Chapter Twenty-Nine

In Which Catherine Burger Tries to Sink Yet Another Ship

Bobby had come over almost every day since Lucia had returned home. He and Julieta had been hanging out a lot, going to the movies or for meals, insisting that it was “just as friends.” No one really bought it, but they didn’t call them on it for Julieta’s sake. Elisa half hoped she’d forgive him soon so she could just date the idiot and be happy and half hoped she’d make him grovel a little more. It was clear that Bobby was sincerely sorry—even their mother had forgiven him—but Julieta was keeping her guard up high. It was difficult to blame her.

Elisa spent as much time with Lucia as she could, but still give her space, a balancing act that was anything but easy. When she wasn’t with her sister, she was trying to ride out the rest of the semester in peace. She’d returned to school and was relieved to find out that her professors completely understood why she’d been ditching and were all fine with letting her make up assignments. Spring break had only been over for about two and a half weeks, but it felt like a lifetime ago.

She sat on Charlene’s living room floor with her overdue chemistry assignments spread out in front of her. While it was nice to have something to think about that wasn’t connected to the utter chaos Wick had caused, chemistry was enough to give Elisa a headache. It wasn’t her strong suit at the best of times, and she hadn’t done herself any favors by skipping class.

Not helping matters was the fact that she’d told Charlene and Colin what Darcy had done, mainly to get it off her chest. Now, after listening to their rambling on the matter for the last half hour, she wished she hadn’t said anything.

“Darcy—she’s like a superhero,” Charlene said. “I mean, what she did was amazing, wasn’t it?”

“Since when were you such a fan of hers?” Elisa asked, tearing her gaze away from the notes her lab partner had leant her—which was, admittedly, not that difficult.

“Since I found out she basically rescued your sister,” she said.

“Have you called her?” Colin asked, perched on the couch behind Elisa. Charlene, meanwhile, was pacing. “I mean, you pretty much have to call her.”

“He’s right,” she said. “I mean, you can’t not call.”

“I’ve been doing a splendid job at it for the past week,” Elisa said dryly.

“Really, Elisa? You’re seriously not gonna say anything?” she asked, incredulous.

“I didn’t say that. I just… I need time to think about what I’m gonna say.”

“I’ve found it helps to write up a draft,” Colin said.

“What is there to think about?” Charlene asked. “Just say what you mean. ‘OMG, thank you so much for finding and rescuing my baby sister.’ Boom. Done.”

“It’s not that easy,” she said, exasperated. “I mean—she obviously didn’t want me to know. She asked Lulu not to tell me.”

“But now the cat’s out of the bag. So you may as well call.”

“Why wouldn’t she want you to know?” Colin asked.

She sighed, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “Lulu has this ridiculous idea that it was so I wouldn’t feel ‘indebted’ to Darcy. That Darcy did this for me, specifically.”

“Is that really so ridiculous?”

“Yes,” she said. “Look, we’ve become friends, and I’m really, really glad, but… But I’m not the sort of person you just drop everything to help.”

“I think to Darcy, you are,” Colin said.

“Not anymore,” she said. “I… I think I blew it back at your cabin on Valentine’s Day.”

Charlene had stopped pacing and was now watching Elisa’s face closely.

“Lisa. Do you…regret turning Darcy down?”

She forced herself to stare at her notes. “No. I mean everything I said back then. Or—or, I mean, I did mean it, at the time.”

“But now?”

She fiddled with a pen. “Now things are different. Darcy and I are friends. Just friends.” She stared at Charlene. “So don’t get any bright ideas about…about locking us into a closet together or sending us each a love note signed by the other, or tricking us into getting engaged, or whatever.”

“Don’t look at me. Look at Colin. He’s been wanting you two to just make out already since you went to Pemberley.”

Colin gave his girlfriend an exasperated look. “Narc.” Even as he said it, he was smiling. “Well, if we’re putting all cards on the table, I guess I should tell you that Darcy was asking about you.”

She felt her face flush. “Really?” she asked, fighting to keep her voice nonchalant. “When?”

“When you were looking for your sister. Literally every single day since you got back. I was kinda surprised, since she hardly ever calls me, but she didn’t want to bother you. She figured you had enough to deal with, she didn’t need to add to everything. So I promised to keep her posted.”

“Oh.”

She wished Darcy had gone ahead and bothered her.

“Of course,” Colin said in a tone that he probably thought sounded casual, “since everything’s getting back to normal, you could probably call her and let her know how you’re doing yourself…”

Charlene met his eye with a grin while Elisa pretended not to notice. “Yeah. I mean, I’m sure she’d be glad to know that you’re feeling better. She’d probably prefer to see you in person, but a call would be better than nothing.”

Elisa lowered her head into her hands. “If I call her, will the two of you shut up?”

