Pride's Prejudice (2 page)

CHARITY
CASE

"I
am in no humor to give consequence to young ladies who are slighted by other
men."

~Mr.
Darcy, Pride & Prejudice

Beth
surreptitiously ran a hand down her clothes as she followed Jenna into the
Conference Center.  Jenna had braided her hair and convinced Beth to put
on a little makeup, but she could not be prevailed upon to change into the
flirty skirt and ruffled top that Jenna picked out for her.  Beth took one
look at the fancy duo, rolled her eyes, and walked out the front door without a
word.  If she was participating in this venture for orphaned children,
then surely the said children wouldn't care that she wore yoga pants and a t-shirt.

One of
the professors from the Social Studies department directed the girls to a table
dotted with clipboards, where volunteers were required to sign in. 
Whatever they were assigned to do, Beth sincerely hoped it was behind the
scenes.  She didn't feel much like being social tonight.

Half
an hour later Beth stood uncomfortably on the stage, fidgeting on the
spot.  How had she gotten into this situation?  The alluring skirt
and top from earlier danced before her eyes, taunting her.  Suddenly she
felt like she wore garbage bags for clothing.  When Jenna said she had
signed them up for the charity thing, Beth had interpreted that as…..a
donation, perhaps.  Maybe even serving some refreshments or cleaning up
afterward.  She hadn't expected to be lined up on a stage with other
girls, being auctioned off for a dance.  She thought this must be what
livestock felt like.

She
sighed, tucking a rogue strand of hair behind her ear and casting her eyes
around for Jenna.  Maybe she would come rescue her from the stage (Jenna
had been 'purchased' right off).  The problem was the lighting, or more
appropriately, the lack thereof.  Beth stood in a pillar of light in a
vast, dark room, unable to see anything.

The
auctioneer's voice droned on as the "dance prizes" were sold
off.  The room was stiflingly hot, and Beth, feeling the moisture under
her arms, hoped no one would notice her sweating.  One by one, the other
contestants were led off the stage by their 'owners;' finally, Beth was the
last one.

There
are all kinds of embarrassment.  The vexation of being the last one picked
for a team; tripping in front of a crowd of people; obliviously trailing toilet
paper from the bathroom on the bottom of your shoe.  And then, there was
this.

The
auctioneer buzzed on about how Beth was the last one standing, about how the
best was always saved for last, about how quality products sometimes came in
plain packaging.  Beth's emotions migrated from shame to anger and back
again.  She had sadistic visions of strangling the announcer with the
microphone cord.

"SOLD!"
The auctioneer rattled off an obscene amount of money, and relief rushed
through Beth.  The auctioneer handed her down the first couple steps of
the stage in a show of chivalry, and then left her to her own devices. 
She stumbled down the last few stairs, reeling from the sudden absence of
light.  As the floor rushed up to meet her, a pair of arms materialized in
the dark and broke her fall.

The
shadowy savior set her on her feet, keeping his hold on her arms for a moment
before stepping away.  Beth looked up to thank him, noting he was quite
tall.  She couldn't make out any minute details, but his eyes and hair
were dark.

"Thank
-"

"You
should watch where you're going." he snapped.

Beth
thought she'd never heard a more pompous tone.  His black eyes canvassed
her with irritation.  As her eyes adjusted to the lower lighting, she
noted that his arms were quite muscular beneath his snug t-shirt.  His
skin had a light olive tone, and his dark hair looked like it had been
carefully disheveled.

Beth
decided to take the higher road.  "Listen……thanks for coming to the
rescue back there.  I might have been there all night."

"You
might have."  He didn't look at her.

An
uncomfortable stretch of silence passed.  This person, whoever he was,
looked positively miserable.  Quite like the way Beth felt.

"Well,
I think I owe you a dance," she suggested in her best falsely positive
tone.  "After all, it is for
the children
."

Smirking,
he pulled out his wallet and held a roll of cash out to Beth.  "I
don't dance.  And I honestly couldn't care less about orphaned
children."

