Chapter Five

Well, it was official. Jane was in love with Charlie. Lizzie was so happy for her sister, even if she was a little alarmed at how quickly it had happened. But she thought the close quarters over the past two weeks had sped things up.

Jane and Lizzie were now comfortably back in their fixed apartment and waiting for the arrival of Benjamin Collins.

"You know, Jane, I've never known a Benjamin who didn't go by Ben. This guy seems pretty ridiculous from what Dad was saying."

Jane looked up from her textbook. "I'm sure he's fine. He'll only be here for a week. You'll manage."

"After spending two weeks at Charlie's I don't know if I can handle it. It's been a whirlwind adventure. And it's nowhere near being over."

"Lizzie, did you really hate being at Charlie's?"

"Well, no. It was no picnic, but I didn't hate it. Caroline was hardly discreet about her dislike of me. Darcy was . . . rude and awkward. Charlie was very kind though. He and his butler really tried to make me feel at home."

The buzzer sounded. "I suppose that's Benjamin," Jane got up and buzzed him through.

Lizzie opened the door to a short, pudgy sort of man who smiled obsequiously at her and stepped into the room.

"Hello! I am Benjamin. I assume your father told you I'd be staying here." He grinned idiotically at them and sat down on the sofa. As he did, his shirt, which was a little too tight for him, slid up around his waist and Lizzie caught a glimpse of his pale and hairy stomach.

Lizzie was a little too grossed out by him to speak.

"Yes, he did. I'm glad you were able to visit," said Jane, pleasantly. "I'm Jane and this is Lizzie. Lydia and Carly aren't here right now, but you'll meet them tonight. Let me show you to your room."

Benjamin picked up his one suitcase and smoothed down his greasy hair so it stuck to his forehead. "Thank you so much for letting me stay with you. I was hoping to see the sights while I'm working in the city. Maybe one of you would be kind enough to show me around at some point?"

Lizzie decided to speak up before Jane said something too nice. "We would love to show you around, Benjamin, but as you know, Jane is busy at school and I with work. We would be happy to tell you the best places to go, though."

"And," piped in Jane, "we have several plans in the evenings this week. You are welcome to come along, if you wish."

Lizzie groaned inwardly.

"Benjamin fiddled with his hair. "Yes, I think that would be very nice. Now where is my room?"

As Jane showed him where he'd be staying, Lizzie ran to her room, grabbed a canvas, some supplies and her coat.

"Jane," she yelled to her sister," I think I'm going to go see Rita, I just remembered that she wanted to talk about the opening." Lizzie was almost out the door when Jane caught up to her.

"You're leaving me here with him?" Jane hissed.

Lizzie pouted. "Jane, I'm sorry, but he just poses too easy a target. I think I'd blow a gasket trying to hold my tongue."

Jane frowned. Lizzie was reluctantly changing her mind when Carly and Lydia burst through the door.

"We've just come from Tom's! Did you know that they're holding a lacrosse clinic there and some other college teams are going to be visiting? This is going to be wonderful! All those lacrosse players…"

Lizzie flashed a smile at Jane and slipped through the door as Lydia rattled on about the clinic. With Carly and Lydia there, Jane could beg off entertaining Benjamin.

Lizzie caught a bus to the museum and found Rita in the basement staring at a very small canvas.

"Lizzie! I haven't seen you in weeks!" Rita gave Lizzie a hug. "Where have you been? I was hoping you could tell me about the opening. I'd like to come if I'm still invited."

"Of course you are," Lizzie smiled. "I'm sorry I haven't been by in a while. Our apartment was flooded and Jane and I ended up staying at a friend's place while it was being fixed."

"Oh my, I hope everything turned out all right. You look kind of tired."

Lizzie shrugged. "The apartment is fine. The place we stayed belonged to a friend of Jane's. Charlie Bingley. He's wonderful and Jane's pretty attached to him, but his sister and his friend were also there and they are not what I would call pleasant people."

"Really? What happened?"

"Nothing in particular. Caroline, his sister, was just bordering on rude and Darcy was snotty and awkward."

"Did you at least manage to get some work done?"

"Very little." Lizzie sighed. "I brought you this." Lizzie pulled out the painting she had been working on at Charlie's. "What do you think?"

