A modern pride and prejudice. tell me what you think!
It was a truth universally acknowledged that any girl out of a university should never be forced to return to the home of her overbearing mother. Lizzy Bennet instead moved to London to begin her career. It was also a truth universally acknowledged that Mrs. Bennet was a perservering woman who would never leave her daughters alone anyway.
The London flat Elizabeth Bennet shared with her sister Jane and her best friend Charlotte seemed much too small. Yes, they resided in a cheaper (even sleazy, Lizzy had to admit) section of London, and the rooms were quite small. It was just the right low price for three working women, however. Besides, Lizzy had her own bedroom—her goal since she was born into the Bennet household.
But now the flat seemed small because there were four additional people inside; and while four people isn't a crowd, four Bennets is always too many.
"Lizzy! Lizzeeeeeee!" shrieked Mrs. Bennet.
"What is it, mum?" Lizzy asked as she stepped out of the shower. Mrs. Bennet never bothered to telephone when she wanted to visit, an annoyance of Lizzy's in particular. Lizzy had taken to shutting the blinds on the weekend and ignoring the persistent ringing of the doorbell. The rule of thumb was that she, Jane, and Charlotte would never answer the door right away. If the person on the other side knocked politely after a few moments, they would admit the visitor. If instead there ensued obnoxious banging and ringing of the doorbell (and the occasional "Lizzy! I know you're in there, open up!"), it was Mrs. Bennet.
And it need not be explained that no one was ever to open the door for Mrs. Bennet if she could help it (though Jane caved in more often than not, damn her!).
It came then as a surprise when Lizzy heard the voice of her mother from within the shower stall. When she was finished she came out, hair dripping, to greet her mother. She supposed she hadn't locked the door of the apartment, which she always did, not because of her mother but because it was practicing good safety measures. Especially when one lived in the seedy area where she did. Not seedy, she mentally chastised herself. It's just the first step in getting my own place. It's not like I'll be living here forever.
"Oh, there you are, Lizzy. I was just telling Jane how you should really keep your doors locked at all times, especially in this area of London. With three women living here all alone—"
"Yes, we should have locked it," Jane agreed.
"Lizzy!" cried Lydia and Kitty at once and they practically slammed into their sister and threw their arms around her. Mary was already perched on a kitchen chair she had moved to Lizzy's keyboard next to the tv, and had dusted off most of the keys before warming up with a Mozart symphony.
"—hear stories all the time of strange men having their way with young women, and in their own houses, too!"
"I know, mum, I work for a newspaper."
"Speaking of which, I do wish you'd find a job at Longbourn. Your dad misses you, you know, and so do I. And Jane could come too, and then I wouldn't have to worry about the two of you here, all alone in a big city..."
"Mum, there aren't any journalists in Longbourn."
"Why, of course there are! You think you have to go to a big city to be a journlist? Bah! We have our own Longbourn Gazette, as you well know—"
"Yes, mum, with a grand total of two staff members that report on the weather and local news. I want to be an international coorespondant, mum. You know that."
"And what is your position now?" Mrs. Bennet asked snidely. "The last articles you wrote were about those Chinese pandas at the London Zoo, Ling-Ling and Chang-chong."
"Ching Ching and Chia Chia," Lizzy corrected under her breath. It was still a sore spot. She still couldn't believe her boss had made her report on news of the zoo when her area of expertise was in foreign matters. At twenty-three, she'd worked for the newspaper for two and a half years (one of which was a college internship), and they still stuck her with the unimportant stories, as if she were an intern still. She was a good writer, too, better than some of her superiors. Why was she stuck with all the unwanted stories?
"Well, I have some news, incidentally," Mrs. Bennet said, "and it's news that could affect your future."
Lizzy was used to her mother and couldn't believe this assertion. Mrs. Bennet was known for exaggeration. She went to get a glass of water.
"Well?" Mrs. Bennet said impatiently. "Don't you wish to know?"
"What is the news, mum?" Jane politely asked.
"We've a new neighbor, girls—and he's a young surgeon!" She looked around the small kitchen. "Oh, heavens, Lizzy, there's dirty dishes in the sink...do you always let them pile up like ther? Oh, never mind...but you know what this means, don't you?"
She paused dramatically for effect.
They waited.
"It means he's rich!" Mrs. Bennet burst out triumphantly, unable to contain her jubilance.
Lizzy snorted.
"You know, Jane, he's worked at the hospital where you work, it's amazing your paths have never crossed before. Now he's with a private practice, though, finished his training and now shadowing the best of the best! Now, he'll never want for anything in life! He bought that beautiful brick mansion, you know..." Mrs. Bennet sighed. "If one of my daughters would marry Charlie Bingley! Oh, hello, Charlotte," Mrs. Bennet said, and rather coldly, too, as she realized the twenty-nine-year old was present. Mrs. Bennet wished that Charlotte Lucas had not overheard this priceless bit of information; Charlotte Lucas was a neighbor, too, and might have her eye on Bingley.