Beth's
mouth popped open.  "I don't want your money!  You pay the guy
over there."

His
dark eyes touched hers as he shoved the money into her hand. 
"Already paid the guy.  This is in lieu of the dance."

As he
walked away, Beth abandoned the higher road in favor of a greasy back
alley.  "If you didn't want to dance with me then why did you
pay?" she called.

He
turned back, not exactly facing her, but enough to make eye contact. 
"I felt sorry for you."

There
was a heartbeat-length pause, and then Beth said, "And here I was thinking
chivalry had died with the eighteenth century."  She walked up to
him, shoving the wad of bills roughly into his jeans pocket.  "You
need this more than I do.  I hear therapy can be pricey."

Beth
turned away, feeling the exhilaration of zinging him.  But underneath it
all, chagrinned tears burned her eyes.

She
was making a bee-line for the door when she spotted Jenna dancing with a tan,
broad-shouldered boy.  He was average height, his blonde hair styled in a
seventies shag, and he grinned like an idiot.

Beth
was reminded of a surfer - a surfer who had taken a wrong turn while looking
for a beach - and ended up here.  Waving halfheartedly at Jenna as she passed,
Beth noted the concerned scowl on her best friend's face. 
Tired,
she mouthed, hoping it would be enough to keep Jenna in place.  She added
a thumbs-up for good measure.

Beth
walked home to Longbourn Hall slowly, enjoying the crisp night air.  Fall had
only just begun.  In a couple months, the purple mountains of Wyoming
would be reupholstered with downy white snow.  She slowed her steps,
wishing the gesture could somehow stretch out her favorite season.

Stars
began peeping out of the navy sky.  Beth inhaled deeply, trying to drown
out the discomfit with her surroundings.  It didn't work.  She kept
flashing back to her exchange with the pompous jerk who had 'purchased'
her.  Who did he think he was?  Who threw money at people like
that?  And who didn't have a soft spot for orphans? 
I got off
easy
, she told herself.  Being forced to endure physical contact with
someone like that for any length of time would have been unbearable.  She
smiled glumly to herself as she opened the doors to Longbourn Hall and hiked
the stairs to room 204.

~:~

The
next morning, Jenna was in an annoyingly cheery mood, bouncing into the kitchen
in her flannel PJs with last night's curls still clinging in her golden
hair.  Beth grumpily poured herself a glass of orange juice and retrieved
the last piece of cheesecake from the fridge, plopping down at the table in her
t-shirt and cut-off sweats.

"So,
did you have a nice time last night, Beth?"

"Splendid,"
Beth glared at Jenna, who was rummaging in the fridge.  "Can you get
the whipped cream?"

"I'll
take that as a no, then," Jenna answered, setting the can in front of
Beth, who lost no time in obscuring her cheesecake with it.

"Let's
hear about your night instead, Jenna.  Who was the guy you were dancing
with?"

Jenna
sighed happily.  "His name is Les."

Beth
raised her eyebrows.  "Let's hope Les is more, then.  Want
some?" Beth offered, nudging the cheesecake in Jenna's direction.

Jenna
looked skeptical.  "It's not a very healthy breakfast."

"Well,
I figure if I'm packing on calories of this magnitude, I'd better do it in
place of a meal."

Jenna
grabbed another fork, resigned, and dug in.

"So,
does Les-is-more have a last name?"

"Bradford,"
Jenna said around her cheesecake.  "He's from New York originally,
but he moved out to California after college."

"Okay…..and
he's in Wyoming because…..?"

"He's
in real estate - he flips houses.  He bought that old abandoned mansion on
Netherfield and he's renovating it."

"Cha-ching,"
Beth said dramatically.  She was surprised when Jenna didn't laugh,
keeping her eyes on the cheesecake.

"I
think so," she said in a small voice, shifting uncomfortably in her
seat.  "I mean, I think he's quite well off.  He paid a thousand
dollars for a dance with me, Beth.  Who does that?"

