Chapter 2
8 years later…
"There!" Lizzy slammed down the lid of the trunk, secured it and triumphantly smiled at her best friend Jane. "All packed and ready to go."
"No regrets?" Jane tossed aside the magazine she had been reading and reached for a box of Hotel Chocolat truffles, which were lying on the bedside table.
"Nope. I mean these past 8 years have been wonderful and everything but it's time to go home. Also, I think my dad would go postal if postponed going home again."
Jane tried to concentrate on what Lizzy was saying, but her face was contorted into a picture of disgust and she spat out the half chewed chocolate.
"Yuck! How can you eat this garbage?" Jane grimaced, as she rooted for a drink to wash away the foul taste in her mouth.
"Which one did you have?" Lizzy peered into the tissue, at what was left of the chocolate Jane had discarded. "Dark Chocolate, hmm! That's not my favourite, but dad always says youaren't a true chocoholic unless you eat them all Besides, who said you could have one?" Lizzy cheekily winked at Jane, and scanned her room looking for anything she may have forgotten.
"Touché my American friend." This made Lizzy smile; it had been Jane's term of endearment for her since the first time they had met. "So are we nervous about seeing anyone back home?" Jane asked in a teasing voice; her eyebrows dancing in knowing smirk.
Lizzy let out a loud laugh. "Does it get tiring playing the same record over and over again?"
"Not when you continually avoid the subject!"
"Let the record show, once and for-all, there is no mystery man back home: satisfied?" Lizzy looked into Jane's eyes, a wide smile splitting across her face as she spoke.
"I will never be satisfied." Jane shrugged. "You've barely dated the whole time we've been here. It's not normal: stop living like a only people that live like that have got someone else waiting on the sidelines." Jane tapped the bed next to her, indicating for Lizzy to take a seat: she acquiesced and hopped into Jane's waiting arms.
"What can I say? The men here just don't like me, I meanhow can they when you are standing right beside me?" Lizzy looked up at Jane and winked; causing Jane to tickle her mercilessly.
Finally after a few minutes of tickling each other, both girls collapsed onto the bed and lay staring up at the ceiling. Lying next to her best friend Lizzy couldn't help, but think about how true her statement about Jane was. Jane was beautiful; she was tall with long honey blond hair and emerald green eyes. She was the type of woman men flocked to, but she never seemed to notice or let it get to her head. She was the nicest person Lizzy knew.
"What are you talking about?" Jane exclaimed. "You're beautiful and lots of guys have gone after you over the years, youjust kept brushing them aside."
"Hmm!...Areyou all packed?" Lizzy hopped off the bed, and shuffled underneath her bed, avoiding the subject.
"I finished 3 days ago:we can't all procrastinate like you." Jane was incredibly organised, and Lizzy was incredibly happy that Jane had accepted the modeling job in New York.
"What can I say; it's a skill, not everyone can be as perfect as you. You like to be extremely organised and I," Lizzie paused. "Well I need like my organised chaos."Lizzy couldn't deny it, she had a gift when it came to delaying the inevitable, she liked to think it was endearing – it wasn't.
"You call it organised chaos, I call it messy," Jane retorted with a smile.
Lizzy was about to respond when her aunt's voice echoed in the hall, "girls, it's time for dinner."
"COMING!" They both shouted, scuttling out the bedroom and to the dining room, where Lizzy's aunt and uncle were already seated and eagerly waiting for them. It was to be their last meal together.
BRRIIIINNNGGGGG! The alarm clock blared out, and with a groan Lizzy reached out from under her covers and fumbled to press the snooze button; dying to get another few minutes sleep.
"Wakey, wakey. Rise and Shine!" Lizzy's plan was foiled when the curtains in her room were flung open and the morning sunshine poured in.
"Too early," Lizzy muttered, covering her head with a pillow. Her auntMaddie, continued bringing the room to life; opening the windows, leaving open the doors and picking up Lizzy's discarded clothes from the night before.
"Lizzy, you have a plane to catch, come on up you get. " Maddie pulled the covers off her niece and smiled down at her, as she lay curled in a ball, clinging to a pillow.
"Mmmm…no plane," Lizzy mumbled.
"Elizabeth Bennet, get out of bed right now or I will let your uncle eat all the pastries I got especially for you this morning!"
"Pastries… from Au 140?" Lizzy clung to the pillow, but lifted her eyes to meet her aunts.
"Well you'll just have to come down and see, won't you?" Maddie escaped from the room, leaving Lizzy to slowly get out of bed and rectify the tartan pyjama's that had ridden up her body in the night.
It was safe to say Elizabeth was definitely not a morning person and it always took at least one cup of coffee to get her going. She took a quick shower, slipped on a simple v neck t-shirt, jeans andsneakers and slipped downstairs, to the kitchen.
A small smile crept onto Lizzy's face, it was exactly the same as it had always been; her uncle sat at the table chomping on a croissant whilst reading the paper and her aunt was fussing about, clearing up after everyone else.
"You didn't finish them all did you Uncle Ed?" Lizzy teased as she slipped in to her chair and poured some coffee into her mug.
"I tried, but your aunt Maddie hid some from me."
"Good because you know you can't really afford to eat many of 're getting pretty round." Lizzy playfully smiled at her Uncle as she grabbed a pastry from the plate her aunt had just set down in front of her, and grinned at her uncle.
