Jane Actually

as something of a shock, though.”
    “You have no idea. About that, I actually came here to tell you I was leaving.”
    “Leaving what? You mean the AGM.”
    “Yes. I’m …” But as he struggled to explain, he realized it sounded rather petty. “I am upset with Jane, for not being honest with me.”
    Stephen briefly considered this. “Well, yeah, but you have to see it from her side. It would be a lot to expect … I mean it would be pretty hard to convince someone that you’re the Jane Austen.”
    “That’s not what upsets me. I mean it is, but there’s more to it.”
    Stephen looked down at his food, hardly touched. It was getting hard to concentrate. “OK, what else is there?”
    Albert then explained to Stephen about Jane’s fake job.
    “That’s kind of cute. Jane Austen—working girl.”
    “I think you miss the point. She made up this story because … she’s no longer interested in me.”
    “That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard.”
    Albert was about to object to this characterization of Jane when he realized what Stephen meant.
    “No one’s going to make up a story like that if they don’t … you know … have feelings for you.”
    “You really think so?” Albert asked.
    “You’re upset for another reason,” Stephen prompted.
    Albert took a moment to reply. He suddenly realized that Jane’s confession at least negated his original worry. “I thought … that maybe … she might be seeing someone else.”
    “You’re a glass half full kind of guy, aren’t you?”
    “What?”
    “What I said before. Jane got in over her head and for some stupid reason made up this elaborate story …”
    “But she kept missing chats … or she cut them short … or we never set a date.”
    “And how long did this go on?”
    “Months.”
    “Look, Albert, you’re making me reassess my evaluation of you as a smart guy. When a woman needs to shoot a guy down, she does it. Anyway, what explanation did she give?”
    Albert’s conviction that he’d made a horrible mistake increased. “I don’t know. We haven’t talked. I sent her an email.”
    “That’s a little harsh. It’s like breaking up by text.”
    “I didn’t want to say something stupid in a chat.”
    “OK, so what did you say?”
    As Albert related the contents of his letter to Jane, the growing look of horror on Stephen’s face left him no doubt.
    “I think perhaps I have made a terrible mistake.”
    “No shit, Sherlock. Did you even tell her you love her?” Stephen surprised himself with the question. Up to now, he’d been reluctant to ask Albert if he loved Jane. Albert pretended to be surprised by the question as well.
    “What? No, of course not. What a ridiculous suggestion? How can there be love between such as us?”
    “Wow, love is blind, isn’t it? OK, we’ve got to find a way to fix …”
    “Hey, sorry I’m late, Stephen,” a new voice said in Stephen’s ear. Stephen looked at his terminal and realized another of his roommates had arrived.
    “What have I missed?” asked WalkLikeADuck.
    1 Well pleased, for our American cousins

So the drama
“What poor love can two ghosts have?”
    “W ell of course you should have told him, but he should have understood why you didn’t,” Mary told Jane. “And it was pretty inconsiderate to send you this letter just before your keynote,” she added.
    Jane looked at her friend and saw that Mary’s eyes were bright with anger, and she thought how close they had grown.
    “I think he was unaware of the consequences when he wrote it,” Jane said in defence of Albert.
    “Well that’s just perfect, isn’t it? It’s your most important speech tomorrow and he dumps you …”
    Mary instantly regretted her words. It wasn’t clear at all that Albert had “dumped” Jane. He had only made clear how hurt he was at his belief that Jane had betrayed him.
    “I … I don’t think he … I shouldn’t have said that. Oh God, I’ve gone and made it worse.” Now her anger was gone and was replaced by a mortified look.
    “Don’t worry, I had already contemplated that Albert’s affections for me …” But now Jane’s attempt to comfort Mary only made her feel the hurt more keenly. Even without a body, she felt the sting of tears well up inside her.
    And for just that brief second, Jane existed for Mary like she had never done before. She longed to reach out for her friend and squeeze her hand to let her know she comprehended the depth of their mutual despair.