Who
indeed?
Beth responded inwardly, thinking of the nameless
scoundrel from last night.  Beth didn't know how much money he'd offered
her, but the outside bill had been a twenty, and the roll of folded-in-half
bills had been at least an inch thick.  Beth mentally shook herself. 
She shouldn't be comparing Les to what's-his-name because they both had money.

"So,
what's he like, then?"

Jenna
brightened.  "He's such a gentleman.  A really good dancer,
too.  His sister Kara goes to school here.  I think she convinced him
to buy the house and move here."

"Kara
Bradford?  Do you know her?  It sounds familiar, but I'm not getting
a face," Beth asked around her mouthful.

"I
met her briefly last night.  She's……nice."

Beth
looked sharply at Jenna, licking the last of the cream off her fork. 
"Why the hesitation?"

"Nothing. 
She's just……really different than Les."

"Hm. 
Well, he sounds nice.  Did he ask you out?"

"Not
exactly.  He asked where I live.  It was kind of crazy after we
danced.  I think he might have sponsored the whole thing last night."

"Well,
he sounds like a catch," Beth pronounced as she set her plate in the sink.

Jenna
followed suit.  "What about you?  You didn't look like you were
enjoying yourself much last night."

Beth
snorted, inwardly debating how much to tell Jenna.  Maybe she would feel
better if she vented.  She downed the last bit of juice in her
glass.  "My 'sponsor' or whatever you want to call him was a
total
jerk
.  He wouldn't dance with me, and he said he hates
children." 
I'm paraphrasing, but still,
Beth added silently.

"Wow. 
That's….unfortunate.  Maybe he was having a bad night."

"I
think it more likely that he's just a bad person, Jenna."

"He
can't be a bad person.  He was at a children's benefit, and he did rescue
you from that stage….."

Beth
slammed her glass into the sink with more force than intended, drawing back
when the glass cracked and a shard pierced her palm.  She sighed, turning
on the faucet to rinse away the blood.  Jenna grabbed a dishtowel and
hurried over to Beth.

"He
only bid on me because he felt sorry for me standing up there."  Beth
scowled.  "I know you don't believe it, but sometimes people do
things just to be mean, Jenna."

Jenna
said nothing, just wrapped Beth's hand up and put an arm around her, steering
her back toward the kitchen table.  "I'm sorry, Beth.  I didn't
know you'd be put in that situation."  Beth could see Jenna's
displeasure with herself on her face.  "I should've just let you stay
home."

Beth's
anger ebbed.  "Not your fault Jenna - you didn't birth him."

"Let
me get you a band-aid," Jenna said, standing.

"It's
not that bad!  Don't worry about it.  I'm going to shower and I'll
get one after."

After
impressing on Jenna that she was not in any way responsible for last night's
debacle or this morning's laceration, Beth made her way to the shower.

Afterward,
she dressed in the bathroom, toweled off her dark tresses, and applied a thin
coat of moisturizer to her face.  En route down the hall toward her room,
which was through the kitchen, she slowed as two voices sounded ahead. 
She peeped around the corner to see Jenna, still pajama-clad, sitting on the
couch next to Les.  She wondered if she could backtrack unheard at this
point.  As she took her first step backward, Les's head popped up.

"Hey! 
You must be Beth."

He
stood, half-jogged to Beth, took her free hand and pulled her into a crushing
hug.  "Jenna's just been telling me about her other half."

To
Beth's surprise, she liked Les immediately.  His generous smile was made
up of straight white teeth, and his blue eyes twinkled merrily.  His skin
was at least three shades darker than the Wyoming pasties.  California
indeed.

"Well,
you're behind, then.  I already heard all about you."

Les's
smile widened, if possible.  Beth would never have thrown Jenna under the
bus like that if she hadn't been sure of Les's affection.  But the fact
that he had rushed over here first thing this morning spoke for itself.
 And, a smart man knew that the way to a woman's heart is through her best
friend.  He was two for two.  Besides, Jenna could be a bit reserved
when it came to outward shows of affection.  This poor guy could be
hanging at Club Clueless for a while.