distance between them. “You might have been able to control him, but you will not control me.”
“You have no idea what he is capable of.”
“Maybe not, but I know what you’re capable of, to even your oldest friend.”
“Lizzy, whatever he told you, it’s a lie.”
“Is that why you’re so scared?” Elizabeth asked.
Darcy clenched his jaw and turned away, walking to his dressing room and slamming the door.
“Fuck! Fuck!” He swore, over and over again, his rage searching for release. He wasn’t surprised when Richard walked in a minute later. In truth, Darcy welcomed his company. Richard was the only other person there who knew the whole story.
Darcy flashed him a black look, but Richard knew to whom his anger was really directed.
“Well, that was exciting,” Richard said mockingly.
Darcy snorted; a moment later his fury was back. “God damn that bastard!” he growled as he threw a glass against the wall, watching with satisfaction as it shattered. “How? How the fuck did that asshole know? How the hell did he get on that shoot?”
Richard shook his head. “Come on, Will. He’s a lot of things, but he’s never been stupid.” He frowned and clenched his fists. “It’s no secret we’re on tour with them. He probably just kept his ear to the ground. You know how he is.”
“I know. The lying snake!”
Richard waited a moment, watching Darcy prowl like a caged panther. “Are you going to tell her the truth?”
“You know I can’t do that! What is going to make her believe me, anyway? Who knows what lies that bastard fed her?”
“Will! You can’t leave her to him. She doesn’t deserve that! No one does.”
“I won’t. You know I won’t,” his tone was rueful. “But I can’t let her know that I’m trying to protect her, either. That will just make her angrier and push her to him.”
“Or you could just tell her what he did.”
Darcy just shook his head.
“What are you waiting for?” Richard asked. “You know you love her. Talk to her. Tell her.”
“Oh! And you’re one to talk?” Darcy replied angrily. The two men regarded each other, eyes locked.
“Leave me out of this,” Richard said, biting off each word, and turning away.
“I just think it’s ironic that you are here giving me advice about talking to Elizabeth when you sure as hell aren’t talking to Charlotte!”
“It’s a completely different situation.”
“Yes, it is, because at least you know that Charlotte loves you!”
Richard looked at Darcy, quickly, his eyes questioning what he had heard.
“Oh come on!” Darcy said in disbelief. “Don’t tell me you didn’t know this! I don’t know what the hell you are up to, putting her through hell like this, but at least you must know that.”
Richard looked away. He put his face in his hands and rubbed it tiredly. “Are you certain?” he asked weakly.
“Yes, as much as anyone can be without hearing it from the other person.”
Richard sighed out a deep breath. “Damn.”
“What’s the problem, Richard? Level with me. If you don’t love her, it would be kinder to just—”
“I wish I didn’t love her! That’s what I’ve been trying to do! Forget her!” His voice was tight with tension. “But it’s not working.”
“So, why don’t you try making it work with her? I don’t understand the problem here.”
“The problem, Will, is that I’m a bad man. I’m toxic. It was my fault she ended up with Collins. I’m no good for her.”
“I think that you should let Charlotte decide that.”
“Yeah, I’ll do that. Right after you tell Lizzy about Georgie.”
Darcy scowled and turned away, and Richard dropped tiredly onto the couch. “You were right, Will; we should have stayed away from them. Now look at us. All fucked up,” he snorted in bitter amusement. “Except for Chas, of course.”
“Charles is better than both of us,” Darcy pronounced in his soft dark voice. “He deserves his happiness.”
“I hope it lasts for him.”
“So do I.”
The next week was incredibly difficult. Tempers were short and everyone seemed to be snapping at each other. Elizabeth took every opportunity to bait Darcy for a fight, her usual good spirits having completely abandoned her.
Darcy found out through an angry phone call to Anne that Bill Collins hired Wickham to direct LBS’s video. Of course, Bill had pleaded ignorance of Darcy’s strict rules about Wickham never having any contact with Slurry, but Darcy knew it was all just a lie. George’s being there had been a setup, a classic Wickham maneuver that had succeeded perfectly.
Richard’s behavior with the flavors continued unabated, even as he pulled further away from Charlotte. Idly, Darcy kept a mental list of the women who had received Richard’s “Golden Dick” treatment: Jodi (twice), Tracey, Deidre, Tara, Leah, Julie. All had received his special attention as he had tried to forget the woman he really wanted.
Charlotte, for her part, seemed to be growing colder and more distant by the day. At one point, Elizabeth had suggested that she enjoy a flavor of her own, but she had simply looked at Elizabeth sadly and said, “It didn’t work.” Elizabeth was deeply worried for her friend and was hoping that some distance between her and Richard would help.
The air of gloom had even touched Jane and Charles. They became prone to long periods of silence when they would just hold each other tightly, unable to talk about what was disturbing them, yet unable to find comfort anywhere else.
It was killing Charles that he couldn’t tell Jane the truth. He needed her at that time, needed her understanding and comfort. His father’s incarceration for insider trading twelve months ago had been a source of private torment. It caused him to question the legal system and meaning of morality. Charles knew in his heart that his father was a good person, yet he was a convicted criminal in jail. He had never been able to reconcile these two realities in his mind, and now that his father was facing release, he found they disturbed him again.
He wanted so much to share this with Jane, to share his worries about what his father would be like. He was certain that prison changed him. A part of him was afraid of what he would find when his dad was released, and he longed to unburden himself of all those fears in the woman who had come to mean everything to him. But he knew he couldn’t. Darcy had been right. They had tried too hard to keep the secret. He couldn’t risk it now.
For her part, Jane could not understand what was going on with Charles. At moments he would look at her and hold her with so much love, she felt she would burst, and at other times, his eyes were filled with a profound sadness that made her blood run cold. She found herself questioning everything: herself, Charles, their relationship, his feelings, and her feelings. Doubts were weighing her down, and the only times she felt comforted was in her music.
The new song had been completed. It had changed from a simple love song to one of yearning, expressing the feelings she could not put into spoken words. Yet it still maintained the basic upbeat spirit that was Jane’s nature.
They would rehearse it every afternoon, and in a way, it served its purpose. The bands did spend time together, just the six of them, and they got to know different sides of each other. It would be true to say that exposure to the true musicianship of each person caused them all to fall deeper in love, but only Jane and Charles were free to admit it.
Each of them had brought something different to the song: Jane had provided the lyrics and melody, while
