"Oh Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore!" I exclaimed as we looked down into the lawn filled with a crowd of people and a group of waiters navigating the different clusters of well-dressed folk. The crème de la crème of Beardsley, all of them, down there holding their martinis and devouring Hors-d'œuvre. "Yep, they're all here" said Jane, agreeing to my thoughts like she has been since forever.
"Jane!" I saw Charlotte scream as we descended down the stairs into the lawn. "It's so good to see you!" she said while hugging her. Jane replied with her usual sweet smile and did the formalities. "I saw your photos on instagram, from that seminar. You looked absolutely stunning! What were you wearing?" said Charlotte breathlessly. "Oscar de la Renta, my favorite. Besides, you're not in Milan everyday" said Jane.
"Oh my god Jane!" we heard a sound from our right as we turned around and saw a tall blond man coming towards us with a beaming smile. "John!" Jane returned his enthusiasm as she proceeded to hug Bingley. Another woman soon followed him who shared his appearance a bit.
She looked at Jane with cold eyes and a rigid smile.
"I thought you were still in New York. I thought you'd never make it to my party. Although I hoped you would" John said while his eyes were steadfast into Jane's. It was almost like he was a little bit nervous. "Yeah I just landed yesterday." Jane replied while she glanced over the woman behind John.
"Jane I want you to meet my sister Carol" said John gesturing towards the other tall blonde woman. She hugged Jane while retaining the plasticity of her smile and reverted back to the spot she was standing on mechanically.
"John, this is my sister Elizabeth, and this is her friend Charlotte" Jane said while looking at both of us like a mother.
"Oh so you're Lizzie!" said John while bending a little towards me. It made me feel short but he had a generous smile. "Jane has told me you're a writer!" John said. I looked around at Jane for a second with a moment of exasperation and replied, "Yeah I have a blog but I'm working on a project".
I noticed that John saw my slight discomfort and he switched the topic smoothly. "Are you girls enjoying the party?" he asked while looking at all three of us.
"I thought it was a Halloween party" I asked making sure that I was loud enough.
"Well, I did mention that it was a costume party on the invites but nobody paid any attention to that, all everyone read was "bar open at 9 Pm" and that was enough for them!", he said while chuckling into a laugh. All of us joined into it obediently besides Carol, who sneered while looking around.
"But all three of you look really good" he said glancing over the three of us again. His gaze lingered a bit on Jane.
"Jane! I need you to meet some people. Ladies, if you don't mind, can I borrow your precious Jane for a while?" he asked looking intently at me and Charlotte.
"Oh, she's all yours John…." said Charlotte with a sly smile.
John laughed as he blushed and looked down. "Go on and have some drinks" he said while he began to turn around and lead Jane into the crowd. I heard his voice dying out as they moved further, "Now, do anything but don't mention the name Weinstein before him….." he said softly in Jane's ears. Carol glowered at the both of us as soon as they dissolved into the crowd and turned away rolling her eyes.
"Do you think he likes Jane because she looks like her sister?" I asked Charlotte while giving her a smile. "Lizzie! Come on!" Charlotte looked at me wide-eyed. "I think he really likes her".
"Yeah I still have my doubts about it" I said while we walked around slowly. "Lizzie, being so cynical always doesn't work" Charlotte said in a low serious voice.
As soon as I spotted the bar, a group of girls called out Charlotte from behind a group of people.
"Should I get you a drink?" I asked looking at them, seeing if I knew anyone. I didn't
"No I'm fine. Go ahead and have one I'll see you around" Charlotte said as she went away.
I ordered a Manhattan as I waited on the bar stool. I looked around to see politicians, businessmen and a whole lot of tanned men, which I presume were many of Bingley's LA friends. Just as I took my first sip, I heard someone say "Elizabeth Bennet, is that you?". I looked to my left to see a dark-haired, square jawed man looking at me with an amused smile. I looked at him for a few seconds in confusion before I realized, "Aidan?"
