way to handle Eliza Campion: to unfollow her and deprive her of all the attention she was craving.
Notes:
There will be three more chapters, and the next one will finally feature the very happy event you have all been waiting for. I know it took a bit longer to get there – but I wanted to give our Sidney a chance to redeem himself. Thank you for following him on that journey!