"Hmm," Rita said as she studied the painting. Lizzie had tried to finish it after Darcy had made his comments. She couldn't put the thing out of her mind. The more she tried to fix it, the more it seemed to go wrong. "Lizzie, this is a landscape."

"Well, I'm glad you can tell that much from it! I can't seem to make it work."

"I've never seen a landscape from you before." Rita put the canvas on one of her easels. "Talk to me," she told Lizzie.

"I was inspired by the view I had of the Park out of one of Charlie's windows. The sun was out that day and everything looked so bright."

"Well, your colors are wonderful, but this is not a color study."

"No, I know. It didn't start out as one either. After two hours Darcy barged in on me—"

"Charlie's friend?"

"Yeah. I forgot to cover the painting and he told me that my painting looked too big."

"Too big?"

"Yeah, like it wanted to get out. Those were his words. Since then I haven't been able to finish the thing. But I can't stop thinking about it."

"About what he said or about the painting?"

Lizzie frowned. "Well, both I guess. I don't know why it should bother me so much. He wasn't insulting my work or anything…but honestly, where does he get off? He doesn't know anything about art."

"Well, I'd say that I agree with him."

Lizzie looked startled. "You'd say that?"

Rita smiled at her and pointed to the canvas. "I didn't believe that this was your work at first. It's so unlike anything you've ever done. The paint doesn't reach the edge of the canvas. You've always used up all the space you had. And the color choices… they are dull around the edges, but towards the middle they become brighter. It's interesting."

"Interesting bad or interesting good?" Lizzie started to bite her nails.

"Lizzie, relax! It's interesting. Meaning I want to look at it. The first step is getting people to look at your art. You need to think about this some more. Don't just go slashing away at it with your paints trying to make it look better or make sense. Give it room to breathe, think about what you're trying to say. Maybe the message is already there."

"I know, you're right. Let's talk about something else." Lizzie took the painting off the easel. "The opening is on Thursday. Dress to impress."

"I always do."

"Unfortunately, my dad's friend just arrived today and is staying with us and I think he'll be coming as well."

"You don't like him?"

"Not really. He's greasy and bordering on lecherous. If he wasn't so gross he'd be very amusing. As it is he has no value whatsoever."

"Well, I'm sorry he isn't of any use. Although considering you've only just met him perhaps you should only hold him in the mildest of contempt."

"I don't plan on holding him at all."

Rita laughed. "Just as well. I've got to get back to work, Lizzie, but you're welcome to stay if you like."

"Yeah, that'd be great. I'll just set up over there if you don't mind and try to get some work done."

"Sure. Feel free to use anything you need."

"Thanks, Rita." Lizzie moved to a well lit corner and began to work. Rita's comments on her painting, while useful, were not exactly reassuring. Every time Lizzie thought she had found her voice she would paint something crazy like she had done at Charlie's. It would begin like every other painting and then halfway into it she would look at her canvas and not recognize anything.

As she began a sketch she thought about Mrs. Long' party. Bringing Benjamin there wouldn't be enjoyable. His visit was poor timing. Lizzie was feeling claustrophobic after staying away from home for so long and now to have an unwanted guest! She felt tired.

After she had done several promising sketches she found herself wanting to get some fresh air. She packed up her things and left the museum. It was an overcast afternoon and Lizzie's hair kept blowing about in the wind. Once she was out of the building she found two missed calls from Carter on her cell phone. She pressed the dial button.

"Hey Carter. What's up?"

"Liz! I was wondering if you wanted to get something to eat."

"Yeah! I didn't know you were going to be in the city today."

"Well, I wasn't until your dad mentioned that some relative was in town staying with you."

"Yeah, Benjamin Collins."

"…And?"

"He's a fool, Carter. And you know he is; that's why you're in town, isn't it? You want to have dinner with us so you can meet him."

"Ah, Lizzie, your powers of deduction are truly astounding."

"Fine, Carter, but if you want to stay for dinner then you are going to buy me coffee and a croissant. Possibly two."

"Two coffees or two croissants?"

"Maybe both."

"Sounds good. Same place?"

"Yeah, I just left the museum. I'll meet you there."

Carter ended up buying Lizzie a coffee and two croissants.

"Are you coming to Mrs. Long's?" Lizzie asked.

