Jane’s phone buzzed. “Shoot, excuse me for a second. Keep going, Lydia. I just have to take this call. It’s work.”
Jane got up and went to the living room. I could hear her talking to someone on the other line.
Lydia didn’t wait to continue her story. “So, I got in the limo, and-”
“Wait, you just got in a limo with a strange man?” I interrupted. “What were you thinking?”
“You do it every time you get in a cab, Lizzie,” Lydia snapped back at me. “Besides, Mr. Darcy was with him, so I knew it was okay.”
His name hit me like a bag of bricks.
“Mr. Darcy was with him?” I asked, taking a step forward.
“Shoot. I wasn’t supposed to tell you that,” Lydia said. She pouted. “Please forget I said anything about him.”
I blinked twice. How was I supposed to forget something like that? Lydia just sat there, waiting for me to promise. She wasn’t going to continue her story until I said something.
“Okay, what’d I miss?” Jane asked, returning to the table. Lydia looked at me, her arms crossed.
“Lydia got in a limo with a strange man she didn’t know,” I replied. “No one else was in there. Go on, Lydia.”
“Good.” Lydia smiled and adjusted her shoulders to sit taller. “I got in, and he says that he loves my head-shots and that he has the perfect role for me. The part is basically mine. It’s a smaller film, and it’s only a supporting role, but Oprah Winfrey won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her debut role, so I think it’ll be fine. Besides, I think starting in a smaller role really adds to the allure of coming from nothing and making it big.”
I just stared at my sister. I didn’t even know where to begin with that. How in the world were we related? There had to have been a genetic mix-up somewhere.
“What happened with Wickham?” Jane asked, bringing the conversation back to where we started.
“Oh, right.” Lydia took a breath. “Since I had met with Abram, oh- he asked me to call him Abram, I didn’t need to meet with the producer that night. In fact, Abram told me not to. He had me get on a plane and come home right away so I can start preparing for my role.”
If nothing else, I liked this Abram. He got my sister to come home.
“I got to fly home on a private jet,” Lydia continued. “It was Abram’s. By coincidence, he happened to have bought it from your friend Mr. Darcy last year. It felt so luxurious and right to be on ther
e. I don’t think I can ever fly normally again.”
“How nice,” I replied. There was more to this story than Lydia was telling me and most of it revolved around Mr. Darcy. What in the world had he done to bring my sister home? I could only imagine what hiring an agent like Abram must have cost.
I sat down hard on one of the kitchen chairs and looked over at my sister. She had no idea what Mr. Darcy had done for her.
“What are you looking at me like that for?” Lydia crossed her arms.
“Do you have any idea how lucky you were?” I asked her. I thought of all the bad things that had gone through my mind and shuddered.
“Well, yeah.” Lydia grinned innocently. “I just got my big break.”
I just sighed. She had no clue how close she’d come to losing that innocence.
“And don’t worry, Lizzie, you’re invited to all my premiers.” She smiled at me. “You and Jane are family. You two are going to get the perks of my fame. Like free sunglasses.”
I couldn’t help but shake my head and smile. Somehow, she managed to make me not want to murder her again with the simple promise of sunglasses.
“I’m going to go freshen up and then head to the gym,” Lydia announced. “I have to look good for next week.”
She grinned at Jane and me, and then bounced off to her room. Her long brown ponytail swung happily from side to side as she went. I just stared at her, glad she was still the same old Lydia. It was so much better than the alternative.
“Well, that wasn’t what I was expecting,” Jane commented as Lydia closed her bedroom door.
“Yup,” I agreed.