Chapter 1
Based on "Hannah and Her Sisters"
'God, she's beautiful.'
His eyes were on the short brunette in the red sweater talking animatedly to another woman who looked slightly like her. She was tilting her head to the side, smiling brightly while playing with the napkin she was holding her glass with.
'She has such pretty eyes...I just gotta go up to her and tell her I'm in love with her...Stop it, you idiot! She's...she's your ex-wife's sister!'
But then he did almost swoon when she went past him in the doorway. His eyes had nearly jumped out of their sockets when she did so and he had to master himself not to just grab her right then and there. How could anyone be so lovely? He glued his eyes on the carpet as he leaned against the wall and tried not to gawk at her.
"William, are you all right?" His eyes immediately left the floor and found his wife's.
"Yes, I just..."
"Have you tried these? Kitty made them!"
He looked at the delicacy his wife had in his hand and picked it up, looking at it and inspecting it before he put it into his mouth.
"What is it?"
"It's...um..." His wife grabbed the arm of another young woman that flew by him carrying a plate.
"What's the name of these again?"
Kitty smiled brightly at her. "It's clam!"
"Clam, dear." William's wife repeated, this time turning to him again. She gently placed her arm around his waist while his went automatically around her shoulders. He glanced at the cheerful brunette, who by this point had finished the drink she had been having and was now playing with the glass as well.
'God, Lizzie, if you had any idea of how wonderful you are...'
Caroline hadn't been leaning against her husband's body for more than five minutes when Kitty, the fourth of her husband's ex-wife's five sisters approached her again. Good friends that they were, Caroline smiled again at the young woman.
"Carrie, I need to talk to you, in private."
Caroline looked up at William, but he seemed to have wandered off again. She waved a hand over his eyes and he nearly jumped out of his skin. He turned to her with a sly grin.
"What?"
"Kitty's asked to talk to me in private."
He grinned at the somewhat eager girl. "All right. But it's not use, Kit, she's going to tell me all about it anyway."
Kitty grinned, picked up Caroline's hand and pulled her away to the kitchen. Once they were there, Kitty kicked a few of the family's kids out and started fumbling with something that was in the oven.
"You see, me and Jane want to start this catering thing. Lydia's still in school so there's absolutely no way she could lend us money, Lizzie's been...well, Lizzie's doing her stuff with 'whatever-his-name-is', Mary is always broke, and Jane has her issues. I don't have any money anyway and so...Iwaskindathinkingofaskingyou."
Caroline who had been listening attentively only smiled. "Sure, honey! There's no problem at all...unless you're asking me because Jane's broke and needs money for drugs!"
"No way! Jane's Jane. I need it for the catering!"
"How much is it?" Asked Caroline.
"Two thousand dollars."
"Two thousand!"
"Well, we need it also because of the uniforms and stuff...please, Carrie, we'll get it back to you in no time. We just need it to get started. We already got a job next week...Please?"
"All right, all right..."
"So...how have you been, Liz?"
She was startled. But then, he always seemed to sneak up on her and just blurt some question out. Usually it was a kind inquiry on how she was or what she had been doing, but in the previous months he had begun to act a little more tense than he had ever been. It probably had to do with his job, but then, one never knew.
"F-fine. I've been thinking of taking some courses at the university. Sociology, psychology, that stuff... You?"
"Oh, never been better. How's George?"
She squeezed the glass she had in her hand a little tighter. He always asked her about George, but whenever he said his name he did it with something different in it. Almost as if the word didn't quite fit into his mouth.
"He's okay. A little depressed lately, but that's George. He sold a picture yesterday, so he got a little better."
He looked around himself a bit and saw with some relief that her sisters were already setting the table for dinner.
"Why didn't he come?"
"I don't know. I guess he wanted to finish a painting or something. He's been working on nudes. The one he sold was actually one of those. To tell you the truth, they're all of me, but you can't really tell - Will, you're all red!"
"Am I? Must be the heater."
"I'm gonna tell Mom to turn it down."
'I could swear he was blushing.'
"No, no, that's okay."
"Nah, it's all right. I feel like a steamed vegetable in here, anyway."
The piano started playing and everyone present gathered in the living room of the New York apartment. As usual, the player was an elderly man who had his wife at his side and a few of his grandchildren around his feet. The few where were regulars at this type of gathering knew all the songs he played by heart and were quietly mouthing the lyrics.
"Mom and Dad got started on the 'for-old-times'-sake' routine." Said Kitty.
"Tell me about it. Next time let's get a tape recorder and then they won't have to sing again. Ever!"
"Elizabeth!"
She laughed. A blonde in a turtleneck appeared while taking off an apron over her head.
"What are you guys laughing about?" She asked.
"Liz was saying we should buy a tape recorder for Mom and Dad. That way they can retire."
"That wasn't very nice." The blonde admonished.
"So, Kit told me you guys want to get started in this catering thing. Are you guys trading the stage for the kitchen, then?"
"Well, we gotta eat, right, Jane?"
"But you guys were doing fine!" Said Elizabeth. "When was the last time any you guys got a job?"
Jane and Kitty looked at each other.
"September." Kitty said.
"July."
"Did you go to those auditions stoned, Jane?"
"No, I didn't! God, I even quit smoking...Why isn't George here?"
"He's depressed. He's depressed even on Thanksgiving, so he decided to stay home and paint. Where's Mary?"