“Yes,” they both said.

Elisa got her phone out of her pocket and dialed Darcy’s number. It went right to voicemail.

“You’ve reached the personal cell phone of Darcy Fitzgerald. I am currently attending to family business in London and won’t be back until early June. I prefer to not use my personal phone during family trips if at all possible. If it is urgent, you can reach me via the Wilder Hotel. If it is not urgent and you are a friend, please leave a message and I will get back to you as soon as I return to the States. If you are my doctor, please contact me via my personal email address. If you are a telemarketer, a politician, or my cousin Colin, I beg you to kindly piss off. Thank you and have a nice day.”

Beeeeeeep.

“Uh—uh, Darcy, hi, it’s—it’s Elisa.” Why was she suddenly so flustered by leaving a voicemail? “Um…look, Lulu told me. What you did for us. For—for her, I mean. And, I, uh, wanted to call to say thank you. I can’t possibly say that enough. Um…enjoy whatever you’re doing with your family—if—if it’s an ‘enjoy’ kinda thing. If not…my condolences? Uh. God. This call was a mistake, just—just call me back, please, thanks, gotta go, bye.”

She hung up and threw her cell phone in front of her like it was a burning coal.

Colin and Charlene stared at her.

“Oh, shut up,” Elisa said.

“We didn’t say a word,” Colin said.

She sighed. “Darcy’s voicemail said she’s in London, some family thing, and that she’d call when she got back. That if it was urgent, I could reach her at the hotel—”

“Okay, so look up the hotel’s number,” Charlene said, as if this was the most obvious thing in the world.

“No,” Elisa said. “This isn’t urgent. She’ll call back when she has time. Now, can we talk about literally anything else? What’d you have for lunch today?”

“Oh, this new sandwich they have down at the sub shop—the Double Decker My Best Friend’s an Idiot Who Needs to Call Darcy’s Hotel Right Now.” Charlene gave her the eyebrow.

Elisa stared at her. “That wasn’t even witty. Love has dampened your sense of humor.”

“I think it’s enhanced it.”

“You were so much more fun when you were single and bitter.”

“Yeah, well, now I’m boring and happy. Suck it.”

…

The day after Elisa’s ill-fated call to Darcy, an unexpected visitor arrived at Longbourn.

“Elisa, darling, there’s an old lady who looks like Sauron’s unwashed bath towel asking for you,” Alejandra said, sticking her head into Elisa’s bedroom.

She looked up from the book she was reading, confused.

“Mrs. Burger?”

Elisa got up, heading out into the living room, and, indeed, Catherine Burger was standing in the doorway. She wore a hat that made it look like something had died on top of her head, and her face was twisted into the ugliest frown imaginable.

“Mrs. Burger, if you’re looking for Colin, he made it very clear he doesn’t—” Elisa began to say, but Catherine cut her off.

“I’m not here to see my son,” she said. “I’m here to speak to you. Alone.”

“Uh…okay.” She leaned in to whisper to her mother. “If I don’t come back, avenge me.”

“It’s a promise.”

Elisa stepped out into the hallway to talk to Catherine, leaning against her door.

“Don’t slouch, Elisa, it’s most unbecoming of a young lady,” Catherine said.

“What did you want to speak to me about?” Elisa asked, slouching further.

“I have heard the most disturbing rumor, that you were romantically involved with my niece, Darcy Fitzgerald. You’ve always struck me as a smart one, so hopefully I don’t need to tell you why a young woman of Darcy’s stature dating a girl like you would be wholly inappropriate. If the rumor is true, I must urge you to terminate the relationship at once—”

Elisa cut her off. The look on Catherine’s face told her she wasn’t used to being cut off.

“It’s not true.”

“Oh. Well.” She looked like she’d had an entire speech planned and now wasn’t sure what to say. “Good.”

“Darcy and I are only friends, Mrs. Burger.”

“Then I assume it will be no issue for me to ask you to promise that you will never let it become anything more than that.”

Elisa stared at her, appalled by the sheer nerve she had.

“Excuse me?” she said, once she found her voice again.

“Promise me that, should Darcy ever have a lapse in judgement enough to ask you for a romantic relationship, you’ll reject her.”

It was obvious Mrs. Burger didn’t realize why this was such an inappropriate and unbelievable demand to make of a girl she barely knew. Elisa just stood there, jaw dropped, unable to quite grasp that yes, Catherine really did have this much gall.

Finally, she said, “No. No, Catherine, I will not make that promise.”

Catherine stared her down. “Why not?”

“I don’t owe you an explanation. Goodbye.”

Elisa went back into her apartment and slammed the door.

She opened it again a second later.

