Something Borrowed - Emily Giffin [133]
"No. It never is."
"And it all happened so fast. One minute I thought I was going to a wedding on Saturday. Next minute, no wedding, I get to be with Dex, Darcy is with Marcus, and she's having his baby. It is nuts."
"I can't believe she's pregnant… Shit! That girl!" he says, with some amusement.
"I know."
"Never a dull moment."
"I know… I think I might miss that about her."
"Yeah. Well. Maybe she'll come around."
"Maybe."
He clears his throat. "Although I doubt it."
"Me too."
"So Marcus and Darcy." He whistles. "That's certainly a twist."
"Yeah. You're telling me! But I can actually see it now… It makes sense. She was always railing at Dex for working too hard. And Marcus takes the opposite approach."
"And you're more like Dex."
"Yeah. So much for the 'opposites attract' theory."
"Sounds like everything may have worked out for the best. Except for James, that is. He'll be wrecked."
"Yeah, right," I say.
"And of course, I'm a little disappointed."
"Why?"
"I thought you were going to move here."
"Who knows? Maybe I still will."
"And leave Dex?"
"He can come with me."
"Think he'd do that?"
"Maybe."
Maybe he loves me enough to follow me anywhere.
I hang up and start my assignments, signing on to Lexis, skimming and highlighting case after case. I keep checking my e-mail and waiting for the phone to ring. At first I think it's Dex I am waiting for, but then I pick up the phone and call him, and still have an empty, aching feeling. That's when I realize that it's Darcy I am waiting to hear from. I expect her to call at any minute. Yell at me, say mean things to me, but talk to me. Communicate in some way. But my phone does not ring as I work through lunch. Around four o'clock, I finally get a call.
"Rachel?" Claire bellows into the phone.
I roll my eyes. "Hello, Claire."
"What in the world is going on?" she asks, pretending to be foggy on the exact details. I know that Darcy has put her up to this call. Maybe she is even listening to me now. It is pure, classic Darcy. I think of all the times in high school when she cajoled Annalise and me to undertake such assignments.
I do not take the bait. I briskly tell Claire that I have to be in court in thirty minutes, and don't have time to discuss the situation with her.
"Okay…" Her disappointment at the lack of juice is palpable. "Call me back when you can…"
Don't hold your breath.
"I just feel terrible for both of you. You've been friends for too long…" Her voice is dripping with false empathy. She is relishing her new position as Darcy's best friend. I picture them wearing the "best friend" necklaces. If anyone could bring them back into fashion, it is Darcy and Claire.
"Uh-huh." I give nothing away. Claire will be the one worthwhile casualty of my split with Darcy. I don't have to pretend to like her anymore.
It is Wednesday night. Three days after the confrontation. Dex and I are curled up in bed when the phone rings. This will be Darcy, I think. I both crave and fear her call, a call that might never come.
I answer nervously. "Hello?"
"Hi, Rachel."
It is Annalise. She sounds tired, and for a second I think it's because Darcy has dragged her into our saga. I prepare myself for a tentative, mousy, Annalise-style lecture. Instead I hear a baby unleash a wail in the background.
"It's a girl," Annalise says. "We had a girl!"
Darcy was right, is my first thought, before I become weepy. I am overcome by the news. My friend is a mother. "Congratulations! When?"
"Two hours ago. Eight-forty-two. She's six pounds, four ounces."
"What's her name?"
"Hannah Jane… Jane after you and Darcy."
Our friendship with Annalise and the middle name Jane are two of the only things that Darcy and I still share.
"Annalise, I am so touched," I say. "You never told me you were considering Jane."
"It was a surprise."
"Hannah Jane. It's a beautiful name."
"She is beautiful."