A/N - hey guys, this is a little spin-off from my story 'Lizzie'. I came across this little snippet the other day and figured some sort of 'Lizzie' is better than none! It's set at the end of summer. If you're reading it all for the first time, Stacey is Charlotte, Warren is Mr. Collins and it's all modern day. And... go!
It was almost like betrayal… very almost. And as Stacey sat on an uncomfortable wooden chair in a half-empty Dome café, she clung to the one detail that made it not like betrayal at all.
I want to be married.
She said it once to herself, twice, repeating the words so precisely that they seemed to become unreal, the way words do when you think about them for too long. She wanted a husband, a man to fuss over. At the very least, someone to go to dinner with. And Warren just might be her ticket.
If it didn't work, Lizzie would never find out anyway.
In a flurry, the door creaked open and the strangely dressed man strode in, confident in his quest.
"Warren," she called gently and he turned firstly to his left, then his right, and finally, turned in a complete circle before his eyes fell on her.
"Ah, hmmm, one of these wooden tables. There was nothing left, I suppose, no, you had no other choice. But over there, we'll move to the wall, come now."
Warren grasped her handbag and took his orange-shirted self through the sea of empty chairs, to a booth by the wall. Stacey, dutifully, followed.
Now seated across from each other, Warren briefly peered at this woman, but her inconsequential features failed to keep his attention. "You asked to see me and like the proverbial rabbit out of a hat, here I am."
Stacey repeated her mantra - I want to be married– and replied.
"I'll buy you a coffee, Warren, and then I have a proposition for you."
Coming back to the table with drinks purchased, she waited for Warren to sip his tea and shake his head. "Steeped for far too long, far too long. It is regrettable that my palette is accustomed to only the finest teas, you know, I can never enjoy the simple 'tea of commoners'. You see Mrs. Alliosa ensures our department is always provided with the very best."
"Of course." Stacey spoke again before Warren could rev up for his next soliloquy. "Warren, I'm here to ask you a question."
He barely raised his eyebrows at her and for several moments, his beady eyes focused on the hot liquid in the tea cup, tut-tutting. But where encouragement was slight, Stacey had learnt to forge on ahead.
"Will you… marry me?"
There was no warmth in the question, but neither was there disdain. It was simply the job of a woman to enquire after what she wanted.
Warren sat back with nothing less than a flourish, almost spilling his tea and actually knocking a menu to the floor. He stared at her with a hard expression but she remained unfazed.
"Is this …a joke? Does Elizabeth's impertinence extend to mocking a man's sincerest wishes? That girl! I am sure she would not have made a good wife, yes, now I am sure of it."
"But I would," Stacey volunteered, remaining calm and speaking plainly. "And I am not joking. Lizzie said you want a wife who can look after you, and who can be next to you when you need to meet your colleagues. That can be me."
Her words took time to sink in, to topple the flimsy barriers erected by Lizzie's rejection. What this woman was proposing was considerably convenient, and it would be a nice moral lesson to the entire Bennet family that you don't always get second chances with eligible single men who are connected as high up as Magda Alliosa.
'Besides,' thought Warren, now taking in Stacey's round face and olive skin, 'there is certain attractiveness in her eyes, and she isn't wholly without appealing attributes." These thoughts lead to other thoughts.
"And you would be my wife in all ways?"
Stacey cringed at his ineloquence, but not at the question. It was a concession she knew was necessary, both for the plan to work and for having the children she wanted, and she'd been ready for it since the small seed of an idea was planted in her mind.
"All ways."
Warren smirked a little and leant back into the padded leather, now seemingly at ease.
"You will have to move to Adelaide. That was the one point of difference between Elizabeth and I, the single reason we couldn't agree to marry - she refused to leave her family."
It rushed through Stacey's mind that Warren must be aware that she and Lizzie would have talked over every detail of the previous day, but taking in his self-assured chagrin, her previous thought was overcome by the realization that Warren indeed lived in a fantasy world.
There was no time for second-thoughts, however.
"Adelaide is fine. I'm sure I'll be able to find a job easily enough."
Warren pressed his lips together, his self-assurance fading slightly. "Until the children are born."
Stacey smiled. At least on this, they were on the same page. "Until the children are born."
The man's concern dissipated and once again the pleased ease returned.
"In that case, I accept."
And just like that, within twenty minutes of conversation, Stacey had a fiancé. It had never seemed so easy.
With nothing further to speak of for the moment, they both fell into a comfortable silence. Warren played with his tea a little more, frequently glancing at Stacey and congratulating himself on finding one of the prettiest girls in Perth to marry. Stacey's thoughts were far less animated; she dwelt painfully on the prospect of telling Lizzie.