"What the hell happened to you? Did you lose weight?" he asked while coming to a stool besides me. "And what about you did you lose your glasses?" I asked back with a smile. He chuckled and blushed a little while gripping on his whiskey glass. The glasses were not the only change in Aidan Garner, my classmate from school, who I vividly remember as being the skinny guy with braces and thick rimmed glasses. As of now though, he was dressed rather crisply. And his chest looked a lot broader than I remember.
"I heard you got into Harvard" I asked as I looked at his face, trying to find the shy kid who used to silently sit behind me. "Yeah corporate law" he replied while nodding slowly.
"Yeah I know. My mother won't shut up about it" I said while rolling my eyes. He laughed, "sorry about that" he said while staring into his glass.
"Where are you right now then?" I asked. "New York" he said.
"And how do you know Bingley?" I asked while I received my Manhattan.
"Oh, I don't really. I have just known him for some 6 months." He said while he raised his glass to his lips. I subconsciously raised mimicked him.
I took a nice big sip of the drink as he continued, "yeah I mostly know John through Frank, you know, Frank Darcy".
I snorted a decent amount of my Manhattan and I'm pretty sure some of it choked my throat. I grabbed a napkin to wipe some off my jacket lapel.
"Whoa, you okay?" Aidan asked concerned. "Yeah I'm fine" I strained through my choked throat. "You work for Darcy?" I asked avoiding eye contact.
"My firm does. But I am thinking about leaving New York. Darcy thought it would be a good idea to be around someone like Bingley if I want any chance to move to LA. He's a nice dude. You should know, he's your homeboy!" he said.
I drained my remaining Manhattan as I noticed Aidan stare at me. "Would you excuse me I need to go to the bathroom. Do you know where it might be?" I asked as I slammed my glass on the bar. "First-floor right hand side, besides the staircase" he said looking towards the mansion beyond the lawn. "It was nice to see you again" I said to him as I started towards the lawn.
I stood outside the door, on the balcony that looked down to the corridor that led to the lawn. I stood at a safe corner and took out a cigarette from my purse. The music, the noise and the crowd was unnerving and Jane had no intention of going home, why would she? She was having a blast, While I was hiding myself besides a toilet to smoke.
I was just about to light my cigarette when I heard some steps on the stairs besides the toilet. I put my lighter away and moved into the toilet. I stood there to hear if the steps would go away so that I can at least smoke in peace. But then came a noise too.
"Frank! Come one buddy don't do this to me" it was John. "John, I did everything you asked me for, I even met your new love interest. This is the most I can do. I have a meeting tomorrow" I heard Frank, kind of irritated for the first time.
"You barely met anyone!" Frank said somewhat loudly, his voice echoed through the hall.
"Well I met Jane, the one person for whom you threw this entire party" said Frank as he took one step upwards. I listened with my heart beating faster. Cynical or not, I couldn't help but think of Jane and smile.
"Frank, that is not how this works!" John said chuckling a bit. "At least meet her sister too"
My throat fell into my stomach. "Who?" Frank asked rather quietly.
"We pointed towards her when Jane mentioned her, don't you remember? The girl who was sitting at the bar? Talking to your lawyer, Aidan? she is Jane's sister!" John said excitedly.
"She doesn't look like her sister at all" I heard Frank mumble. "Yeah she doesn't but she's kinda cute, and she is very hilarious, Jane talks a lot about her. If only you could talk to her she'll…" John was talking gently but he was interrupted.
"I'm not interested in some plain small town idiot who doesn't know shit about anything. What am I going to talk to her about? Memes? You know I don't have time for such nonsense John. She looks very immature. Now I'm telling you I have to attend some very important meetings tomorrow" the fire came out of his mouth as he continued up the stairs and walked towards the other side of the corridor.
A few seconds later I heard Bingley's disappointed steps down the stairs. I stood there holding an unlit cigarette in my mouth for some five minutes as my phone buzzed once. I desperately hoped it was Jane asking where I was. But it wasn't. It was from Frank.
"Are you free tomorrow at 2:30? How about a lunch-time quickie?"
I typed in a reply:
"How about you fuck yourself?"