"She's still with a patient. Those nut cases don't have any mercy on her. Can you believe they actually beep her?"
Chapter 2
The plaque on the door said it all. "Dr. Mary A Bennet - Psychiatrist." Inside, a brown-haired woman sat on a chair in a neatly decorated office. Behind her there was a huge window with a view to a cluster of tall buildings. On the walls, there was what seemed to be a nude painting of a woman, a gathering of diplomas, and on the balcony behind the chair, a phone and a framed picture of five women.
"So you are a hypochondriac?" She asked.
The blond man with a pair of black-rimmed glasses tried to smile but couldn't. His eyes were intently gazing at the picture of the five women.
"Yes. No. Well, my father is the hypochondriac in the family. I just run to hospitals when I don't feel good."
"You sound hypochondriac enough to me. Are you interested in any of my sisters, Mr. Bingley?"
The man blushed slightly. "No...It's just that one of them seems slightly familiar."
Mary reached for the picture and gave it to him. "Which one?"
"The blonde."
"That's Jane."
"Jane! I was trying to remember her name. She's my brother-in-law's ex-wife. That would make you his ex-sister-in-law...Are related in some way, then?"
Mary shut off the tape recorder on the arm of the chair. "You're Caroline's brother?"
"Yes!"
"I knew that name was familiar! Why did you come here?"
"I had no idea! How was I supposed to know? There are a thousand Bennets in New York City! And I don't talk that much to Caroline anyway."
"Why not?"
"We don't get along."
"Why?"
"Because she got converted."
"From Judaism?"
"Yes, didn't you know that?"
"I knew she was Jewish, but I didn't know she had a brother."
"Now you know. She doesn't talk about me?"
"No, why would she talk about a brother who claims he's an atheist and yet doesn't get along with her because she got converted to Catholicism?"
Charles Bingley got up from his seat. "I see you're not a good shrink anyway..."
'You stupid idiot, you're acting like...like an obsessed freak! She'll never go out with you this way! And who said you're gonna have the guts to ask her out, anyway?'
He watched her as she got out of the building from across the street, her skirt blowing around her as the cold wind hit her fully. Even from this distance he could see that her cheeks were pink from the cold weather. He tried not to be seen and ran on the opposite direction, only to turn around the block, causing many passers-by to look at him quizzically. A gorgeous-looking twenty-eight-year-old running through Greenwich Village was enough to draw looks anywhere.
Panting, he got to the other side of the block. He tried to catch his breath just he saw the vision wearing pigtails, a hat, an Indian-looking skirt, and a huge crocheted-coat.
"Lizzie, hi!"
She smiled brightly at him. "Hey, Will! What are you doing here?"
"I'm uh...looking for a bookstore - something to do - so I can kill off some time. I'm supposed to meet my brother-in-law at four, but it's only three."
"I don't think there are any bookstores around here," she said frowning.
"What are you...oh, you live nearby!"
"Yeah. Near the old apartment Jane and me shared before you guys got hitched. I think you remember that well."
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do."
"How's Caroline?"
"She's fine."
"I didn't know she had a brother."
"I just found out myself. Turns out the guy went to college with me."
"No kidding!"
"Yeah, well..."
"You know what? I have some time to kill off before my A.A meeting starts, so we can have a cup of coffee."
"You're still going to those meetings? But you don't drink a drop of alcohol anymore!"
"...So it turns out Jane's got a burned cake, Lydia's half-way into labor and screaming her guts out at anyone who tries to calm her down. Mary couldn't come down from above the window because she accidentally kicked the ladder - she's still fighting with those lights - Kitty was trying not to cry while this is going on... And I'm in the shower and listen to this: I was half-way shaving my legs. So Kitty barges into the bathroom, scares the heck out of me, and I run the razor sideways on my ankle. So now, besides Jane being high and Lydia having a baby, I'm bleeding like there's no tomorrow."
"And Mary's still stuck in the window."
"Exactly."
William laughed. "I wish I could have been there."
"That was before you met Jane. I mean, I was a sophomore in college then, I think. But I guess this is typical Bennet Christmas."
"I spent two Christmas with you and it was never like this."
"That's because Dad usually got you, George, and whoever it was the girls brought, in the living room, away from us. You would have been surprised to see what we did last Christmas."
"What did you do?"
Elizabeth was going to answer when William's eyebrows suddenly jolted up as he looked at the door. Elizabeth turned to see what had got his attention and she saw a blond guy with huge glasses entering the café they were. He saw William, frowned when he saw her, but approached the table anyway.
"Hi, William."
"Hey, Charles. This is Elizabeth Bennet - I just ran into her - she's my ex-"
"Wife's sister," completed Charles then he looked up as if talking to God, "another one?"
Elizabeth frowned. "What do you mean another one?"
Charles stared at his feet for a while. "I just saw your psychiatrist - I mean, I'm sorry, your sister."
"Mary?"
"That's her."
"Why did you go see her?"
"Because I have, um, issues."
"No, I meant why of all psychiatrists in New York, did you go see especially her?"
"I just picked her name out of the phone book. Must be one of those subconscient things. I didn't know she was your sister."
"Why did Caroline never mention you?"
Charles pulled a waitress by her sleeve. "Please, anything with alcohol in it would be fine. Thank you." He smiled momentarily at an angry Elizabeth. "It's not you, it's my sister. Incredible what these shrinks can do."