"Well my dear, I'm surprised you're eating them." Edward stopped and smiled. "I know howmuch you want to watch your weight. Don't want to going back to being a roly poly, like when you arrived." Lizzy scowled at him;defiantly taking a large bite of her pastry and her uncle mirrored her gestures.
"Alright that's enough both of you. Face it, you're both chunker's and I'm a goddess - move on." Maddie said: smiling at their identical looks of disbelief.
Time ticked on and it wasn't long before Lizzy was due to leave.
"Hurry up my child, the plane won't wait for you." Maddie playfully whipped a tea-towel at Lizzy and ushered her upstairs.
Twenty minutes later standing by the front door, with her bags packed, Lizzy was wrapped in her uncle's tight embrace. It was only a matter of minutes before Jane would turn up and suddenly she didn't think she was ready to leave.
"I am going to miss you soooo much." Lizzy wrapped her arms around her uncle's neck. "Bye Uncle Ed. Thank you for everything.I love you and have loved staying with you. " As she spoke a single tear slowly traveled down her cheek.
"We loved having you here. I don't know how Maddie and I are going to get used to life without you. Goodbye sweetheart, I love you." Edward whispered back, remembering their time together.
"I'm going to see you for thanksgiving."She asked pulling away from him. He nodded.
"It'll be nice to celebrate a real American thanksgiving." Outside a car started honking its horn and they drew apart.
"Alright alright I'm coming,geez." Lizzy quickly climbed into the car and threw her handbag into the backseat. She waved to her uncle as they pulled out of the driveway.
"I bet you can't wait to get home."Maddie glanced at her.
"I have two homes, one with you in Paris and the other in New York.8 years is a long time to be away from my dad." Lizzy stared out the scenery as it flew past her: scrabbling to commit it all to memory."
" Well we are really going to miss you, we've really enjoyed having you with us." Maddie slipped her hand into Lizzy's, giving it a quick squeeze before returning it to the steering wheel.
They drove for a few minutes in silence before Maddie spoke again.
"So, what's next for you in the big city?"
"Well," Lizzie paused thoughtfully. "I was thinking about getting a job, but I think dad wants me to take up my place in the family business."
"Well that sounds like your father," Maddie offered with a smile. "Do you want to work for him? "
Lizzy shrugged. "I know I could do the job, but I'm not too crazy about the nepotism involved.I don't want any handouts."
"You're an intelligent young woman and your dad knows that. Your dad wouldn't offer you a job if he didn't think you could do it, but remember, you need to walk your own path in life."
"Hmmm." Lizzy didn't know what else to say, she didn't know what she wanted to do.
After a few minutes of silence they pulled-up to Jane's house and honked. Jane – never one to pack light – came out the house laden with about five suitcases and rammed them into the boot and back seat: good thing it wasn't a long way to the airport.
Poking her head above the luggage, Jane smiled and settled into the back seat, with her eyes closed; causing Lizzy and Maddie to laugh. Clearly Jane wasn't a morning person either.
Lizzy tapped Jane on the knee and offered her a thermos flask. " I think you need this more than me." Jane smiled and gratefully drank from it.
The remainder of the drive passed in silence and it wasn't long before the girls were standing on the airport sidewalk, waving goodbye to Lizzy's aunt retreating car.
"Are you ready my American friend?" Jane gripped Lizzy's shoulder, searching her eyes for any sign of regret: there were none.
"I can't wait. You're going to love New York and I can't wait to show it to you." Lizzy grabbed Jane into a hug, and then pulled her through the airport until they reached their boarding gate.
With one last look around, Lizzy handed in her passport and boarding card then proceeded onto the plane.
Lizzy and Jane settled into first class and Jane promptly fell asleep, but Lizzy couldn't, she was far too excited. This was it, she was going back to her old life as a new woman,
France began to fade out of sight as the plane sailed through the clouds.
Her time in Europe has passed so fast;so much had happened:she had grown up there. She had passed her awkward teen years here; waiting out the acne, frizzy hair and baby fat. Shehad gone to school and decided what she wanted to do with her life. She had discovered her strengths and weaknesses, made new friends - good friends - friend's that she knew she would keep in touch with for the rest of her life. Most importantly she had become a woman here.
Lizzy recollected that she once read that by the time you were in your twenties, your character was formed or at least the direction in which it would continue to develop had been formed and you would continue that way.
Now she was going home to put it all to test.
She wasn't the same person she had been when she left New York.
Lizzy was a woman ready to take on the world.
In the years since she had left New York, she hadn't visited very often. Her father had visited France frequently, stopping there during any business trips he was taking, but the few times she had visited home, she hadn't really seen anyone. Anyone meaning William.
Lizzy was keen to see whether any of her old acquaintances would notice her. Gone were her awkward teenage years, which had been plagued with bad skin that had now cleared up and left her with a flawless complexion, frizzy brown hair that grown out into luscious shiny deep brown curls and baby fat that had melted away and left her with a toned, but curvaceous figure – thanks partly to her daily run
Lizzy wasn't vain and didn't consider herself to be beautiful. As far as she was concerned, she was average, nothing to write home about, but not hideous either and she was ok with that.
A big yawn escaped her and Lizzy decided to submit to the sleepiness: in eight hours she would be home and ready to start her life again.