Disclaimer: I own nothing here- All characters belong to Jane Austen/Bernie Sue in terms of their LBD revamp. And I think I may have quoted John Green and J.K. Rowling somewhere in the mix. In short, this is what rattles around in my deranged fangirl mind before I sleep at night.
Lizzie sits in the corner at the Pemberley Digital annual mixer. She arrived alone. She is supposed to meet Darcy here, and Lydia, who is visiting San Francisco with a friend. Lizzie is happy that her younger sister seems more upbeat in recent days, and their relationship is stronger than ever. They're both running late, she notes, glancing at her watch. The party around is subdued, elegant and cool , in that indefinable way the rest of Pemberley Digital is.
Her father once said that she was oft a connoisseur for human folly but at the moment she was trying to refrain. Whilst the party hums around them, one of the interns, Cathy was beginning make her want to laugh with her crazy conspiracy theories. Lizzie bites her tongue when she wants to crack a joke about her young companion's naiveté but deliberately takes a moment to re-evaluate. Upon closer inspection, instead sees the innocent humour in the situation and ends up smiling with gentility. Through no fault of her own, the young Miss Morland eventually stumbles upon exactly the topic Lizzie has been hoping to avoid.
"I wouldn't normally talk this way, I mean Darcy seems like a really nice guy. But his family…I mean there's gotta be a story there."
"Ah…uh story?"
"Yeah, Henry, tell her what you were saying to me the other day."
A young man with dark hair and a gentle smile joins their table. "Catherine," His eyebrow quirks, "What are you telling Miss Bennet?"
"Well, I was merely saying Darcy plays his cards quite close to his chest. Especially when it comes to his sister and his family. Actually…a lot like you."
"Me?" Henry Tilney shrugs, a little too innocently. Lizzie narrows her eyes. From their interplay, she can now see that he has spent some time stoking her innocent curiosity because he finds it sweet and amusing, and secretly hopes it backfires at him someday. "You were talking about Darcy, Cathy. Stay on point." He smiles indulgently.
"Oh yes, so his sister seemed so upset around the time of that Domino launch and no one was allowed to ask why. And then all of a sudden…Darcy takes a leave of absence! Darcy never takes leave. I mean," Her eyes seem far off, conjuring possibilities. "…there has to be a story there, right?"
Lizzie is careful to seem impartial, she has come back to complete her shadowing. Darcy and her had agreed it was best his employees not know about their relationship for the duration of it, lest it affect her working environment or lead people to think she was receiving any undue favours. She appreciates his forethought. As usual, his consideration for her best interests, his protectiveness is unerringly appealing to her.
They have discussed, on and off whether it might be prudent to take down her videos. Her thesis project is over now. She's submitted it and Doctor Gardiner's initial opinion had been favourable, so there was really no need to leave them up. But it has been difficult for her to consider taking them down for good. The videos have been such a big part of her life for so long, a place to vent, people that she knew were watching, and an instigator of some of the best and worst things to happen to her. They tell her story.
"Lizzie?" Catherine prompts, waiting for an answer.
"Sorry, what were you saying?"
"I was asking whether you thought there was something a bit untoward about the way Mr Darcy has been acting lately."
"Well, I don't know about that," Lizzie shrugs.
"How do you know him, Lizzie. You're friends with his sister, right?"
"Uh right…we met through mutual friends. Well, his best friend was dating my sister. It's a funny story actually."
Cathy leans in closer and smiles, begging with her eyes for Lizzie to continue. She's not a bad sort, impressionable and curious, kind of like a kitten.
Lizzie sighs. "So Bing and Jane. It started at this wedding back home…" As Lizzie weaves the tale, conveniently leaving out any points of contention or burgeoning romance with Darcy she does not notice that more of the relaxed employees who aren't dancing or eating join her table, listening in to the story. You're a natural storyteller, William had told her. She supposes he had been right.
"Wow," A girl interrupts. "Well I personally agree with your friend Charlotte, Jane should definitely have been more obvious about her feelings. I mean…real love isn't subtle and restrained. It's passionate and unbridled."
"Hush Marianne, let Lizzie finish."
"Jeez, I'm just expressing an opinion."
"One that I disagree with." The second woman states. "Jane was acting in a way wholly appropriate to the situation. I mean, would you expect her to go running around shouting her love from the rooftops. See, Fanny is shaking her head." Lizzie catches sight of a blonde trying to shrink away from the attention. "She agrees with me."
"Elinor, you are far too passive. And so is Fanny."