Yeah I plan on it. How was Rita?" added Carter, carefully sipping his hot coffee as they searched for a table.

"She was fine. She's going to the opening. It should be a great party. Hey, do you have a date to the opening?"

Carter grinned. "Yes I do!"

"What!"

"Don't act so surprised, Lizzie, it hurts my feelings. I wouldn't go with you even if I didn't have a date."

"Oh, now whose feelings are hurt? Why not?"

Carter and Lizzie found a table and sat down. "Because I've done it before and it's boring. Most people at gallery openings like to balance their time between looking at the art and mingling with the people. You and I like to do neither."

"Your point?"

"I like to ogle the ladies, eat the food and partake of the open bar. You like to walk around in a sort of half-daze and ignore everyone else within a fifty mile radius of whatever painting you happen to be standing in front of. In your case, it's better for you to be alone. In my case, it's better if I have a date who is at once hot and vapid."

"I'm not hot?"

"Lizzie, you are mesmerizing, but unfortunately, being in your company requires a presence of mind I don't normally have when there is an open bar around."

"But now I'm going to have to go stag!" Lizzie whined.

"Take my advice and don't bring a date. That's not the kind of torture that one wants to inflict on someone one hardly knows."

"I don't inflict torture on anyone! Unless they deserve it. And you deserve it for abandoning me in my time of need."

"Maybe," he grinned.

They sat for a moment in silence. Lizzie observed that it was calming to be with Carter, even when they didn't speak. Unlike when she was with Darcy. He made every silent moment last a lifetime. With Carter there was companionable silence. There were many differences between Carter and Darcy. Their height was the only quality they shared. Carter was outgoing and friendly, Darcy was sour and taciturn. Carter was thin with blond hair while Darcy was more…buff? Lizzie shook her head. Why was she comparing Carter and Darcy?

Carter had downed his coffee and grabbed some of Lizzie's croissant. "So talk to me about Benjamin."

"There isn't much to say. He isn't repulsive."

"Sterling praise."

"Well, I only talked to him for grand total of five minutes." She shrugged and reluctantly said, "he may have a redeeming quality or two that I missed."

"Such as?" Carter raised his eyebrows.

"I think he bathes."

"That is a very redeeming quality when there are none others to be had."

Lizzie was getting ready for Mrs. Long party when Carly knocked on her door.

"Come in!"

"Lizzie, I was wondering what you thought of—you look pretty."

Lizzie smiled. "Thanks, Carly, you don't look bad yourself."

"Sometimes I wish I hadn't cut my hair so short. Then I'd still have the option of wearing it wavy like yours."

"I like your hair cut. It makes you look sophisticated. It's something I could never pull off, even if I wanted to."

Carly laughed. "You don't want to."

"Pretty much." She turned away from her mirror to face Carly. "What's up?"

"I wanted to know what you think of Collins. He seems…"

"Dull?"

Carly frowned. "Well, I don't know. He keeps the conversation up well enough."

"When he's talking about his new house or his boss' widow. What was her name again?"

"Catherine Burg! Lizzie, you know she just inherited her husbands Fortune 500 company. She's a very successful businesswoman!"

"Good for her. I don't really care." Lizzie turned back to the mirror.

"Lizzie…"

"Carly, I can't help it if I'm not business oriented. It just doesn't interest me. Collins is harmless enough, even if he isn't as intellectually stimulating as I'd like. Anyway, what do you care what I think of him?"

Carly grinned mischievously. "Well, he seems to be paying an awful lot of attention to you."

Lizzie's mouth hung open as Carly started to laugh. "Get out."

"Lizzie, what a shame you thought so little of him!"

"Ha ha ha. No way, if he likes any of us it's Jane. Or you. You've been the only one around when he's wanted to go sightseeing."

"Well, he's not after Jane. I told him about Charlie. And, yes, I was the only one around when he wanted to go sightseeing. Whose fault was that?"

Lizzie bit her lip. "I'm sorry?"

"Oh, never mind. You almost ready for Mrs. Long's?"

"Nearly. Five more minutes."

"You know Lydia's bringing Tom and his new lacrosse friends?"

Lizzie rolled her eyes. "I hope not too many. Mrs. Long's house isn't very big."

"Keep your fingers crossed," Carly said as she walked out the door.

