Page 40 of First Impressions (Passion and Perseverance #1)
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Good morning, Beth!” Phil said cheerily as he peeked his head into her office. “Did you have a good weekend? I heard Mrs. DeBourgh and her daughter attended the charity ball; I take it the trial period is going well!”
For as kind and caring as he was, Phil wasn’t that observant. Otherwise, just seeing her face would have been a clear indication of how the weekend had gone; thankfully, he was oblivious. Beth chose not even to answer about the weekend in general, focusing her response around work.
“Hey! Yes, they did so I think everything is going really well. We need to start prepping for their summer event so I’m expecting to hear from Mrs. DeBourgh today to see what she wants me to do.”
“Wonderful! Well, let me know if you need anything.”
As her door shut behind him, Beth sighed and took another sip of her Venti coffee that she had definitely needed this morning.
After a restless night, she woke up before her alarm and decided to go for a quick run.
When she got back, Jane was still sleeping, so she left her a note and texted Char asking if she could check in on her later today.
Arriving at the office an hour early, she organized her schedule for the day and then proceeded to email Mrs. DeBourgh, thanking her for attending the party and asking what her next steps would be for the summer diamond event.
Her phone buzzed with another text from her mom. Ugh.
“Have you heard from Jane? What’s going on?”
“No. She’s probably still sleeping. Let her rest.”
Beth switched that conversation to ‘Do Not Disturb,’ trying to keep her mind focused on the tasks at hand. She had hoped Jane would have called her by now but maybe she was really still sleeping. Either that or she was just trying to avoid rehashing such a painful situation with their mom again.
Refreshing her mail application downloaded a response from Mrs. DeBourgh .
Miss Bennet,
Yes, everything went according to plan. It was very astute of you to invite us.
The White Party is quickly approaching in two weeks. I will need you at our house in the Hamptons from this weekend through the date of the event to make sure everything goes smoothly. Since you seem to enjoy planning events, you can also work with our coordinator to finalize all the details.
I will expect you to be here by Saturday so I can give you a walk-through of the venue. There is a guest house on the property that you will use during the duration of your stay. I’ll have my assistant send along directions to the house.
Mrs. DeBourgh
Typical. Always assuming and demanding, but that was pretty consistent with high profile clients.
She just wanted this event to be over and done with so that she could go back to working remotely with someone who was obviously so close to Darcy.
The thought of his name sent a sharp pain shooting through her chest. Focus.
Mrs. DeBourgh,
I will be there Saturday. I will likely bring an assistant or two with me but they can stay with me in the guest house. Please let me know if you need anything before then.
Beth Bennet
As soon as she sent the email, she called Char.
“Hello?”
“Hey, have you talked to Jane?”
“Yeah, I’m actually at your apartment now; I had the morning off. We are hanging out. I might have woken her up though.”
“Oh good. How is she?”
“Ok. She’s making us some tea.” Beth breathed a sigh of relief that Jane was at least up and about doing her semi-normal routine, even though she hadn’t gone to work .
“Are you busy this weekend?”
“Well, I mean not really—” Char started to respond before she was cut off.
“Ok, good. You and Jane are coming with me to the Hamptons. I have to go to prep for the DeBourgh event, so Mrs. DeBourgh said that I’ll be staying in a guest house on their estate. I told her I was bringing assistants so pack your bags; we all could use a weekend away.”
“Oooo, the Hamptons! Fancy. Ok, I’ll tell Jane.”
“We can leave Friday morning, but don’t tell her that; just tell her to pack. I’m going to call my dad and tell him that Jane won’t be in on Friday; don’t make her worry about it.”
“Ok, will do.” “Jane! Beth is taking us to the Hamptons this weekend, so get excited!” Beth yanked the phone away from her ear as Char yelled into the kitchen to her sister.
“Ouch! Haha, ok thanks! I’ll talk to you later. Thanks for checking on her.” Beth hung up, actually looking forward to a weekend with her sister and her friend - something they hadn’t done in a long time.
Taking a deep breath, she dialed her dad’s cell phone.
“Hello?”
“Hey, dad.”
“Hey, how’s everything going? How’s Jane holding up?”
“As good as can be expected, I guess,” she responded, “That’s actually why I’m calling you. I honestly think it would be better for Jane to have the whole week off and away from everything.”
“Of course, sweetheart; whatever you think is best for her. I can only imagine how she feels.”
“Yeah, the problem is I doubt I can convince her to stay out of the office for the rest of the week; she’ll show up regardless of what you or I say.”
“Well, you have a point there. Maybe it will be good for her to do a little work, to take her mind off of everything?” He suggested.
“Maybe. I have to go to the Hamptons for work this weekend and I wanted to bring Char and Jane with me - to get her out of the city and just have a girl’s weekend.
I was wondering if you think you could convincingly tell Jane that you don’t need her to come in on Friday?
She won’t take off of work if I just ask her to. ”
“Oh, sure. That’s not a problem. Bill wanted to meet with me anyway, so maybe I’ll schedule that for Friday. Then she’ll see a legitimate reason for what I’m saying.”
“Great, I think it will be good for her.” Unable to stop herself, she continued, “Have you heard anything from him?”
“Not anything that I didn’t already know.
I tried to call him immediately after I spoke to Mr. Darcy.
I obviously wanted to verify what Darcy had just told me, but the call went right to voicemail.
Early this morning, though, he emailed me basically stating what Mr. Darcy had said on the phone.
I wish I knew more,” he said regretfully.
“What did Mr. Darcy say to you?” Why did she continue to punish herself?
“I thought your mother would have told you. He said that Charles had to regretfully put the deal on hold to return to Boston indefinitely. I tried to ask more questions, not just for Jane’s sake but for the firm, but you know how intimidating he is; he brushed them off with vague answers and then said that someone would be in touch. ”
“Oh.” Mr. Intolerable was definitely the reigning king of avoiding answers.
“You know, I was in shock at what he was saying. It barely had time to sink in before the conversation was over but I didn’t want to press or pry and somehow make the situation worse.
” The guilt in her father’s voice was palpable.
It seemed like everyone blamed themselves a little for the situation that Jane was in.
“It’s ok. I’m sure you did the right thing. Jane will be ok, she’s strong.” Beth tried to reassure him, if only she could say the same thing about herself.
“Are you ok though, Beth?”
This is why she hesitated on calling him; he knew her too well.
The realization hit that he was the first person who had asked her if she was ok; everyone else had jumped to Jane.
She didn’t blame them; Jane was the obvious victim.
No one knew about her and Darcy. She felt her eyes starting to tear up and her throat constricting. Stop, you can do this .
“Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” She managed to get out with only a little shakiness to her voice.
“You just seemed upset and distracted the other night; I just wondered if it had anything to do with Mr. Darcy.”
Damn, the man was perceptive. “Nope, just a lot going on.” She wiped away the tears that had collected in her eyes. “Listen, I have to get back to work; thanks for asking and thanks for helping me with Jane. I’ll talk to you later. Love you.”
“Ok, love you too.”
Before she had the chance to think about anything other than work, Beth set her phone down on her desk and decided to go tell Phil, in person, her next steps with the DeBourgh account. She walked out of the office and left all thoughts of Darcy’s betrayal behind her.