She woke up and immediately panicked. She was going to be late on the most important day in her recent life. Recent life, because she considers her birth and even some of her numerous graduations to be a bit more significant than a simple job interview.
The words that came out of her mouth, when she saw the time, would have made a sailor blush. She put on a regular white collar outfit, a black pencil skirt, white blouse and a matching jacket, grabbed her heels (reasonable height, of course, she didn't want to look like a stripper or a stereotypical secretary, who only got the job by sleeping with the boss) and ran out of her flat. Only then she realised she forgot her Oyster card. Usually, it wouldn't be a problem, because she loves to walk and the destination was not far, but today she was late as it is. She loved to arrive at least ten minutes earlier, it did wonders to her stress level, but now it would be a miracle, if she wouldn't be half an hour late. She swore a bit more and headed to the tube, where she lost some more of her very valuable time having a fight with the ticket machine. When she finally got to the platform, she had a nice surprise waiting for her: all trains on the line were delayed. "All hail the effectiveness of The London Transport System!" she muttered to herself sarcastically, "This day couldn't get any worse." But, of course, Lady Fate took that as a challenge.
When she finally reached her destination, sweating from the lack of proper ventilation in the underground, she gave a happy sigh: she was only five minutes late. She entered the glass skyscraper and was met by a cheerful receptionist. "Hello, I'm Clara! How can I be of assistance?"
"Hi, I'm here for an interview, but unfortunately I'm a bit late because the bloody tube can't seem to be on time."
"Oh, you must be Elizabeth then. I have everything prepared for you." The receptionist gave her a security pass and a piece of paper with directions, "Don't worry, that you're late. Mr. Bingley will not mind. He's a kind and understanding person," she added with a huge smile. Lizzy thanked her and headed towards the lifts.
She stood in the metal box heading up to the 67th floor. She was shaking, not because she was claustrophobic, which she isn't, but it had been a while since her last job interview. The fact, that she was currently in a very prestigious firm, was also not helping.
Elizabeth Bennet, to friends Lizzy, was not a stupid woman. To the contrary, she was far from it. As former child genius, at the current age of twenty five, she had twelve academic degrees. She got bored easily, that's why she couldn't obtain only one degree at a time like regular people do. Her most valued academic achievement was her PhD in Neurosurgery; she was the most valued surgeon in the world, but as it was already mentioned, she disliked routine. This is the reason why she found herself in a lift en route to apply to a position of a simple secretary.
ADG International was one of the biggest firms in the world, a strong competitor of the likes of Unilever, Nestle and even Google, with its figurative fingers in every business area thinkable from breakfast foods to the IT sector.
The sudden ping of the lift pulled Lizzy from her reverie. She stepped out and felt her feet shaking. 'This will not do, Lizzy,' she thought to herself, 'You are a strong independent woman with experiences in different fields of work. You are smart and confident and if you do not stop shaking like you come straight out of university I am very disappointed in you.'
She took a deep breath, feeling much calmer, and continued to follow the instructions that nice receptionist cave her. She politely knocked on the door and was asked to enter. Opposite her sat a handsome red-headed man with a big grin stretching all over his face. He asked her to sit in front of a mahogany desk: "Good morning, Miss Bennet, it's really nice to finally meet from face to face after such a long email conversation. I understand that there were delays in the tube again." Seeing the shock on her face he explained: "A co-worker, Miss Long to be more precise, was complaining about it just a few minutes ago."
Lizzy laughed: "Yes, that's correct! I thought it was Fate making my life difficult, but as I understand it is not only my problem."
The interview was quite short. They continued with the similar kind of bantering, with Mr Bingley occasionally asking some more practical questions and making sure that she has what it takes to be good at the job. Approximately five minutes after she entered the office Mr Bingley said: "I have made a decision and I would like to offer you the place." Lizzy accepted immediately. "I'm glad, that that's over," replied obviously relieved Bingley, or Charles as he asked her to call him: "It is unbelievably difficult to find a proper secretary in London to my surprise. To be honest, I haven't told you all about the job, but I hope you won't change your mind. You will be directly working with the CEO of ADG International. I hope you understand why I didn't reveal this before, because if this would've gotten out, all the, and I kid you not, gold diggers would've run amok."
They set the date, when Lizzy would start her work and sign the contract which was in two days. When she started to leave Bingley said: "Could you wait for a moment? I'll see if he's in the office then I could introduce you two."
He left in a hurry and Lizzy had a moment to better observe the office. It was quite unremarkable except for a huge floor-to-ceiling window taking up a whole wall. It had a mesmerising view to the city that Lizzy was in love with. She could've stayed there forever if she didn't hear Bingley's voice approaching the office: "Come on, you'll like the new secretary I've found you. She is intelligent and has a good sense of humour."
"Bingley, I'm really not in a mood to meet with a fickle-minded idiot who knows nothing of the world and was hired only because she has long legs."
Lizzy was immediately mortified, that someone could say something like this about a person who they've never met before, and furious. She would've marched out of the office and slapped the man, when her subconscious caught up with her and draw her attention to the fact that the voice of Bingley's companion was eerily familiar.
During her contemplation, the voices reached the door, the friendly red-head entered: "Good, Elizabeth, you're still here! Let me introduce you to the CEO of our lovely firm, Mr Darcy."
Lizzy heard none of it, because she was in utter shock. She was faced with an Adonis with dark black hair and mesmerising eyes, but most importantly, a face that was very familiar and one she hadn't seen in four years since the day of their wedding in Las Vegas.