Mrs. Long lived two bus stops away from Lizzie in a decent sized apartment with her husband. They had no children so every now and then Mrs. Long liked to throw parties where her employees and their friends could keep her in touch with her younger self. All the furniture in her apartment was from the 1970's and there were doilies everywhere. All these parties didn't manage to convince Mrs. Long that the peachy-orange color scheme went out of style long before the millennium ended.

"Lizzie, my dear, I'm glad you could come! And Jane, my dear, you look lovely as always. Carly, who is this?"

Carly nudged Benjamin towards Mrs. Long. "This is Benjamin Collins. He is a friend of my uncle. And he's staying in the city with us for a few days."

Mrs. Long heartily shook Benjamin's hand. "How wonderful to meet you!"

Benjamin smiled without showing his teeth. "Likewise. I hear you run a travel agency. My employer, Mrs. Catherine Burg, I'm sure owns several travel agencies. She doesn't run them herself, you see. I am sure she delegates the responsibility to others among her staff. What a charming house you have."

Carly scooted Benjamin further into the house as Mrs. Long's gaze followed him, speechless. She looked at Lizzie, who just shrugged.

"I hope you don't mind, Mrs. Long. Lydia is on her way now with some new friends. I don't know how many there are. I know you have limited space."

Mrs. Long patted Lizzie's hand. "Oh never mind about that. I love guests!"

After everyone had gotten their drinks and the music had started, Lydia burst into the room with four young men following her, one of them was Carter.

"Lizzie, there you are. Thank god. I didn't know how much more of Lydia and her thrilling athletes I could take." Carter ran his hand through his hair and, catching sight of Lizzie, stared.

"What?" she asked, folding her arms self-consciously.

"You look really nice tonight."

She smiled. "Why, thank you."

Carter nodded.

"Lizzie! Come meet my friends!" Lydia pulled her three boy toys towards Lizzie. "This is Tom and his roommate Sanders."

Lizzie shook their hands. "Thank you so much for letting Lydia and Carly stay at your place while our apartment was getting fixed."

Tom, looking down at her from his great height, grinned. "No problem. It was fun having them over. Gave the apartment a well-needed feminine touch. I had no idea the tub was actually white."

He and his friends laughed while Lizzie tried to hide her disgust with a smile. "Hmm, she said. Tom, Sanders and Lydia walked off in the direction of the buffet, leaving Lizzie and Carter with the last of Lydia's friends.

The man was taller than Carter, but not as tall as the two behemoths standing on either side of Lydia. His dark hair was long and pulled back into a fetching sort of ponytail. He was the best dressed of his friends, in Dockers and a colored shirt. He gave Lizzie a lop-sided grin and stuck his hand out to shake Lizzie's.

"Hi, I'm Greg Wickham. I'm staying with Tom and Sanders as part of the lacrosse clinic. You must be Lydia's sister."

"Lizzie. And this is my friend Carter."

Carter shook his hand. "I'm starving, Liz, I'm going to get some food. Nice meeting you, Greg."

Lizzie turned to him with a questioning look in her eye. "Ok, she said. He gave her the barest hint of a wink and left her with Greg.

"So, you play lacrosse, Greg?"

"I'm actually a player and a coach. Sanders is an old friend of mine and he was able to get me a place in the clinic. I'm very grateful to him."

"That was nice."

"Well, Sanders is very kind to his friends. I believe he let your sister and her friend stay in his apartment for a while."

"Yes, he did. I don't know what we would have done without him." They found a pair of armchairs in the living room and sat down.

"What happened?"

"Oh," Lizzie waved her hand. "Our apartment flooded and it had to be redone."

Greg raised his eyebrows. "Wow, that's awful. Where did you stay?"

"We, me and my other sister Jane, stayed at her friend Charlie Bingley's apartment."

Greg looked surprised. "Charlie Bingley?"

"Yeah, do you know him?"

Greg shifted uncomfortably. "Not really. I know of him. I know a friend of his."

Lizzie was curious. "Who?"

"Um. William Darcy."

Now it was Lizzie's turn to be surprised. "Darcy! You know Darcy?"

"Do you know him too?"

"Yes, he was staying at Charlie's while we were there."

"You mean he's in town?" She thought she saw disdain cross his otherwise handsome face.

