And They Meet Again
A/N : Pemberley AU Modern (Not set in Pemberley but their meeting after the Hunsford Fiasco) you get the idea, right?
Disclaimer : Miss Jane Austen is the wonderful creator of the characters you can relate to, not me :(
Darcy was on his way to Birmingham to meet his aunt - again. She said it was an emergency and he must come as soon as possible. The flights for the day had already flown so he took the train, First Class of course. He was waiting at the station for the train to arrive when he saw a familiar figure walking towards (presumably) where her coach will be stationed. It was Elizabeth. The familiar figure was Elizabeth. The Elizabeth, who has been tormenting his heart, mind and soul for the past eight months. He couldn't help but follow from a distance. She was walking alone.
She reached her destination and sat in one of the empty chairs. Darcy did not have the courage to go and speak to her so he did the next best thing- gaze at her lovely form. He wanted to talk to her – to hear her lovely voice, to see the twinkle in her eyes but couldn't get himself to do it. He stood there, behind her, just staring.
But it was now or never. She must have read the letter. He has to know what she thinks of him. He cannot bear the fact that Elizabeth would hate him for his whole life. No, she cannot.
I have to talk to her, he thought, stupid first class!
He scanned the area for someone who appeared to be a lone traveler. He thought he would exchange his ticket and work up the courage to talk to Elizabeth.
He found a young man, of about twenty, looking towards him. He walked towards him and offered his hand, "Hi, I am Fitzwilliam Darcy,"
"Mike Hoy, I know who you are sir. I am big fan of your company products," replied the man.
Darcy nodded. "Are you travelling alone?" asked Darcy, smiling for the first time in four months
"Yes,"
"Would you mind terribly if I asked you to switch seats with me?"
"Where is the seat?"
"First class," he replied as he pointed in that direction.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I have a… friend travelling in this coach,"
"Sure,"
They exchanged their tickets.
"Thanks a lot," said Darcy while Mike walked off in the opposite direction.
For the past five minutes Darcy was staring at Elizabeth from behind. She was talking to an old lady who was sitting beside her. She was laughing with her. Oh! How he missed her laughter.
The train finally arrived. Elizabeth went in and sat in her seat. Call it serendipity but the man, Mike, was supposed to sit just behind her. The lady, whom he saw talking to Elizabeth earlier, was now sitting beside her. He entered the train and covered his face with a magazine. He did not want to be caught unprepared.
He sat on his seat and mentally went over with what he was going to say. He could hear her laugh and it was intoxicating him. A young lady slid beside him.
"Hello," she began breaking his reverie.
On being addressed he turned away from the window and looked at the girl, "Hello," he replied.
"Oh! My god Fitzwilliam Darcy," the young girl shrieked and offered her hand, "I should thank my lucky stars. I am Cynthia," Darcy was the owner of a big sports equipment company, a hotel chain and a software company. But he was famous for regularly occurring on the most eligible bachelors list.
He shook her hand and said nothing.
This exclamation was loud enough for Elizabeth to hear; she turned towards him.
He was indeed caught unprepared. But it was now or never.
"Elizabeth,"
"Darcy," she addressed him as Darcy. She still must hate me, he thought.
No one spoke for a whole minute. Cynthia took out her phone and took a photo of Darcy. Now, under usual circumstance Darcy would have snapped, but staring in the eyes of the woman you love was not an ordinary occurrence for him. He hoped he could make it though.
Finally, Darcy spoke, "How are you?"
"I am good… fine… I guess…You?"
"Okay, I guess…How's Jane?"
Cynthia sensed the strain in the situation. She was not the one to linger over Page 3 hot-shots. Darcy was there, albeit unwillingly, but he was there all the same. She broke the looming silence, "Do you want to change seats with me?" she asked Elizabeth.
Darcy's face turned into one of a hopeful person. He looked deep into Elizabeth's eyes and slightly nodded.
"Yes, thank you," finally replied Elizabeth.
They changed places.
"So how've you…" Darcy began at the same moment as Elizabeth, "I am really sorry …,"
"You have no reason to be sorry Elizabeth. Please allow me to apologize," said Darcy.
"What? No… I believe I have to apologize to you Mr. Darcy. After all I said…"
"Elizabeth, after the way I behaved I think you deserve an apology and not bestow one. I am really sorry. Can you ever forgive me?"
"I forgave you a long time ago William," she said looking at her palms.
This gave him hope and he said, "So you no longer hate me?"
"I don't think I ever hated you," said Elizabeth gazing at his form.
"What? Really?"
"Yes, really," replied Elizabeth, "Do you hate me?"
"What? I can never…. Never…never hate you, Elizabeth Bennet,"
"After all I said to you,"
"I deserved it all, if not more,"
"We really should stop talking in puzzles," said Elizabeth with a hint of laughter.
"I believe we should," said Darcy but neither continued the conversation. Each too busy gazing at each other.
"I think we should have some conversation Miss Bennet," said Darcy, referring to their conversation eight months ago. Elizabeth laughed openly at this, "I believe we should Mr. Darcy. What would you like to talk about? Books or weather, perhaps?"
"I was thinking of a more substantial topic – the future, perhaps?" said Darcy with all the confidence; he did not know he had.
"Perhaps," said Elizabeth, "what do you have in mind?"
"Give me another chance, Elizabeth. Would you go out with me?" asked Darcy, "I promise…I will not screw up this time,"
"Even if you do, I am not leaving you so easily this time. I do love red roses, by the way," teased Elizabeth, referring to the infamous declaration – during which Darcy did at least one thing correct – he got the right roses.
Darcy loved her teasing manner, "Well, I did at least that right,"
"Yeah, you did," smiled Elizabeth.
And then dear readers, Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth began their journey, to never end it.
A/N : This just popped into my head. Review please!