Lizzie continues, explaining that Bing was then convinced to leave by some mutual friends. She can say this with levity now. It had taken them a while to iron out all the resentment (on her part) and defensiveness (on his) but Darcy and Lizzie have gotten past his interference. They have arrived at a point of understanding, wherein she can see what he had been trying to achieve, and even love him for it even if he is not entirely that man anymore. They have both evolved beyond this rift in their foundations.
"Idiot." This time it is a male voice interrupting her story.
"Excuse me?"
"This Bing guy. He was persuaded to leave someone he loved so easily?"
"Well," Lizzie admits. "I was pretty upset at that too at the time but-"
"Sometimes it may take someone longer than others to go back to the people that they love. And it's difficult to break away from the expectations of friends or family towards someone you're not totally sure shares your affections." Henry Tilney breaks in. "I mean- or so I would assume." Cathy stares at him.
"That may be so-" The newcomer admits, "But I could not put up with such fickleness of character."
"You're approaching intensity, there Wentworth…would you relax?"
Elinor, Marianne and Cathy make room for the woman who has just sat down. Lizzie recognises Emma Woodhouse from the Pemberley smartapp commercials, she's sort of the unofficial face of Pemberley. Pretty and sharp, but sometimes slow on the uptake.
"Wait, where are you going?" Fanny says to a companion that leaves the gathering, Lizzie only has time to catch a glance at a retreating woman. Wentworth watches the woman go with a dark look in his eyes but Emma chirps on.
"Wentworth, I was thinking…have you met my friend, Frank Churchill. He's a real awesome guy."
"Huh?"
"He's so obliging and kind, the other day he helped me put together a dresser."
"What's your point, Emma?"
"Fred, I just meant that you're both single. So…why don't you get to know each other?"
"Emma, I'm not gay."
"You're not?"
"No."
"Emma, Frank isn't gay either…he's trying to get into your pants." George Knightley adds.
"What? No way." She looks befuddled. Clueless.
"I'm pretty sure he has your photo-shoot posters plastered to his cubicle." Lizzie put in.
"Oh God, I let him help me shift my underwear drawer." Emma slams her head onto the table.
Lydia finally arrives, towing her friend along with her. "Wow, my nerdy older sister actually has friends," She throws her arms around Lizzie for a brief hug before taking in all the available 'man-cakes' in their vicinity. It is an abnormally attractive gathering. Lizzie is glad that in a lot of ways, Lydia is returning to the fun-loving girl she once was. Although, she hopes that while she is visiting she will not stay long in Marianne's presence as she has a feeling they would exacerbate each other in the worst way. Lizzie introduces her younger sister to everyone, then meets Lydia's friend Harriet.
Emma immediately sits next to the pair, trying to recover from her folly in misjudging Frank and Fred and instead gives Harriet some gratefully received fashion advice.
"And that top in athropologie would look amazeballs on you." Emma enthuses, showing the younger girl a picture on her phone.
"Totes." Lydia agrees.
"Muslin? Nice." Tilney approves. Before Emma can ask him, "And no, I'm not gay either." He stands up and asks Cathy to dance, whether to prove the point or because he'd been subtly working up to it is unknown to all except to Lizzie who had caught the little looks. She still forgets nothing.
"Did you get in from the airport okay?" She asks her younger sister.
"Yes, mom." Lydia rolls her eyes, obviously knowing that calling her mom is the thing that annoys Lizzie the most. "When is Dar-" Lizzie nudges her "Darvid getting here?"
Lizzie checks her phone. Running late, sorry. I hope it's not too uncomfortable but I' m sure by now you've made more friends than I could have introduced. Love you. See you soon. Of course he texts in full prose. She tries to hide her blush at the intimacy of the message but fails because Emma is looking at her again with an inscrutable look on her face.
Lizzie tries to circumvent the girl before she can guess. And since her new years' resolution is not to judge people so harshly or so quickly she decides she wants to understand something better. "What is your interest in playing matchmaker?" She asks genuinely.
"I-well…"
"She's got too many cylinders firing at all times." George Knightley helps her out, his tone bemused. "She could do anything she wants with that brain but her sentimentality wins out."
"I deserve neither such censure nor such praise, good sir." Emma teases, finding her voice again.
"Ooh good line." Lizzie takes mental note of it.
"Yeah well, it's more to do with that triumphant feeling you get when you've helped people find one another. It's truly satisfying to know that you've helped people along to who they were meant to end up with. And yes, it makes me feel a little clever, but as long as I can continue to grow and learn from my experience, where is the harm in wanting a happy ending for every one?"