"Yes. Why? Do you not get along?" Lizzie was bursting with curiosity now.

"Well. Um. Do you know Darcy well?"

Lizzie laughed. "As well as I'd like to. We don't happen to get along very well."

Greg seemed to relax a little at this. "I can't say I'm surprised. I can see how it would be difficult for him to make friends."

"Why do you say that?"

"He is a very…proud man. He was a proud child. We've known each other since we were young."

"How do you know him?"

"His father was a great philanthropist," Greg slowly began. "A great man. My mother had been raising me on her own here in the city. She was having a lot of trouble keeping a job. She had been fighting addiction. The late Mr. Darcy had a charity shelter. He was making a visit once while we were there. He saw me and my mother, and I suppose he took a liking to us because he started to work with us personally. When my mother died a year later he took me into his home. He provided me with an education and a family; a kindness for which I could never begin to repay him. I began to think of him as family. I met with Darcy several times. We spent several summers together. He was never friendly to me; he pretty much ignored me during the time we spent together. After I graduated from high school Mr. Darcy and his charity helped me get into college and agreed to pay for all my expenses. I hadn't been so happy since before my mother died. I was going to have a chance to live the life my mother had imagined for me."

Greg took a deep breath, as if remembering something that hurt him. "The summer before what was to be my freshman year at college, Mr. Darcy had a stroke. I was heartbroken. He was the only father figure I had known. He was left incapacitated and Will Darcy, who had a year more of college, was left in charge of everything. I assumed that I was only a mere annoyance to Darcy, but it appeared that his dislike of me was more deeply rooted than that. Mr. Darcy managed to survive through my first month of college and then passed away. When I went home for the funeral, Darcy informed me that he would no longer be paying for my tuition. I tried to apply for financial aid, but I was denied. I still think that Darcy may have spoken with the college administration about me, but I have no proof. I had no other option but to drop out of school." Greg sighed heavily. "I learned a few years ago that Darcy's parents got divorced soon after my mother and I visited his house for the first time. I think he believed we were the cause and he blamed me for it. I don't for a minute think that Mr. Darcy would betray his wife, but that may explain Darcy's hatred of me."

Lizzie's mouth was hanging open in utter disbelief and she shook her head. She couldn't fathom how anyone could be so cruel to another person. She was speechless. "I…I'm so sorry, Greg. I don't know what to say."

He smiled at her. "Oh, no worries. As you can see, things aren't so bad. Actually, I have plenty to be thankful for. I have a job and good friends. I've been invited to a party" – Lizzie laughed – "I'm doing very well."

"But to have such an opportunity unfairly snatched away from you! How can you be so calm?"

"The life I'm living now is better than what it would have been if Mr. Darcy had never cared at all. I probably would not have graduated from high school. Plus, I've had six years for it to sink in. I won't pretend I wasn't angry at first, but it's not worth it to stay angry forever."

Lizzie was very impressed with Greg. He seemed so sensible and mature. He knew what it was like to struggle for what you wanted. Not to mention he was very handsome.

"Lizzie!" Lydia stumbled into the room with Tom. "Why are you keeping Greg all to yourself? I met him first, you know. C'mon Greg! We need another player for Cranium!" Lydia grabbed Tom's hand and pulled him back into the kitchen.

Greg rose. "It appears I'm needed." He smiled.

Lizzie laughed. "Yes, Lydia is very determined. I'm sure I'll see you around."

"Yes," Greg turned to leave, but before he did, "Lizzie? Do you, uh, want to go out sometime?"

Lizzie grinned. "Yeah, that would be nice."

"Can I have your number?"

Lizzie pulled out a pen and wrote it on a napkin. Kind of cliché, she thought, but she didn't much care. She hadn't been on a date in over a month.

After sitting a while by herself in the front room, still reeling over the new information about Darcy, Carter found her.

"Liz."

She started. "Oh, Carter. You want to go?"

"I guess. Do you?"

They grabbed their coats and said goodbye to Mrs. Long.

Once outside, Carter asked, "You get a number, then?"

"Haha! Nope!"

"No?" Carter groaned. "Lizzie! You haven't been on a date in forever, you looked hot and he was totally into you! What happened?"

"He asked for mine."

"Oh. Well, then. Jolly good, you harlot."