From Pemberley to Manhattan [COMPLETED]

Chapter 34

Bobby

It felt like the world had stopped spinning, time itself had denied moving forward, like all colors had turned into shades of boring gray. No, I wasn't being a Mr. Whiny. You should try living two whole days in a blackout, with no electricity, no Netflix, no Instagram, no Facebook and, most importantly, no nude pics from Anna!

I. Was. Pissed.

For the first time ever, I was anxious to go back to work at the restaurant and the bookstore. As all things could always get worse, the night before a huge lighting storm had fried the Met's generator, and my Mom was freaking out because she feared something might happen to the art collection.

I wished Darcy was right and each of us had rooms in the plural, instead of a room in the singular. I'd gotten tired of my ceiling, my posters, my bed, my window, my view. I'd been so bored that same morning I'd even started reading one of Nat's novels! I must've been going out of my mind, honestly. Someone call Oprah! Or Dr. Phil! Both would be best.

My family and I had spent the last couple of days looking at each other's faces (I was getting tired of those, too) and eating everything in our refrigerators. Both our house's and the restaurant's, so none of it would go to waste.

To be fair, we'd distributed lots of food to the homeless people we'd taken in. They'd been sleeping in the restaurant, so they'd be protected from the unforgiving storm. Still, there was a lot of food.

Basically, I was too bored, too full, and sleepless. What did I decide to do, one might ask? Smoke pot, obviously. I left my room and moped around, until I found myself facing the glass double doors that lead to the balcony. Since the rain had ceased for a couple of hours, it would be nice getting some fresh air. I opened the doors and took a step outside. The air was humid and refreshing, and I considered myself an idiot for not thinking of the balcony before.

Apparently, someone had beaten me to it: Darcy was outside, watching the sky.

♥

"You know", Darcy told his friend as he leaned on the rail beside the gentleman, "this is the first time since I came to this century that I have a routine similar to the one in my own present time, even though my surroundings are still extremely modified."

"Then your time must be really boring, dude." Bobby sighed sadly, making a half-smile appear on Darcy's lips. He was becoming attached to Robert and his family, no matter how inopportune he knew those feelings to be.

"It is not boring, Robert." Darcy countered serenely. "Not for me. It is a comfortable rhythm of life for me. In this time of yours I feel as if everyone around me moves faster, and I am always searching for a way to..."

"Catch up with us?", Bobby helped.

"Yes, I believe that is the precise expression for what I mean to convey. Events were happening with such a speed I found myself with no time to read, no time to study the hundreds of years I've missed. For instance, in the last few days, I took the liberty of reading one of your brother's books, only to discover mankind has found its way to the moon."

"Yeah, like decades ago", Bobby chuckled, once more realizing how old Darcy was in theory. And in History, too.

"To me, it is much more than a century ahead", Darcy calculated, his eyes never leaving the moon. "My sister would have been most curious to read about it. She was always fascinated by the stars."

"Oh", Bobby recalled Nat's words, "I'm truly sorry about your sis, Fitz. Nat told me about her passing."

Darcy didn't understand his friend's sorrow for a bit, until he remembered that particular conversation with Miss Nathalie. "No, Robert. Georgiana, my sister, is hopefully alive and well in my present time. What I told your sister is that Georgiana is not alive now. In your time."

"It's your time too, man. At least for now..." Watching Fitz face closely, Bobby noticed there was anxiety in it. More than the usual amount, that was. "You're worried about Georgiana, aren't you? I've seen how protective you can get with the gals." Bobby amusingly evoked the image of Darcy covering girls up with towels back in the Hamptons.

"She's too young. Too innocent." Darcy's eyes left the skies and went directly to his friend's. "A little while ago (considering my present time, of course), she almost ran away and married in secret a deceitful man. She would have ruined her reputation had I not been there to reason with her. He was a disgrace of a man who does not even deserve to be called a gentleman! And to think I once considered him one of my closest friends... He tricked her into believing he loved her, seduced her so she would love him, and, in the end, left her, devastated."

Suddenly, all was clear to Bobby. "So that's why you won't make a move on Nat! You don't want her to go through what your sister went through! You don't want her to fall for you then lose you when you go back to 1811!" He stared at Fitz with admiration. "That's really considerate of you, man. Few fellas would've done the same."

The gentleman was quiet for a moment, not sure how to respond, too tired to deny it. Then he saw something in Robert's hand that left him curious, besides being a good excuse to change the unnerving subject called Miss Nathalie Estevez Brown. "What is that?"

Bobby had forgotten all about the joint he'd brought from his bedroom. "It's like this... Herb... Weed... People from now smoke. You know? We dudes... gentlemen... get together and smoke while we talk about stuff?"

"Interesting. Is it similar to cigars?"

"Yeah, sure..." What else could Bobby have said?

"May I have one? I miss smoking a cigar."

"Sure, but in this century we share them." That would be truly interesting, Bobby considered.

Thanks for reading!

If you liked this chapter, please consider giving it a vote! ;-)

Instagram: laisrodriguesauthor