"Holla!" Lydia laughs.
Emma frowns, "You made it dirty."
"It was dirty before she got there." Lizzie grins. "But I take your point. There are worse ways to spend your time I suppose. She watches Cathy and Tilney on the dance floor, wishing Darcy were there.
"Care to dance?"
"Ha! You don't dance, George." Emma says.
"Lizzie Bennet, help me prove to Emma how badly done her assumptions are in this matter and I will provide you and your friends with a limousine to the company picnic."
Lizzie shrugs and stands up with George, "Why not?" He twirls her around the dance floor a few times before she politely steers him towards Emma, hoping they will keep one another busy so she can slip out for a minute.
As the cool air hits her she notices her own tall, non-robotic newsie has arrived. He is standing just outside in deep discussion with someone. The woman was the one from earlier, and she seems quite distressed, wiping tears from her face. Lizzie holds back, not meaning to eavesdrop but endeared by Darcy's seldom heard comforting tone.
"…and after all I had done, all I had put her through and said, this wonderful woman managed to forgive me, and even love me. So either I'm the luckiest man on earth, which may be true, but it is equally likely that those traits about ourselves that we subconsciously hate, that we should be ashamed of, we can grow out of. You've persuaded yourself that you're not good enough, Anne, just because you turned him down once. Let me tell you that a good man's heart is not as easily swayed as you may think. And if you still love him, you should not give up. Show him you've changed, that you are resolute, and you have a better chance than I did."
"Thank you, sir." She squares her shoulders, looking determined and turns on her heel, heading back into the party, and hopefully the arms of Wentworth.
Lizzie is almost blown away by a wave of attraction. It takes Darcy a moment to notice her, but she doesn't give him longer than that, and instead throws herself into his arms and kisses him. It is too brief for them both but they are in public and there will be time enough for that later. "That was so sweet." She tells him.
"Uh…how much did you hear?"
"Enough to know what a romantic you are."
"This is news to you?" He raises a thick eyebrow, dark eyes sparkling. "Well you better get used to it. Lobsters mate for life."
She laughs and they walk back into the party, keeping a small distance between them for appearances sake but shooting each other furtive looks. Darcy is greeted with enthusiasm. His employees love him. "Why did you tell Anne our story?" Lizzie asks quietly, when they are alone.
"I thought it would help. Is it okay with you?"
"Yes…I mean I'm just surprised." She searches his eyes for more explanation.
He shrugs, slowly. "Imagine…I fell into a hole in the ground."
"I used to do that when I hated you, now the thought is less appealing."
He chuckles. "But this is a really deep hole. And I start screaming for help. Most people would walk on by, but you hear it and you come up to the edge and see me. And you take a leap and fall and land next to me. So I say, 'Lizzie are you insane? Now we're both stuck in this hole'. And you reply, 'Yes, but now I'm highly motivated to get you out.'. That's what stories do for people. There's a personal connection there…that just transcends a simple conversation. Your stories, our story. I think it could help people." He smiles at her. William Darcy smiling openly is truly a sight to behold.
"So you're saying-"
"I think you should leave your videos up."
She sighs, relieved. "So do I." They look around at the party that is in full swing, amused that people seem to have coupled off. Even Lydia has found a dance partner and all is well.
At Carters bar.
"I wonder what they're doing now. Probably missing me. Especially the ladies." Wickham says to his drinking buddies.
"Heh, you wish. You blew it big time with the sex tape. And by going after that young girl then running away." Willoughby jibes.
"Pot meet kettle." Wickham snaps.
"Yeah well at least we have each other."
"What about your wife?"
"Oh yeah. I suppose I have her too."
"Lucky you." Frank Churchill grates. "My wife started to annoy me after a week."
"Marriage is a waste of time, when you can get it for free." Captain Tilney sneers.
"Unless the marriage is strategic." William Elliot demures.
"Wives are pretty" Henry Crawford adds.
"Oh damn, they found us. Guys we gotta get out of here." Wickham panics. "It's Jing!"
Jane and Bing step into Carters and catch sight of the rabble. "There they are," Jane smiles and waves at the group. "It's so good to see you all. Okay, everyone. Welcome to d-bag rehab. Don't worry, I know you're all good people underneath."
"And you will get through this." Bing nods.
"Eventually, you're all going to be honest, faithful, loving and productive members of society. Now…I think it's time we all switch to tea and start talking about where you went wrong."