“Actually, you know what—I don’t owe you an explanation, but it’s gonna bug me if I don’t say this. I won’t make that promise, because this isn’t your life. This isn’t some project you can micromanage. This is mine and Darcy’s life.”

“The concerns of my niece are concerns of mine,” Catherine said. “And a low-class girl like you—a girl that lives in a dump like this, a girl with no wealth or prestige to her name, a girl who has nothing to offer to the relationship—can never make Darcy happy.”

“You thought Charlene couldn’t make Colin happy, but I was just over at their apartment, and let me tell you—your son is happier now than he ever was with you.”

Catherine said nothing. Elisa took a step closer.

“And let me spell out what kind of girl I am, since you’re so fond of dwelling on it. I’m a smart, determined girl who would do anything for her friends. So is Darcy. I’m a regular girl trying to figure out what to do with her life. So is Darcy. I’m a girl who’s too independent, too determined to be her own person to listen to the unsolicited advice of a washed-up Charles Dickens villain. So is Darcy. So far, we’re equals.”

“You are the furthest thing from,” Catherine squawked. “The Fitzgeralds are on a completely different level from your family.”

“Why are you trying to run everyone else’s lives?” Elisa asked, one of her hands clenching into a fist. She hadn’t intended to lose her temper, but the second she’d started talking, all the words had rushed out of her like a waterfall. Despite the fact that Catherine looked like she was about ready to squish her like a bug, she felt nothing but relief at speaking her mind. “First Colin, now Darcy—and me. Why aren’t you just content to let people do what they have to in order to be happy? None of us are hurting anyone. We’re all just…people trying to live our lives. You’re not trying to help us; you’re trying to control us. Well, it’s not going to work.”

Catherine resembled a bleached prune, her lips moving but no sounds coming out.

“Darcy and I are adults,” Elisa said. “If we decide we want our relationship to take that kind of turn, it’ll be because we want it to. And if we decide we don’t want it to, that’ll be our choice, too. So, until you feel like being supportive, get the hell out of my apartment building. And stay away from Colin unless you want to act like a loving mother for once.”

Elisa went back inside and slammed the door. For real this time.

Julieta and Alejandra were both staring at her.

“I’m going to the roof as soon as I think Lady Bracknell out there has left,” Elisa said.

She peered out the peephole and was glad to see the other woman was gone. She ran up to the roof. Julieta, to her surprise, followed her.

“What was that about?” she asked. “Mom and I heard shouting.”

“Darcy’s aunt heard a rumor we’re going out,” she said. “And when I told her we’re not, she tried to make me promise to never go out with her. I kind of lost my temper.”

Julieta let out a laugh. “Wow. I would’ve thought you would’ve gladly made that promise.”

“Six months ago, I would have.”

“Why not now?” she asked, approaching her younger sister. “You hate Darcy—don’t you?”

And then, it all came out. Elisa told her everything. Darcy confessing her love. Seeing Darcy at Pemberley. Darcy rescuing Lucia. Calling Darcy and being both disappointed and relieved when she couldn’t reach her.

By the time she was done, all the energy had completely drained from her body. And yet, a weight lifted off her shoulders. It was nice to not have to bottle everything up anymore. Julieta stood there, shocked, trying to take it all in.

“Wow. I…that’s…” She trailed off, unable to find words.

Elisa stared at the ground below them, vision going slightly blurry.

“Julieta, I was—I was wrong about Darcy,” she whispered. “I was so wrong.”

“Elisa… Do you have feelings for her?” she asked gently.

Elisa sighed and turned her gaze toward the sky. “Back when she first told me she had feelings for me, I—I hated her, I said she was the last person I could ever love, and at the time, I meant it. But now—now I really think I could. I already might. I don’t know. I’m not sure how love is supposed to feel, but…”

“If she has you thinking about it, that might mean something.”

“Darcy told me she loved me three months ago. How could so much have changed in just three months?”

“You are different people now. You’ve both… It feels like you’ve grown up, all at once. Darcy became someone you could love, and you became someone who could love her back.”

“And now she doesn’t love me, right?” When did her voice become so shaky? “I mean, I… I rejected her, and maybe—maybe her being in London when I called was a sign…”

Julieta sighed. “Elisa, if I told you I got a sign from the universe to not be with Bobby, you would slap me upside the head until I saw sense. You’d say, ‘Tell the universe to stay out of your business. Make your own decisions.’”

Elisa laughed, rubbing her eyes.

“Lisa, don’t give up on Darcy just because you’re scared. I’m scared, too, but… Bobby and I aren’t giving up on each other, and look what we’ve been through. So don’t give up on Darcy. If she would make you happy—don’t give up on her.”

Elisa shrugged helplessly. “It may not be my call anymore.”

Julieta rubbed Elisa’s back.

“Give her a chance to get back in the country and hear your message. I think she’ll surprise you.”