Mrs. Bennet left soon after extracting a promise from her two oldest daughters to visit the next week. Then she had to take Kitty and Lydia shopping (and drag Mary along with them) so they could drive back to Longbourn before nightfall. Lizzy gave her a hug before they left. Exasperated as she often became with her mother, she still loved her.
A funny coincidence occurred a week and a half later: the meeting of Jane and Charlie Bingley at the hospital where Jane worked as a nurse. Mrs. Bennet had wanted to invite Bingley to her home for a neighborhood supper party during Lizzy's and Jane's visit, but the man had been away. Charlie Bingley was by then a household object of discussion ("twenty-seven and already so successful, and my, what good looks!"), and Lizzy rather thought his name was burned into her brain. She felt like if she were to actually meet him she would let out some completely stupid exclamation of "You're Charlie Bingley! Rich and good-looking!" and embarrass herself.
Mrs. Bennet was severely disappointed that her oldest daughters, and Jane in particular, weren't able to meet Bingley, and more so when her neighbor Mrs. Lucas phoned to casually announce that Charlotte had the pleasure of meeting Charlie Bingley that very morning.
"William had called Charlie Bingley over because Charlie had mentioned he might be interested in buying a fishing pole from us"—Mr. Lucas made fishing poles, as a hobby—"because he was leaving to spend some quality time with a friend, see, and they both wanted to go fishing. As you know, Charlotte and your girls had just arrived the night before here at Longbourn, so naturally I introduced Charlotte to our new neighbor. I would have invited Jane and Lizzy over to meet him as well, but I thought you'd want to all eat breakfast together."
Mrs. Bennet thought that she'd sacrifice breakfast and dinner for Jane to meet Bingley.
"Well, of course she wouldn't really invite Jane and Lizzy over," Mrs. Bennet said to her husband later. "Not when my daughters are good-looking and Charlotte is plain."
"Mum!" Lizzy said sharply.
Mrs. Bennet loved to gossip with Mrs. Lucas, but both were very competitive when it came down to their daughters.
But Mrs. Bennet only had to be patient (a feat, indeed), for Jane ran into Bingley the following week.
Charlie Bingley performed complicated surgeries under the tutelage of Dr. William Grange, a well-known surgeon who had fixed the feet and legs of many British football players. Currently Bingley had to travel with Grange to London for a surgeon conference, with stops in several London hospitals to give presentations of their own (well, Grange was the main attraction; Bingley was just his humble helper). On a lunch break in one hospital Bingley had come across Jane and asked to buy her a cup of coffee.
"Lizzy, guess who I met today?" Jane asked very casually, so casually you'd think it meant nothing to her at all; Jane was reserved, not prone to showing her excitement all the time. She was pretty much the antithesis of Lydia.
"Hmmm..." Lizzy pretended to consider. "The Queen of England."
"No."
"David Beckham?"
"Getting closer."
Lizzy laughed, not realizing that her sister was being serious. "David Bowie?"
Jane had a weird look on her face. "Why is he at all related to David Beckham?"
"They've got the 'David' in common."
Jane giggled. "Oh, Lizzy. Nice guess, but actually this person is very good friends with footballer Will Darcy."
"Really?" All Lizzy knew about Will Darcy was that he played for Arsenal. At least, she thought he did. But she was curious nonetheless. "Who is it, then?"
Jane looked like she was brimming with excitement. "I had a cup of coffee with Charlie Bingley."
"You don't drink coffee. Really, who was it?"
"Charlie Bingley."
Lizzy inspected Jane's face for any sign of amusement. "You're serious? The Charlie Bingley? Two-years-older-than-you-and-good-looking-and-rich-neighbor Charlie Bingley?'"
"Yes, and you wouldn't believe what a fool I sounded like at the beginning. He invites me to get a cup of coffee after introducing himself, and all I can say is, 'Charlie Bingley? Do you live near Longbourn?'"
Lizzy cracked up.
"And then—and of course he was a little surprised—he said yes, he just moved there, and I told him my name and that my mother mentioned that we had a new neighbor named Charlie Bingley, once or twice—"
"—or twenty—"
"And that he was in the medical profession. So we talked, and I drank coffee, even though I normally don't, and...he's a very nice person," she finished rather lamely.
"I still cannot believe you met Charlie Bingley! And is he as good-lucking as mum claims?"
Jane blushed. "He is. It's not only that, but you can tell from looking into his face that he's a good person. And he's so sincere."
"You like this Charlie Bingley. I can tell."
"Did I mention he's taking me out to dinner Friday?"
Lizzy nearly fell off her kitchen stool. "What? Why didn't you tell me sooner? That's big news!" Jane just smiled sheepishly. "Well, you certainly made an impression on him. Wait 'til mum hears."
They froze. "Oh Lord," Lizzy said.